Concrete Analysis | Asians still viewing London as property investment hotspot
But capital controls have slowed mainland interest in the UK capital
Barely a month goes by without a fresh voice predicting the end of Asian investment into London, or the emergence of a serious challenger to their dominance of the market.
In these pages last month, it was argued that northern England has become the new property investment hotspot for Chinese and Hong Kong investors due to “northshoring”.
And the month also brought research from Savills indicating that UK investors had overtaken buyers from Asia as the most active group in London’s West End property market in the first six months of the year, suggesting Asians collectively had gone cold on the capital.
These figures are surprising, if not totally unexpected. But it is a mistake to generalise.
We have acted for more than 40 Asian investors on their landmark UK acquisitions – including being involved in the transactions of both the ‘Cheesegrater’ and ‘Walkie Talkie’ skyscrapers last year – and so are increasingly asked to judge whether Asian investment into London is finally running out of steam.