Half of unsold new-build luxury flats may turn London into city of posh ghost towers
Unsold luxury new-build homes has hit a record 3,000 units as rich overseas investors turn their backs on such properties
More than half of the 1,900 ultra-luxury flats built in London last year failed to sell, raising fears that the capital will be left with dozens of “posh ghost towers”.
The swanky flats, complete with private gyms, swimming pools and cinema rooms, are lying empty as hundreds of thousands of would-be first-time buyers struggle to find an affordable home.
The total number of unsold luxury new-build homes, which are rarely advertised at less than £1m, has now hit a record high of 3,000 units, as the rich overseas investors they were built for turn their backs on the UK due to Brexit uncertainty and the hike in stamp duty on second homes.
Builders started work last year on 1,900 flats priced at more than £1,500 per square foot, but only 900 have sold, according to property data experts Molior London. A typical high-end three-bedroom flat consists of around 2,000 sq ft, which works out at a sale price of £3m.
There are an extra 14,000 unsold flats on the market for between £1,000 to £1,500 per sq ft. The average price per sq ft across the UK is £211.
Molior said it would take at least three years to sell the glut of ultra-luxury flats if sales continue at their current rate and if no further new-builds are started.
However, ambitious property developers had a further 420 residential towers (each at least 20 storeys high) in the pipeline, said New London Architecture and GL Hearn.