Rising competition from Dubai and concerns about a change in government led the super-rich to spend less and buy smaller properties in central London in the first half of this year, a wealth survey has found.
The research by Beauchamp Estates found there was almost a £100 million ($129.8 million) drop in sales of properties priced £15 million or more in the capital’s best postcodes, compared to the same period in 2023.
Between January and June 2024, there were £731 million worth of deals in the area known as Prime Central London, compared to £829 million in that market in the same period last year.
Paul Finch, director at Beauchamp Estates, told The National that political uncertainty was partly to blame, beginning with the Conservative government's announcement earlier this year of the end of the non-dom system, followed by the summer general election.
“I think people still want a piece of Prime Central London,” he said. “I just find that buyers today are a bit more fickle than they used to be.
“Give them an excuse to sit it out and wait on their hands, and they will.”
The market has still featured sales of big houses and mansions but some of the offers are substantially below the asking prices and many of the properties involved are smaller, he said.
The majority of sales in the first six months of the year were in the £15 million to £25 million price range, driven by US and Middle East buyers, who bought spacious pied-a-terre apartments ideal for occasional stays, said Beauchamp.
Sales included a penthouse in Greybrook House on Brook Street in Mayfair for £21.5 million to a businessman from Abu Dhabi to use as his London pied-a-terre, a duplex on Charles Street in Mayfair for just under £15 million to a US buyer and a £15 million penthouse in Oceanic House in Westminster to an EU citizen for use as his London pied-a-terre.
The £21.5 million Brook Street penthouse sold for its asking price but the Oceanic House penthouse went for £1.25 million under the £16.25 million price tag.
Another corner town house on Aldford Street and Rex Place in Mayfair sold for £10 million, substantially under the £12.9 million asking price.
“Clearly potential buyers are trying to factor in stamp duty and taxation changes into their offers in order to de-risk their purchases,” said Mr Finch.
“However, the other big reason is global choice and competition from other wealth centres such as Dubai, Miami and the French Riviera.
“Currently what they are doing is buying pieds-a-terre in London, but alongside this they are purchasing big villas and penthouses in Dubai, taking advantage of the emirate’s current property boom, and post-Covid there has also been a significant return of affluent international buyers to the French Riviera and Miami.”
The London market is still popular with Middle Eastern buyers, he said, although it has been quieter. And while there has been a reduction in their number, it has been to a lesser degree.
However, activity should pick up now that Labour is in power and has a large majority, which will bring some stability to the market, said Mr Finch.
“A Labour government now is going to be pretty vanilla. They can tinker around the edges, so I think they will make a few changes. The might mess around with capital gains tax a bit. That might be an issue. But generally, what keeps the market steady is certainty.”
Some of the biggest deals of 2023 were clinched towards the end of the year, he said, and it could be the same story for this year, said Mr Finch.
“I already sense there are people coming out of the woodwork. For us, often the bellwether is buying agents, we have this person who is about the sign up. Once you get that uptick you know that those deals are going to start happening in September and they are going to close before Christmas, so we will probably have the same as last year.”
MATCH INFO
Everton 2 (Tosun 9', Doucoure 93')
Rotherham United 1 (Olosunde 56')
Man of the Match Olosunde (Rotherham)
New schools in Dubai
ASHES FIXTURES
1st Test: Brisbane, Nov 23-27
2nd Test: Adelaide, Dec 2-6
3rd Test: Perth, Dec 14-18
4th Test: Melbourne, Dec 26-30
5th Test: Sydney, Jan 4-8
Elvis
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ABU%20DHABI%20CARD
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TO A LAND UNKNOWN
Director: Mahdi Fleifel
Starring: Mahmoud Bakri, Aram Sabbah, Mohammad Alsurafa
Rating: 4.5/5
FROM%20THE%20ASHES
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F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Email sent to Uber team from chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi
From: Dara
To: Team@
Date: March 25, 2019 at 11:45pm PT
Subj: Accelerating in the Middle East
Five years ago, Uber launched in the Middle East. It was the start of an incredible journey, with millions of riders and drivers finding new ways to move and work in a dynamic region that’s become so important to Uber. Now Pakistan is one of our fastest-growing markets in the world, women are driving with Uber across Saudi Arabia, and we chose Cairo to launch our first Uber Bus product late last year.
Today we are taking the next step in this journey—well, it’s more like a leap, and a big one: in a few minutes, we’ll announce that we’ve agreed to acquire Careem. Importantly, we intend to operate Careem independently, under the leadership of co-founder and current CEO Mudassir Sheikha. I’ve gotten to know both co-founders, Mudassir and Magnus Olsson, and what they have built is truly extraordinary. They are first-class entrepreneurs who share our platform vision and, like us, have launched a wide range of products—from digital payments to food delivery—to serve consumers.
I expect many of you will ask how we arrived at this structure, meaning allowing Careem to maintain an independent brand and operate separately. After careful consideration, we decided that this framework has the advantage of letting us build new products and try new ideas across not one, but two, strong brands, with strong operators within each. Over time, by integrating parts of our networks, we can operate more efficiently, achieve even lower wait times, expand new products like high-capacity vehicles and payments, and quicken the already remarkable pace of innovation in the region.
This acquisition is subject to regulatory approval in various countries, which we don’t expect before Q1 2020. Until then, nothing changes. And since both companies will continue to largely operate separately after the acquisition, very little will change in either teams’ day-to-day operations post-close. Today’s news is a testament to the incredible business our team has worked so hard to build.
It’s a great day for the Middle East, for the region’s thriving tech sector, for Careem, and for Uber.
Uber on,
Dara
MATCH INFO
Europa League final
Who: Marseille v Atletico Madrid
Where: Parc OL, Lyon, France
When: Wednesday, 10.45pm kick off (UAE)
TV: BeIN Sports
Ferrari 12Cilindri specs
Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12
Power: 819hp
Torque: 678Nm at 7,250rpm
Price: From Dh1,700,000
Available: Now
SERIE A FIXTURES
Saturday
AC Milan v Sampdoria (2.30pm kick-off UAE)
Atalanta v Udinese (5pm)
Benevento v Parma (5pm)
Cagliari v Hellas Verona (5pm)
Genoa v Fiorentina (5pm)
Lazio v Spezia (5pm)
Napoli v Crotone (5pm)
Sassuolo v Roma (5pm)
Torino v Juventus (8pm)
Bologna v Inter Milan (10.45pm)
SOUTH%20KOREA%20SQUAD
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Champions parade (UAE timings)
7pm Gates open
8pm Deansgate stage showing starts
9pm Parade starts at Manchester Cathedral
9.45pm Parade ends at Peter Street
10pm City players on stage
11pm event ends
GOLF’S RAHMBO
- 5 wins in 22 months as pro
- Three wins in past 10 starts
- 45 pro starts worldwide: 5 wins, 17 top 5s
- Ranked 551th in world on debut, now No 4 (was No 2 earlier this year)
- 5th player in last 30 years to win 3 European Tour and 2 PGA Tour titles before age 24 (Woods, Garcia, McIlroy, Spieth)
'Nope'
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