New data and analysis has revealed that prime new build developments contributed £5 billion (16%) to UK prime property sales in 2017.
Research found that high-profile new developments are re-shaping the UK’s prime property market, driving up the number of sales and investment into locations previously overlooked.
While areas renowned for high value property markets (prime property hotspots) such as Kensington and Chelsea, Mayfair and Knightsbridge are still holding strong, the report reveals there is a diversification in the market towards East and South London.
London’s prime property market is moving outwards with prime new build developments placing areas such as Tower Hamlets (where 60% of prime sales were new builds), Newham (where 56% of prime sales were new builds) and Southwark (where 38% of prime sales were new builds) on the prime property map. In particular, Tower Hamlets is on track to become London’s largest deliverer of new housing with the Poplar Riverside Housing Zone projected to create 6,000 to 9,000 new properties by 2020.
Investors recognise that the boundaries of prime property hotspots are becoming ever more elastic, with 68% stating that “buying in a trendy area has become more important than ten years ago”, and it is fascinating to see this realised in the strong market growth we are seeing in areas such as Manchester, with strong business development driving foreign as well as domestic investment. However, it is also encouraging to see London’s traditional prime property market show little sign of bottoming out.
The boroughs of Westminster and Kensington & Chelsea alone, for example, contributed £8.2 billion, of the England and Wales total of £32 billion, in property sales in 2017 alone.
