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What would cutting Stamp Duty do to the housing market and economy?

With Friday’s mini-budget reported to announce stamp duty cuts, Black Brick’s Founder Camilla Dell joined a panel of property experts and UK buying agents in PrimeResi this week, sharing her reactions.

“I am not convinced cutting stamp duty will aid investment into the UK.”, she said.

“The market has absorbed stamp duty increases since they were first introduced in 2014. The cost of stamp duty, whilst high in the UK, is not a deciding factor for investment here, particularly for high net worth individuals who simply factor the stamp duty cost into the overall price of a property. Previous cuts to stamp duty also haven’t really worked.”

“For example, during Covid, the then Chancellor Rishi Sunak cut stamp duty for all purchases up to £500,000. The cut benefitted all buyers; everyone from first time buyers to second home owners, investors and overseas buyers. The end result was that house prices rose, higher than the actual cut in stamp duty. An unintended consequence, and proof that simplistic cuts to tax don’t work or benefit those who need them most.”

Read more in the full article here.

How ultra high-end new homes across London are kitted out for the super wealthy

Our Founder and Managing Partner, Camilla Dell revealed insight into the often hidden world of prime property this week, sharing her experiences of working with high-end clients in The Standard.

“Real luxury has to have top quality construction, materials, layout and design,” she said, adding that buyers particularly like the character of an older building combined with the convenience of a new-build.

“The combination of the charm and history of an older building with the comfort of a new build is another highly desirable design feature,” she continued. “Developments such as Battersea Power Station and The Old War Office are good examples.”

Read the full article here.

£10 million is no longer enough to buy ‘an amazing family home’ in prime central London

How much does a prime property in London now cost? Black Brick’s Camilla Dell discusses the super prime central London property sector this week in Spear’s.

Sitting down amongst a panel of property experts who specialise in sourcing the capital’s most luxurious properties for high-profile clients, Camilla shared her perspective on how international buyers are down at the moment compared to times before the pandemic.

She added, though, that, “there’s a huge amount of interest at the moment from [HNWs who are] US dollar-based”.

“At the moment, we’re seeing a lot of clients from emerging market countries,’ Dell said, noting that buyers who had recently made money in the oil and gas industries were particularly prevalent. ‘London for them is looking really quite cheap at the moment”, she continued.

Read the full article here.

Everything you need to know about moving to Dulwich, south London

Dulwich, in South London has been described in The Times this week as a “historic area”, that’s “green by nature and lifestyle”.

Sharing our insights as an experienced buying agency for London and the wider UK, Black Brick’s senior property consultant, Tom Kain commented:

“Dulwich has seen some of the sharpest rises in property prices of any area over the last 25 years. Knight Frank reported in 2018 that prices had risen 1,150 per cent since 1995, making it home to the highest long-term rise of any area in England and Wales over the period. Teachers, doctors and artists are being replaced by bankers and lawyers.”

Read the full article here.

Why is the property market joining the podcast party?

Podcasts are on the rise, and the property market hopping on the bandwagon in an effort to keep up.

We shared our input as to why Black Brick buying agency has set up a podcast, too, this week in Estate Agent Today.

Read the full article here.

Why now is the best time in years to downsize your home

With mortgage rates on the rise and the market peaking, is now an ideal time for you to downsize?

Black Brick buying agency Founder and Managing Partner, Camilla Dell shared her thoughts on the topic in an article for The Telegraph this week, commenting on how downsizers were already seeming to “cash in before the market takes a turn”.

Read the full article here.

Why house prices are heating up in London’s elite postcodes

Despite the current political climate and economic turmoil, the UK’s capital is still a hotspot for premium property buyers, with little sign of slowing down.

Reflecting on her own experience as a prime central London buying agent, Black Brick’s Founder Camilla Dell shared her thoughts on the current market in a new piece for The Times.

“Anyone working in oil and gas seems quite interested in the London property market — I have a few Nigerian clients and inquiries from Africa, the Middle East and the United States. Oil is up, the pound is down, so London property will benefit from these buyers feeling much wealthier,” she said.

Read more in the full article here.

Buyers are choosing high end homes in bustling Battersea

After decades of struggle, south London’s Battersea is finally having its moment (largely thanks to the newly redeveloped Battersea Power Station!).

Reflecting on the resurgence of the region, which is proving to attract plenty of high-end property buyers, Black Brick’s buying agent Caspar Harvard-Walls shared in the The Financial Times how he recently brokered the sale of a three-bed duplex facing the river by the power station for over £5 million.

In March, Caspar Harvard-Walls of Black Brick, a buying agent, brokered a sale on a three-bedroom duplex river-facing apartment within the power station listed at £5.55mn.

“The buyer was looking for a house in Knightsbridge or Chelsea for £5mn but thought the turbine hall property with its floor-to-ceiling Crittall windows was too impressive,” Caspar commented.

Read more in the full article here.

The Elizabeth line stops with the greatest house price growth

As the Elizabeth *finally* opens after a decade since work first began, Londoners in the area are now relishing record property price growth in the region.

Black Brick partner and buying agent, Caspar Harvard-Walls shared in The Standard this week how he believes the new tube line will transform the neighbourhoods nearby.

“I think that it had been delayed so many times that people had almost forgotten what it actually was,” he said.

“When people actually see these modern, air-conditioned trains and the really fast journey times I think there will be a huge surge of demand.”

Read more in the full article here.