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60% of Britons admit to looking up house prices of friends, colleagues and lovers

New figures have revealed that 6 in 10 Britons admit to looking up the prices of their friends, colleagues and lovers’ houses – and a quarter have even broke up with their partners over it.

Reflecting on these revelations in This Is Money, Black Brick’s Founder and Managing Partner, Camilla Dell shared how it was her experience, as a buying agent, that “people always want to know what others have paid for a property”.

She continued by explaining how buying agencies like Black Brick will go to great lengths to help clients find out what other people paid for a property they’re interested in.

“Before we submit an offer on a property, we always do a comprehensive “buying report” for our clients. Within the report we highlight relevant comparable sales. It’s all about the price per square foot – the price paid divided by the internal square footage. This gives our clients a pretty good idea if the price they are paying is reasonable or not, and also aids us with our negotiations.”

Read more in the full article here.

Super-rich spent nearly £3bn buying third and fourth London homes in pandemic

Despite the global pandemic, sales of prime property in London increased in 2020.

Some have reported this as yet another indication of a growing gap between rich and poor.

Speaking in a new piece for The Huffington Post, our Managing Partner and experienced London property expert Camilla Dell has shared her insights into our experience of the past year at Black Brick Buying Agents.

Read the article here to learn more.

First time buyers are snapping up central London flats – at big discounts

The post-lockdown property market is opening up some pretty exciting opportunities for first-time buyers in the UK.

A new article in The Standard this week shares the story of James Underdown and Joshua Granath, a British couple who have just bought their first flat in Hackney, London for £495k.

Black Brick buying agent Camilla Dell, who has over 20 years’ experience in the property market, shared her insights to the feature, explaining why current times are revealing some great bargains for buyers who are will to resist the pandemic-born trend of leaving London.

Read the article here.

Insight – what does the 2% SDLT surcharge mean for overseas investors?

Black Brick’s Founder and renowned London prime property buying agent, Camilla Dell has been interviewed for a new piece in Property Investor Today this week.

As the news breaks over the latest Chancellor announcement to increased stamp duty tax on UK properties for overseas buyers, Camilla has shared how and why this change will affect the property market for buying agencies like Black Brick.

“It’s unlikely to be the same as we’ve seen before, when typically, stamp duties have been absorbed into the market,” she said.

“There will certainly be some parts of the market that will be more vulnerable to the 2% surcharge from April 1 and will see prices come down in line with the increase. This includes high-density new-builds in secondary/tertiary parts of London which are very much focused on the overseas buyers’ market, for example Battersea Power Station, Canary Wharf and Lillie Square.”

Reflecting on whether the surcharge will dampen overseas investment in Britain, Camilla shared: “It’s difficult to remember the last time a client asked about what impact Brexit is going to have on the London property market, so we feel this is less of an issue this year,”.

“What we’re seeing is the really serious buyers coming through; gone are the window shoppers, so what we’re seeing are committed and serious domestic and overseas buyers which is really positive,” she continues.

“Despite the current lockdown and new travel restrictions, overseas buyers will still be coming to the UK looking for purchases, including from countries such as the US. The pace at which Black Brick has signed new clients so far this year is extraordinary and a sign that appetite for London property is still strong. Since January 1, Black Brick has acquired six new clients – four from overseas (including the US and Africa) and two from the UK.”

Read more in the full article here.

London house prices: are there property bargains to be had in the big city?

London might be in lockdown now, but what will it look like when normality returns?

A new article in The Times this week discusses how our world’s city hotspots may be starting to lose their appeal, with London and New York reporting fleeing residents amid rising living costs and empty bars.

Sharing her insight as a respected London buying agent for premium property, Camilla Dell argues in the article that this won’t be seen as a flight from the city, but a race to the suburbs:

“If you’re a professional that has a budget between £600,000 to £700,000, then I can see how the thought of selling up and having a three- or four-bedroom house outside the city appeals,” says Dell, from Black Brick. “But you make that move at your peril. Will we all be working from home in five years? I doubt it. And once you’re out, it’s a lot harder to get back in.”, she said.

Read more in the full article here.

How changes to Britain’s stamp duty scheme affect Middle East property investors

Chancellor Rishi Sunak has officially announced plans to launch a stamp duty holiday for UK property buyers, in a bid to boost the market.

However, all good things do have to come to an end, and after 31 March, the holiday will end and overseas buyers will have to pay an additional 2% surcharge on stamp duty.

“Basically you are paying an extra 5 per cent as an overseas buyer,” Black Brick’s Camilla Dell summarised in a new The National News article. “This is because they must pay the 3 per cent for buying a buy-to-let or second home as well as the additional 2 per cent.”

Read more in the article here.

Post-pandemic city exodus? These property hotspots are bucking the trend

“City living has suffered during the pandemic, but some village-like pockets have thrived”, writes Liz Rowlinson of The Telegraph this week.

This new piece focuses on the impact that the pandemic and subsequent lockdown has had on our communities here in the UK, reflecting on how many of us have began to “embrace a more local way of life”.

Sharing her insights into how this culture-shift has impacted the property sector, our Founder and Managing Partner, Camilla Dell commented: “Buyers that might have bought in central London have been looking at Richmond-upon-Thames, Kew, Wimbledon, Chiswick, Hampstead, East Sheen and Dulwich. Access to parks has become more crucial.”

Read more in the full article here.

Village feel and green appeal lure homebuyers to Dulwich

As people continue to yearn for community, property prices in pretty suburbs like Dulwich are on the rise.

As buying agents for London and the wider UK, this is certainly something we’ve noticed over the past year here at Black Brick. Sharing his insights into the topic this week in The Financial Times, our buying partner, Caspar Harvard-Walls commented:

“It’s so popular at the moment because we’ve seen this real need for a sense of community — a high street and outside space. People want to be a part of the area they’re moving to. They want to know people on their high street — who the butcher is, say hi to the guy they get their coffee from.”

Read more in the article here.

From private chalets to penthouses: property trends for the ultra rich in 2021

What does the future hold for London prime property in 2021? Our Founder, Camilla Dell shares her thoughts in a new piece for The Telegraph.

Whilst 2020 was all about escaping to the country, Camilla shared that she believes 2021 will be the opposite: “Half of them stayed commutable in the Home Counties. The other half moved to Somerset, which is risky if you are suddenly called back to your desk at 8am tomorrow,”.

With many not actually having sold their properties in London, and instead just buying 2nd home country houses, Camilla expects that in 2021, “the masses will flood back to the city,”.

Read more in the full article here.