Bank of England expected to cut base rate by 0.25% to boost economy

By Nigel Lewis.

Black Brick: Interest Rate Cut Could Mark a Turning Point for London’s Property Market

As the Bank of England moved to cut its base rate by 0.25%, Black Brick founder and Managing Partner Camilla Dell offered a measured but cautiously optimistic outlook for London’s property market, as reported by The Negotiator.

Dell acknowledged the challenging conditions that have defined the capital’s market at the start of 2025. “As the government attempts to repair the UK’s flagging economy, London’s property market is — for the most part — treading water as 2025 begins,” she said. However, she was careful to identify reasons for optimism. “There are signs of resilience, even some bright spots, and if, as predicted, the Bank of England cuts interest rates this month, the spring market could mark a turning point.”

The rate cut — from 4.75% to 4.5% — follows a sustained period of softening mortgage rates, which had already been easing in anticipation of further reductions as inflation fell back towards the Bank’s 2% target. For London buyers, where property values and therefore mortgage sizes are typically higher than elsewhere in the country, even modest reductions in borrowing costs can have a meaningful impact on affordability and confidence.

The timing is significant. With the stamp duty threshold changes due on 1 April, a supportive rate environment heading into the spring market could provide the catalyst that prime London has been waiting for — particularly for the domestic buyers who have been increasingly active in the market over the past year.

As featured in The Negotiator.

Read the full article here.

London home values rise, but not as much as the rest of the UK

By Emma Magnus.

The median value of a London property increased by £1,400 last year, whereas property prices across the rest of the UK rose by an average of £2,400.

It’s bad news for homeowners in London: house prices in the capital grew less than the national average last year, new research shows.

House price data from Zoopla shows that half of all UK homes increased in value last year, with the average property seeing a £2,400 uplift. In London, however, only 40 per cent of homes rose in value, with the median London property increasing by just £1,400.

London recorded the fourth-lowest house price growth of any region in the UK, after the east, south east and south west.

Zoopla’s research highlights a clear north-south divide, with 41 per cent of homes across the south of England falling in value by an average of £8,700. In the south, just 36 per cent of homeowners saw their property prices grow in 2024, compared to 62 per cent across northern England and Scotland.

This split reflects the underlying affordability of homes, with soaring mortgage rates and higher property prices in the south of England reducing buying power. In the north, where house prices are more affordable in comparison to incomes, there is more headroom for values to increase, despite higher borrowing costs.

House prices fall in prime central London

Across London, though, the picture is more varied. Homeowners in prime central London —the capital’s most expensive areas— saw the biggest drops in value. In Kensington and Chelsea, where property values fell more than anywhere else in the country, 72 per cent of homes fell in price, with an average reduction of £44,300.

This was followed by Westminster, where 67 per cent of homes declined in value, representing an average drop of £23,200. City of London and Camden saw similar slumps, with the average property value falling by £22,300 and £21,600 respectively.

According to buying agency Black Brick, the drop in prices across prime central London in 2024 is due to a combination of global and national uncertainties, high buying costs and a general air of caution. Forecasters for the coming year remain divided, with Savills anticipating that prices in prime central London will continue to drop by four per cent, and Knight Frank predicting growth of two per cent.

“Sellers are having to be very realistic and willing to sell at really big discounts in order to achieve a sale in the current market,” says Black Brick’s Camilla Dell. “London will come back and now is a great time to buy prime assets. We have been amazed by how much prime stock there is to choose from at the moment, and there are quite a few people who need to sell to the extent that they are willing to sell at a loss. Others have owned their properties a long time and so they are willing to be pragmatic about price.”

London’s winners

Some parts of London, however, fared better than the national average. Waltham Forest was the capital’s biggest winner, with 64 per cent of homes increasing in value —the eighth highest nationwide— and an average uplift of £8,700.

In fact, all five of the top-performing boroughs were in east London. Over 55 per cent of homes increased in value in Barking and Dagenham (+£5,000 on average), Hackney (+£12,900), Redbridge (+£6,800) and Havering (+£5,200).

With the exception of Hackney, these are among the most affordable places to buy a home in London: Barking and Dagenham has the capital’s lowest house prices, at an average of £336,000.

On the whole, more affordable boroughs —often in outer London— saw the biggest increases in value, while London’s most expensive areas experienced price drops.

Croydon, Greenwich and Enfield are three outliers in this respect, having lower property prices and yet still seeing the average house price fall by £900, £3,800 and £4,300 respectively. In Enfield, half of all properties decreased in value, while 29 per cent remained stable and 21 per cent increased.

“Inner London has the highest home values and higher borrowing costs have had a greater impact on buying power compared to outer London where home values are lower creating some headroom for small price increases,” says Zoopla’s executive director Richard Donnell.

“London has lagged behind the rest of the UK when it comes to house price growth since 2016 with the Brexit vote, pandemic and higher mortgage rates having a bigger impact on the London housing market. As incomes rise faster than house prices, affordability is slowly improving and there is growing value for money in the London housing market.”

Outside London

Outside of London, homeowners in the north west and north east of England saw the greatest rises in value, at an average of £4,400 and £4,300 on average. Berkhamsted, in the east of England; Carluke, Scotland and Waltham Forest recorded the country’s largest average increases in house prices, at £24,500, £8,900 and £8,700.

Conversely, Kensington and Chelsea, Broadstairs and Ferndown, all in the south of the country, experienced the greatest average decline in property prices, at £44,300, £15,300 and £14,400.

“The housing market returned to growth in 2024 but the pattern of home value changes across Britain is far from uniform,” says Donnell. “There is headroom for prices to increase in markets where housing is affordable compared to incomes which covers many parts of northern England and Scotland.

“In contrast, affordability is more of a constraint on price rises in southern England where the market continues to adjust to higher borrowing costs. Faster income growth is helping to repair affordability supporting moving decisions in 2025.”

But while house prices across the country are growing on the whole, experts predict that this may be short-lived, with upcoming changes to stamp duty.

“A slowdown in house price growth is in the post,” says Tom Bill, Knight Frank’s head of UK residential research.

“As sub-four per cent mortgage offers dry up and stamp duty rates increase in April, rising borrowing costs will suppress demand more noticeably from the second quarter of this year. As demand spreads into more affordable parts of the country, prices in these locations will remain relatively more buoyant.”

Read the full article here.

Enness Global Interview with Camilla Dell, Founder of Black Brick

Our Founder & Managing Partner, Camilla Dell sat down with Enness Global CMO, Jeremy Laight this week, shedding light on her 20+ years working in the London property market and career to date.

“I started my career working for Foxtons in 2002. Jon Hunt the founder was a real inspiration to me. He is a self-made entrepreneur and grew the business from a single office start-up in Notting Hill to one of London’s most formidable and groundbreaking estate agencies, finally selling out for £360m. It was incredible to be part of that journey at that time and inspired me to go out and do my own thing. Jon and I are still in touch and friends to this day.”

Read the full interview here.

Predictions for the UK housing market in 2025

By David Byers.

Black Brick’s 2025 Property Market Predictions: Family Homes Flying, Super-Prime Facing Headwinds

As the property market enters 2025 with a sharply divided outlook, Black Brick’s Camilla Dell has been sharing her frontline perspective on where the opportunities and challenges lie — with her insights featured in The Times’ authoritative annual property predictions piece.

Dell highlighted one of the clearest trends Black Brick observed towards the end of 2024: fierce competition for quality family homes in well-connected outer prime London neighbourhoods. “Last year we saw huge competition in the market up to £2 million in four-bedroom Victorian terraces in West Hampstead and Fulham,” she told The Times — a dynamic driven by a combination of stamp duty-related behaviour, the end of non-dom status redirecting some buyer profiles, and growing demand from families priced out of private schools seeking good state school catchment areas.

The contrast with the super-prime market could hardly be more pronounced. Analysis by Beauchamp Estates showed just 40 sales of homes above £15 million in London in 2024, down from 54 the previous year, with total transaction value falling 34% to £856.5 million. Labour’s abolition of non-dom status has been the primary driver, deterring a cohort of international buyers for whom London’s tax environment has become increasingly unattractive.

Looking ahead, the key variables for 2025 include the pace of interest rate cuts — with economists polled by The Times forecasting at least four reductions — the impact of the stamp duty threshold changes coming into force on 1 April, and the potential influx of American buyers reassessing their options under the new US political landscape. For prime central London, forecasters expect a further 5% price fall, while more modestly priced regional markets are expected to hold up considerably better.

As featured in The Times.

Read the full article here.

Black Brick: ‘This is the moment when the really smart money is buying’

Camilla Dell for PrimeResi.

‘We have been amazed by how much prime stock there is to choose from at the moment,’ says PCL acquisition firm, which has just secured an apartment in Kensington for less than half its original £30mn asking.

Property market predictions are proving unusually difficult this year, but a top acquisition firm has backed Savills’ view that PCL prices are likely to slide over the coming 12 months.

High-end stock continues to pile up across the prime postcodes, and Black Brick says buyers remain “extremely price sensitive”. Some eye-popping discounts are being secured as a result.

The firm is currently acting for an overseas buyer who is in the process of snapping up a six-bed flat in Kensington which originally went on sale for an “ambitious” £30mn. With no takers the owner gradually dropped the price down to a more reasonable £18m. An offer has just been accepted at £14.55mn, or £2,500 per square foot, less than half the original price. The team describes this as “outstanding value considering the property’s quality and location”.

“We have seen opportunistic overseas buyers come to the market who are looking for a deal, because they are obviously out there at the moment,” explained managing partner Camilla Dell.

“London will come back and now is a great time to buy prime assets. We have been amazed by how much prime stock there is to choose from at the moment, and there are quite a few people who need to sell to the extent that they are willing to sell at a loss. Others have owned their properties a long time and so they are willing to be pragmatic about price.”

Tom Kain, partner, said many of the vendors coming to the market have been waiting “literally years” for a good time to sell – from Brexit to the pandemic, through the outbreak of war in Europe and the Middle East, the cost of living crisis, and the 2024 General Election: “They have got to the point now where they can’t just sit it out any longer”.

Dell predicts house hunters will have a “solid window of opportunity” before prices start to increase in 2026: “This is the moment when the really smart money is buying”.

“I have never seen such a huge variation between the main forecasts,” she added. “Usually, the main estate agency forecasts are less than a point apart, but this time the differences are huge. My reading is that none of the agents really know where the market is headed next year and beyond.”

The firm suspects that Savills’ more conservative view of the potential for price growth will be closest to the mark: “Sellers are having to be very realistic and willing to sell at really big discounts in order to achieve a sale in the current market,” said Dell, but caveats that the reality is likely to be “far more complicated and nuanced” with certain property types in certain locations selling strongly and others continuing to dive: “Forecasts are not gospel, and London is a very complex market. There will be different outcomes in different parts of the capital. We continue to see a lack of supply for best-in-class family homes with gardens and parking in the most desirable streets of prime London, around Notting Hill for example, where bargain hunters may be disappointed.”

Other key trends flagged for 2025 include: heightened competition for big-ticket rental homes, as international HNWIs navigate the new non-dom rules; and further growth in off-market selling – it’s estimated that 50-60% of PCL properties are now discreetly marketed without ever hitting the portals. “I am on perhaps 50 WhatsApp chats to keep up with off market sales,” added Dell.

As featured in PrimeResi.

Read the full article here.

The top properties for sale in London, Hong Kong and New York

In a new piece for BOAT International, Black Brick Founder, Camilla Dell speaks with Ruth Bloomfield about the state of the world’s most premium property market now compared to the past few decades.

“The best penthouses now have phenomenal architecture,” Dell commented, “sweeping staircases, double-height atriums… a penthouse should have a real wow factor.”

Read the full article here.

The Negotiator Interview: ‘Buyers need us when half of homes aren’t on Rightmove’

By Nigel Lewis.

Black Brick buying agents boss, Camilla Dell ‘lifts the lid’ on the growth of Black Brick in recent years, and the type of housing markets we work in.

As Black Brick marks 18 years in business, founder and Managing Partner Camilla Dell has been sharing her vision for the firm’s next chapter — including expansion into the South West of England, a growing property management offering and her frank assessment of what makes a genuinely independent buying agent indispensable in today’s market, as reported by The Negotiator.

Dell revealed that in prime London, an estimated 40-50% of homes for sale are never advertised on the major portals — a figure that underlines the core value of Black Brick’s market access. With over 7,000 estate agency firms now operating in London, many run by independent or self-employed agents, the landscape has become increasingly fragmented. “Buyers can go to the obvious big brands to find their next home in prime London, but increasingly the home they want is being marketed by a smaller independent estate agency or a self-employed agent, both of whom aren’t so easy to track down,” she said. Dell herself monitors around 50 WhatsApp groups to stay across off-market opportunities.

On property management, Dell explained that demand has grown directly from the changing circumstances of Black Brick’s client base. “A lot of our customers value and need that kind of service at the moment because they are probably spending less time in the UK following the recent changes to the non-dom rules, so they need their homes looking after and struggle to find suitable vetted tradespeople and trusted property managers,” she said.

Dell also addressed the democratisation of buying agency services — a significant shift since Black Brick launched. “It’s not just for the super-wealthy any longer — we look after clients with budgets starting from £1 million now, whereas back in the day people thought buying agents were for those only with budgets in the tens of millions. In many parts of London these days that includes first-time buyers looking for their first home.”

On the question of estate agencies launching in-house buying operations, Dell was typically direct. “There’s a reason why companies like Knight Frank have completely separate and independent buying agency operations — otherwise there’s a conflict of interest, particularly if it’s done under the same brand name as the sales division.”

As featured in The Negotiator.

Read the full interview here.

Cafes, clubs and pubs are the key to a happy neighbourhood in the UK

In a new article in The Times, writer Zoe Dare Hall discusses the best selling points for buying property in London and the wider UK.

Camilla Dell, Black Brick Founder & Managing Partner shared her insights into what key features buyers look for when browsing through neighbourhoods, namely being in close proximity to a Waitrose, or Gail’s!

Read the full article here.

Super-prime London’s cut-price property deals

By Hugo Cox.

Black Brick: Buyers Have More Power Than at Any Time Since the 2008 Financial Crisis

In one of the most authoritative assessments of London’s super-prime property market to appear in recent years, Black Brick founder Camilla Dell has laid out in stark terms just how dramatically the balance of power has shifted towards buyers — and the exceptional results her clients are achieving as a result, according to in-depth reporting in the Financial Times.

Dell opened with a striking example: a client who offered £3 million below the circa £20 million asking price for a home in a prestigious central London development, held firm through two rounds of counter-offers over several months, and finally had their original bid accepted days after the October Budget. “The public line is that new homes never sell with a price cut, but now that’s just nonsense,” she told the FT. “It’s a measure of how much power buyers have: in nearly 20 years the only market as good for buyers as this one was the few months following the financial crisis of 2008.”

The deals Black Brick has secured for clients this year illustrate the scale of the opportunity: nearly £3.5 million off a £13.5 million Knightsbridge townhouse for a Middle Eastern buyer; £475,000 off a £2.35 million Chelsea apartment; and £1 million off a £4.75 million mews house near Sloane Square.

The forces driving this shift are well established: the abolition of non-dom status removing a significant cohort of international buyers, persistently high borrowing costs, unsold new homes in central London running at close to record levels, and a growing pool of motivated sellers who have been waiting through successive crises and can wait no longer. In the three months to September, just 102 homes sold for £5 million or more in London, down from 155 the previous year.

Yet Dell is clear that this creates a genuine window for well-advised buyers — and that not all segments of the market are equally affected. Middle Eastern buyers using London homes for holidays, families buying for children making London their long-term base, and American buyers unaffected by non-dom considerations are all active. “London will come back,” Dell has said consistently — and for those buying now, the terms available may not be seen again for years.

As featured in the Financial Times

Read the full article here.

Why Americans can’t get enough of the Cotswolds

Arguably the most picturesque countryside region in the UK, the Cotsworld’s is becoming increasingly popular with Americans, and Trump’s election win might just be to blame.

The Cotsworld’s collection of small, picture-perfect villages have been compared by Americans to the Hamptons. Just two hours away from London, the region is famous for its rolling hills, luxury homes and hotels, and panoramic views.

Commenting on the recent trend of American buyers in the area, Black Brick Founder, Camilla Dell spoke with Sarah Rappaport of Bloomberg, sharing her insights as a London and UK buying agent with over 20 years’ experience in the industry.

“The countryside may be in a new phase as Americans living in London start buying weekend retreats, like New Yorkers buying in the Hamptons,” Dell said.

Read the full article here.