London houses still seen as a safe haven for investors

Despite the current, rather “unfavourable” exchange rates and upcoming tax changes, international buyers have not been deterred from London property.

A new article in The Times looking further into this topic, and we are delighted to have featured our thoughts as a leading buying agency for the region.

Black Brick’s Founder, Camilla Dell shared in the piece how we work with many wealthy clients that come from Nigeria, Kenya, Zambia, South Africa and Uganda:

“Many wealthy Nigerians were educated in the UK and send their children to school here. Typically, they like gated, secure developments, as this is what they are used to back home.”, she said.

“Many Africans prefer new-builds such as Imperial Wharf”, she continued, adding that some people have begun to refer to this development as a “mini Lagos”. “Thirty-nine per cent of our Nigerian clients have bought in either SW3, SW10 or SW1, closely followed by 35 per cent buying in northwest London postcodes such as NW8, NW6 and N2.”

Read more in the full article here.

20 ways to become a property millionaire

Whether you’re looking to buy abroad or set up a house-to-let in London, you should consider the advice offered by our Managing Partner, Camilla Dell if you hold any hopes of becoming a property millionaire.

Featured in The Telegraph’s piece on what key considerations you should make before buying a second, third or even fourth home, Camilla has made her recommendations on which trends to follow, which locations to look in and which types of properties to invest in.

Read the article here.

House prices fall in parts of London for first time in two years

A report released this week highlights that house prices are falling in some London areas for the first time in two years.

Across the entirety of London, house prices did not rise at all in July, and fell in the areas where demand has “cooled the most”, a new piece by The Standard states.

As an esteemed buying agency specialising in property right here in the UK capital, we were asked to share our thoughts on these latest figures:

“It has started to become more of a buyers’ market for the first time in a long time, particularly in the super prime upper end of the market – £10 million and above. Indeed, we’re currently in the midst of a search for a client looking for a house in Mayfair or Belgravia from £20 million up to £100 million and there are well over 20 houses for sale in this price range. If there are sanctions against Russia which mean that certain Russians might be exiled from the UK, this could create even more supply on the super prime end.”, Black Brick Managing Partner, Camilla Dell said.

“Many high end developers are now struggling to find buyers for their trophy mansions, and are having to become more realistic with their asking prices. As such, I believe we could see significant price drops at the super prime end of the market. Indeed, one house in Mayfair has already had a significant price reduction from £120 million down to £95 million.”, she continued.

Read more in the full article here.

Sealed bids: deal or no deal in a secret seller’s market

Signs of a market boom are starting to reveal themselves, with gazumping, open-house viewings and buying off-plan as evidence.

We shared our perspective on the changing UK property market in a new piece for The Telegraph this week: “Sealed bids are now more prevalent than at any time since the peak of the market in 2007,” Black Brick’s partner, Caspar Harvard-Walls said.

“Some agents use the tactic of pricing a property at a low level to attract competitive buyers. It can often work well for vendors. But the disadvantage is that if the buyer feels they have overpaid there is a greater likelihood of the sale falling through later.”, he continued.

Read the full article here.

An early summer lull falls on the market

The London and wider UK property market is changing, but how?

A new piece in The Times this week looks at how the market is adapting and evolving as we approach summer.

Sharing our insight into the prime property landscape in London, Black Brick Founder and Managing Partner, Camilla Dell offered her thoughts to the article, predicting that the cooling market for properties over £2 million will bring about clarity on any future tax costs.

Read the full article here.

Properties with room for the au pair

A new article in The Telegraph this week has highlighted the growing number of wealthy families who are consciously choosing properties with rooms for their nannies or au pairs.

As a top buying agency specialising in premium property in London, we shared our perspective on the trend for the piece.

“One partner needs to be earning £65,000 to £70,000 per year to be able to afford the nanny, so this is where the au pair comes in,” said Black Brick Partner, Caspar Harvard-Walls. He continued by explaining his belief that “most houses will have an au pair living on the top floor. If one partner stays at home but the children go to two different schools, which is often the case, then the au pair can give them a chance to manage their lives”.

Read more in the full article here.

Want a basement? Don’t dig a hole in your cover

“Families are increasingly choosing to dig basement extensions as the cost of moving rises”, writes Anna Mikhailova of The Times this week.

Black Brick’s Partner, Caspar Harvard-Walls offered his thoughts for the article, sharing his insight as a top buying agent for London luxury property.

“In central London, the square footage value ofbasements is now treated as the same as the rest of the property. Outside of these areas, values are treated differently — historically, agents valued basement space at approximately 50% less than upper floors, but this is starting to change. Basement excavations can affect the values of a street — a successful sale can bring prices up to a new level.”, he said.

Read the full article here.

10 things to consider before rushing into the property market

You might feel like you need to get on the property ladder as soon as possible, but there are some things you should be aware of, first…

A new article by The Guardian this week covers the key things prospective first-time home buyers need to know before rushing into purchasing property.

We were delighted to share our thoughts for the piece, offering our informed insights as a leading buying agency for London and UK property.

“We are increasingly seeing estate agents using open houses as a tool to try and achieve the highest possible prices for their clients,” said Caspar Harvard Walls, Partner at Black Brick. “The advertised price for the property is often artificially low to encourage as many buyers to view as possible, thereby creating a sense of high demand and multiple bids above the guide price.”

Read the full article here.

Clapham, the leafy London district with ‘staying power’

Clapham is fast becoming one of the most desired places to live (and stay for a long time) in London.

With property values rising by up to 20% in the past year alone, a new article in The Financial Times this week looks into what makes the neighourhood quite so attractive to home buyers.

“There’s also been a lot of new-build in and around Clapham, attracting foreign buyers who feel they’re getting more value than in prime central London,” said Black Brick’s Founder, Camilla Dell, featuring in the piece.

Read the full article here.

The curse of gazumping is back with a vengeance

“Greedy” house sellers asking buyers for higher offers is a trend that’s long been going on in London. But now, it seems the rest of the UK is catching on, too.

Nicknamed ‘gazumping’, this negotiating tactic has been commonplace in much of London’s prime property market for quite some time now.

This week, Black Brick’s Founder and Managing Partner, Camilla Dell shared her thoughts on the matter for a new piece in The Independent, reflecting on a family she recently helped to relocate from London to Surrey.

“During one week alone, we received three enquiries, all from British buyers who had suffered gazumping – one of the most irritating and stressful outcomes a buyer can face,” Camilla shared.

“One client was a UK expat family, planning to relocate back to Britain later this year. They have been looking for a family home for the past six months and have been gazumped on three properties.”

Read more in the full article here.