By Alexandra Goss.
Affluent non-doms are said to be leaving London amid the changes seen in this new Labour government.
London’s most prestigious streets are seeing an unprecedented volume of high-value homes come to market, as wealthy international residents reassess their relationship with the UK following sweeping tax changes — a shift Black Brick’s Camilla Dell has been tracking closely, according to reporting in The Telegraph.
The numbers tell a striking story. The volume of homes listed above £5 million across London’s most expensive neighbourhoods has risen nearly 30% over the past twelve months to a record high, according to analysts LonRes, while actual sales at that level fell 14% in the year to May. At the very top of the market, transactions above $10 million plummeted 37% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2025.
The primary driver is the abolition of non-dom status, which came into force in April, combined with the decision to expose worldwide assets to inheritance tax at 40% — a combination that Oxford Economics research suggests 83% of affected investors view as a dealbreaker, with 62% planning to exit within two years unless the UK introduces a more competitive regime.
Dell offered a measured view on whether a policy reversal could stem the outflow. “Not unless they are having a horrible time elsewhere,” she told The Telegraph. “Relocation is not for the fainthearted, it is not an easy thing to do and it is not cheap. But it may stop people who are thinking about going.”
The picture is not uniformly bleak, however. American buyers have emerged as a significant stabilising force in prime central London, drawn by prices that remain 22% below their 2014 peak and a favourable currency position — even after recent dollar weakness. US and Chinese nationals each now account for 10% of international purchasers in the capital, according to Knight Frank, with some agents reporting that American families are actively relocating from the US, partly in response to political uncertainty stateside.
Many departing non-doms are also choosing to retain their London properties as European bases, renting them out or making them available to family members rather than selling — a trend that continues to support Black Brick’s fast-growing property management offering.
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