We're influential.

Get the pricing right, have your paperwork in order and proceed with caution if you want to sell in this unusual market by Jayne Dowle

Forget Mayfair, Park Lane and Piccadilly. A new wave of investors is redrawing London’s real-life Monopoly map. Christopher Middleton learns how to load the dice in your favour.

Wealthy Hongkongers are among those buying to renovate and rent, or sell on to other Asians. by Richard Warren

Secret homes with lush gardens lurk in city centres, says Lauren Thompson.

Secret homes with lush gardens lurk in city centres, says Lauren Thompson.

Demand for resi new-build is sky high and rising. CBRE revealed earlier today that the volume of such sales above £1,000 per square foot leapt by a whopping 240% over the last year and it’s been well-documented that South East Asian buyers have increasingly become a dominant force behind similarly remarkable figures, even shaping the way in which developers develop their schemes and marketeers market them.

Investors have rushed in to reserve luxury homes planned for the revamped Battersea Power Station, with 600 of the 800 properties already claimed after just five days on the market.

The buyers are the first to advance on the redevelopment of south-west London’s iconic behemoth where the price tag per square foot exceeds £1,000.

The UK is experiencing a sharp increase in the number of HNWs making the move from Eastern countries, particularly China. Chloe Barrow finds out why AS UNATTRACTIVE AS living in the UK may be — the faltering economy, the unpredictable weather, sky-high living costs and seemingly hefty income tax — there is no denying its global popularity as a homemaking destination.

As irresistable as the glossy brochures of large scale housing schemes may be, many home hunters might find a better deal if they focus on smaller, less high-profile developments. One attraction of these more humble projects is their “specialness” offering the chance to buy a “one off” flat, rather than clone of the other 199 apart-ments in the block.

Forget bunds, gilts or gold. London prime central residential property is emerging as the safest of all safe havens. If you want to know where those in the know put their personal savings, just talk to a real estate agent in London.

The residential property market in the Prime Central London (PCL) area will remain bullish in 2012, spurred by demand from foreign investors looking for a safe haven amidst uncertain global market conditions, said UK real estate agents and property consultants.

Proposals unveiled last week by the government to boost the housing market — including a scheme to help encourage the return of 95% mortgages — are, as ever, directed towards the new-build market, which is, at present, turning out less than half the number of properties required.