“The playing field has changed substantially”, Black Brick Founder & Managing Partner, Camilla Dell told PrimeResi this week.

Speaking on the current (rather turbulent) global financial market, Camilla sat down with PrimeResi for a new article about how Trump’s tariffs have caused chaos for London’s prime central property market.

“In 2008–2009, we saw a clear flight to safety,” Dell said. “At the height of the global banking meltdown, with names like Lehman Brothers, Bear Stearns, and AIG dominating headlines. Many of our clients turned to London property as a tangible, stable alternative to volatile stocks and bonds. Activity surged, driven both by opportunists and those seeking the security of bricks and mortar.”

This is not the case today, however. “We don’t anticipate a sudden rush of overseas buyers flooding the market, despite the current financial volatility,” Camilla commented, despite Black Brick seeing “notable momentum from UK domestic buyers those upsizing, downsizing, or purchasing second homes.”

Read the full piece here. 

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.

By Camilla Dell for PrimeResi.

As a ‘painful’ Autumn Statement looms, Black Brick boss Camilla Dell shares her views on what the Chancellor should address.

Ever since Sir Keir Starmer stepped into the Downing Street garden and issued a warning that the forthcoming budget would be “painful”, commentators have been predicting a whole range of possible tax raids, writes Camilla Dell.

Black Brick’s view is that imposing indiscriminate tax hikes is a short sighted approach. What a Government looking for growth, prosperity, and a healthy, active housing market should be doing is encouraging people to buy, sell, invest, and, most of all, remain in the UK.

Capital Gains Tax

It is widely anticipated that CGT for second home owners and landlords will be increased from a current maximum rate of  24% to up to 45%. Across the UK, landlords have already begun voting with their feet and selling up – Rightmove has revealed that almost one in five of homes currently for sale has previously been rented, compared to 8% back in 2010.

But CGT is only the latest travail to have hit UK landlords in recent years – they have already endured the phasing-out of mortgage interest tax relief, tighter rules on tenant evictions, and more onerous safety regulations.

And this gradual squeeze has had unintended consequences which have rippled right through the housing market.

George Osborne poured glue into the housing market when he increased stamp duty and ended landlords’ right to have a mortgage as a tax deductible expense.

George Osborne poured glue into the housing market when he increased stamp duty and ended landlords’ right to have a mortgage as a tax deductible expense.

It did not solve the housing crisis and it has created a really bad environment for renters. There is not enough supply, build to rent has not filled that void, and landlords have just been battered in the press when most of them are providing an excellent service. You have now got dwindling supply and that is a really bad thing.

In Cornwall, Anna Sharp of Black Brick’s country department, is particularly concerned about second home owners, who are simultaneously being hit with Council Tax surcharges, and the end of the furnished holiday lettings tax regime, which had excluded them from the end of interest rate relief.

“All of this is affecting investment buyers,” she warned. “Holiday let bookings are down 37% in Cornwall this year, so change would have occurred naturally. This is forcing a lot of people to sell, but will not solve the housing crisis in Cornwall, because a lot of these homes are priced above £500,000 and local buyers are not able to afford them.”

Non Doms

One change the Government has already confirmed is a dismantling of the Non Dom tax system, which currently allows high net worth individuals to live in the UK and pay tax on their UK income only. Despite this, the latest data shows that in the 2022/23 tax year the 74,000 Non Doms paid, collectively, £8.9bn in tax.

“If we get rid of Non Doms, we are just waving that off,” said Tom Kain, a Partner at Black Brick.

Let’s hope that Rachel Reeves is now finally listening to tax experts. Rumours are that the Chancellor is now considering watering down the changes amid concerns it will raise no money.

Inheritance Tax

The other big issue is IHT, currently charged at 40% of estates worth more than £325,000. In reality, however, there are many exemptions and only 5% of deaths are taxed in the UK, often at much lower rates. Older homeowners have been particularly spooked by the prospect of paying more and, possibly as a result, another trend highlighted by Rightmove has been a surge in the number of large houses for sale. “I definitely saw this trend emerging in the last year of people who probably should have moved in their late 70s and early 80s but had put it off because of the pandemic starting to downsize,” said West Country specialist Rupert Stephenson, of Black Brick’s Country & Coast Department.

“They wanted to quickly pass on their wealth to their children.”

Stamp Duty

Black Brick’s Rupert Stephenson thinks that pushing older homeowners out of their homes with the threat of higher taxes is unfair. A more humane, effective alternative would be to use less stick and more carrot.

Late last month, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) called for Stamp Duty, which it argued hinders people from moving to pursue better job opportunities or downsizing, to be scrapped.

Stephenson thinks that getting rid of Stamp Duty for both downsizers and first time buyers would get the property market moving again. “It would be good for the economy as a whole – house builders, white goods purchases, you name it. Downsizers need to be encouraged, but punishing them with tax is social engineering. People want stability, not loads of changes all the time.”

Read the article here.

By PrimeResi.

We are delighted to be celebrating our busiest January to date this week at Black Brick, with a flurry of deals and a book of clients with budgets ranging up to £25mn.

At Black Brick, we have started 2024 in a way that none of us can quite remember experiencing before — and we could not be more energised by what lies ahead.

As our Managing Partner Camilla Dell has shared, January has brought with it a book of exceptionally motivated clients seeking properties ranging from £1.5 million all the way up to £25 million. It is, quite simply, the busiest January in our 17-year history — and long may that continue.

The momentum actually began building in the final weeks of 2023, when we exchanged contracts on a number of significant properties in the run-up to Christmas, achieving record discounts from original asking prices on behalf of our clients. That success is a testament to the skill, tenacity and market expertise of our entire team — and Camilla is immensely proud of every one of them.

Among the stand-out acquisitions of recent weeks was a magnificent seven-bedroom property just moments from Harrods on one of London’s most prestigious garden squares, Hans Place in Knightsbridge. Originally listed at £13.5 million — well above our clients’ £8 million to £10 million brief — we tracked the property patiently throughout 2023 as successive price reductions brought it closer into range. Terms were ultimately agreed at £10,033,560, inclusive of all furniture, representing a saving of £3.5 million from the original asking price and coming in four per cent below the most recent comparable sale on the street. Contracts were exchanged in under three weeks.

Further recent completions include an immaculate family home on Clapham Common West Side, acquired at £5.5 million for a family relocating back to London, and a three-bedroom apartment in Chelsea secured at 20 per cent below the asking price.

Beyond the deals themselves, 2024 promises to be a landmark year for Black Brick in other ways too. We have exciting plans in the pipeline — including expansion into new parts of the UK — and we look forward to sharing more details in due course. Watch this space.

Read the article here.

Apartment living is still hugely popular amongst prime central London property buyers, with 90% of Black Brick’s deals this year so far involving flats, up from 43% last year.

“Buyers are clearly bored of being out in the sticks, and are looking for the excitement of city centre living once again, particularly if they need to show their faces at the office,”, our Founder shared with PrimeResi, in their latest article highlighting the very best luxury penthouse sales of the year so far.

Read the full article here.

Recent, somewhat scaremongering reports into London’s safety have made prime property buyers (and owners) all the more cautious.

In a new piece that delves into the issue, PrimeResi spoke with Black Brick buying agency Founder, Camilla Dell to hear her thoughts, alongside a host of fellow other buying agents and experts.

“There’s been a lot of talk amongst certain HNW’s about London’s increase in crime and how terrible things are and they are leaving. Donald Trump’s feuding with London Mayor Sadiq Khan also contributed to this rhetoric. As a Londoner, having lived and worked in London my whole life, my own personal experience is that I haven’t noticed an increase in crime. I continue to wear my wedding ring, eternity ring and new apple iWatch and I have never once felt threatened or at risk walking the streets of London.

As a buying agent, I walk the streets a lot. I’m not trying to take away from other people’s negative experiences, but I do think a few high profile people have jumped up and down about crime in London but they aren’t leaving London for the crime. They are leaving because they prefer to live in countries such as Dubai with lower tax rates, or for other business reasons. London’s crime index is 53.8 with a safety index of 46.2 meaning we have a relatively moderate crime level compared to other major cities around the world.

For clients where security is important, we work with a few trusted security firms, many are ex-police officers who advise our clients on how to make their homes more secure. Security isn’t just about preventing burglaries and intruders but also cyber criminals – something which is often overlooked.”

Read more in the full article here.

90% of our deals so far this year here at Black Brick buying agents involved apartments in H1; compared to 43% last year.

Sharing the news in PrimeResi this week, we reflected on this new trend in the property market, citing “buyers are clearly bored of being out in the sticks, and are looking for the excitement of city centre living once again, particularly if they need to show their faces at the office”.

Read more here.

We’re sharing our insights into the prime cental London property market this week in PrimeResi, warning that it will take a while before vendors accept that buyers are much more price-sensitive at the moment.

“I have found that there tends to be a long delay, in a market which is slowing, for that message to sink in for sellers that they need to be realistic about prices,” our managing partner Camilla Dell, commented. “We are just starting to see prices coming down a bit – even where we have been previously told that a seller is in no hurry – and some sellers are becoming more amenable to negotiation.”

Read the full article here.

This week, our Founder and Managing Partner, Camilla Dell joined a host of fellow industry experts discussing the future of the UK’s prime property market in PrimeResi.

“A Labour win isn’t going to have a positive impact on the super prime London property market. Labour want to increase tax on overseas buyers which is already at 15%, an extortionate amount.”, Camilla shared. “Most overseas buyers aren’t even competing with first time buyers as they are buying well above £1 million. What the London property market needs is more affordable stock, not higher taxes. Higher stamp duty will cause the market to stall meaning fewer transactions, but not necessarily huge price falls.”

“The last time stamp duty went up the London market fell pretty much in line with the increase. How much the market falls this time all depends on what the extra increase looks like.”, she continued. “A 60% tax, such as what the Singapore government have brought in for overseas buyers, would be disastrous and would erode confidence in the market in London. Right now, most overseas buyers are unaware of the changes a Labour government would implement if elected but I imagine that will start to change as we get closer the GE”

Read the full article here.