The US president has caused stock market turmoil. Why buyers and borrowers could be in for a wild ride

By Hugh Graham, David Byers and Carol Lewis

Just as everything seemed to be settling down after the rush to beat last week’s stamp duty tax hike, tariff turmoil has hit.

Twenty-four hours after the stamp duty deadline on April 1, President Trump declared “liberation day”, launching a global trade war that has led to stock market meltdown, initially pummelling the value of investments and pensions and unleashing uncertainty across the world.

Then, the president U-turned, telling reporters at the White House that people were “getting a little bit yippy”, and announced a 90-day pause in the higher rate of “reciprocal tariffs”. The FTSE 100 and 250 recovered to more than 8,000 points yesterday morning, in the biggest rally in more than five years.

However, given the president’s propensity to make seemingly contradictory announcements at a whim that can change the prospects of global economies, what is clear is that we have entered a period of unprecedented unpredictability which makes it near-impossible for people to plan what to do when making big decisions with their money. What does this mean for those hoping to buy or sell property, or take out a mortgage?

 

Is it 2008 all over again?

Whenever there is significant stock market uncertainty, some analysts look back with trauma at the 2008 financial crisis, which triggered job losses, left homeowners with easy-come mortgages sliding into negative equity, repossessions soaring and house prices dropping by about 20 per cent.

However, don’t panic. As the consequences of the autumn 2022 mortgage rate spiral showed, homeowners today have been far more extensively stress-tested than before the 2008 financial crisis, which means repossessions have stayed extremely low — and will continue to do so, even if further unpredictability sends markets into a fresh tailspin.

Matthew Swannell, the chief economic adviser to the EY Item Club, a leading economic forecasting group, says: “A careful and measured approach should be taken when comparing the UK’s current economic circumstances with the global financial crisis, when UK GDP fell by more than 6 per cent and the unemployment rate increased to about 8 per cent.

“The global financial crisis led to a significantly deeper downturn than even the Office for Budget Responsibility’s most pessimistic tariff scenario, where GDP is estimated to fall by just over 1 per cent.”

 

What about the super-rich?

Camilla Dell, who founded her property consultancy Black Brick in 2007, just before the financial crisis, says the luxury end of London’s property was already a buyer’s market, even before Trump. High tax is putting off purchasers — stamp duty can be as high as 19 per cent for overseas buyers compared with 4 per cent in 2008 — with tax advantages to invest in buy-to-let gone and the non-dom regime abolished.

So, this turmoil is the latest in a series of causes of a market slowdown, rather than the primary trigger. “The result of stamp duty increases and non-dom tax changes have caused prices in London to decrease to levels not seen since the financial crisis,” she says.

Helen Whitfield, whose Butler Sherborn agency deals with high-end homes in the Cotswolds, says: “The conversations I’ve had with people who are buying at the moment, some of them are like, ‘I’ve just had £400,000 wiped off the value of my stocks and shares.’” However, up until this week she says the market had been going well with her phone “ringing off the hook” and she believes it will again, particularly as most of her buyers don’t need mortgages. “The Cotswolds isn’t dying on its feet yet,” she adds.

 

What about the rest of us?

For most of the market, though, uncertainty abounds. And when there is uncertainty over people’s finances and their investments, there is likely to be a slowdown, particularly among middle-class movers. For sellers, this means being realistic on pricing, while buyers are likely to negotiate more robustly.

The latest monthly survey of property professionals by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics), covering March, found the weakest buyer sentiment since September 2023.

It said “three-month sales expectations point to a further dip in activity over the near term, but further ahead the outlook is not quite as downbeat with sales volumes expected to rise.”

Simon Rubinsohn, Rics chief economist, says: “The expiry of the stamp duty break was always going to lead to a pause in activity in the sales market. However, the latest results, and indeed the anecdotal remarks from respondents to our survey, suggest that the shift in sentiment has been aggravated by the slew of negative macro newsflow over the past few weeks.

“Looking forward, the impact on the market will in no small part depend on how the economy is affected by the emerging trade war and the response of the Bank of England to the shifting environment.”

Ashley Webb, a UK economist for Capital Economics, agrees the market may be more muted as buyers worry about their investments — given the propensity for the markets to dip, soar and dip again. “The fallout in financial markets could reduce households’ net wealth via pensions and investments, which in turn could weigh on consumer confidence.”

He notes that housing demand has always risen and fallen in line with households’ confidence. Capital Economics, however, has not yet adjusted its market forecast — predicting a 3.5 per cent rise in property prices in 2025 and 4.5 per cent next year.

Lucian Cook, the director of residential research for Savills, says: “Further economic uncertainty is likely to mean the continuation of a price-sensitive market through the spring, with activity dominated by needs-based buyers and sellers.”

Savills’ forecast, released after the spring statement, predicted transactions remaining slightly below their pre-pandemic average over the next five years, peaking at 1,150,000 in 2028 (there were 1,040,000 transactions last year). This may be further hit.

For those buying more affordable properties outside London and the south, the market is likely to be stronger than for those stretching themselves for pricier homes. Data published by Halifax on Monday showed a 6.6 per cent annual price growth to the end of March in Northern Ireland, where the average property price of £206,620 has scarcely recovered from its level during the financial crisis. Scotland (4.3 per cent) and Yorkshire and the Humber (4.2 per cent) come next, but pricier Greater London was registering an anaemic 1.1 per cent in property price growth.

Is property still a safe investment?

Timothy Hawe, the director of the Your Move estate agency in the Newcastle area, says the average value of properties across its 13 branches is £180,000 — and suggests sentiment in this market is strong, particularly because the rise in stamp duty didn’t affect this price point. “We’re not seeing people pulling out of deals or getting really nervous. The other reaction we’re getting is: aren’t bricks and mortar great? Property doesn’t have that massive fluctuation — people see it as a safe investment.”

Nathan Emerson, the chief executive of Propertymark, the membership body for the property sector, says: “Perversely [market disruption] creates an incentive for investing in property. Investing in property is for the long term. Buy-to-let isn’t as profitable as it once was, but there is a shortage of stock and oversupply of tenants and it’s a lot less volatile than the markets are.”

 

Is there good news for borrowers?

One reason for confidence is to be found in the mortgage market, with the possibility that borrowers may actually yield some benefit out of the world’s economy going into a tailspin.

About 1.34 million homeowners are due to come off expiring fixed-rate deals between April and December, according to the Financial Conduct Authority. Of these, up to 750,000 will be coming off super-cheap five-year fixes which they took out during the 2020 Covid era, which was set to leave them with a massive payment shock when they negotiated new deals.

However, there is now a suggestion that the Bank of England will need to cut interest rates faster than expected to stave off an economic downturn — a move which could lead lenders to cut rates.

Experts generally agree that the outlook for mortgages — while uncertain — looks slightly improved in light of this, at least in the short term.

Webb says: “The markets have concluded that interest rates will fall a bit faster than they previously thought. At face value, that implies the two-year mortgage rate will fall from 4.5 per cent in March to about 4.25 per cent.”

Chris Sykes, a broker at Private Finance, also sees reason for optimism on rates, even though the situation is “rather confused and up in the air”.

He adds: “Interest rate futures currently price in about an 85 basis point reduction this year according to Reuters, with Trump’s tariffs being the leading cause for changes in this over the past week.”

Although rates may get lower faster, this doesn’t necessarily mean everyone will be able to afford the cheaper rates.

While some lenders could follow the example of Santander in relaxing stress-testing, others are likely to be more cautious, given the uncertainty which affects their balance sheets. Martin Stewart, of the broker London Money, says: “If bank shares are hit hard — and they have been — it can have an effect on their capital adequacy ratio, which in turn leaves them having to ring-fence money to improve financial stability and absorb potential losses — money that they can’t then lend to the consumer.”

There’s also a counter-argument that the tariffs are likely to stoke inflation by making prices of goods more expensive, and so the Bank of England ought not to cut rates at all. Andrew Sentance, a former Monetary Policy Committee member, takes this view. “I expect UK inflation to go above 5 per cent this autumn and stay at around this level into next year.”

Emerson agrees: “In the short term we could see interest rate cuts but in the longer term there is an inflationary risk to the market, so rates could adjust again.”

Although, he adds: “There is nothing to suggest there will be a housing crash. We might see a little negotiation over stamp duty after the deadline but the fundamentals of the housing market remain. We have a supply shortage.”

 

What about first-time buyers?

For first-time buyers, the chance to pick up a bargain from modestly falling prices may provide a hint of optimism — even if increased stamp duty has raised the bills of buyers in the southeast and London (from £2,752 to £9,002, on average).

In the run-up to the stamp duty deadline, first-time buyers were over-represented in the market — purchasing a record 32 per cent of all homes in the first quarter of this year, up from 30 per cent a year earlier, a record high.

Those whose Lifetime Isa accounts are invested in the stock market may have seen their portfolio shrink significantly over the past week, setting back their hopes of affording a home.

Plus, given that the so-called Bank of Mum and Dad helped first-time buyers with £9.3 billion in 2024 — assisting 54 per cent of those buying homes — there are question marks over whether those whose investments have been hit will be able to afford it this time.

 

Will Labour’s building plans be hit?

There are also questions over whether inflation may hit the government’s ability to build the homes it has promised. “We will need to watch the impact on building material costs around the world. Costs are already at an all-time high and we’re already about half a billion bricks short of what we need. This could affect the government’s ability to hit its building targets. If building material costs do rise further it will be challenging to be affordable housing goals,” Emerson says.

In Notting Hill a serene garden square reveals a startling trend: most houses stand empty. Is it tax changes, market timing or something more sinister?

By Melissa York

There’s a serene garden square in Notting Hill surrounded by majestic three-storey double-fronted homes. The driveways are as bare as the trees on a cold wintry morning, and many of the windows shuttered.

“It started to empty out just before Christmas and it’s getting emptier by the day,” says one of the homeowners. Of 15 houses she suspects only three of them are occupied. “You can get a parking space on the street easily these days whereas you couldn’t before. It’s very noticeable. The lights are on in all the houses because they’ve shut it up but left their housekeepers and live-in staff to look after it,” she says.

“It’s not just Notting Hill,” she insists. “It’s large parts of Kensington as well. We know quite a lot of people in the area who have left. It’s all about taxation.” To underline her point, she says one of her friends has just bought a house in Kensington from a couple who are off to low-tax Dubai.

It is a phenomenon across the capital’s most expensive neighbourhoods from Hampstead in the northwest to Chelsea in the southwest. A combination of tax changes – it is estimated that Britain lost a net 10,800 millionaires to migration last year — a stagnant luxury property market and a wet winter means thousands of high-end homes are empty for the best part of a year.

Almost a million homes in England, or 1 in 25 properties, are not lived in regularly, data from the Action on Empty Homes campaign shows. Of these, 256,061 have been empty for six months or longer, 4,000 more than last year, and the number of long-term empty homes are now at their highest level since 2011. Some 279,870 homes are not used as the owner’s primary residence, up 6.3 per cent since 2023.

The situation is not likely to improve anytime soon. Next month non-dom status will be abolished and replaced with a residence-based regime that means foreign earnings will be subject to UK inheritance tax rules.

Meanwhile many of Britain’s comfortable middle classes —not only the international wealthy — are also toying with the idea of a move motivated by Labour’s tax hikes (both real such as the inheritance tax on pensions and anticipated, higher capital gains tax being of key concern).

Overseas estate agents all report an uptick in inquiries from British buyers about leaving. Malta, Milan, Switzerland and Italy are popular options, although they report that many Brits are just exploring their options for now.

“It is mostly about a potential move, especially for the British clients. Non-British clients are more likely to be more globally mobile,” says Alex Koch de Gooreynd, a partner in international sales at Knight Frank estate agency.

“They all say to me that they don’t have an issue paying tax but they do have an issue paying inheritance tax on their worldwide assets. They look at Portugal and Switzerland, where there is zero inheritance tax and it looks attractive.”

Back in Notting Hill, on Clarendon Road, the only resident who was home to answer the door thinks the silent streets have more to do with demographics and drizzle than non-doms.

Bouncing a baby on her hip, she says: “A lot of [the homeowners] around here are international — Europeans, Americans — and they are very wealthy people who have two or three homes to go to. It’s like they live in a parallel universe.”

The capital is no longer hot property — prime prices have fallen, meaning you can get more for your money. And experts say you can’t blame it all on Labour

By Emanuele Midolo

Dear American multimillionaires looking to buy a home in the UK, I have good news for you: if you have $1 million to splash, you can now get more bang for your buck in London.

The annual Wealth Report published today by the estate agency Knight Frank shows $1 million (about £800,000) now buys you 34 sq m (365 sq ft) in London, up from 23 sq m (248 sq ft) a decade ago — a 43 per cent increase. This makes the British capital better value than it has been for years.

To put it into context, a 200 sq m (2,150 sq ft) penthouse in, say, Marylebone, would now cost you just short of $5.9 million, compared with $8.7 million it would have cost you ten years ago.

This is because prices have constantly gone down over the past couple of years, while tax rises have dissuaded buyers from moving here, leading to one of the most stagnant periods for the London luxury property market in decades.

Plummeting prices and a favourable currency fluctuation mean that, although bricks and mortar in the capital is still among the most expensive in the world, it is significantly more affordable than it was a decade ago.

London has seen the biggest shift since 2014, says Liam Bailey, the global head of research at Knight Frank. “The three markets that stand out where actually you’re getting more for your money now ten years on are London; Monaco (5 per cent more space), where you’re getting 19 sq m for your million dollars rather than 18 sq m; and New York (2 per cent more space), with 34 sq m rather than 33 sq m.”

Why do some properties get snapped up while others struggle to sell?

By Hugh Graham

Is it a buyers’ market or a sellers’ market? It’s the perennial question in property. In the case of London right now, the answer is both. Sometimes those markets are just streets apart — sometimes they are different houses on the same street.

While good quality family homes below £1.5 million are being snapped up (with many going to sealed bids), more expensive properties can languish on the market enduring discounts in the hope of finding a buyer. Doer-uppers are no longer in favour while turnkey properties near good state schools are in high demand.

Take the case of Yasha Estraikh and Maya Magal. The couple live in a four-bedroom terraced house in Kensal Rise, a family-friendly neighbourhood in northwest London. They have children aged seven, five and one and would like to upsize. They put their Edwardian house on the market for £1,699,950 in November. “We thought it was a terrible time to list, before Christmas, but we had found a house we really liked, and thought, we better get ours on quickly,” Estraikh, 40, a brand investor, says. “We were actually amazed by the reaction.”

They had 12 viewings in 16 days and two offers — one over the asking price at £1.71 million. In hindsight, Estraikh is not surprised. “Every month we get handwritten letters through the door saying, we’re a family, we want to move to the area, are you considering selling?”

Take the case of Yasha Estraikh and Maya Magal. The couple live in a four-bedroom terraced house in Kensal Rise, a family-friendly neighbourhood in northwest London. They have children aged seven, five and one and would like to upsize. They put their Edwardian house on the market for £1,699,950 in November. “We thought it was a terrible time to list, before Christmas, but we had found a house we really liked, and thought, we better get ours on quickly,” Estraikh, 40, a brand investor, says. “We were actually amazed by the reaction.”

They had 12 viewings in 16 days and two offers — one over the asking price at £1.71 million. In hindsight, Estraikh is not surprised. “Every month we get handwritten letters through the door saying, we’re a family, we want to move to the area, are you considering selling?”

The house the couple wanted to buy fell through. But, after accepting the offer for £1.71 million, they were able to find a bigger house with a larger garden in the same neighbourhood, but for a lower price: £1.437 million, reduced from £1.8 million, the initial listing price over a year ago. The reason? It was a fixer-upper.

It’s the houses that are modernised and sold in turnkey condition that are selling well, according to their estate agent Stewart Boyd, who runs Winkworth in Kensal Rise and Queens Park. “In the last five years, since Brexit and Covid, there has been a complete 180 from people who want doer-uppers and people who want a plug-and-play house, just because of the cost of labour and building works.”

Estraikh and Magal’s story is playing out all over the London suburbs. The property market may be in the doldrums in some parts of the country, with reports of price falls and long sales times in the home counties, and a stagnant super-prime London market. But London’s family-house market, between £1 million and £2 million, is hot in many postcodes, according to The Advisory, a property advice website. Its PropCast data determines heat ratings by counting the number of properties on the market in a postcode and calculating the percentage of these that are under offer or sold subject to contract: 0-25 per cent is very cold, 26-34 per cent is cold, 35-49 per cent is hot and anything above 50 is very hot.

PropCast assessed 35 London postcodes and found that 26 of these were hot or very hot. The hottest market between £1 million and £2 million was SE21, which covers Dulwich and Tulse Hill, where 71 per cent of the properties were under offer, followed by N8 (Crouch End and Harringay, 69 per cent), SE22 (East Dulwich, 60 per cent), SE15 (Peckham and Nunhead, 57 per cent) and E11 (Wanstead, 56 per cent). Homes priced between £1 million and £2 million sold 14 per cent more quickly than at all other price points across the capital in 2024, according to the estate agency Savills using data from the consultancy TwentyCi.

Estraikh and Magal’s story is playing out all over the London suburbs. The property market may be in the doldrums in some parts of the country, with reports of price falls and long sales times in the home counties, and a stagnant super-prime London market. But London’s family-house market, between £1 million and £2 million, is hot in many postcodes, according to The Advisory, a property advice website. Its PropCast data determines heat ratings by counting the number of properties on the market in a postcode and calculating the percentage of these that are under offer or sold subject to contract: 0-25 per cent is very cold, 26-34 per cent is cold, 35-49 per cent is hot and anything above 50 is very hot.

Geoff Wilford, the owner of Wilfords estate agency in Battersea, south London, recently sold his own house in a hot area (Wandsworth, SW17), where 48 per cent of the stock is under offer. In 2020 he and his wife spent £400,000 renovating and extending their four-bedroom Victorian terraced house in Bellevue Village, which is in a catchment area for good state schools. They paid £1.23 million for it in 2017. In October they put the house on the market for £2 million. “We had about six viewings, and sold in November for £2.25 million. The market is absolutely flying, as long as houses are priced sensibly.”

Tales of sealed bids are common, but it’s not a frenzied market. In 2014 you might have seen ten parties bidding — now it’s more like two or three, according to Amy Reynolds, the head of sales at Antony Roberts estate agency in Richmond, southwest London. Properties typically get the asking price, or a bit above or below. Savills has forecast a 3 per cent rise in prices for the mainstream London market in 2025, but no price rises for outer prime areas (£1.85 million and above in areas like Chiswick, Wandsworth, Fulham and Islington) and a 4 per cent fall for prime central, such as Chelsea and Belgravia.

“In the outer prime London family neighbourhoods like Fulham and Clapham we’re definitely seeing increased competition, sealed bids, not enough supply and more buyers than there is available stock,” says Camilla Dell, the founder of the buying agency Black Brick. “Part of the reason is people are moving less. In the days when stamp duty was lower, people would take baby steps up the housing ladder. Now they save and live with their parents for longer, and when they are ready to buy, they start with a family house. And that has caused increased competition.”

Supply is still much lower than in previous hot markets, agrees David Fell from the estate agency Hamptons. In January 2016, for instance, there were 386 sales of £1 million to £2 million houses in Greater London; Hamptons expects between half and three quarters of this for January 2025, although the property website Rightmove says the number of sales agreed in London is 17 per cent higher than a year ago.

Not so hot for others

Not everything is being snapped up, though. The PropCast data shows that in the £2 million to £5 million bracket, 26 of the 35 postcodes are cold or very cold. There is a smaller pool of buyers at higher price points, and some of those postcodes have few properties above £2 million.

At this level there are some significant price drops in family-friendly areas. A seven-bedroom Victorian house in Crystal Palace, southeast London, went on in May with Hamptons for £2.35 million and last week reduced its price to £2 million, a 15 per cent drop. An eight-bedroom Victorian fixer-upper in Balham, south London, went on in August for £2.95 million with the agency Knight Frank and was reduced to £2.75 million in December.

Will interest rates fall again? Will landlords continue to lump it? And what will the new stamp duty deadline mean?

By David Byers

So 2025 is here and, much to everyone’s shock, estate agents are actually talking up the prospect of selling houses.

Among a blizzard of predictions in the first week of the new year, one from the estate agency Winkworth stood out. It boldly forecast that its website traffic would be “up 400 per cent on January 2” compared with … Christmas Day.

But what are the really valuable predictions for 2025? We gazed into our crystal ball and this is what we saw.

Mortgages will dictate where’s hot (and not)

The key question is: how high will interest rates be, and will they constrain the market?

Interest rates fell glacially in 2024, dropping from 5.93 to 5.48 per cent for a two-year fixed rate and 5.55 to 5.25 for a five-year deal — the slow pace of change challenged the market. This gradual fall ground to a near-halt after the October 30 budget, which the Office for Budget Responsibility said could stoke inflation, leading the Bank of England’s monetary policy committee to hold its base rate at 4.75 per cent in December.

This week, hopes of an early boost for rates appeared to have been dampened by a rise in yields on UK government bonds, which are used by banks to price fixed-rate loans. The yield on the UK’s ten-year gilt has risen to 4.84 per cent, up from about 4.55 per cent at the start of January and its highest level since 2008. Some smaller and more specialist lenders which are more sensitive to changes in market interest rates have raised their rates. If this continues, mortgage brokers said other lenders could follow.

So what’s in store for 2025? According to 51 economists polled by The Times, things could turn out better than expected. They think that the Bank of England will be forced to cut rates at least four times this year to boost flagging economic growth — an improvement on the previous widespread predictions of two cuts.

Whether this comes to pass will have a huge impact on the market, particularly in the southwest, southeast, London and east, where homes are more expensive. If rates remain sticky, buyers will continue to delay putting in offers, or do so at levels that sellers think are derisory.

It’s a scenario summarised by Nationwide’s analysis of 2024 released last week. It showed that the UK average house price went up by 4.7 per cent in 2024 (the strongest rate of annual inflation since October 2022), but it also showed a geographically divided market. The largest percentage rise was in Northern Ireland (7.1 per cent), followed by the north (5.9 per cent) and the West Midlands (4.7 per cent). Areas where prices are more expensive were by far the most sluggish. East Anglia, for example, had a 0.5 per cent rise, London 2 per cent and the southeast 2.3 per cent.

Data released last week by Halifax showed that the ten areas with biggest growth in 2024 were mostly towns with lower house prices, such as Stoke-on-Trent (17 per cent growth), Slough (15 per cent) and Oldham (15 per cent).

While proximity to a Waitrose is essential for many house-hunters, a high street where you can pop into your local for a pint and enjoy leisure facilities is key

By Zoe Dare Hall

Where once it was the sight of a Waitrose that lit up house-buyers’ eyes, reassuring them that this must be a desirable place to live, now it’s a local pub that’s the most prized “local amenity”, according to research by Jackson-Stops.

“They say that having a dog makes a home, but perhaps for British homeowners having a pub makes the perfect community,” according to the estate agency’s chair, Nick Leeming. His findings echo those of the British Beer and Pub Association’s Long Live the Local campaign: that more than a third of house-hunters rank a good local pub above gyms, places of worship or even schools.

Many will beg to differ. Now that we’re all less monogamous in our supermarket choices, swayed by deals and spiralling food costs, homebuyers may be as happy with a handy Aldi these days. Maybe it’s the sight of a Gail’s bakery rather than a Greggs that helps to sell houses — or the more practical concerns of having a local doctor’s surgery, post office or that rarest of beasts, a bank.

“In Oxted in Surrey, which attracts a lot of London families, a new private GP practice called the Well Life Clinic is big news as buyers want these services locally that they would otherwise have to commute into central London for,” says Melanie Attwater, an independent Surrey-based estate agent.

What most agree on is that a thriving high street makes for a happier, closer community, with just over half of UK adults saying that it’s essential when choosing a home, and 28 per cent claiming they would move if a great local high street were nearby, according to research by the specialist lender Market Financial Solutions.

Last year, more than 10,000 stores closed on UK high streets, opening up opportunities for more experiential offerings, including restaurants, leisure activities and health centres, according to the House of Lords’ Built Environment Committee’s High Street: Life Beyond Retail report that was released last month.

To reverse high street decline, says Lord Moylan, the committee’s chairman, “they need to look beyond being simply a destination for shoppers. Retail will always be important, but people want to see a variety of businesses and other services such as NHS diagnostic centres and libraries on their high street.”

So what are the new linchpins of a happy, healthy high street that persuade property buyers to move in?

Why you can’t beat a local boozer

It’s tricky to put a price on having a great local pub, but Bruce King, director at Cheffins estate agency in Cambridge, estimates that properties in the village of Ickleton — whose community-owned pub, The Ickleton Lion, is “a real linchpin”, he says — command a price premium of 10-15 per cent over neighbouring villages. The village’s independent shops, post office “and a great social club” add to its appeal, King says.

In north Norfolk’s gastro-pub golden triangle, which includes Holt, home to the Michelin-starred Morston Hall, “buyers see living near one as a chance to live the aspirational North Norfolk lifestyle. It’s about being close to the very best,” says Tom Goodley, the head of Strutt & Parker for Norfolk.

And in Bristol, “The Kenny”, as locals fondly call the Kensington Arms in Redland, is about more than its cuisine. “It has a welcome, local-first ethos,” says Jerome Lartaud, the co-founder and director of Domus Holmes Property Finder. “A good pub remains an anchor point for many buyers, but the focus has shifted towards pubs that foster community.”

Membership clubs

Forget stuffy, old gentleman’s clubs. The new breed of membership club is more accessible, affordable and relevant to a post-Covid crowd wanting to combine flexi-working with fitness, childcare or simply avoiding the tedium of working from home.

David Lloyd health clubs are now full of people veering between laptop and spinning class. “The one in Westbury-on-Trym in Bristol in particular has become surprisingly pivotal in buyer decisions,” Lartaud says, while Joseph Antoniazzi, the sales and marketing director of Barratt West London, adds that “a new David Lloyd in an area is most definitely a symbol of regeneration”.

In the Cotswolds, “the world’s ultimate neighbourhood club cluster”, according to Knight Frank estate agency, vendors will try to capitalise on their proximity to clubs such as Estelle Manor, The Club by Bamford and Soho Farmhouse, even when they are up to 60 miles away. Knight Frank also finds that properties within a 15-minute drive of Soho Farmhouse have more than twice the number of interested buyers as those in adjacent areas and sell twice as fast as properties more than five miles away.

“Ten years ago, private clubs wouldn’t have been a consideration for buyers outside London or the Cotswolds. Now these clubs are appearing across the country,” says Edward Brassery of Strutt & Parker in Stamford, Lincolnshire. He pinpoints Woolfox in nearby Rutland, “a modern wellness club that fits perfectly into the lifestyle of today’s buyers. Stamford and Rutland are often likened to the Cotswolds, so it’s no surprise that such a club has found its home here.”

Lighthouse Social, which opens on the riverfront in Fulham, west London, next March, typifies the new generation of membership clubs for the local community, says Jamie Caring, founder of Sevengage, a consultancy that specialises in community building. “Our focus is on creating a genuine ‘third space’ where there’s no pressure to dress to impress or prove how connected you are. It’s about connecting with friends and neighbours, shared proximity and experience. I like to use the ‘broken car’ analogy: if your car breaks down, a neighbour is far more likely to step in and help, simply because you share that connection of living in the same place.”

Schools

We all know about class wars — school classes that is. The skullduggery among parents knows no bounds, such as renting flats they don’t live in, or feigning temporary separation to secure an address in the catchment area of their desired school.

But when you’re weighing up the factors that point to one house purchase over another, being near a great school isn’t just the cherry on the cake; it’s the key ingredient that you can’t bake the cake without. And parents will pay premiums of 10-20 per cent for a house within a hallowed catchment area — not that a school place is ever guaranteed.

Having a great school on your doorstep comes with wider benefits beyond the quality of its education, however. You can walk there. Your child’s friends all live nearby. And the school plays an important social role in the local community. “Any community is a series of connections, which evolve easily if you have kids in the same class,” says Edward Church, head of Strutt & Parker in Kent, who cites the village primary school in Challock, and the variety of schools in Sandwich, including Sir Roger Manwood’s, as being fundamental to creating a close sense of community.

“There’s a snowball effect too — you then meet other families at sports clubs or Brownies. If you send your child away to school, they make different connections but they don’t interlink,” adds Church. “It also helps with the planning process. Planners want new homes to be built where there are existing facilities, and if the local school is thriving, that leads to more houses, which means the school and village continues to thrive. It’s a self-fulfilling prophecy.”

Butchers, bakers and cappuccino makers

For Chris Dietz, president of Leading Real Estate Companies of the World, Gail’s bakery — purveyors of the £4.50 Christmas bun — is “the northern star sign of gentrification”. Nina Harrison, at Haringtons, a London buying advisory, begs to differ. “For me, Gail’s has become rather passé. True bragging rights now belong to neighbourhoods boasting a genuinely independent coffee shop — one that’s not poised to roll out 60 identikit branches funded by private equity in the coming months.”

This butter-laden new pillar of high street aspiration may be a polarising one (Walthamstow, Brighton and Worthing are among the locations to object to the opening of a Gail’s), but it’s undeniably popular. “Despite the opposition, it has people queuing out the door whenever I walk by,” says Emily Smart, a 31-year-old account director who lives in Walthamstow, northeast London — which has plenty of independent alternatives on offer too, including coffee shops Hucks and Ruttle & Rowe, and the Cantonese/British bakery Lucky Yu, whose devotees track its ad hoc opening times on Instagram.

This sense of identity that such shops foster is a big part of the attraction for young buyers in Pocket Living’s Forest Road E17 development, where flats start at £300,000. “Our residents often talk about it being a very chilled but buzzy place to live, with a strong sense of community. People look out for one another here,” says Jenny Anson, Pocket Living’s head of sales.

Nowhere does indie quite like Bristol, though. “Many of the most successful businesses are local brands, such as Fed café or Bristol Loaf, and we talk to buyers as much about the lifestyle of the area — which park they’ll go to with their cappuccino and cockapoo on Saturday morning — as the property they’re looking at buying,” says Nick Stopard, the founder of Boardwalk, an independent (of course) estate agency.

Buyers in nearby Bath prize a similarly alternative vibe. “I’ve noticed more than ever the appeal to buyers of lifestyle-driven hotspots — places where you can stroll to an artisan bakery like Landrace or join a sunrise yoga session at Combe Grove,” says Peter Greatorex, the managing director of Peter Greatorex Unique Homes. “It’s often these distinctive touches that seal the deal, far more than big-name amenities.”

And finally, the new Waitrose …

… is still Waitrose. “Buying property near a Waitrose is definitely a key selling point,” says Camilla Dell, the managing partner at Black Brick buying agency, which focuses on the prime end of the London market.

Robin Edwards, partner at Curetons, a London-based buying agency, cites the panic of one client who was relocating to the countryside. “I had to check that both Ocado and Waitrose would deliver to any property I showed them. We’ve never experienced that devotion with any other supermarket chain,” he says. “Aldi is opening in Fulham Broadway, which you’d never have imagined possible a few years ago. But handy as they are, I can’t say any of our buyers have ever got excited by an Aldi or Lidl.”

 

Property experts say the prime minister may have underestimated the value of Lord Alli’s London penthouse given its low price compared with similar rentals.

By Emanuele Midolo

Sir Keir Starmer may have underestimated the value of the luxury London penthouse he was given use of by Lord Alli before the election, property experts suggested, receiving “mates’ rates” for his stay.

Starmer stayed at the 5,000 sq ft penthouse in Covent Garden for a month and a half during the general election campaign, and declared the value of the donation to be £20,400, amounting to £450 a day or £13,500 a month.

However, similar properties rented out for short periods in the area have been advertised for more than twice the amount recently, with one Covent Garden apartment offered for £30,000 a month. It was claimed on Friday night that the penthouse next to Alli’s commands rents of £1,800 a day.

The findings follow mounting questions about freebies received by the new Labour government after it emerged that the prime minister and his wife accepted almost £19,000 in donations from Alli for clothes and glasses this year.

“It sounds like mates’ rates to me,” Camilla Dell, founder of the London property agency Black Brick, said. “Based on comparable luxury rentals in the area, it’s very low. And that property is quite unique, quite special — you can’t really compare it with something else. You need to look further afield to find something of that quality.”

Mark Turnstall, founder of Turnstall Property, a boutique agency that specialises in ultra-luxury rentals in central London, said that lettings shorter than 90 days commanded a hefty premium over long lettings.

Mark Turnstall, founder of Turnstall Property, a boutique agency that specialises in ultra-luxury rentals in central London, said that lettings shorter than 90 days commanded a hefty premium over long lettings.

Long-term lets in the area are “cheaper”: a three-bedroom flat in Centre Point on Tottenham Court Road went for £16,250 a month — but still higher than the £13,500 a month claimed by Starmer.

A three-bedroom flat below penthouse level on Portugal Street, near Holborn, is on offer for £19,500 a month with Savills for a minimum of a year’s lease.

Another estate agent specialising in high-end property, who asked not to be named, said there was plenty of “misinformation” and “misleading data” about prices in the luxury sector, and questioned the valuation of Starmer’s stay.

Luxury rental prices in London are on the up, the estate agents said, as high net-worth individuals opt to rent rather than buy to avoid committing to the UK amid proposed changes to the non-domiciled tax status.

Starmer claimed he took up the offer to allow his son to study peacefully for his GCSEs.

“I wasn’t going to let my son fail or not do well in his GCSEs because of journalists outside the front door,” Starmer told Sky News. “We also, as you know, had protesters outside the front door.”

He added that “any parent would have made the same decision”.

A spokesman for Starmer said the donation was declared on time and as required by parliamentary rules.

Alli has been contacted for comment.

Fearing a capital gains tax increase in the October budget, some holiday let owners are rushing to offload their properties

By David Byers

Tilly Bagshawe, 51, and her husband Robin Nydes, 67, are in a race against time to complete the sale of their £2.85 million “dream” Cotswolds second home.

Bagshawe, a bestselling author, and Nydes, an American businessman, bought the chocolate-box stone house on Lower Slaughter’s village green 12 years ago. They have rented it out as a holiday let in weeks when they are not using it themselves, earning £160,000 in the most recent tax year.

Now, with three of their four children aged 17 and over, they have decided to sell the six-bedroom house, as they increasingly split their time between homes in London and Los Angeles. However, the decision has also been given added urgency due to fears that the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, plans to increase capital gains tax (CGT) in the budget on October 30.

CGT is the levy on the profit made from the sale of assets, including a property which is not your main home. Higher and additional-rate taxpayers pay 24 per cent CGT on the sale of property, but there is speculation that Reeves plans to raise it in line with income tax at 40 to 45 per cent.

“Knowing that Labour was coming in, and there were going to be tax changes and they were going to be negative — particularly with capital gains tax — [and] that there was always likely to be a worsening environment. That probably hastened the decision,” says Bagshawe, whose sister is the former Conservative MP and author Louise Mensch. “Of course it would be nice to sell before your capital gains tax almost doubles.”

Any CGT rise on the scale that has been rumoured will hit Bagshawe and Nydes hard, as they think they will make a profit of about £500,000 on their home, Brook House, which they have put on the market for £2.85 million. At the current rate of 24 per cent, they could face a tax bill of £118,560 when selling it, assuming they have their full capital gains annual allowance and no capital losses. But at 45 per cent, it would be £222,300 — £103,740 more, according to the accountancy firm Blick Rothenberg.

There has been a surge in larger properties being put up for sale in holiday hotspots, according to the property website Rightmove, as sellers try to offload them before any rise. Bagshawe, perhaps unsurprisingly, believes holiday home owners are being used as a convenient cash cow by the government. “I think in general, what they’re trying to do to limit short-term rentals and holiday lets is really bad for our area and for lots of rural areas,” she says.

“In our part of the Cotswolds, for example, it’s a lot of people struggling in the agricultural sector who are trying to rent out their barns or outbuildings. Or people who worked all their lives to afford the dream of a holiday cottage, but who need it to be able to produce a viable income. I think those people are going to be very angry with some of these changes, which will have a knock-on effect on the local economy.”

The great holiday let tax clampdown

There will be plenty of rural residents playing the tiniest of violins. Many have complained loudly that the mass buy-up of homes in rural areas during the pandemic by second home-owners, which was turbocharged by former prime minister Rishi Sunak’s stamp duty holiday, has caused a housing crisis.

In his last budget, the former chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, responded to these protests by announcing that owners of furnished holiday lets will, from next April, no longer get full tax relief on mortgage interest payments, bringing them in line with buy-to-let landlords.

Meanwhile, dozens of local authorities in prime holiday locations like Dorset, Cornwall and the Lake District have been allowed to charge double council tax on second homes, which will also take effect from April next year.

Many agents say the number of holiday lets being put on the market in recent weeks far outstrips demand. Rupert Stephenson from the estate agency Black Brick says: “Some holiday homes that have been in the same family for generations are now coming up for sale as people not only worry about CGT but also have been affected by the change in holiday let tax relief and landlord relief that was imposed by the last government.” He says this includes “a number of prime estates, farms, and coastal properties”, particularly around Exeter and Salcombe in Devon, ranging between £4 million and £10 million.

Helen Whitfield from Butler Sherborn, a Cotswold estate agency which is selling Bagshawe’s house, agrees that fear over CGT is a major factor. “I have been invited to a couple of pitches next week specifically due to CGT planning,” she says.

Anna Sharp, from the Cornwall branch of Black Brick, points out that international travel has picked up since the pandemic, with fewer Brits holidaying at home and bookings “down by an average of 37 per cent this year across Cornwall”. This, combined with soaring mortgage rates, has hit investors in the pocket. In hotspots such as Port Isaac in Cornwall, for example, there are 52 properties on the market with only ten under offer. “For many, it is no longer a viable business transaction, with the yields simply not adding up,” Sharp says.

One investor, who wished to remain anonymous, has recently chosen to sell their holiday home on Mersea Island in Essex, having been hit by a combination of high maintenance and ground rent by her freeholder, and the prospect of CGT changes. “I didn’t want to take any chances ahead of October’s budget,” she says.

A break for first-time buyers

Data from the estate agency Hamptons shows that these clampdowns may already be changing the market in many rural areas, as homes sold by second home-owners are increasingly being snapped up by first-time buyers. The percentage of first-time buyers purchasing properties that had been holiday homes has risen consistently since 2021. In January this year it overtook that of second home-owners for the first time, at 29 per cent to 22 per cent, its highest level ever.

David Fell from Hamptons says that, with the exception of a bump during Covid, this is part of a continuing trend ever since the decision by the former chancellor George Osborne to raise stamp duty by three percentage points for second home-owners and landlords in 2016. “It has definitely pushed more of the homes which are sold into the hands of owner-occupiers — exactly as it was intended to,” Fell says.

The government says it plans further measures to regulate the short-term lettings sector, including an official registration scheme that will show the impact on local communities. Intriguingly, this is supported by Airbnb and the rental site Sykes Cottages, which say it will show that the harm being done to local housing is being exaggerated. Airbnb says, for example, that homes listed for 90 nights or more per year account for just 1.1 per cent of Cornwall’s total housing stock.

Is the party over?

Holiday-let owners will be weighing up whether they can still make it pay. The industry’s supporters claim that, despite the changes, you can make a profit — as long as you pick your area carefully.

The average income made by owners in England in July and August this year was £7,119, up from £6,579 in 2023, according to Sykes Cottages. But this excludes all taxes.

However, it is increasingly important to choose the right location to avoid the saturation in some overheated hotspots. The fastest growing investment area this summer was the artistic and surfing haven of Praa Sands on the south coast of Cornwall, where the average investor made £14,234 in July and August this year.

Second was Nefyn on the northwest Wales coast, where income was up from £7,236 to £9,132, following publicity about Porth Iago beach.

By contrast, more well-known investment areas are proving less profitable. In St Austell, for example, average income has only risen from £6,885 to £7,169. And in Llanberis, north Wales, it is negligible.

Claire Gibson, 54, is one of those who has benefited from the boom at Praa Sands, having earned 30 per cent more this summer than she did last year in bookings for her five-bedroom house. She and her husband Robert Gibson have rented out the house, which has a hot tub and sauna, since she had to relocate to Exeter for work in 2021. “It has worked for us and it continues to do so,” she says.

Gibson will not be affected by Cornwall council’s decision to raise council tax by 100 per cent next April for holiday home-owners. She has registered as a small business and is paying business rates instead, which all investors in England can do if they let properties for a minimum of 70 days a year having made them available for 140. In fact, many properties (although not Claire’s) are eligible for business rates relief too because they have a rateable value — the estimated annual rental value of a property — of less than £12,000.

Indeed, government data shows the number of short-term holiday lets registered for business rates has skyrocketed, from about 8,800 in 2017 to more than 89,000 in 2023 and now accounts for about 10 per cent of all second homes in England.

Gibson says their neighbours have been supportive of her business and that she wants to retire to the house. “As long as I can cover the costs so that we can continue to have the house ready for us when we can come back, that’s our priority,” she says.

One thing is for sure. For those considering selling, but who haven’t yet made up their minds, anxious eyes will be on Reeves’s budget briefcase on October 30.

What about Scotland and Wales?

Scotland has been hit by a blizzard of new rules, including the need for landlords to get a licence from their local council that can cost hundreds of pounds — failure to do so could lead to a £2,500 fine and a banning order. Councils also have the power to convert their region into a short-term let “control area” if there is too much supply, meaning new holiday lets need planning permission to operate.

Wales also tightened its rules in 2022. Owners must now let their properties for at least 182 days a year and make them available to rent for 252 (the threshold in England is 70 and 140), and those who fail to do so will revert to paying council tax as an “empty second home” — a special rate on which councils have the right to charge 300 per cent council tax.

By Melissa York

Buyers are being misled by false information on property portals. Here’s what to look out for — and what you can do if the particulars are not particular enough.

For most people looking to buy or rent a new home, the journey starts on a property portal. Despite estate agents’ hyperbole, though, too many would-be buyers discover that vital details are often missing from the sales listing leading to frustration, wasted time and lost money.

“My partner and I found it incredibly frustrating how opaque many listings were with lots of missing or incorrect information,” says Marianna Hunt, 29, who started house-hunting last year. “Some had photos of garages and gardens but they turned out not to come with either.

“Trying to find info about EWS1 [external wall cladding] forms was like getting blood out of a stone. We saw properties with service charges listed that were completely different to what the vendor later told us. There’s no penalty for estate agents who consistently list wrong or incomplete information, so there’s no incentive for things to improve.”

Marianna Hunt was frustrated by the lack of information on property listings online.

Incomplete listings can lead inexperienced buyers to make a poor investment on what is usually the biggest purchase of their life because they don’t know what information they should be asking for. “It’s often what’s missing from the listing that’s just as important as what’s included,” Charlie Warner, a partner at the buying agency Heaton and Partners, says.

The average visitor to the property portal Zoopla spends only two minutes and 57 seconds looking at a listing and, its data shows, “only a small proportion“ (less than 10 per cent) of visitors bother to look at maps, floorplans and images before booking a viewing. Even when buyers are more discerning, they are often met with incomplete information.

In some cases, the properties listed online aren’t even for sale. In January 2021, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) upheld a complaint about a listing on manchestersalerent.co.uk and overstreet.co.uk that advertised a “four-bedroom detached house for sale in Rackenford” described as “stunning’” with a virtual tour and a button directing buyers to book a viewing. The advertising watchdog ordered that the listing should be taken down because it understood that the property had not been on sale since 2017.

Another buyer, who wishes to remain anonymous, says he asked to view two properties he saw online listed with the estate agency Dexters only to be told they were under offer. “It is done purely to get more applicants to call them and offer other properties,” he says. Dexters declined to comment.

It has been an offence to leave out important information on property listings since 2008, but in reality there is a lack of consistency on property portals and estate agency websites on which details are included.

In 2022 National Trading Standards introduced guidance on what should be in a property listing and it gave estate agents a year to comply. The consumer watchdog mandated that all listings should include council tax band or rate; the price (“offers invited” or “price on application” are no longer allowed); reservation fees for new-builds; and tenure information (freehold or leasehold).

Paula Higgins, from the HomeOwners Alliance, a consumer rights organisation, says: “Many estate agents don’t even realise that these obligations exist. That said, anyone can rock up and be an estate agent with no qualifications or prior training.”

Camilla Dell, the founder of the London buying agency Black Brick, is “always amazed by how many properties I see advertised that don’t have basic information such as the service charge, ground rent, lease length”, all of which can have a dramatic impact on the value of a property and whether the buyer can get a mortgage for it.

Dell advises buyers to seek independent legal advice for the cost of a lease extension and never take the seller or estate agent’s word for it. She says: “We’ve seen cases where a buyer is told the extension will cost a certain amount and then finds out it’s a lot more expensive.”

In May 2021 the ASA ruled that an advertisement for shared ownership was misleading, in part because it did not include information about the “significant” cost of extending a lease, which can run into tens of thousands of pounds. The percentage of the share of the property being bought and the rent must also be displayed under new Trading Standards rules.

The National Leasehold Campaign, which campaigns to abolish leasehold, thinks a copy of the Land Registry title document should accompany online listings because it’s “the only way to ensure accurate and complete information is provided by agents”.

In November 2023 Trading Standards added to its guidance for estate agents so that the type of property (house/flat/bungalow) is included alongside building materials used, the number of rooms, parking, and information about utilities including broadband type/speed and mobile phone coverage.

This is particularly important for rural property listings. A “pet hate” for Warner is when the advertisement doesn’t make it clear that the property is a wing or part of a bigger house. “One of the other things common with selling agents that don’t regularly work with country properties is not including acreage,” he says. “They can talk about paddocks but don’t always realise how important the total size of land is to some buyers.”

Size — in square feet or metres — is often left out on listings too. This isn’t just vital for buyers wanting more house for their money. If the property doesn’t meet certain space requirements, it could be impossible to buy with a mortgage or let to private tenants. For rental properties fees applicable such as the deposit should be stated close to the asking rent.

The latest guidance also means that sales listings should declare any flood risks, restrictive covenants on the property or land, building safety such as unsafe cladding, and rights and easements such as public rights of way and shared driveways.

While most buyers would expect prices, locations and features to be accurate, the ASA expects images for new-builds, even computer-generated ones, to accurately reflect the quality of finish of the property being advertised. Images that show a higher quality finish than the buyer can expect should have a qualifying caption such as “image includes optional upgrades at additional cost”.

However, listings are improving. On the Market recently became the first big property portal to allow buyers to search for accessibility, so wheelchair users and other people with mobility needs can find homes with wide doorways, ramped access, wet rooms and other useful adaptations. It also has a “greener choice” filter that shows only properties with an EPC (energy performance certificate) rating of A or B, and eco-features such as solar panels or rainwater harvesting.

Last week Zoopla added a tenure filter to make it easier for buyers to search for freehold, leasehold or share of freehold properties. It also added a search based on the number of bathrooms. To determine whether a property is overpriced, Zoopla also has a listing history on the same page as the sales listing that displays how long the property has been on the market and any asking price reductions. Property Log, a free Google Chrome browser extension, shows price reductions on Rightmove.

Rich Hayes, the chief operating officer at Zoopla, says: “There are also plenty of other handy features Zoopla users can use to maximise their property search experience and ensure they’re served properties that are curated to their needs, be it filtering by leasehold or freehold or using ‘market stats’ on listings to get a sense of what similar properties in the area have sold for.”

By Melissa York

Listed homes are worth 50 per cent more on average than unlisted ones — but buyers should be aware of the extra costs involved and hidden dangers.

Britain has no shortage of historic or architecturally amazing homes, but properties with a heritage listing are worth 50 per cent more than unlisted ones.

Researchers at the quick-sale company Upstix found that the average value of a listed property in England and Wales is £443,692, which is £158,057 more than properties without legal protections.

Historically or architecturally important properties are granted listed status by the government and then sorted into three categories: grade I for the most important buildings, then grade II* and grade II. There are more than 400,000 listed building entries in England and more than 30,000 in Wales.

This rarity value pushes up the price. “Not every house is deemed important enough to be listed,” says Lindsay Cuthill, co-founder of the country estate agency Blue Book. “As a nation enamoured with history and the charm of heritage homes, vendors should capitalise on this fascination.”

In London the listed-property premium is 80 per cent — the highest of any region — followed by a 73 per cent premium in the southeast of England. The smallest price gap is in Wales, where listed properties are 22 per cent more expensive on average.

Grade II* and I properties, which comprise 5.8 per cent and 2.5 per cent of the listed building entries respectively, have the highest level of protection. These grades are often reserved for national landmarks and properties of rare historical importance, but there are some residential properties with the highest grade of listing, such as Park Crescent, the white terraced houses designed by the architect John Nash on the perimeter of Regent’s Park in London. These properties will be subject to interior and exterior restrictions, so they are difficult to renovate.

To make any alterations or repairs relating to the listing, owners have to obtain listed building consent from local planners to make sure the changes reflect the nature of the building. This can be a laborious and costly process; sometimes consent is granted only if original materials and techniques are used, and specialist craftspeople frequently have to be drafted in.

Amy Reynolds, the head of sales at the estate agency Antony Roberts, loves selling listed buildings but has come across some surprising restrictions. “I once sold a listed cottage with a dreadful 1970s fitted wardrobe that was also covered by the listing,” she says. “While I understand the value of showing changes over time, there was nothing special about that wardrobe and it made the bedroom difficult to use.”

Some owners relish the challenge, such as Loretta Fraser, 59, and her husband, Bill, 67. They spotted their grade II listed house on their wedding day in 1999. After they tied the knot at Grafton Manor in Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, they peered through the hedge, saw the priest’s house next door and vowed to buy it if it ever came on to the market “as a sort of joke”, says Loretta, who eventually bought the property in 2017.

“We will always live in old houses. We love history and take the approach that we are just custodians of these beautiful homes. And my husband is 6ft 6in, so Georgian-style properties suit him because they have tall doorways and ceilings.”

Their six-bedroom house was built in about 1800, but it’s believed that the site, which was formerly part of the Grafton Estate, was home to a priest who was hanged for his part in the Gunpowder Plot in 1605. The heritage listing protects the exterior of the building as well as plasterwork in the lounge, cornicing, a staircase and the original Catholic confessional.

But it hasn’t stopped the Frasers from modernising the home. They replaced the wiring and plumbing, installed a new water tank and improved the property’s energy efficiency by installing separate boilers to isolate heating to the parts of the building they are using.

Their biggest project was replacing the courtyard with an orangery. The Frasers consulted an architect and then invited over planning officers from the council to discuss what would be acceptable. “[The planners] wanted oak in the windows, reclaimed bricks for any replacement brickwork and cement that had lime in it, so we followed everything,” Loretta says. The couple hired a recommended builder who had experience with old and listed properties. The Frasers are selling the house for £1.85 million.

Buyers of listed properties can be easily caught out with extra costs if they skip their research. They should ask the sellers if they have done any work that amounts to a change in the heritage listing — that can include doorways that have been opened or blocked, the installation of double-glazing and the attachment of satellite dishes or aerials to chimneys. The local authority can ask the new owners to put these right.

Tom Kain, at the buying agency Black Brick, says he finds breaches in listed building consent in the “majority” of the modernised listed buildings he sees and estate agents often don’t realise. “It is a case of buyer beware when understanding how they have been updated,” he says.

To avoid an unexpected bill, Kain recommends asking a surveyor to compare the building with the listing description and commissioning a heritage consultant report that outlines whether enforcement is likely and gives an idea of the costs involved.

Unapproved additions can knock a lot of value off a listed property. Adrian Philpott, of the estate agency Winkworth, recalls one client who put his grade II listed house up for sale for £3 million only to find it was unmortgageable because he had added an unapproved lift and a glass extension. Eventually Philpott found a cash buyer who secured it for £500,000 less than the asking price, “with the view that they would remediate. The lift and the glass extension have now gone.”

If a breach is found, the buyer has to gamble on the likelihood of the council finding out and negotiate the price according to the risk involved — or simply walk away. “They could apply for retrospective planning, but it’s unlikely the seller will allow them time,” says Jonathan Harington at the buying agency Haringtons UK. “I’ve never had a client take [this] route.”

Listed properties take 34 days longer to sell on average than non-listed properties at 55 days, according to the estate agency Hamptons. And those in a city sell quicker than their counterparts in the suburbs or countryside: 64 days on average, compared with 90 days.

This slowdown in the country is partly because prices rose sharply in rural areas in 2021 and 2022 when the pandemic-fuelled race for space was in full swing, and now, because of increased mortgage rates, buyers are struggling to borrow the sums they need.

The cost of building work and utilities has also increased recently, making renovating and heating an older property more expensive. Aneisha Beveridge, the head of research at Hamptons, says, “Particularly for listed homes, the energy price shock has made people think about what size home they need.”

Until 2012, owners of listed properties were excluded from paying VAT for approved works, but now the tax is charged at 20 per cent, just as it is with other properties. Insurance premiums are also higher for listed buildings, to match the greater expense of repairing or replacing any damage.

Maintenance costs were a key reason behind Sarah and George de Watteville’s move from their grade II listed cottage in Longparish, Hampshire, to a new-build townhouse. They spent 23 years modernising the seven-bedroom detached house, which dates to 1840, creating a garden party room and a two-bedroom holiday let annexe on their acre of land. Five of their six children have flown the nest, but the semi-retired couple found that life wasn’t much cheaper because their mortgage rate and utility bills had increased so much.

This prompted them to sell and move into a five-bedroom townhouse at Berkeley Homes’ Knights Quarter development in Winchester. Prices for a townhouse on the estate start from £1.3 million, but still the couple’s mortgage has reduced by a third. In addition, new-builds have to meet stricter energy efficiency standards, which means they are 57 per cent cheaper to run on average than older homes.

“In our previous home with dated insulation, our energy bills were extortionate at about £1,000 a month,” George, 63, says. “Here, we’ve got great insulation, underfloor heating and radiators, so we’re hopeful we will notice a positive difference.”

Sarah, 57, says, “We loved our life in the village, but the maintenance of a home of that scale took up a lot of our time.”

 

From deepest Cornwall to the wild Scottish Highlands, life’s a beach at our top 20 coastal hotspots

By Tim Palmer

If this year’s stop-start summer weather is good for one thing, it’s to remind us how vital it is to be ready to make the most of a rare day when the sun peeks out from behind the rainclouds. Rather than gambling precious time off on our increasingly unreliable climate, live by the sea — then every day can be like a holiday. You’ll be in pole position to spend time in, on or beside the water.

This selection of the best places to live by the coast includes something for everyone: arty, commutable towns, seaside suburbs, pretty honeypots and spectacular, wild escapes. All these contrasting locations have something to offer in every season, with the kind of communities, connections and practicalities that will make the holiday feeling last all year round. And there’s something for every budget, too — with an average house price for each location provided by Savills, using Land Registry data.

 

The Witterings, West Sussex

West Wittering’s vast expanse of pristine white sand is a spectacle you might hope to see in the Western Isles or the Caribbean, but in the overcrowded southeast of England it’s a miracle. Every aquatic activity is catered for here: surfing, sailing, kayaking and paddleboarding in Chichester Harbour, or just eating chips from the stylish beach café. The village itself is idyllic, with daisy-covered lawns and lovely flint houses in a warren of winding lanes and private roads. It’s easy to be discreet here, which is one reason why A-list celebs such as Kate Winslet and Keith Richards have chosen to call it home. House prices are correspondingly stratospheric — an average of £954,150. Which is where its next-door neighbour, East Wittering, comes in. Its own beach is pretty good, West Wittering is only a 30-minute walk away and you can get an average home here for about half the price. It’s much less rarefied and bucolic, but a lot more practical with its friendly pub, fresh fish from the fisherman’s hut on the beach and an old-fashioned selection of independent shops.
Average house price (East and West): £537,897

 

North Berwick, East Lothian

With two great beaches and a harbour, North Berwick has everything you want for a life by the sea, and a whole lot more besides: a brilliant high street packed with independent shops, natural beauty all around, excellent schools and a half-hour train link to Edinburgh. You’ll see swimmers in the water and dog-walkers on the sand all year round, but it’s in summer that the town really comes into its own. There’s a summer solstice beach bonfire, the Fringe by the Sea festival brings in the crowds for cultural high jinks and the lobster shack serves its famous lobster rolls. No wonder house prices are high. A period mansion in a prime spot on Fidra Road could cost over £2 million.
Average price: £460,161

 

Shaldon, Devon

This self-styled “quaint drinking village with a fishing problem” certainly knows how to have a good time. From the water carnival to the summer regatta and the giant beach bonfire, there’s always something going on — and most of it revolves around the water. Paddleboarding and kayaking are to the fore in the Teign estuary and there’s high-class yachting in the choppier waters of the Channel. There’s also a choice of red-sand beaches, but check the tides before you head through the old smugglers’ tunnel to Ness Cove Beach — it disappears at high water. As well as the trio of pubs, there’s a butcher, a baker and well-stocked village store. If you can, grab one of the Georgian houses on the village green, which go for about £1 million, depending on size and condition.
Average price: £516,087

 

Folkestone, Kent

Folkestone’s eye-catching regeneration remains a work in progress, but the colourful Old High Street and views of the sea, the White Cliffs and France from the revitalised Harbour Arm make this the most interesting base on the much-hyped Kent coast. Even the areas untouched by the town’s arty makeover are looking brighter, with the blighted bus station due to be transformed into a park. Add high-speed trains (reaching London St Pancras in under an hour), excellent schools and superior sports facilities, and Folkestone is hard to beat. The most striking address is the new seafront Shoreline development, where prices range from £395,000 for a one-bedroom apartment to £2.75 million for a three-bedroom penthouse.
Average price: £300,448

• Why Folkestone, Kent, is the best place to live in the southeast of England 2024

 

Arnside, Cumbria

The magnificent vista along the wooded shore of the Kent estuary is one of the best estuary views — an ever-changing spectacle of glowing sand, sparkling water and wonderful wildlife. Try to bag a room or two with a view and ideally a garden, perhaps at sea level on the Promenade or High Knott Road and Redhills Road closer to the panoramic summit of Arnside Knott. A handful of larger, grander homes might top the £1 million mark but there are plenty of good houses on the market for £500,000. Visitors descend on the village on a summer’s evening to watch the sunset while tucking into cod and chips from the famous chippie. But the social scene remains lively all year at the friendly sailing club and a variety of other groups and classes.
Average price: £367,629

 

Arnside, Cumbria

The magnificent vista along the wooded shore of the Kent estuary is one of the best estuary views — an ever-changing spectacle of glowing sand, sparkling water and wonderful wildlife. Try to bag a room or two with a view and ideally a garden, perhaps at sea level on the Promenade or High Knott Road and Redhills Road closer to the panoramic summit of Arnside Knott. A handful of larger, grander homes might top the £1 million mark but there are plenty of good houses on the market for £500,000. Visitors descend on the village on a summer’s evening to watch the sunset while tucking into cod and chips from the famous chippie. But the social scene remains lively all year at the friendly sailing club and a variety of other groups and classes.
Average price: £367,629

 

Tynemouth, Tyne and Wear

For all the upwardly mobile appeal of revitalised Whitley Bay, elegant Tynemouth is long established as the first choice for the discerning Geordie in search of sand, surf and super-fresh seafood. You’ll find the first two at blue-flagged Longsands, the pick of the beaches. Riley’s Fish Shack provides the latter, turning out top-class grub from a Portakabin on King Edward’s Bay, which has its own blue flag. Away from the shore, the town has an appealing arty-crafty collection of indie shops and restaurants, as well as a lively market in the old railway station. Good schools and a 35-minute Metro connection to the centre of Newcastle ensure it scores highly for practicalities. Finding a house — or a parking space — may not be plain sailing. Demand is high and period homes in prime spots close to the beach such as Percy Gardens can push the seven-figure barrier. There’s better value to be found on Millview Drive or the Broadway, or two miles up the coast in neighbouring Cullercoats.
Average price: £320,276

 

Portobello, Edinburgh

Go back 20 years and it’s hard to imagine that down-at-heel Porty would become one of Edinburgh’s most fought-over addresses. But with three-bedroom houses flying off the shelves for about £800,000 and the best detached homes topping the £1 million mark, this sandy suburb is where every artist, author and cool young family now wants to live. The beach — with kayaking and volleyball in summer, bonfires in winter and swimming all year round — is the big draw. The useful high street has more than its fair share of artisans and indie establishments. Pizza from Civerinos Slice Bar and seafood from Shrimpwreck ensure that foodies don’t need to take the 20-minute bike ride or 30-minute bus journey into the city centre for seriously good grub.
Average price: £303,208

 

Saundersfoot, Pembrokeshire

Saundersfoot may not have the Instagrammable looks of Tenby along the coast, but on most counts it’s more than a match for its colourful Georgian neighbour. A recently completed harbour development has brought a bit of buzz to the waterfront, while Saundersfoot Beach was named one of the three most sustainable in the world in a TripAdvisor survey this year and there are two others to hang out on. The sandy beaches are the big draw for holidaymakers, but there’s enough going on year-round to make this the perfect base to explore the riches of the wild coast of west Wales. There’s a good primary school, trains to Swansea (in a leisurely 90 minutes) and a full roster of community clubs and activities.
Average price: £370,537

 

Amble, Northumberland

Today, there’s little sign of the gloom that followed the decline of the mining industry here — head to the beaches or harbour where you can buy fish fresh from the boats, and admire the view of Coquet Island, home to puffins and rare roseate terns. You can dine on top-notch seafood at Jasper’s Bistro or the Fish Shack — where Harrison Ford tucked into sardines and a pint while filming the latest Indiana Jones movie, Dial of Destiny. The schools are good and access to Newcastle, the East Coast Main Line and the wilder corners of the windswept Northumberland coast could hardly be easier. Unlike holiday-home honeypots such as Bamburgh or Craster, this is a proper, year-round community: to see just how much is going on, check the Ambler, the town’s own hyperlocal paper. House prices are forgiving — less than half the cost of buying in neighbouring Warkworth, according to Rightmove.
Average price: £209,709

 

Ballycastle, Co Antrim

With expansive beaches, Game of Thrones scenery all around and views across the wild Atlantic to Rathlin Island and the Mull of Kintyre, Ballycastle is a feast for the eyes. And for the tastebuds — try the brilliant bakery Ursa Minor and the North Coast Smokehouse, and the local produce at the market, before tucking into Morton’s famous fish and chips. See the town at its liveliest during the Ould Lammas Fair in late August, when thousands crowd into the streets to watch the horse-trading while tucking into local delicacies such as yellowman (honeycomb) and dulse (seaweed). The best address is probably Quay Road, where a new, four-bedroom Georgian-style townhouse is on the market for £475,000.
Average price: £249,667

 

Waterloo, Merseyside

The greatest attractions here are the 100 life-sized cast-iron figures that make up Another Place, Antony Gormley’s mesmerising installation which has transformed the huge sandy Crosby Beach into one of the country’s most uplifting spectacles — even more so if you spot one of the dolphins that are increasingly regular visitors to the Mersey. But there are more down-to-earth attractions in this unpretentious beachside enclave that’s less than 20 minutes by reliable Merseyrail train from the centre of Liverpool. There are good schools, a lively selection of bars and restaurants clustered around the station on South Road and the lovely Plaza Community Cinema. Best of all is a useful stock of Victorian and Edwardian houses, which are both closer to the water and cheaper than in Waterloo’s better-known neighbour, Crosby. A four-bedroom place with a view of the beach will cost £350,000-£400,000. An extra £100,000 will secure a spot right on the beach.
Average price: £213,198

 

Mumbles, Glamorgan

For somewhere that’s essentially a suburb of Swansea, Mumbles has a frankly indecent amount to offer the most demanding thalassophile. Within a few miles of the centre of Wales’s second city, you can watch wading birds forage on the shoreline of Swansea Bay, explore the rockpools of Bracelet Bay, join the hardy year-round swimmers at Langland Bay or hop on your surfboard at Caswell Bay. An ice cream from Joe’s, Forte’s or Verdi’s is the perfect reward for a day on the beach. For those seeking even wilder landscapes Rhossili Bay, on the tip of the Gower peninsula, is 40 minutes in the opposite direction. The best addresses round here — some would say in all of Wales — are Caswell Bay and Langland, sometimes optimistically described as the country’s answer to the Hamptons.
Average price: £412,524

 

Penzance/Newlyn, Cornwall

Penzance may be at the end of the train line, but this is no salty backwater, and some new investments have spruced things up. Cornish culture is to the fore, and since the pandemic a clutch of bars and restaurants have opened, including 45 Queen Street, Lovetts café and the harbourside fish joint Argoe, which is listed in the Michelin guide. From historic Chapel Street to the art deco Jubilee Pool (where full-time residents get a discount), architecture is a strong point. And best of all, those beautiful old houses offer excellent value for money, at least compared with the hooray hotspots on the north coast. “We remain in a buyer’s market and there’s plenty of choice, from detached Victorian villas for around £1 million, to cute cottages overlooking Mount’s Bay for under £500,000,” says Anna Sharp, of the buying agency Black Brick.
Average price: £302,328

 

Nairn, Highlands

You wouldn’t mistake the weather for Tenerife, but Nairn is one of the sunniest, driest corners of Scotland. Faint praise, perhaps, but that means there’s more time to enjoy the panoply of pursuits on offer in this handsome town on the Moray Firth. It has two beaches, two championship golf courses and limitless walking and mountain biking opportunities nearby, and a resident pod of dolphins to watch out for. A books and arts festival highlights Nairn’s cultural depth. The bright lights and superstores of Inverness are close at hand (30 minutes by car, 20 by train), but you can get most of what you need in the town centre. There’s a good range of Victorian homes, from cottages for about £200,000 to large detached villas (£500,000 or so).
Average price: £250,435

Rishi who? Wealthy US buyers don’t care about UK politics, they just want to splash their cash on prime properties

By Emanuele Midolo

A few days ago, the British comedian Simon Brodkin went viral on social media when he asked some New Yorkers what they thought of Rishi Sunak. “Of who?” most of them replied. Oddly a few thought he was a DJ. “Techno DJ. Doof doof doof.”

The video was captioned “DJ Sunak taking bookings from July 5” — in the comments some were wondering what would have happened if he’d asked the same question about Keir Starmer.

Although they may not know (or care) much about British politics, Americans seem to love Britain. Taylor Swift is reportedly renting a £3 million cottage in Chipping Norton in the Cotswolds, a stone’s throw from Soho Farmhouse, the exclusive members’ club. Tom Cruise and Ellen DeGeneres are also rumoured to be on the hunt for houses there. Since the pandemic US buyers have snapped up trophy mansions, penthouses and huge lateral apartments in some of England’s best addresses — particularly in London.

Last year four in ten London homes valued at £15 million and above were sold to an American buyer, according to an analysis by the super-prime agency Beauchamp Estates. This accounts for more than half a billion pounds’ worth of properties. The data, from the property portal LonRes (plus Beauchamp’s own market insights), also shows that 70 per cent of all purchases were made in cash.

“Americans don’t give a flying f*** about non-dom status,” Beauchamp’s founder, Gary Hersham, says, referring to the tax status of “non-domiciled residents” — like Sunak’s wife, the Indian businesswoman Akshata Murty — who do not have to pay tax on money they earned outside of the UK.

The chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, announced in the spring budget that he is scrapping the non-dom tax regime. There were worries in property circles that the change, which will take place in April 2025, may dampen foreign investments. When it comes to American buyers, at least, that doesn’t seem to be the case — yet.

“They’re taxed worldwide and they’re not concerned about politics here or in America,” Hersham says. “They’re wealthy enough to live anywhere they want. And they love it here. They love the quality of work of the properties in London, which they just do not get in California or New York. Nothing to compare.”

In the past two weeks alone American buyers have snapped up properties in London worth £150 million. Not even the prospect of a Labour government, which may introduce higher taxes on foreign ownership of UK homes, seems to be denting their enthusiasm.

“None of [our American clients] are really talking to us about a Labour government or the general election and how that may impact them,” Camilla Dell, managing partner of the buying agency Black Brick, says. “Some of them have been talking to us about Donald Trump, saying that if he gets elected [in the US] they’re going to think twice whether they want to stay there or even come here permanently. But others think Trump is good news for anybody in America who’s got money.”

Many of Dell’s American clients are professionals — either working in tech or finance — living on the Pacific west coast who want to buy a pied-à-terre or a holiday home in Kensington and Chelsea. Their budgets range from £1.5 million to £8 million, she says.

“Many of them have business links here,” Dell explains. “They like being in London and everything the city has to offer: theatres, shopping, parks. But they also love to use the capital as a springboard into Europe. Here in London we take the continent for granted, whereas Americans really see how close amazing places are — Paris, Rome, Greece — and they make the most of it. They move around and explore.”

London’s top agents agree that, historically, US buyers have been interested in period houses with period features. “Some of our houses are older than the cities they come from,” says Jessica Bishop from DDRE Global, the super-prime boutique agency that is the subject of the hit Netflix show Buying London. About half of DDRE’s clients are American, and it uses a US brokerage model to do business.

Bishop says US buyers dream about the charm and character of traditional British homes. “I’m looking on behalf of a very influential American at the moment. Their focus is particularly on the exterior of the house, the stucco façades that you see in Belgravia and on [the Netflix period drama] Bridgerton.”

Another drive is the quality of schools in England. Bishop has just sold a multimillion-pound townhouse in Notting Hill, west London, to an American family — they want their children to be educated here.

Peter Wetherell, head of the estate agency Wetherell, which specialises in properties in Mayfair, is selling a house in Hay’s Mews, priced at £6.75 million, for the third time in his career. “I sold the house to an American lady back in 1987, then in 2000 it was purchased by another American buyer, a Chicago financier, Ralph I Goldenberg,” Wetherell says. “Now his daughter, Jane Goldenberg, who is based in Chicago, has asked us to sell the house again. Our main focus is marketing it in the United States.”

Wetherell says that for London’s super-prime developers, marketing to an American audience has become “essential” and “mission critical”, so roadshows for London trophy homes regularly take place in Manhattan, Miami and Chicago. “UK property firms are spending vast sums of money advertising in American newspapers and magazines.”

More recently American buyers have started to hunt for new-builds too, partly due to a lack of available stock in addresses like Mayfair, Chelsea or Belgravia.

“Americans have never been as prevalent in the London market as they are now, and as more have come in, they’ve massively diversified the types of properties they buy,” Claire Reynolds, managing partner at UK Sotheby’s International Realty, says. Reynolds has just sold a two-bedroom flat in a development on Grosvenor Square in Mayfair to an American businessman for £23.5 million.

“This was a guy who was opening an office in London and just wanted an apartment that could double up as a wardrobe,” she adds. “He said that even if he flies by private jet he doesn’t want to bring anything beyond his phone, wallet and passport.”

This trend is not exclusive to prime London. Americans have been flocking to the Cotswolds for some time. “The north, close to Soho Farmhouse, tends to attract celebrities who want to be noticed,” says Henry Sherwood, founder of The Buying Agents consultancy, which covers the home counties. “If you want to be more discreet you should go to the south. There’s a lot of old money in the Cotswolds, they don’t need to sell and are very selective.” Sherwood adds that the Royal Air Force airport at Brize Norton, around 15 miles away from Chipping Norton, now accepts private jets.

Trevor Kearney, who for 20 years sold prime properties for Savills and has just set up his own firm, the Private Office, says that the private estates in Surrey — including the Wentworth Estate and St George’s Hill — are also extremely popular among Americans.

“They might have been aware of them in the past but they’re now looking to buy there and make home there,” Kearney says, adding that there are two big ACS international schools (formerly known as American Community Schools) in Surrey, one of them in Cobham, close to St George’s Hill, and the other in Egham, close to Wentworth.

Kearney says he is advising two American families looking for large family homes in Surrey. “Both originally came saying they wanted traditional British homes,” he explains. “They had a typical Cotswolds cottage in mind. They don’t any more. Both want sleek design, security, high-tech facilities and amenities.”

Neither prospective buyer, it seems, could care less who the next UK’s prime minister will be.

Estate agents are increasingly using platforms like Instagram to sell prime properties — but it can be a risky strategy

Camilla Dell

This week alone I must have been sent a dozen invitations to champagne-fuelled property launches. The last time I was being sent this sort of invitation was before the financial crisis.

There are 20 per cent more sales listings for £5 million-plus properties than this time last year, data from the house price analyst LonRes shows, but the number of these homes under offer is down 43 per cent.

This has led to a surge of sellers attempting to stoke up interest in their prime properties with parties and publicity. Some properties are struggling to sell and estate agents are trying different tactics, including social media.

I am on Instagram, but have chosen to have a private profile, and my firm, Black Brick, is on social channels to inform and educate rather than boast and promote.

I don’t believe my clients want me to be the star. Or care to know intricate details about my private life. It’s not about me. I believe sellers and buyers should take caution when thinking about selling or buying through social media platforms.

Sellers, don’t believe that a little bit of glitz and glamour will shift your home in a market that is looking increasingly crowded with options. Champagne-fuelled launch parties and plenty of social media exposure on Instagram and TikTok is not the answer.

The properties I see pop up on my social feed are often overpriced or compromised, or both. Sometimes they have been on the market for long periods, with various agents pushing them on their feeds with slightly different shouty loud music.

The real answer is to market these properties at the right price to begin with. Last summer we were asked to advise on the sale of a special property in a prime area of London. The seller’s expectations were high. We told them this, but they were adamant to achieve their price.

We suggested an off-market strategy to test the waters without the danger of overexposure. We showed the property to the best buying and selling agents in super-prime London. One buying agent had a buyer. They came to see it twice, but could not get their head round the price.

We advised the seller to lower it. Instead, they instructed a property influencer with over 200,000 followers. That didn’t work. So they engaged yet more property influencers. I must have seen the property on my social feeds a dozen times now. It still has not sold a year later, even with its now much-reduced asking price.

If you are a seller, the danger of going social is that you deter potential buyers (as much as you may attract others) and you achieve a lower price. The biggest premiums I have seen being paid by buyers are when properties are exclusive, off-market and special.

It can be a significant security risk for certain buyers to have the floor plan on the internet. We once bought a country estate for a client that unfortunately had been promoted on several websites and social media. Our clients’ lawyers then spent a large amount of time contacting various publications to have the property removed.

That’s not to say there isn’t a place for social media. Done well, it can be helpful and entice interest, but be sure to do your due diligence. Is the influencer a genuine industry expert with a track record interested in doing the best for you and your property, or a TV wannabe more interested in using your property to promote themselves and gain followers?

Recent analysis of acquisitions made by my firm, Black Brick, during the past 12 months shows that buying agents and their clients rarely buy properties that are all over social media. Over the last year, only five of the 30 homes we acquired for our clients had appeared on social media. Many of our clients value privacy and discretion when purchasing prime property. They don’t want to buy something the whole world has seen.

Ultimately, the best and most desirable properties just don’t require that kind of exposure to find suitable buyers. The best way to sell your property is to price it realistically and discreetly show it to the right people before.
Camilla Dell is the founder of buying agency Black Brick

By Emanuele Midilo

Whoever wins the election, a stamp duty hike for overseas purchases is due. Plus, how the UK compares with other countries on property taxes

Nothing is certain except death and taxes,” Benjamin Franklin, the US founding father, once said. Labour may be ahead in the polls but the outcome of the general election remains uncertain. One thing is for sure, though: foreign property buyers — including Americans fleeing their own election turmoil — will have to pay more tax regardless of who wins at the ballot here.

Labour leader Keir Starmer has given his team until next week to finalise the party’s draft manifesto and housing is expected to feature prominently, with a particular focus on measures to help first-time buyers while looking to impose more taxes on foreign investors.

To tackle Britain’s affordability crisis, which has made it difficult for the young to buy homes, the party plans to do two things: increase the stamp duty paid by foreign buyers of UK property; and restrict the sale of new-build properties to overseas investors. While the latter pledge is likely to be ineffective, the former could cause some ripples in the property market.

tarmer wants to stop foreigners from buying more than 50 per cent of properties in a new development. Yet foreign buyers account for significantly less than half of all homes purchased every year in London, the region most affected. Last year foreigners snapped up just 24 per cent of homes across Greater London, according to Hamptons.

In prime central London this rose to 45 per cent of all properties purchased — although the figure is still lower than Labour’s threshold and these areas would be too pricey for the average first-time buyer anyway. Aneisha Beveridge, Hamptons’ head of research, says it is “very rare” for the proportion of foreign buyers to exceed 50 per cent even in the most expensive developments.

But Labour’s plan to increase the percentage of stamp duty paid by foreign buyers — who currently pay an additional 2 per cent levy on top of the 3 per cent charged for second homes — is likely to be felt.

“It is time we built the homes our young people need,” Rachel Reeves, the shadow chancellor, told Labour’s conference in Liverpool in October. “We will raise the stamp duty surcharge on overseas buyers to get Britain building.” Although Labour has remained vague about how much the tax will increase, one to two percentage points has been mooted.

When it comes to foreign buyers, the top rate of stamp duty is already 17 per cent. Labour’s plans would bring it closer to 20 per cent, meaning a hike of between £15,000 to £30,000 for a £1.5 million property. “I don’t think Labour will end up doing it,” Camilla Dell, managing partner of the buying agency Black Brick, says.

Dell, who regularly deals with foreign buyers, thinks that a rise of one percentage point would be “tolerated”. She adds: “I don’t think [that] would be too harmful. Some people would think it’s too pricey but in the prime market people can meet the extra costs. It could slow the market, maybe, lead to some softening in prices. Some buyers would say, ‘I’ve got to pay an extra three percentage points, I want 3 per cent off [the asking price].’”

What would be “unacceptable”, Dell argues, would be the introduction of “draconian measures” like those in place in other countries, such as Canada, which has banned foreigners from buying properties until the end of this year. “[That] would kill the market.”

The levelling-up secretary Michael Gove has been lobbying the Treasury to impose a “foreign ownership levy” on second homes in Britain. He has reportedly pushed the chancellor Jeremy Hunt to apply the levy to all foreigners who own more than one home in the UK where it was not their principal residence.

It is unclear how such a levy would be implemented, with Treasury officials expressing reservations about the levy’s effectiveness and how much money it would raise. “It would have to be enough for it to bite,” a Treasury source says. “This is not primarily about raising money but stopping the situation where new flats are being bought up en masse by people who never intend to live in them.”

Whether it’s Labour or the Conservatives who end up rolling out their plans, property taxes in London are already significantly cheaper than international comparator cities, suggesting London will remain attractive to foreign buyers. So what do property taxes look like abroad?

Australia

In December the Australian government announced it will triple fees on purchases of existing homes by foreign buyers and introduce penalties for homes left empty of up to A$169,000 (£88,000). “Higher fees for the purchase of established homes, increased penalties for those that leave properties vacant and strengthened compliance activity will help ensure foreign investment in residential property is in our national interest,” the Australian treasurer Jim Chalmers said. The changes are expected to come into force later this year.

Canada

Foreigners are officially banned from buying properties in Canada, at least until the end of this year. Passed in 2022, the Prohibition on the Purchase of Residential Property by Non-Canadians Act does what it says on the tin: it prohibits non-Canadians from purchasing properties in the country. There are even hefty fines for estate agents “found guilty of knowingly assisting a non-Canadian in contravening the prohibition” and offending buyers may be forced to sell the property. Unofficially, however, there are a number of exemptions — such as for students, first-time buyers and properties under $500,000 (£292,000) — which according to some watered down the measures.

New Zealand

New Zealand was one of the first countries to introduce a “foreign buyers ban” in 2018, to curb the influx of cash-rich investors from Asia. There were workarounds, such as purchasing a commercial property, like a shop, and living above it. Last year, however, the National Party promised that if they won the general election they would allow foreigners to purchase homes worth more than NZ$2 million (£960,000). The National Party won the election in a landslide in October but the plans are yet to be implemented.

Singapore

Buying a property in Singapore as a foreigner was already tricky, as there are a number of restrictions in place. Last year, however, the island country doubled stamp duty tax on purchases by foreign buyers, from 30 per cent to 60 per cent. Foreign permanent residents will pay a tax of just 5 per cent — they will, however, be taxed at 30 per cent (up from 25 per cent) if they buy a second home. Companies and trusts must pay 65 per cent (up from 35 per cent) on purchases of residential property.

Hong Kong

Foreigners wanting to snap up a property in Hong Kong also face high taxes. The city recently imposed an extra 15 per cent “buyer’s stamp duty” on purchases of residential properties by foreigners — foreign buyers, including those from mainland China, already pay 15 per cent stamp duty when buying a home. Permanent residents, meanwhile, pay just 4.25 per cent.

Spain

Early last year the regional Socialist Party of Spain’s Balearic islands announced plans to introduce a foreign buyers ban. Local officials claimed that soaring prices in Mallorca, Menorca and Ibiza were driving local people out and creating “ghost villages” of empty properties. But in May the Socialists lost the election to the centre-right Partido Popular and the plans have been scrapped.

 

A staggering 71 per cent of buyers in prime central London chose to buy property using cash this year, according to research by the estate agency Savills.

Even outside London, cash buyers accounted for a record 46 per cent of all purchases in January 2023, according to the estate agency Hamptons.

Despite the Bank of England’s base rate of interest being held at 5.25 per cent in September — the first month the Bank has not raised the base rate since December 2021 — the higher-rate environment is deterring many buyers from taking out a loan, but those with the ability to purchase outright are still doing so.

At my property-buying agency, Black Brick, we have seen a similar trend. Last year around a third of our deals were cash. So far this year that number has risen to 57 per cent.

Being a cash buyer in this market is an advantage. It can help you to negotiate a lower price and win competitive bids.

Vendors often prefer a cash buyer over one that needs finance, as they will be able to transact faster and aren’t reliant on a bank’s valuation. But if you are relying on financing your next home, then how do you beat a cash buyer?

My first piece of advice is to be organised. Hire a credible solicitor, ideally one that is used to conveyancing in the area or development you are buying in. This gives comfort to the selling agent and vendor that the deal won’t be let down by a poorly performing lawyer.

Submit your offer in writing. Your offer letter should state the amount you are offering, who your lawyer is, who the lender is, the amount you are borrowing and your time frame for exchanging contracts and completion. Ask your bank or mortgage broker for a supporting letter to add weight to your offer.

If you are in competition on a property and up against a cash buyer, consider offering a bit more than the cash buyer if you can. Bear in mind there will be a bank valuation, so you don’t want to go overboard here, but this could help to swing things your way.

Be on good terms with the selling agent. They are more likely to recommend that their client accepts your offer if you can build a good rapport with them.

Hire a buying agent. This may sound like a sales pitch, but it’s certainly true that estate agents will often prefer our offers over offers coming from unrepresented buyers who they don’t know, even if those buyers are cash.

Estate agents know that we, like other buying agents, represent serious, committed and organised buyers who have also passed anti-money-laundering checks. An unrepresented buyer they have no relationship with is a higher risk option even if they are a cash buyer.

Be persistent. Even if you lose out to a cash buyer, keep track of the property until it exchanges contracts. As buying agents, we have lost out at times to other buyers willing to pay more for a property, only for the buyer to withdraw, allowing us to swiftly move back in and purchase the property at a lower price.

Remember that it’s not always about the pounds and pence. Money isn’t the only concern for sellers, particularly those who have lived in their home for many years. They may also be concerned about who the buyer is, and whether they are handing their home over to someone they believe will look after it going forward. Be human. Talk to the owner, tell them you love their home and why you want to buy it. It will make a huge difference.