£84.2bn worth of foreign owned homes

£84.2bn worth of foreign owned homes across England and Wales

The latest research by London lettings and estate agent, Benham and Reeves, estimates that foreign homeowners are sitting on £84.2bn worth of property across England and Wales, with all but one of the top 10 most valuable markets for foreign homeownership located within London.

Benham and Reeves submitted a Freedom of Information request to the Land Registry to ascertain the number of properties across each area of England and Wales with the title registered to an overseas correspondence address, combined with Gov data on properties registered with an overseas company, before looking at the estimated total value of these homes based on current market values.

The research shows that there are an estimated 280,021 homes currently registered with an overseas correspondence address or to an overseas company across England and Wales. With the average house price across England and Wales now sitting at £300,636, that’s an estimated £84.2bn worth of foreign owned homes across the nation.

Regionally, London is not only home to by far the highest number of foreign owned homes (103,425), but it also ranks as the most valuable market for foreign homeownership at £55.2bn.

Just the South East comes close to the capital in this respect, where Benham and Reeves estimates that foreign owned homes are worth a total of £18.8bn in the current market.
No surprise then, that London also dominates the top 10 most valuable markets for foreign homeownership at local authority level, with just one area to make the list found outside of the capital.

The City of Westminster sits top, where foreign owned property holds an estimated worth of £14.9bn in the current market.

In Kensington and Chelsea, the current market value of foreign owned homes is thought to be £12bn at present, with Tower Hamlets (£4.8bn), Camden (£41.bn), Wandsworth (£3.8bn), Hammersmith and Fulham (£3.3bn), Hounslow (£2.3bn), Lambeth (£2.3bn) and Islington (£2.4bn) also making the list.

Buckinghamshire is the only area outside of London to feature in the top 10, sitting seventh overall, where foreign owned homes are estimated to hold a total market value of £3.2bn.

Director of Benham and Reeves, Marc von Grundherr, commented:

“Foreign homeownership levels have climbed by 3.2% in the last year alone and the vast majority of this activity is individual buyers, rather than offshore entities.

Certain nationalities, such as Hong Kongers, remain the most prominent and London also remains the go to destination of choice. However, foreign homeowners from all corners of the world account for a significant proportion of market value up and down the nation.

Despite the current economic landscape, this interest has remained strong so far in 2023 and we expect that foreign buyers will continue to bring a much needed boost to an otherwise weary property market as the year progresses.

It’s also important to note that a great deal of foreign interest comes by way of investment into the rental market and, with the Government failing to address the housing crisis by delivering much needed housing stock, this investment provides vital homes for the nation’s tenants.”