Overseas ownership triples in a decade

Foreign investors and UK expats continue to be drawn to the 'safe haven' status and long term returns offered by the UK's residential property market. Almost 250,000 properties in England and Wales are registered to individuals with overseas addresses, up from less than 88,000 ten years ago.

Official data on properties registered to companies based overseas have been available since 2017, but there has been no information on overseas individuals. These new figures have been published by the Centre for Public Data based on information provided by HM Land Registry. The numbers represent an increase of 180% since 2011.

Investors based in the Far East are the largest group. Hong Kong residents lead the way with over 23,000 registered titles, followed Singapore with 18,000 and Malaysia with 10,000. In the Middle East, UAE, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia are the largest buyers. Significant purchases were also made from the British offshore centres Guernsey, Jersey, Isle of Man and BVI, accounting for around 47,000 in total.

Fears that Brexit might  dampen the appeal of UK property amongst overseas investors have been unfounded, with the number of overseas landlords reaching a record high.

Stephen Ludlow, Chairman, Ludlow Thompson

London has always been a magnet for foreign investors and it's status as a world city will ensure that it will remain so. Over the last five years however, the growth in the number of investors has slowed. 

Major regional centres are attracting ever greater interest. Outside of the capital, Liverpool, Greater Manchester and Birmingham have seen the highest number of investments. This trend seems set to continue, with major property companies previously focused on London and the South East recently announcing substantial development plans further north.

According to buy to let lender Crystal Specialist Finance, the profile of investors is also shifting.  Once the preserve of wealthy individuals,  they are now seeing higher numbers of UK expats looking to invest back home and retain a footprint in the country. Their operations director Kris Corns said "more recently, we’re seeing much smaller, foreign investors purchasing within the UK, maybe owning one or two properties. This will typically be new builds or properties purchased off-plan."