insideKENT Magazine Issue 51 - June 2016 | Page 161

PROPERTY

UK amongst the world’s biggest spenders in the luxury
residential property market

Research conducted in the last six months
by LuxuryEstate.com has found that investors
from the United Kingdom looking for luxury
residential properties online are amongst the
biggest spenders in the global market. Figures
from the platform show that UK investors are
looking to spend an average of £2,293,288,
placing them 8th in the top ten ranking.
In the top spot is the United Arab Emirates, where

investors are looking to spend an average of
£3,237,364. The United States and Switzerland
are just slightly behind with £2,932,252 and
£2,603,400 respectively. Closely following is
Germany, with an average of £2,572,643 and
Spain in 5th place with £2,419,645. Rounding
off the list is Brazil, France, Italy and Saudi Arabia.
The combined average budget of the top ten
countries is £2,446,319.

Figures also show that foreign buyers attracted
by UK luxury residential properties are willing to
spend more than domestic buyers. UK investors
looking domestically for luxury estates only search
with a budget of £2,672,602, while foreign buyers
search for property in the UK with a much higher
budget, reaching £3,945,772.

Housing construction in South East
continues to slow
Despite the government promising to deliver
200,000 new homes by 2020, the latest survey
by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors
(RICS) has revealed that growth in the private
and public housing sector slowed down
considerably.
Private housing workloads rose at their slowest
pace since Q4 2012, with only 20% more of
those working in the sector reporting a rise in
activity rather than a fall over the first quarter of
2016. During the last quarter of 2015 that figure
was 44%.
Across all sectors in the South East the RICS UK
Construction Market Survey shows that while
20% more respondents saw workloads rise rather
than fall during the first quarter of 2016, this figure
has dropped from 36% in the last quarter of
2015. This easing in the private housing sector
has not been offset by any increase in the
construction of public housing, with growth in
this sector remaining broadly unchanged from
the previous quarter with just 11% more surveyors
reporting a rise rather than a fall in activity.

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RICS chief economist, Simon Rubinsohn, said:
“On the surface it might seem surprising that we
are witnessing a slowdown in the construction
sector just a few months after hearing the
Chancellor’s ‘We Are The Builders’ speech and
given the government’s significant commitment
to this sector. One might well ask why growth in
private housing workloads is softening at a time
when policy is firmly focussed on the creation of
new starter homes. We have long held the view
that starter homes cannot be the only solution.
There is an issue around the availability of land
on which new houses can be built, and we would
like to see more being done to free up private
brownfield sites.
“Our survey tells us that planning delays are one
of the biggest barriers to growth in the
construction sector. We have recommended that
councils work together to create a team of
emergency planners who can parachute into
boroughs that are experiencing significant delays
therefore reducing a major growth barrier.”