Historically, Chinese real estate investors have been drawn to London for their property ventures. In 2019, the Office for National Statistics showed that Hong Kong and Mainland Chinese buyers invested £7.69 billion in London real estate. At that time, there were 218,975 properties owned in London by Chinese and Hong Kong buyers, making London the most popular investment location for Chinese capital.
However, London isn’t the only destination drawing attention from Chinese investors. A report from 11K Consulting showed that Outer London and towns and cities near London, such as Watford, Read, Surrey, and Harrow, have seen increased interest from Mainland China and Hong Kong buyers. Other areas of interest such as propery investment in Manchester are becoming more popular to property investors.
In 2016, a BBC report found many investors are turning their sights from London to the North due to the Northern Powerhouse initiative. This trend has continued until now, as according to the Liverpool Post, the amount of Chinese and HK buyers in Liverpool has ballooned by 170% between 2017 and 2021.
Increased interest in Outer London and Northern cities implies that Chinese buyers are looking for a better deal, as Inner London property prices are substantially more expensive than the UK average.
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