A lettings agency estimates that the number of overseas landlords owning property in the UK has hit a five-year high - despite Brexit, the pandemic and tax changes.
Ludlowthompson says there’s been a 19 per cent rise in foreign landlords in the UK since the EU Referendum, taking the current total to some 184,000.
Favourable exchange rates after the Pound fell badly encouraged many buyers in recent years. Today, however, sees the start of a two per cent stamp duty surcharge on most overseas investors buying in the UK, but the agency insists that is unlikely to be a significant deterrent.
“Investments by overseas landlords into UK buy-to-let properties has ensured that there has been a steady stream of capital into that sector, which has kept the quality of rental stock far higher than would have been the case with these investors” says Stephen Ludlow, chairman at ludlowthompson.
In recent years there has been an increase in the number of Hong Kong buyers of UK property, which the agency says is set to rise following the launch of the new visa for Hong Kong British National Overseas passport holders.
It says another key attraction is education, noting that many overseas landlords who have purchased property have done so to provide accommodation for their children who were studying in the UK.
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2% is nothing if your a foreign currency buyer, just look how much one currency can move against another.
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