I went on a Woolwich Arsenal site visit organised by one of London’s largest developers, Berkeley Homes last week. This visit and site tour was organised by a department within Berkeley called the “Sustainability” department, to ensure local key government stakeholders including Councillors, Architects and Housing Association members were engaged during the development process. The tour started off at 5pm in the evening aboard a specially chartered Thames Clipper departing from Westminister Pier.
Johor Bahru properties have never been hotter, and sometimes it seems that everyone, from the retiree dreaming of owning his own private garden to the young couple seeking a weekend escape from hectic Singapore looking for a 2nd home, to the 30-something white-collar office worker hoping to get rich quick from property investment, have been considering buying a home across the causeway.
One of the most frequent questions I get from Asia-based investors is what areas are the best to buy in London right now.
While the Royal Docks certainly faces its share of challenges (as outlined in my earlier blog post, ‘Part 1: Can the Royal Docks Regeneration Area Ever Recover From Its Bleak Past?’), there are many promising signs to indicate that this part of South East London is well on its way to becoming one of London’s must-visit places, and could even become the top choice for many Londoners as a place to live. In this post, I outline the transformation of the area, which has attracted strong investment interest into what could well become London’s most sought-after address.
I visited the VNEB (Vauxhall, Nine Elms and the Battersea) regeneration area for the first time last week, to see firsthand for myself the buzz surrounding what has been hailed as the biggest ever regeneration project in the UK. Despite the many years it would take for transport links and amenities to be put in place, property prices here were already going for a hefty price tag of more than £1,000 psf.
In ‘Part 1: Can The Royal Docks Recover From Its Bleak Past’, I take a look at the challenges the Royal Docks are currently facing, and issues overseas investors should consider before putting their money into property in this area.
For the last few years, Asian investors have been buying off-plan London properties at weekend exhibitions. But given that the sales agents at these exhibitions agents are often paid their commissions directly by the developers, and hence have strong personal interest in closing the sale, could this represent a conflict of interest?
Last week I attended an informal drinks and dinner session with a group of London property investors in Islington, North London. Almost all had successfully expanded their London portfolio investment and were actively involved in the management of their properties.
All over the main section of the newspapers during most weekends are flashy advertisements for the latest London property launches held in luxury hotel function rooms in Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore.
