The UK prime and super-prime residential sector is one of the few points of light amid a very difficult housing market.
The sector has a strong appeal, seeing a more than 5% increase in listings over the past 12 months, with particularly pronounced growth in prime London neighbourhoods, such as Highgate, Holland Park, and Belgravia.
Overall, the sector’s economic contribution is significant, generating over £36 billion across some 16,000 transactions last year.
Overseas buyers are vital to this market, accounting for 45% of purchases in Prime Central London in 2023, an increase of 6% on the previous year.
As a result, Chancellor Hunt’s decision to scrap the non-dom tax regime threatens to snuff out the sector’s recovery. Too sudden or too dramatic a change in the tax system for high net wealth individuals risks transactions to grind to a halt, depriving the Exchequer of much needed revenues and the housing market of an upturn in one of its most important sectors.
Britain is blessed with a large endowment of extremely desirable luxury properties that overseas buyers wish to purchase and the Government should think carefully before jeopardizing the future of this important sector.
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