Hongkongers emerge as some of the busiest buyers of UK homes, as they snap up property ahead of exodus by BN(O) passport holders

Hongkongers bought £305.6 million of London homes in the first nine months of 2020, ranked second among foreign property buyers behind France and ahead of mainland China, according to research by Astons

As many as 6,438 homes totalling £8.1 billion were sold in the first nine months, which translates to £1.26 million for the average home, according to Astons’ data

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People sit in the sunshine beside the River Thames in London on July 3, 2020. Photo: AFP

Published: 3:30pm, 18 Nov 2020Updated: 12:40pm, 2 Feb 2021

Hong Kong’s residents have emerged as some of the busiest and most aggressive buyers of London homes, as they made a beeline to snap up residential real estate ahead of a January 2021 application process that opens the path to the right of abode and full citizenship in Britain.

Hongkongers bought £305.6 million (US$405 million) of prime London homes in the first nine months of 2020, ranked second among foreign property buyers behind France and ahead of mainland China, according to research by Astons, an investment immigration adviser.

The flurry of investments come before applications commence on January 31 for Hong Kong holders of the British National (Overseas) passport and their immediate family members to receive a special class of visa that puts them on the path to citizenship. The programme, created amid deteriorating UK-China relations after the Chinese legislature passed a national security law for Hong Kong, could attract more than one million Hongkongers to move to Britain in the next five years, with half of them relocating in the first year, according to British media reports citing official estimates.

“The ability for Hong Kong’s BN(O) passport holders to apply for British citizenship will impact the London market over the coming months and it has already started to do so with prospective buyers starting their search for a home in anticipation,” said Aston’s managing director Arthur Sarkisian, in an emailed interview with South China Morning Post.

Foreigners bought 41 per cent of London’s residential real estate with prime postcodes in the first three quarters, totalling £3.32 billion, according to Astons. The French were the biggest investors, spending £365.4 million on 11 per cent of the total purchases by foreigners. Hong Kong was tied with the United States in second place with 9.2 per cent, or £305.6 million, while mainland China’s buyers were in third place with £275.7 million, or 8.3 per cent.