Super-prime house sales fall 15% in a year

New research from lending platform, Lendy, has found that there were only 369 houses sold for £5m+ in the UK last year. The figures are down 15% on the 433 sold in 2016 and down a third on 545 in 2014.

Related topics:  Property
Warren Lewis
20th March 2018
prime london house home
"Super-prime residential properties have definitely seen a slowdown in just the past 12 months, with overseas investors keen to see what Brexit will look like, and what effect it will have on the market"

According to the research, super-prime property sales were worth £3bn last year, dropping from £3.7bn in 2016 and £4.7bn in 2014.

Lendy explained that a slowdown in purchases by overseas high net worth individuals since the Brexit vote, and banks becoming more cautious in lending, were the main driving factors in the decline.

Since the Brexit vote, non-UK high net worths have started to turn more cautious on super-prime residential property. Some are choosing to put investment plans on hold until the Brexit process is complete, or instead purchase larger portfolios of lower-value property.

Lendy adds that banks have also become more cautious on their lending to high net worth individuals, with even private banks instituting more stringent lending criteria and reducing LTVs. This has made it more difficult to obtain the multi-million pound mortgages needed for super-prime purchases.

Liam Brooke, co-founder of Lendy comments: “Super-prime residential properties have definitely seen a slowdown in just the past 12 months, with overseas investors keen to see what Brexit will look like, and what effect it will have on the market.

Private banks have also tightened up their lending criteria for high net worth investors. A £5 million mortgage isn’t as easy to come by as it once was, even for investors with very substantial wealth.”

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