Foreign Investment in London

[Aaron Sice]

Richard, I've heard a lot of anecdotes about people in their thirties and early forties moving out of London when children arrive because they can't afford a family home. (And the sort of thing I'm talking about is a 110 m2 terraced house in a decent suburb, not the proverbial Chelsea mansion.)

I suspect that the price rises you're seeing in Southend and Winchester are a ripple effect by those displaced from the capital.

Rises of 12% to 14% during a recession when mortgages are still hard to come by is a really surprising result.

There was recently a comment from one of Boris Johnson's (mayor of London) advisers that he was surprised that young people weren't rioting in the streets over accommodation costs. So I suspect at some point something will have to be done, but that'll be tempered by the government wanting to keep property prices high, as MPs have tended to do well out of it.

money will move from the weak hands to the strong hands.

at a time when most cant afford a mortgage, those that can will buy and lock others out forever.

i saw this coming and i see it coming to australia too, but less so.

i honestly thought i, myself, was a crackpot for thinking this but it seems its eventuated.

 

[redwing]

New Capital Gains Tax introduced in the UK for overseas investors

A Capital Gains Tax (CGT) has been introduced in the United Kingdom by Chancellor George Osborne for foreigners who own property but do not reside there.

The CGT tax of 28% will be introduced from April 2015. It will be imposed on the profit made by overseas investors when they sell their properties in the UK, if it is not their principal place of residence.

At the moment, CGT is only payable by UK residents. Foreigners who do not live in the UK do not pay CGT.

Conversely, foreigners who live in the UK are exempt from CGT if only one property is acquired and that is the sole residence in the UK, under the ?principal private residence exemption?.

Harwood Hutton tax advisor Cormac Marum told The Independent that the new CGT could be a boon for property valuers.

?But we have to see yet whether these people will be able to make their UK property their main residence and get around the new tax. That way they would not have to pay the CGT,? he said.