The London property market
With Covid-Secure working practices in place and clear guidance from the Government that the property market remains open, Dexters reports the start of the year has seen a very active sales and lettings market across the capital and tips the Boroughs of Camden and Kensington & Chelsea to be the year's star performers.
Market update
Whilst the current Stamp Duty holiday will end in March 2021 we do not expect this to impact on the market greatly since the amounts being saved are minimal when compared to the 12% to 15% rates payable over £1.5m. Also the change will happen in the Spring, which is the start of the busiest time of the year for Londoners moving home. In addition, we believe that the widespread roll out of the Covid-19 vaccine will help to unlock a big part of the market and tap into significant pent-up demand from both overseas and domestic buyers.
Andy Shepherd, CEO of Dexters, says: “We have an unshakeable belief that London will very quickly bounce back from the challenges of the pandemic. In the past, such as 2008 when prices were briefly depressed, they quite quickly bounced back. Based on favourable sales and lettings data during 2020 Dexters expects to see sales and lettings transactions across its Prime Central London offices doubling in volume during 2021. We anticipate residential property prices and lettings values in Prime Central London rising by 2% to 3%. During 2021 the Covid-19 vaccine will bring a return to normality and a restart of mass international travel, resulting in a wave of buyers, tenants and investors returning to the London market.”
We expect Camden to be one of the ‘stand out’ London boroughs in 2021 for property transactions following a record year for the 10 Dexters' offices there. One of the capital's most varied boroughs, Camden has many property hotspots from its borders with the West End in Bloomsbury and Fitzrovia, to the perennial favourites of Hampstead and Highgate. We anticipate Kentish Town and Tufnell Park will be the strongest performers in 2021, and expect our offices in both locations to see the highest levels of growth in prices and numbers of sales and lettings. The Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea is expected to lead the capital in terms of activity and price growth. Dexters have seven offices in the borough including a new Chelsea flagship in Sloane Avenue, where business levels have increased dramatically over the past year, as they have in Notting Hill and Westbourne Grove.
Despite the pandemic and the challenges of lockdowns and travel restrictions, we performed strongly during 2020 and remain very optimistic about the year ahead. At the start of the pandemic there were concerns from some property commentators of buyers and tenants moving out of London. However by the end of 2020 it was clear that there are many more buyers and tenants looking for property in London than looking to leave, so this has not occurred and now that a vaccine has been found confidence in Central London living and working is returning.
Dexters currently have 120,000 people registered looking for a London home or investment and our Corporate Lettings and International Relocation team are busy talking to multinational companies and embassies who are already lining up their moves for the year ahead.
If you are considering letting your property or would like an update on your local market, we would be delighted to assist. Please click the link to make contact with your local Dexters office.