Indians are now the second largest prime Central London Property buyers after overtaking Middle East purchasers driven by a fall in the Gulf investors' demand on regional economic and political uncertainty and weakening pound in Britain.
Data from residential property adviser London Central Portfolio (LCP) show Indian investors ramping up their spending in the capital, with the country's buyers now accounting for 22 percent of prime property sales in the year 2016-17, compared to just 5 percent of sales recorded in the last audit conducted two years ago, Albawaba reported.
Middle East is now in the third position this year, accounting for 21 percent of sales.
In 2014-15 audits, the gulf investors were the biggest property buyer in the UK capital with 43 percent of all sales.
"The 2014 audit took place during the height of oil prices when Middle Eastern investors were flooding into the prime Central London market," said Lauren Kemp, senior manager, investment and communications at LCP.
"On the other hand, over the last year, whilst the numbers of Middle Eastern investors remain relatively strong, some buyers may now be feeling less well off with decreases in oil prices, coupled with increased uncertainty in the region with sanctions and credit rating cuts," Kemp said, adding that tax changes on residential property has also been a factor in the decline.
However, Indian buyers took advantage of changes made in 2015 to the Liberalized Remittance Scheme in India that led to a rise in the amount of capital buyers can bring into the UK to $250,000 per person.
Buyers in India now account for a third of the total spend on London prime property. Past buys like Sahara Group chief Subrata Kumar Roy's acquisition of the famed London Hotel, Grosvenor House (resold by Sahara this year to GH Equity UK), and the Lulu Group's M A Yusuff Ali's purchase of the Edwardian 1-5 Great Scotland Yard headquarters have propelled Indian buyers to the premium ticket league in the real estate business.
Abu Dhabi-based retail billionaire Yusuff Ali, one of the wealthiest Indians in the Middle East, had made a $170 million agreement in 2015 with London-based property developer Galliard Homes to create a luxurious five-star hotel at Scotland Yard in London's Whitehall. The custom-built 92,000 sq ft hotel, to be called the Great Scotland Yard Hotel, was to open in early 2017.
