 "One Hyde Park luxury complex in central London")
More Indians are expected to buy properties in the UK, following majority of Britons voting for Britain’s exit from the European Union.
After the fall in the British pound and UK’s key stock index FTSE 100 and possible rate cut by the Bank of England, Indians who have been traditionally buying properties in the UK would buy more of that as UK properties would become cheaper, say property consultants.
“The combination of lower prices and devaluation of the pound should draw in Indian investors looking to acquire assets in the UK. London has always been a favourite destination for Indian property buyers and it augurs well for Indian investors to make their move now,” said Shishir Baijal, chairman of India unit of UK-based property consultant Knight Frank.
The British pound tumbled to a 30-year low and FTSE 100 also saw the highest fall ever after majority in UK voted in favour of the country’s exit from the EU.
Anuj Puri, chairman of JLL India, compared the UK situation to the earlier recession in the US when Indians took leading position among investors to take advantage of falling property prices.
“The British pound is currently at a 31-year low, which itself provides an attractive rationale for foreign investors with an appetite to do so to acquire properties in the UK,” Puri said.
Puri said high networth individuals (HNIs) with business interests or family in the UK will certainly keep a close watch on the effect of Brexit in UK property prices and it is very likely that many more Indians would invest there.
About real estate investments in India, Puri added that investors would now be in a risk-off mode, meaning more number of investors would either pull out investments or stay put without investing further until clarity emerges. “Until today, year 2016 was looking seemingly positive for the real estate sector in terms of investment inflows (PE or FDI inflows), but now that is somewhat at risk,” he said.
He said the real estate sector here would continue recovering on the back of a resilient Indian economy and strong capital inflows. “Brexit will not disturb that recovery much, since India’s office market leasing is dependent only by 5-7% on UK-headquartered companies, and investments and activity of PE funds from EU countries is more in India than in the UK,” he said.
