Nigerians, other African buyers seeking homes in central London

Central London’s residential market has long been the focus of international interest. Headlines have highlighted the significant numbers of Russian, Middle Eastern and Chinese buyers, but a new influx of buyers and investors from Africa is now demanding attention.
Harrods Estates’ prime central London office in Mayfair has reported a 400 percent rise in sales to African buyers in the year to March 2015, compared with the previous 12 months.
“The majority are looking to spend between £2.5 million and £6.5 million on a two- or three-bedroom apartment, where they can stay when visiting London on business or for pleasure,” says Shirley Humphrey, director at the agency.
“Absolute numbers are still relatively small but the growth has been quite spectacular and is continuing, exceeding the growth from any other region of the world.
“African buyers are mostly working in the oil sector. We recently sold two apartments to two men visiting oil firms in Aberdeen. They enjoyed their stopover in London and decided to buy an apartment each,” she says.
The growth in interest from African buyers is also being seen in the higher reaches of London’s residential market. Giles Hannah, senior vice-president in London for Christie’s International Real Estate, says he has seen a 12 percent rise in Africans buying in the £10 million-plus category over the past year, mostly in Mayfair, Lancaster Gate, Knightsbridge and the City.
“The buyers are mainly from Ghana, Nigeria and South Africa and are high net worth business owners in oil, finance, minerals and textiles,” he says.
Beauchamp Estates says that, in the three years to late 2014, African buyers spent more than £600 million on property it sold in central London.
The majority of these buyers spend £15 million to £25 million each on a home and are from Nigeria, Ghana, Congo, Gabon, Cameroon and Senegal.
“Nigerians, in particular, have been longstanding purchasers, in the 1980s and 1990s, typically in north London — Hampstead, St John’s Wood and Primrose Hill. Now enhanced wealth has enabled them to move into Mayfair, Belgravia and Knightsbridge, joined by purchasers from other West African states,” says Beauchamp Estates director Gary Hersham. He adds that Africans are also beginning to have an impact on the prime lettings sector.
“They tend to rent a luxury apartment in Mayfair, Belgravia or Knightsbridge for £2,500 to £5,000 per week or on a short let for £10,000 to £15,000 per week [and] stay in London for anything from six weeks up to three months,” says Hersham of his clients.
The reasons for African interest include the stability of the UK’s economy and political institutions. A 2013 report from property consultancy Savills contrasted London’s residential sector with African markets, which “can be volatile with political unrest of a sometimes extreme nature” and can also suffer from “corruption, lack of regulation and a lack of transparency”. (FT)