At the beginning of the holiday season a press release was issued by Westminster City Council about an independent report they had commissioned into the prime residential property market in Central London. Perhaps because of the time of year this has received little publicity but findings of the report may surprise some.
Westminster Council asked Ramidus Consulting to research the residential property market in Westminster as part of the revision of the Westminster City Plan and Housing Strategy. Here is a link to the press release which has itself a link to the full report. The press release highlights:
- 8% of transactions in Westminster between 2003 – 2012 were valued at more than £2 million
- the great majority of these are occupied or rented to London workers
- owners of properties worth more than £15 million spend around £4.5 million each in London annually and those owners in the £5 million to £15 million range spend about £2.75 million
- owners of properties in the £5 million to £15 million price band and properties above £15 million together contribute at least £2.3 billion a year to the London and the wider economy
- evidence suggests that prime prices have remained relatively stable (while average house prices have seen significant increases) and that properties worth more than £2 million are seen as a store of value more than a speculative opportunity
This is a detailed report which will be considered over the summer. Your comments on the findings and reaction to conclusions would be of great value to us, please let us know your thoughts.
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