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  • Cranes rise over London,

  • constructing record numbers of new luxury apartments.

  • Some 35 thousand of these prime homes are due to be completed in the next 10 years,

  • a boom spurred on by strong demand from overseas investors

  • after the 2008 financial crisis.

  • Most of these homes are out of the reach of ordinary Londoners,

  • who have been squeezed by soaring property prices and rents

  • amid a chronic shortage of affordable housing.

  • But the luxury apartments range from the relatively affordable,

  • say less than a million pounds,

  • to the exclusive territory of the super rich.

  • Right at the top end are these apartments from their developers Clivedale in Mayfair,

  • home to celebrities such as Nicole Kidman.

  • The company has a handful of developments like this across Mayfair,

  • one of London's most exclusive districts.

  • They're aimed at some of the world's wealthiest people

  • and can cost up to 25 million pounds.

  • But how will the UK's exit from the EU affect demand?

  • On the one hand, the drop in Sterling makes homes cheaper for foreign buyers;

  • but on the other hand, many aspects of the UK's features,

  • including London's feature as a financial centre are up in the air.

  • To add to that,

  • many analysts say there were already too many expensive homes being built in the city.

  • No one knows the answers and no one's got a crystal ball,

  • but you know, the way we look at it is a weather pattern that will pass through,

  • and we at the other side of it will continue doing what we're doing.

  • The market will adjust.

  • And the market will move on.

  • But you've got to take a sort of ten-year view over it.

  • There is still demand for highest quality super prime residential property in central London.

  • Buyers at this level of the market are demanding that the Ten Trinity Square development in the city of London

  • that target buyers are leading business executives who are cash-rich but time-poor.

  • For just 18 million pounds you could live in an apartment like this in Ten Trinity Square

  • with access to all the amenities of the Four Seasons Hotel

  • and this view of the Tower of London.

  • If you want the Michelin star chef cooking within your apartment,

  • then that is available to you,

  • but you don't need to embrace that.

  • Furthermore if you want to use the spa, the gym, the pool, the restaurants, the concierge services,

  • they're all available to the buyers.

  • As the market gets more crowded,

  • developers are setting themselves apart with extra services and unique locations.

  • Competition is high, I think there is a lot of property out there,

  • and I think that developers are having to up their game

  • to attract these types of purchases

  • or a smaller pool of purchases.

  • Not surprisingly, the biggest area for luxury home developments is Chelsea and Fulham,

  • one of London's traditionally exclusive areas.

  • But prime homes are being built in many areas of the city.

  • Another 14 billion pounds worth of apartments are being built on the South Bank of the Thames,

  • and 7 billion in areas in or near the City of London.

  • Well we're certainly seeing that the prime central London market is more effective than the prime fringe areas.

  • I think this is probably because the market's dependency in prime central London on foreign investors,

  • and foreign investors are taking a little bit of a holding position at the moment,

  • whereas the prime fringe is more owner-occupied based.

  • And we've seen in our data that 24% of...

  • there's been a reduction of 24% of the number of property sold in the first five months of this year compared to last year,

  • whereas in prime fringe, we've actually seen an increase in turnover of about 3%.

  • Now that the UK has voted to leave the EU,

  • there are question marks over whether all of these planned apartments will actually be built.

  • Some homes were already being sold at discounts ahead of the vote,

  • and planning consultants now report that projects are being put on hold.

  • I think we're just gonna see chaos, to be honest.

  • What we've seen in the past when I look back at 1987,

  • when the stock market crashed;

  • then 1998 and in 2008, is namely a dozen I think.

  • And the market just goes deadly quiet.

  • No sellers, no buyers.

  • And it just takes a long time for that to sweat through.

  • Many of the effects of Brexit have yet to play out,

  • but investors are already circling some developments,

  • hoping for bargains.

  • And analysts predict that the vote to leave the EU will cause a drop in consumer confidence,

  • that would dampen what have been rapid house price growth across the market.

  • If that does happen, even homes like these could become a little more affordable.

  • Judith Evans, Financial Times, London.

Cranes rise over London,

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