deVere Mortgages, which offers advice to British expats and to foreign nationals looking to buy property in the UK, reports that the vast majority of these potential property buyers were from Russia, Asia, the Middle East and the US.
London remains the most popular area for these potential property buyers.
Tom Elliott, deVere Group's International Investment Strategist, explained that currency weakness against the dollar was making Britain relatively less expensive than it previously had been. Moreover, London was becoming cheaper than other elite cities for international property portfolio investors.
He said:
"For this reason, interest has been particularly strong from expatriates from Russia, the Far East, the Middle East and the U.S," Elliot said. "These individuals are taking advantage of the economic recovery, continuing strong demand growth and limited new building due to planning rules."
deVere Mortgages became its own standalone brand in January due to growing demand from overseas buyers. However, the amount of enquiries has positively surprised the company.
deVere United Kingdom's Head of Financial Planning, Kevin White, comments:
"We knew demand would always be strong from expats - hence the launch of the standalone division - because of the distinct investment advantages and because expats, typically, have a higher level of disposable income than those residing full-time in the UK.
"However, we have been pleasantly surprised by the high level of enquires so soon. These individuals are increasingly aware that they are typically deemed as 'high risk' by UK lenders and will therefore need mortgage advice from industry experts who have established relationships with the relevant lenders."
deVere, which has 80,000 mainly expatriate clients globally, says it plans to increase the volume of mortgage business significantly this year.
