The UK property market has undergone an immense increase of interest by Hong Kong people due to the politics, poor COVID-19 response as well as the greenlight for the UK Government offering Hong Kong citizens holding British National ‘Overseas’ passport, aka, BNO, offering an easier and faster pathway to apply for citizenship.
Hong Kongers’ Surging Interest in UK Properties
The UK property market has undergone an immense increase of interest by Hong Kong people due to the politics, poor COVID-19 response as well as the greenlight for the UK Government offering Hong Kong citizens holding British National ‘Overseas’ passport, aka, BNO, offering an easier and faster pathway to apply for citizenship.
It is estimated that a 2.9 million BNO status holders and their respective 2.3 million eligible dependants were qualified to move to the UK.
These combined factors and forces plus the COVID-19 strict control led to a population shrinkage of around 23,600 in 2021 alone as per Hong Kong’s Immigration Department data.
Some real estate experts in the industry believe that the emigration of Hong Kong citizens will benefit property markets of their favourite destinations, namely, UK, Canada, Australia and USA.
Since the launching of this fast-track scheme, London, the capital and the most well-known city to the Hong Kong people saw a 144% increase in transactions by Hong Kong buyers.
From July 2020 to March 2021, Hong Kong residents bought $1.3 billion worth of properties in London. Furthermore, Hong Kong citizens are now ranked as the largest group of international homeowners across London, Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds, and Liverpool.
Also, as Hong Kong property prices hit an all-time high, Hong Kong people whom desired to apply for UK citizenship will find it very lucrative and profitable to sell their Hong Kong properties and then buy UK properties either as an investment or new home.
This has become a factor explaining why the UK property market has been so strong over the past years, and one can expect it to continue to be so in the coming years. Demand for properties in the UK will rise as demand for the new visa rises.
The UK government is making it easier to buy property in the UK by allowing non-EU citizens to apply for the Tier 2 Investor visa. This will make buying property in the UK much more accessible for non-EU citizens.
With the quantitative leasing policy seemingly still in vogue all over the world, we can expect more and more money being printed. Inflation is already here and it is clear that the Hong Kongers and the wealthy Chinese barons in mainland China will be looking to some safe havens for their money and investment too. With US-China trade disputes during the last few years, investing in UK and its real estate market will be their top choice.
Where do Hong Kong buyers buy property?
As the property market has become very competitive, prices have risen. London, hitherto, is still attracting the highest amount of investment from Hong Kong buyers and investors. As such, it is now more likely that property in London will outperform property in other major cities, such as Manchester and Liverpool. In addition, as the capital, administrative and economic hub of the country, London property offers more opportunities for long-term and steady capital growth.
We can see a rising trend of other major cities that are following closely behind the Capital and they include Manchester and Liverpool. Property in these regional cities is relatively lower and thus, offering more value and potentially lucrative returns in through capital appreciation.
As Liverpool and Manchester are two of the most important economic hubs in the north of UK, the ongoing regeneration and the influx of people from all over the world will surely push the demand of properties in both cities on the rising tracks.
Liverpool and Manchester are home to strong economies, a range of employment opportunities, famous world-class English Premier League soccer clubs and top-notch universities. Numerous investment and regeneration projects are in the pipeline for these two cities. These factors have made both cities and its nearby regions become very appealing to live and invest in.
Having seen the above facts, it is no wonder that more and more people from Hong Kong will be choosing to live in London and the two thriving cities in the north of England such as Liverpool and Manchester as the date to apply for their UK citizenships gets nearer.