UAE buyers swoop on cheap London prime property
Wealthy buyers from the UAE are swooping on prime properties in central London, according to new data.
UAE nationals accounted for three per cent of overseas buyers in prime central London in the year to July, up from 0.6 per cent the previous year, according to Knight Frank.
“The uptick in interest from the Middle East has been quite marked in the last three or four months,” said James Forbes, co-founder of Forbes Gilbert-Green, a London property advisory firm, told the Financial Times. “There’s an obvious increase in activity. London is looking cheaper than it was.”
Prices across London’s prime central districts continue to reflect their “greatest value in over a decade”, down 22.4 per cent on their 2014 peak, according to Savills.
International buyers, who have traditionally been attracted to the capital by the generous tax scheme and UK perks like schooling, have previously been put off the city by the loss of those non-dom tax perks.
But Stuart Bailey, head of prime central London sales at estate agent Knight Frank, told the FT: “If you are from the UAE, for example, and of a generation that has not yet bought in London, both the suppressed pricing and the four-year FIG regime present a good time to buy.”
“Non-doms being pushed out of London certainly doesn’t benefit the wider economy, or the government with reduced stamp duty being collected, but it works well for opportunistic buyers, with less competition all the better,” he added.
Middle East demand drives London property demand
Lettings manager at Beauchamp Estates, Chris Tinkler, also noted that there has been a boom in interest for rental properties in the capital in 2025.
“In the short-let market this year… we’ve seen a spike in tenants from the Middle East coming to London to enjoy the spring and summer, a significant increase from last year when many visited continental Europe rather than the UK,” Tinker said.
The lettings market for luxury homes across Prime Central London has more than doubled in size during the first six months of 2025, growing by 154 per cent compared to the same period in 2024, according to Beauchamp.
Jeremy Gee, managing director of Beauchamp Estates, said: “The huge appeal of Prime Central London as a key destination for both short and long stays is evident… London’s luxury property market is hugely influenced by global political and economic shifts, rather than just domestic economic activity.
“Over the last 12 months, the political decisions of [global leaders] have had a significant impact on London’s luxury residential lettings and sales markets, their decisions generating a wave of new international tenants and real estate purchasers in the UK capital.”