Prime London house prices plummeting

London house prices are falling, with the largest decrease seen in the prime London property market, all since the Labour government took power. The findings by London Estate Agent, Benham and Reeves, show that London is one of only two regions where property prices have gone down since Labour won the election in July 2024. Overall, property prices across the UK have increased, apart from Scotland and London, where prices have fallen -0.2% and -0.5% respectively, since July last year.

Although the lettings market in London has continued to show signs of improvement with the average rent of a prime London flat 11.3% higher than 12 months ago, the prime sales market in London has plummeted, due in part to the mass exodus of many millionaires from the English capital which is the result of rising taxation and political uncertainty. Marc von Grundherr, the director of Benham & Reeves, said “The prime London market is a very different beast compared to the rest of London, let alone the UK, and it’s clear that the new Labour government has had a significant impact on prime London property values, whilst the prime London market wasn’t performing particularly well in the lead up to last July’s election, [it] accelerated the decline… This is no doubt due to a range of factors, from failing to extend stamp duty relief thresholds, to freezing inheritance tax thresholds and, most significantly, changes to the non-dom tax regime,”

Property prices, especially houses in Kensington and Chelsea have gone down by 14.6%, Hammersmith and Fulham have seen house prices falling by -12.4%, Camden -7.2%, and Westminster the property prices have fallen by -8%. A good time to consider buying in Central London?