The Great Property Race Inside Out London


The Great Property Race

Similar Content

Browse content similar to The Great Property Race. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!

Transcript


LineFromTo

If I'm paying, or we're paying, £2 million for a property,

0:00:000:00:03

two-bed here, and it costs a quarter or less than that,

0:00:030:00:07

it's considered affordable.

0:00:070:00:08

London, it's a global city, it's got a great government.

0:00:080:00:11

It's considered a safe haven.

0:00:110:00:13

And there's no shortage of Brits spreading the word.

0:00:130:00:17

Property values are rising throughout the UK.

0:00:170:00:20

In particular they've been rising in London and the South East.

0:00:200:00:25

Cheap.

0:00:250:00:26

Very cheap. No, I'm serious!

0:00:260:00:29

I actually spent a week over there and I found something.

0:00:290:00:32

What would your message to all those Londoners that

0:00:320:00:34

-you're beating in the purchase?

-Don't push us out.

0:00:340:00:37

We're coming in with the money

0:00:370:00:39

so I think it's good for the economy, I guess.

0:00:390:00:42

Do you understand why Londoners are getting angry,

0:00:420:00:44

-with you guys buying all this property?

-I would be.

0:00:440:00:47

CAR HORN BEEPS

0:00:470:00:49

Take a look at this tiny micro apartment.

0:00:520:00:55

It's all £330,000 will buy you in Hong Kong.

0:00:550:00:59

So, just looking at this, this is why...

0:00:590:01:02

-..London and the UK are so appealing to Chinese investors.

-Exactly.

0:01:030:01:08

You can live here and you do everything on your own.

0:01:080:01:11

-But you'd want to be on your own in here.

-Yeah.

0:01:110:01:16

For the same money, a Chinese investor can get a decent

0:01:160:01:19

two/three-bed buy to let in London, earning double the rent

0:01:190:01:23

but that's just the type of home Londoners are desperate to buy.

0:01:230:01:28

Centaline is one of Hong Kong's biggest estate agents.

0:01:280:01:32

This worker is closing a sale on far-off Croydon.

0:01:320:01:35

An Englishman might think his home is his castle,

0:01:350:01:38

but the boss here considers it a toy.

0:01:380:01:41

Some people are buying property as a toy.

0:01:410:01:44

Actually, maybe in UK there is some very special property,

0:01:440:01:48

-they will like it and they buy it.

-As a toy?

-As a toy.

0:01:480:01:51

It's a touchy subject.

0:01:510:01:53

These London agents wouldn't be interviewed about the Hackney

0:01:530:01:56

flats they're selling here.

0:01:560:01:58

OK, so essentially you're saying you can't now do the interview...

0:01:580:02:01

'One by one, British estate agents are going shy.'

0:02:010:02:04

Londoners will see Chinese people buying their homes

0:02:040:02:07

and you don't want them to know that.

0:02:070:02:09

But back at the expo, Savills' Head of Asia braved the camera to explain

0:02:090:02:14

why on earth New London homes are being offered to Asia first.

0:02:140:02:19

I have to say that we normally do bring out

0:02:190:02:21

an exhibit in Asia first

0:02:210:02:23

because culturally people are accepting to buy two or three years

0:02:230:02:26

in advance, and British people can buy if they want,

0:02:260:02:29

they just choose not to most of the time.

0:02:290:02:31

Something like Battersea, one of the biggest elements of that being

0:02:310:02:34

a success is that it was sold off plan.

0:02:340:02:36

How many times did it change hands in the course of the last 30 years?

0:02:360:02:40

It's sat there, derelict,

0:02:400:02:41

and actually it is going to be a huge pinnacle point of London

0:02:410:02:44

and really set itself on the map over the course of the next ten years.

0:02:440:02:48

This is a brochure for Capital Towers, E15 Stratford.

0:02:480:02:52

6,000 miles away. It is incredibly glossy.

0:02:520:02:55

There are aerial views, room interiors,

0:02:550:02:58

they've sold most of the flats.

0:02:580:03:00

But in reality, this building does not yet exist.

0:03:000:03:04

This is it, a building site next to three tiers of traffic

0:03:080:03:12

and the rather bleak Bow Flyover.

0:03:120:03:14

At 326,000 for a one-bed,

0:03:140:03:18

it's no option for our first-time buyers.

0:03:180:03:21

The brochure claims it's 20 minutes from Buckingham Palace.

0:03:210:03:24

If you do get a royal invite, be warned.

0:03:240:03:27

Transport for London say it's 54 minutes door-to-door.

0:03:270:03:31

But back at his Hong Kong office,

0:03:310:03:34

Neil Jensen has already sold most of them.

0:03:340:03:37

It's been one of the fastest selling this year, I'd say.

0:03:370:03:39

In one weekend it was over 50.

0:03:390:03:41

And then down in Singapore, there was about another 30 down there.

0:03:410:03:44

-So, it's been... busy.

-There's not many left at all now, is there?

-No.

0:03:440:03:50

Computer-generated images as to what it's going to look like really

0:03:500:03:54

do help us. People can go onto Google Earth now.

0:03:540:03:56

You can walk down the street on your computer screen.

0:03:560:03:59

So people can see it.

0:03:590:04:00

We have images of how that would look. You can see the London Eye.

0:04:000:04:04

And that's how they buy in Asia.

0:04:040:04:05

So if they buy in Asia, then they can do that for London.

0:04:050:04:09

But there's growing anger over Asia being offered the pick of the crop.

0:04:110:04:15

There's not many left now. Most of them seem to have gone.

0:04:150:04:19

What went last night?

0:04:190:04:21

2401 went last night.

0:04:210:04:23

Some developers are now offering to UK buyers first, or at the same time

0:04:230:04:28

as Asia, but if Chinese investors here stick to their habits,

0:04:280:04:32

this experienced Hong Kong estate agent has a warning for London.

0:04:320:04:36

They view the property market almost like the equities market.

0:04:370:04:40

They look at the... they're in and they're out, they speculate heavily.

0:04:400:04:44

People like to normally go in, buy a property

0:04:440:04:46

and sell 12 months later, it's a very short-term view.

0:04:460:04:49

It's viewed as a commodity. They don't care where it is.

0:04:490:04:52

-They're just after capital growth.

-London versus rest of UK.

0:04:520:04:56

People often will buy property and never put a tenant in there.

0:04:560:04:59

To have a tenant in a property in Hong Kong

0:04:590:05:01

if you want to sell it is a negative.

0:05:010:05:04

You look up at high-rise buildings here at night,

0:05:040:05:07

and all the lights are off.

0:05:070:05:08

And that's because a third of the building is probably

0:05:080:05:11

owned by mainland Chinese and they just keep their shopping bags there

0:05:110:05:15

when they visit once a quarter.

0:05:150:05:16

That property over there, that's nice...

0:05:160:05:19

Back in London, with so many struggling to buy,

0:05:190:05:23

investment homes standing empty have become very embarrassing.

0:05:230:05:27

I have responsibility for housing and development in the council.

0:05:270:05:30

This Islington councillor claims he has evidence it is happening

0:05:300:05:34

here at the luxury Bezier Building on Old Street,

0:05:340:05:37

where flats go for over a million.

0:05:370:05:40

I think the problem that I found

0:05:400:05:41

when I started digging in some of the electoral roll data

0:05:410:05:44

and the council tax data is almost half of these 127 flats

0:05:440:05:48

are registered as empty, or have no response to the electoral roll.

0:05:480:05:53

And the other ones have a strange combination of sometimes students

0:05:530:05:57

registered as being exempt, sometimes companies,

0:05:570:06:00

and actually only about a third of these flats are what you might call

0:06:000:06:03

a typical use where you've got an individual registered to vote

0:06:030:06:06

and registered to pay council tax. I think a lot of these flats are being used

0:06:060:06:10

as places for wealthy people, particularly people from overseas

0:06:100:06:13

to stash their cash, sit back whilst they see their asset go up in value.

0:06:130:06:16

I think it's really galling,

0:06:160:06:17

it's really insulting to Londoners who need somewhere to live and work.

0:06:170:06:22

These are the views.

0:06:220:06:24

'Inside these very plush apartments,

0:06:240:06:26

'Bezier say they know of only four empty flats.'

0:06:260:06:30

Can you stop people buying one of these and then leaving it empty?

0:06:300:06:34

No, we can't.

0:06:340:06:36

But the fact of the matter is, that is not what is happening here.

0:06:360:06:40

The facts are here to be seen

0:06:400:06:41

when you physically spend the time in the development

0:06:410:06:44

and you see who lives here and who is here on a day-to-day basis.

0:06:440:06:48

You don't go by the figures that he has gathered from Islington Council?

0:06:480:06:52

Most certainly not.

0:06:520:06:54

Islington Council is now considering a plan to fine owners thousands

0:06:540:06:58

of pounds for sitting on empty homes.

0:06:580:07:00

Politics is now targeting the foreign investors.

0:07:000:07:04

We will end the nonsense of people putting a chair in a home

0:07:040:07:07

and saying it's no longer empty.

0:07:070:07:09

We've got to... We've got a massive housing crisis here in London.

0:07:090:07:12

Labour is talking about this and showing how we will act.

0:07:120:07:15

-Oh!

-It's all right. You're perfectly safe with me, don't worry.

0:07:170:07:20

London's Conservative mayor has worked hard for Chinese investment

0:07:200:07:24

to the capital.

0:07:240:07:25

But earlier this year, he too gave warning to foreign speculators.

0:07:250:07:30

We want to see these new-build homes,

0:07:300:07:33

or these homes that they buy, lived in.

0:07:330:07:35

Because my view is that London homes aren't some kind of new global

0:07:370:07:41

asset class,

0:07:410:07:43

they aren't just blocks of bullion.

0:07:430:07:47

Lovely to meet you both.

0:07:470:07:48

If you've got any questions, I'll give you my card.

0:07:480:07:51

At Eagle Old Street, Michael's client might buy.

0:07:510:07:54

I think 90% or 80% that he will choose one. Yes.

0:07:540:07:58

As we rise above the showroom,

0:07:580:08:00

the developer warns British politicians and the public to be

0:08:000:08:04

very careful what they wish for when sneering at foreign investors.

0:08:040:08:08

Your traditional London purchaser, in Mount Anvil's experience,

0:08:080:08:11

did not buy off plan.

0:08:110:08:13

A building like this, which was idle for about three years,

0:08:130:08:17

27 storeys,

0:08:170:08:18

ugly concrete frame, without those forward sales

0:08:180:08:21

this building would not have been restarted.

0:08:210:08:25

So Mount Anvil has created about 1,000 jobs out of this building.

0:08:250:08:29

And a lot of our purchasers here are actually London people as well

0:08:290:08:32

so we think it's a win-win.

0:08:320:08:34

And there's about 70 affordable homes here as well.

0:08:340:08:37

And that wouldn't have happened if we didn't have the international buyers.

0:08:370:08:41

That's...two houses, £150, please.

0:08:440:08:47

It's a cruel twist that many investment apartments will be

0:08:470:08:51

rented out to the Londoners now priced out of buying.

0:08:510:08:54

So, do you want to go that way and I'll go that way

0:08:540:08:57

and meet in the middle?

0:08:570:08:58

Jess has taken to leafleting homes,

0:08:580:09:00

desperate to escape those mass viewings and sealed bids.

0:09:000:09:05

"Please excuse this rather direct approach but there is very little

0:09:050:09:08

"on the market and your house looks like one we would be interested in."

0:09:080:09:12

I'm going to be 30 in six months' time.

0:09:120:09:15

I don't want to be paying off someone else's mortgage,

0:09:150:09:18

I want to pay my own mortgage.

0:09:180:09:19

I'm now looking in Forest Gate,

0:09:190:09:23

which is

0:09:230:09:25

an area that is, for want of a better term, up and coming.

0:09:250:09:28

-Is there much crime round here?

-Huh?

-Is there much crime round here?

-No.

0:09:280:09:32

You've got to imagine it without all the stuff in it, haven't you?

0:09:320:09:36

So this is the one that I'm going to see on Saturday.

0:09:360:09:40

And it looks quite nice actually, if you have a look.

0:09:400:09:43

It does, but you've got five minutes,

0:09:430:09:45

you got a five-minute slot to see it.

0:09:450:09:47

"Text us by five o'clock."

0:09:470:09:49

-Well...

-The pressure is just unbelievable on you.

0:09:490:09:51

They're just out of my price range, really.

0:09:510:09:54

The truth, I'm just going to help her financially.

0:09:540:09:57

I've got friends who say, "Oh, we stood on our own two feet,

0:09:570:10:01

"we got on the housing ladder, we got going

0:10:010:10:03

"and no-one give us any help."

0:10:030:10:05

They don't think that's a realistic approach or a fair approach

0:10:050:10:08

to adopt now. I think actually we've just been really lucky.

0:10:080:10:12

It is incredible that my daughter is now priced out of Walthamstow.

0:10:120:10:16

Priced out of boroughs they would have once had nightmares about living in

0:10:190:10:23

and pushed to new frontiers in the wild east of London,

0:10:230:10:28

gambling on the new railroad, Crossrail, halving journey times

0:10:280:10:32

into town in 2018.

0:10:320:10:34

I really think once Crossrail comes to Forest Gate people are going

0:10:340:10:38

to start to realise the value of Crossrail, that you can get

0:10:380:10:41

into Liverpool Street really quickly, get to Paddington really quickly,

0:10:410:10:45

and it's going to make it more desirable for overseas investors as well.

0:10:450:10:49

But if Jess thinks the overseas competition hasn't noticed

0:10:500:10:54

Crossrail, I've some very bad news from Hong Kong.

0:10:540:10:58

There are plenty of wise old Chinese proverbs

0:11:020:11:04

but perhaps one for the 21st century, certainly for

0:11:040:11:07

Hong Kongers, is "He who buys near a new subway station

0:11:070:11:11

"makes lots of money."

0:11:110:11:13

Until 1979, Hong Kong had no subway,

0:11:150:11:19

now it has 152 stations.

0:11:190:11:21

And every new suburb it reaches sees property values soar,

0:11:210:11:26

so the Chinese get Crossrail.

0:11:260:11:28

MAN ON RADIO: The Queen stayed at the controls for the short journey

0:11:280:11:31

between Green Park and Oxford Circus.

0:11:310:11:33

Londoners haven't seen a completely new Tube line

0:11:330:11:36

since the opening of the Victoria, way back in 1969.

0:11:360:11:41

Crossrail is the single biggest driver.

0:11:410:11:44

In Asia they just see opportunity.

0:11:440:11:46

And they know that there's an end product there

0:11:460:11:49

and that is definitely driving the market, no doubt about it.

0:11:490:11:52

So they're looking at maps of Crossrail and buying along the line?

0:11:520:11:56

Absolutely.

0:11:560:11:57

London's rapid new East-West connection,

0:11:570:12:00

paid for by London business and British taxpayers,

0:12:000:12:04

and now shaping where Mr Liang invests £1 million.

0:12:040:12:09

I'm looking for a house around a million.

0:12:090:12:13

-Around a million?

-Yes.

-And you know there is a Crossrail.

0:12:130:12:17

Yes, I know the Crossrail is going to complete in 2018.

0:12:170:12:20

I believe after Crossrail finishes, the capital income will be

0:12:200:12:25

increased roughly around 10 to 15% every year.

0:12:250:12:30

They're not living with the roadworks,

0:12:300:12:32

they're not living with the signs and all the rest of it,

0:12:320:12:35

they just think, "Wow, in five years that's only going to be

0:12:350:12:38

"15 minutes away and at the moment it's nearly an hour."

0:12:380:12:41

There's always been foreign investment in London, always.

0:12:410:12:45

But you can't be a world city and not allow foreign buyers.

0:12:450:12:49

But it's not just gleaming towers for sale here.

0:12:510:12:54

How about a slice of the protected green belt surrounding London?

0:12:540:12:59

Chinese investors are buying it up,

0:12:590:13:01

gambling we'll have to build on it eventually.

0:13:010:13:05

It's great because the profit at the end is about 600%.

0:13:050:13:09

So essentially you are selling land at the moment that hasn't got

0:13:090:13:13

planning permission but the idea is, buy now and at some point

0:13:130:13:16

they may get it, because London is getting bigger and bigger?

0:13:160:13:19

Exactly.

0:13:190:13:20

Obviously with all that pressure on the government,

0:13:200:13:23

-permissions are becoming easier.

-It just seems crazy.

0:13:230:13:26

It's a great long-term investment. It's a great one.

0:13:260:13:28

I don't care where you're from, if you've got money

0:13:280:13:30

and you'd like to invest, this makes all the sense in the world.

0:13:300:13:33

I'm beginning to wonder, is this a London mania?

0:13:330:13:36

One man here called in lawyers after buying a property

0:13:360:13:40

described as a 40 minute walk to central London.

0:13:400:13:43

It was in Lincolnshire.

0:13:430:13:45

Some people are going to get burned, aren't they?

0:13:450:13:48

If you're buying in a sort of secondary location where the

0:13:480:13:51

large majority of owners are foreign, who are in there speculating,

0:13:510:13:56

suddenly if the market drops 5% and everyone is looking to sell

0:13:560:14:00

at the same time, it just pushes the price down further.

0:14:000:14:03

-So there could be tears?

-I'd say there'd be a few tears, yeah.

0:14:030:14:07

Nowhere is this more apparent than along the River Thames.

0:14:070:14:10

Areas once considered pretty rough are now seeing luxury

0:14:100:14:14

developments, £900,000 and up per apartment.

0:14:140:14:18

It seems absurd to local residents.

0:14:180:14:20

And some experts are also getting worried.

0:14:200:14:24

In the 15 years we've been running Estates Gazette, London

0:14:240:14:26

Residential Research, we've never seen anything like this.

0:14:260:14:30

Over half the units in the pipeline are going up in this necklace

0:14:300:14:34

of high-end, high-rise towers to the south of the Thames

0:14:340:14:37

and you ask a Londoner and they will tell you,

0:14:370:14:40

these properties aren't really in places you would call prime.

0:14:400:14:43

Never mind super prime.

0:14:430:14:44

And yet they are attracting Mayfair style price tags.

0:14:440:14:47

And you've got to say,

0:14:470:14:49

what happens off the back of those Mayfair style price tags?

0:14:490:14:52

Well, we reckon this has all the hallmarks of a bubble.

0:14:520:14:56

And the researchers tell me this bubble has maybe two-and-a-half,

0:14:560:14:59

three years to run in it.

0:14:590:15:01

The people who possibly could get hurt in this are those looking

0:15:010:15:04

to use debt to buy homes to live in that have been pushed further

0:15:040:15:07

and further out into London.

0:15:070:15:09

-The Londoners, basically?

-The Londoners.

0:15:090:15:12

Snared in a bubble or miss out on the 11% rise

0:15:130:15:17

predicted for London property this year - a frightening game

0:15:170:15:22

and our players are intent on taking that chance.

0:15:220:15:26

But with the world also rolling the dice on their home,

0:15:260:15:29

it isn't going to be easy.

0:15:290:15:31

Louise and Nick have a sealed bid in

0:15:380:15:40

on their new frontier, Plaistow.

0:15:400:15:42

Jess and Dad had an offer accepted and await bank approval.

0:15:430:15:47

After discovering he could only buy a boat for under £100,000,

0:15:490:15:53

Tom now plans to buy with a friend.

0:15:530:15:55

It's tough for the buyers. We do feel sorry for them.

0:15:550:15:58

And Leanne, winner of that crazy sealed bid, was dumped.

0:15:590:16:04

The owner put it back on the market for yet another ten grand more.

0:16:040:16:09

Why?

0:16:090:16:10

Because for now, he can.

0:16:100:16:12

Download Subtitles

SRT

ASS