Australian Are Buying London Property to Let

Increasing number of Australian buyers are purchasing property in London with a view to renting them out, it is claimed.

According to London property search company, Sourcing Property, they are buying as an investment. The company has acted for six Australian buy to let clients in the past three months alone.

‘The Australian dollar is extremely strong right now, largely due to Australia being so commodity rich and the boom in China’s demand for its commodities. We’re therefore seeing a number of Australia based buyers, mainly who are purchasing for an investment. They view central London property as a relatively safe investment, and they’re getting a saving on it due to the favourable exchange rate,’ said Jo Eccles, director of Sourcing Property.

‘Most of our Australian clients typically buy a one or two bedroom apartment between £400,000 and £800,000. Some of them fly over to the UK for about a week to look at the options, whereas others buy remotely and never physically see what they’ve bought. In this case, we do the search, shortlist and purchase via email and telephone. Because the rental market for good quality one and two bedroom flats is so strong in London, their buy to let investment is usually rented out within a couple of weeks at most,’ she explained.