\n<\/p>\n
HONG KONG SAR
\u00a0<\/p>\n
The scheme’s
London’s
One of the
\u00a0<\/p>\n
The City of
\u00a0<\/p>\n
According to
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Emigrants
Looking at
UK government steps up support for BNO visa holders <\/u><\/b><\/p>\n
On April 8,
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Hongkongers’ mature outlook on London housing <\/u><\/b><\/p>\n
On the
\u00a0<\/p>\n
In a sign of
\u00a0<\/p>\n
London market
Reflecting on
“Equally
\u00a0<\/p>\n
“The losers
\u00a0<\/p>\n
“But the
HONG KONG SAR
– Media OutReach – 4 May 2021 – UK
government projections for its British National (Overseas) (BNO) visa scheme to
attract 150,000 applicants in the first 12 months and 300,000 within five years
are firmly on track. In mid-April, just ten weeks post launch, 35,000
Hongkongers had applied for the visa. The …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[60],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/eodishasamachar.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14440"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/eodishasamachar.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/eodishasamachar.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eodishasamachar.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eodishasamachar.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14440"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/eodishasamachar.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14440\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/eodishasamachar.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14440"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eodishasamachar.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14440"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eodishasamachar.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14440"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n– Media OutReach<\/a> – 4 May 2021 – UK
\ngovernment projections for its British National (Overseas) (BNO) visa scheme to
\nattract 150,000 applicants in the first 12 months and 300,000 within five years
\nare firmly on track. In mid-April, just ten weeks post launch, 35,000
\nHongkongers had applied for the visa. The scheme is open to 5.4 million Hong
\nKong residents in total. <\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\npopularity is consistent with the 2020 research findings of UK Holmes<\/a><\/i>, a London property search
\nagent, on the subject of UK property investment. Of the 1,000 survey
\nrespondents, 80% indicated that they intended to apply for the BNO visa.
\nCritically, these are people in the prime of their working lives:<\/p>\n\n
\nexcess of HKD2m<\/li>\n
\nsectors. <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\nstrong financial and tech job markets <\/u><\/b><\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\nmajor motivations to move to London was more diversified and professional job
\nopportunities, with 58% of respondents affirmative on this point. Whilst both
\nBrexit and the global pandemic have cast a pall on much of the UK economy, the
\noutlook is considerably brighter for both finance and technology markets. <\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\nLondon is second only to New York City in global financial rankings and is home
\nto 402,000 finance sector employees. In defiance of gloomy predictions of job
\nlosses post Brexit, a 2020 Financial Times survey of 24 large international
\nbanks and asset managers found that the majority had increased their London
\nheadcount over the past five years.<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\nthe UK’s Tech Nation Report 2021, London achieved stellar growth of 87% in tech
\ninvestment from USD5.6bn in 2018 to USD10.6bn in 2020. But finding local talent
\nis problematic. In March the BBC reported that a leading think tank, The
\nLearning and Work Institute, identified that over the past six years there has
\nbeen a 40% drop in students taking IT subjects at GCSE level. Accenture says
\nthat demand for AI, cloud and robotic skills is soaring.<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\nfocus on schools and security<\/u><\/b><\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\nother motivational factors for the move to the UK, the report from UK Holmes
\nfound that 36% of respondents were focused on financial benefits. Significant
\nareas of concern were access to good quality schools (36%) and neighborhood
\nsecurity (22%), indicative of the fact that a high proportion of these
\nHongkongers looking to start a new life in the UK are young families.<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\nthe UK government announced a \u00a343m support package for BNO visa holders
\narriving into the UK, of which \u00a330.7m will go to councils across England to
\nassist with English language training and housing support. A further \u00a35m will
\nbe used to establish 12 “virtual” welcome hubs across the country that will
\nprovide local helplines advising on school admissions, registering with a
\ndoctor and even starting a business.<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\nsubject of housing, Hongkongers have been prominent investors in London’s
\nnew-build property developments in Prime Central London (PCL) over recent
\nyears. Yet the UK Holmes report identified that 75% of respondents are
\ninterested in looking at established properties. This apparent contradiction is
\nexplained by the fact that only 17% of respondents were ‘pure’ investors. A
\ntotal of 42% were intending to initially buy a UK home for investment purposes
\nbefore occupying within the first two years whilst 34% were intending to occupy
\ntheir new home immediately.<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\ngrowing market maturity 65% of respondents stated a preference for employing a
\nUK-based property search agent to assist with their home purchase, double the
\n32% who were inclined to use a Hong Kong based equivalent. Contrary to all
\nexpectations the London residential market experienced strong growth in 2020,
\nposting average gains approaching 9%.<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\noffers shrewd investors excellent opportunities<\/u><\/b><\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\nthis, Terry Stephens, founder of UK Holmes, commented: “The London property
\nmarket in 2020 produced some unexpected winners and losers. But the first point
\nto acknowledge is that the government’s economic rescue packages, both the
\nfurlough scheme and stamp duty holiday, underpinned the frenzy of sales
\nactivity and surging prices.”<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\ncompelling was the reaction of London residents to lockdown as housing
\ntransformed into remote offices, gyms and education centers. This created a
\ndesire for increased space, both indoors and outdoors, and an exodus from inner
\nLondon to its leafier outer suburbs. The winners were vendors selling
\nsemi-detached and detached houses. The luxury home market was also a
\nsignificant beneficiary of the \u00a315,000 stamp duty saving on properties valued
\nat \u00a3500,000 or above.”<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\nwere those selling flats, particularly those in Inner London, which experienced
\nblowouts in time on the market and price drops. Aside from the change in buyer
\npreferences, the market was also negatively impacted by a mass emigration of
\nEuropean immigrants due to Brexit and the trading embargo on high street
\nhospitality and retail markets.” <\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
\nstory is more complex than that and, to the untrained eye, the uneven price
\nperformance of neighboring London boroughs looks bewildering. The bottom line
\nis that the London market is actually a complex ecosystem of individual markets
\nthat are being distorted by a variety of forces, not all of which will prevail
\nin the longer term. There are excellent buying opportunities in London in 2021
\nbut this isn’t a market for the faint-hearted. Before buyers take the plunge,
\nthey need to do their homework very well.”<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n
Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"