Hong Kong buyers rush for UK properties after security law

A weaker pound GBP since 2014 encouraged Hong Kong buyers to invest in the UK.

Property agents said they sold more than double the number of apartments in gthe UK to Hong Kong buyers in the past two months, with the spike in purchases mainly for personal use.

The UK government in July offered about 3 million British National Overseas passport holders in Hong Kong a path to British citizenship after Beijing imposed sweeping new security legislation in Hong Kong.

“We have never received so many calls from existing clients,” said Marc von Grundherr, director of London estate agent Benham and Reeves, which lets UK properties for about 1,000 clients in Hong Kong.

A weaker pound GBP since 2014 and a stamp duty holiday in Britain for homes priced below 500,000 pounds ($654,400), have also encouraged Hong Kong buyers to invest in the UK.

Property agent Arlington Residential in London said it completed more than 10 deals in the past two months, a figure it would normally achieve in a year. Centaline in Hong Kong said it sold around 60 apartments in July alone, adding that they had a waiting list of clients due to a shortage of supply.

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