International buyers seek professionally designed homes
Get in Touch!
If you’re feeling inspired to improve your home with our range of blinds, shutters, screens and much more, you can get in touch with our expert design consultants. We’ll be happy to answer any questions you might have.
Contact UsShare this page
London property owners are going to great lengths to make sure their homes are as attractive and luxurious as possible for international buyers, reports Property Wire.
Home interior experts at the lavish department store Harrods have claimed that developers and private sellers are hiring professional designers to change the aesthetics of their homes specifically for particular nationalities. Broadly speaking, each of these nationalities are said to have distinctly similar tastes, making the job quite straightforward.
“Russians prefer properties with high ceilings, spacious kitchens/breakfast rooms, lateral space and parking, whereas Middle Eastern buyer’s main requirements include being purpose built,” revealed Shirley Humphrey, sales and marketing director of Harrods Estates.
From bespoke window shutters and furniture, to the colour of the walls; no part of the home cannot be redesigned or re-imagined, added Sara Cosgrove of Harrods Design studio.
“The common denominator for all of our clients, whether from the UK, Middle or Far East is that they require us to create a one off design, bespoke and unique to themselves that has a personal touch.
“We do this through our outstanding interior designers, project managers, and master craftsmen, who all work together to realise each client’s dream by creating something exquisite and enduring,” she said.
Around 89 per cent of all Harrods Estate customers are international investors, mainly hailing from the Middle East, Russia, India and China. The Asian community now make up around 42 per cent of the market, compared to just 7 per cent in 2008.
ChannelNewsAsia.com also affirmed the dominance of foreign buyers in the capital’s housing market. It said that according to a report by Knight Frank, Singaporeans tied with the French as the fourth-largest group of foreign buyers of central London properties.
Analysts believe that a combination of factors are making London property a prime investment. These include a stamp duty of 16 per cent, strong international currencies, and the higher yields that overseas properties offer.
