Why Invest In London?
London is one of the most liquid property markets, as well as the biggest, in Europe. Property investors use properties as part of their fund management and historically have developed a type of lease that divides risk between investors and occupiers.
The following facts are presented to facilitate your appreciation of the dynamics that drive the city of London and introduce why REDAB PROPERTIES PLC invests so confidently in the British Capital.
Introduction
In recent years London’s position as a centre for trade, finance and business combined with its skilled and dynamic workforce has produced a huge expansion in jobs, business and the population.
London’s success is based on its competitive strengths across a range of factors including access to markets, qualified staff, external and internal transport links, communications, availability of office space and languages spoken.
London has a thriving economy and is one of the most important business cities in the world. London's gross value added (GVA) per head is 53 per cent above the national average.
ECONOMY
London is the driving force behind the UK’s economy and is one of the world’s largest financial centers’ with every leading financial institution represented in London. Despite the current economic climate London's economy is expected to grow at a faster rate than New York, Paris or any other established global city and will become the fourth largest city economy in the world by 2020.
The most influential decision-makers work in London, from global corporations and trade associations to international and national politics. London is also the gateway to the European Union's 27 member states, the biggest single market in the world, with a population of 500 million. In terms of workforce, London is home to Europes largest regional labour pool with 9.8 million workers, one in three of which hold a university degree, flexible labour markets also mean businesses can scale both up and down as quickly as required.
London is Europe’s most visited location and visitor spending in London amounts to around £14.3 billion per year, drawing nearly 50% of all overseas visits to the UK. In 2006, estimates suggest that more than 25 million people visited London for an overnight stay, 15.2 million from overseas and 10.3 million from within the UK. In addition to this, 150 million tourist day trips are made annually to the capital.
London continues to develop and invest in itself: London's Thames Gateway development is the largest urban regeneration project in Europe. In all London is investing in $190 billion worth of major development projects, including the Olympic Park in Stratford, which will transform London over the next five to ten years.
LABOUR POOL
London is home to Europe’s largest regional workforce of more than 9.8 million people, with one in three Londoners holding a university degree.
London’s population is extremely dynamic and is more highly skilled than the rest of the UK because it attracts well-qualified inward migrants from the UK and abroad to supplement its own young people entering the labour market (as well as its existing resident population). London also draws on large numbers of daily commuters living in the surrounding regions.
The average weekly household income (from all sources) in London is £304 per person - over 20 per cent higher than the national average. But two out of five children in London live in low income households. (2005)
PROPERTY
Property prices are higher, and have risen at a faster rate in London over the past ten years than in any other region in the UK. Asking prices remain 79% higher in London than the UK average, despite the volatility of the current housing market.
The average asking price for a London property now stands at £340,308 compared with the average for all of England and Wales of £159,999.
London’s population will continue to grow and must accommodate a further 810,000 people over the next 10 years, amounting to around 400,000 new homes a year and continued long term house building growth.
ENTERTAINMENT
London is unique in the energy and diversity of its entertainment industry, boosted by the city’s internationalism and ability to constantly innovate. London’s cultural life is highly valued by both residents and visitors and is crucial in making London the world’s most popular entertainment city.
London’s hospitality industry generates some £14.25 billion from overnight visitors and a further £3.7 billion from domestic day-trippers. The capital’s famous West End theatres generated box office sales of £380 million in 2006. Overall, London is home to some 150 theatres and 500 cinema screens showing on average a choice of 150 films.
London is home to more than 200 museums and galleries, five symphony orchestras, two leading opera houses, multi-arts centres such as the Barbican, the Royal Albert Hall and the Southbank Centre. Sporting highlights include tennis at Wimbledon, football at Wembley Stadium, cricket at Lords, rugby at Twickenham, racing at Ascot and, in 2012, the Olympics at Stratford.
Festivals and events include the Notting Hill Carnival, Chinese New Year celebrations, the Oxford and Cambridge boat race, the London marathon, Chelsea Flower Show, Trooping the Colour, the BBC Proms and the London Jazz Festival.
As well as famous festivals, London also plays host to a number of localised events that celebrate cultures and communities from across the globe. From the Baishakhi Mela which is Europe’s largest open-air festival to the Greenwich and Docklands Festival London really does have something for everyone.
DEVELOPMENT & CONSTRUCTION
London will continue to grow as a world city with the population increasing by 810,000 people by 2021. In order to accommodate this predicted growth targets are in place for 31,000 new homes to build each year to 2017. The Mayor has targeted East London as a priority area for development, regeneration and infrastructure improvement and has a capacity for at least 104,000 additional homes and 249,000 jobs by 2016.
London continues to develop and invest in itself, with £100 billion worth of major development projects expected to transform London over the next decade. A series of high-rise buildings are under-construction or planned. Currently under-construction is the Shard London Bridge, the Pinnacle, Heron Tower, the Leadenhall Building, and Broadgate Tower which will be at least 35 floors tall.
The 2012 Olympics have seen the creation of a 587 acre Olympic Park which is the largest regeneration project in Europe. Spearheaded by the Olympics and Stratford City, London is expanding eastwards into the Thames Gateway, which expects to see £40 billion worth of private investment over the next two or three decades. All completion time 2012.
All of the above comes with a commitment to make London a more attractive, well designed and greener city.
OLYMPICS 2012
London will host the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, both of which will have far-reaching benefits for London, Londoners and the rest of the UK, creating jobs, attracting visitors and providing inspiration. The 587 acre Olympic Park is part of the largest regeneration project in Europe.
The Games will leave a legacy of up to 9,000 new homes in the Olympic zone, more than half of them in the Olympic Village itself. The construction of the Olympic facilities will provide thousands of jobs for local people in the area in the run up to the Games.
The 2012 Games themselves will provide jobs and volunteering opportunities for Londoners, and the influx of spectators will produce a boost for the hospitality industry across London. The Games will be an international showcase for London's culture and creativity as well as a magnet for business, jobs and tourism. The effects of London 2012 will be felt long after the Olympic flame has left the capital.
Construction will include work on the permanent venues, support facilities for all Olympic and Paralympics, the entire transport infrastructure and other supporting facilities. Additional construction work will include the dismantling of the temporary Games infrastructure and its conversion to long-term legacy use.