Russians have historically been prolific buyers of prime central London homes; however, Aston Chase report that North West London is now a hotspot for Russian buyers. In particular areas such as Highgate, Kenwood and Hampstead Garden Suburb are proving to be particularly popular. This shift can be attributed changing priorities with the new generation of Russian buyers such as good schools, access to open space and a contentment with a more anonymous lifestyle.

Aston Chase report that Russian buyers are moving away from Chelsea, Knightsbridge and Belgravia as the old guard of Russian buyers are being replaced with a new generation who, often, have been in the UK for some time, having been educated here. The older generation who acquired great wealth very rapidly were subsequently attracted by established prime central London locations such as Chelsea, Knightsbridge and Belgravia which are synonymous with wealth and therefore very appealing. Now, the younger generation are happier to live a little bit more anonymously and have other priorities for their homes such as the schools of Highgate and Hampstead and the vast green space of Hampstead Heath.

Aston Chase highlight that there are over 150,000 Russians currently living in London who between them own £8 billion worth of real estate assets, businesses, and other investments in the UK. This current spike in Russian buyer interest is the third of three distinct waves of Russian buyers coming to London which started back in 2008. The first spike in Russians acquiring homes in London started in 2008 when Gordon Brown introduced the Tier 1 Investor Visa which allowed successful applicants to reside in the UK in exchange for an investment of £1 million in UK government bonds.

Examples of the strong contingency of Russians to have lived in the North West London areas are; Mikhail Fridman who owns Athlone House one of London’s finest residences a butt Hampstead Heath, Alisher Usmanov who owns Beechwood House off of Hampstead Lane and Andrey Guryev who is rumoured to be the owner of Witanhurst Mansion in Highgate which is understood to be the second largest private residence after Buckingham Palace. People of such influence would have encouraged buyer confidence in these areas and similar movements from their peers.

Aston Chase observe that between 2008 and 2014 the visa changes led to Russians became leading buyers of £1 million plus homes in London, purchasing in Knightsbridge, Belgravia and Mayfair. At the peak in 2013 Russians had spent a reported £500 million on luxury London homes with some 300,000 Russians staying in London on a part time basis.

Aston Chase say that Russian’s are also attracted to St John’s Wood, Regent’s Park and Marylebone with a strong preference for newly built or newly refurbished houses, ideally detached, which are between 5,000 sqft to 10,000 sqft in size and cost around £2,000 to £2,500 per sqft; half the cost of Belgravia.

Just off Hamilton Terrace in St John’s Wood a young Russian couple have recently purchased, through Aston Chase, a £11.5 million newly built 6,000 sqft Regency style townhouse-mansion providing four reception rooms, five bedrooms, private cinema, gymnasium and spacious rear garden. A seven bedroom property on Hamilton Terrace also sold recently to Russian buyers for a figure approaching £25 million.

Aston Chase observe that the wide leafy boulevards, parkland and large villa/mansion plots of Hamilton Terrace, Acacia Road and Avenue Road in St John’s Wood remind Russians of Rublyovka, the prestigious residential area in the western suburbs of Moscow where the highways are lined with large dachas and gosdachas.

In 2015 the Tier 1 Investor Visa regime was changed raising the investment required to £2 million and the introduction of applicants being required to confirm the origins of their wealth.

Aston Chase say that the 2015 changes triggered the arrival of a second wave of distinctly different Russian buyers who were more corporate, discerning and discreet and wanted value-for-money not just trophy homes. These Russians felt that Knightsbridge had become overpriced and so looked further afield purchasing houses in Hampstead and Regent’s Park.

By 2018 some 11,000 Russian families had been granted Tier 1 Investor Visas but that year following the row between the Russian and British governments over the Novichok poisonings in Salisbury the UK government announced a review of the right of more than 700 Russians who had been granted visas prior to 2015 to live in the UK.

Aston Chase say that this triggered a significant exodus of Russians out of London moving families and investments to Russia, Monaco or Tel Aviv. In the last six months of 2019 the UK Home Office granted 255 new Tier-1 investor visas to overseas nationals with the three largest groups by country of origin being from China, Russia and Turkey.

Now, Aston Chase report that opinion on current sanctions, from Russians living in the UK, is mixed. On the one hand, if the crackdown on so-called “dirty money” becomes severe, for example thorough retrospective investigation, then there will inevitably be a shift of wealth out of the UK. A attraction of the UK as a whole for Russian buyers was that they felt their assets were safe here, if this is no longer the case then an exodus from London would not come as a huge surprise. On the other hand, the younger generation who are buying and living in the UK are confident in the validity of their assets and have no concerns regarding sanctions becoming stricter. Despite perhaps feeling uncomfortable with the portrayal of Russians as a whole, their presence is unlikely to change regardless of the situation.

Mark Pollack, Co-Founding Director of Aston Chase says: “While prime central London is always an appealing area for high-net-worth buyers, at Aston Chase we have found areas such as Highgate, Kenwood and Hampstead Garden Suburb are in high demand now for Russians. The historic catalyst for this interest can be attributed to the Russian Trade Delegation being based in Highgate West Hill and Karl Marx being buried in Highgate cemetery has, in the past, also been a draw to the area.

Mark Pollack highlights: “In our experience, buyers from Russia are predominantly looking for houses, however, they are also prolific buyers of large lateral apartments in new developments with the amenities that high net worth individuals have come to expect in today’s luxury London market. We also find that, while some of these Russian buyers may have been resident in the UK for many years, they are still very proud of their Russian heritage.”