A Contrasting Tale Of Two London Property Loans And Two Swiss Banks

Tom Burroughes

12 October 2018

Recent days have seen contrasting stories about multi-million UK properties involving two of Switzerland’s largest banks. In one case, to pay for it. The owner, listed as two companies based in Guernsey, paid $209 million for the apartment (source: Bloomberg, 9 October), taking a mortgage of £80 million. Credit Suisse declined to comment to this publication when asked about the matter.

Some weakening of sterling since the Brexit referendum has made UK property more affordable internationally, although government rule changes about tax exemptions on foreign-owned property and the squeeze on the status of non-domiciled residents has taken some heat out of the prime London property market. In the 12 months to the end of June this year, prices slipped by 1.8 per cent. By comparison, the main 20 global cities tracked logged a 6 per cent rise, with some cities, such as Singapore, rising by 11.5 per cent from a year earlier.

London’s prime property market may not be quite as frothy as it was since the Brexit shock and the gradual tightening of taxes and interest rates, but it is certainly not dull.