Chinese money pours into London

Chinese investors broke records by spending 805 million ($1 billion; 944 million euros) on property in London's West End in January, around 80 percent of the amount spent by Chinese investors in that market during all of 2016.

Total transactions in London's West End commercial property market during January came to 841 million.

Four out of six deals during the period involved Chinese buyers, according to the latest data from real estate agent Savills, which said the numbers confirmed the trend of increasing Chinese investment in London's property market since Britain's vote to exit the European Union in June, and with Brexit uncertainties leading to a depreciation in the pound of more than 10 percent against the Chinese yuan.

Another reason for the surprising January figure was a single massive transaction involving CC Land Holdings, which acquired One Kingdom Street in Paddington for 292 million.

By Savills' calculation, it was the second-biggest transaction by a Chinese investor in the West End market. It was one of three deals, each worth more than 200 million.

Paul Cockburn, director of the central London investment team at Savills, said the influx of overseas investors prompted by the pound sterling's devaluation was continuing. "From a Chinese investor's standpoint, London looks attractive, as the currency shift means that entry prices may appear 15-20 percent lower than this time last year." The numbers from Savills match the data from property broker JLL showing that Chinese bought more than 3.15 billion worth of central London commercial assets in 2016, accounting for 22.5 percent of total central London transaction volume.

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