Wealthy Kenyans Buying Apartments In The UK To Rent Out

A Britain-based property investment dealer has disclosed that middle-class and the ultra-rich Kenyans have turned to the United Kingdom to buy houses for renting.

According to Mark Pearson, Kenyans are spending up-to KSh 30.7 million on a house in major cities in the UK such as Birmingham, Manchester, London, Liverpool, and Leeds.

He also said that an increased number of Kenyans have been inquiring about the homes.

“We are getting a lot of interest from East Africa and predominantly through Kenya. Our average purchase from a Kenyan client is 210,000 pounds

“Most are business people, and middle-class Kenyans, which is exciting. We are seeing a spike in a lot of younger middle class or upper-middle-class and not just the ultra-elite as they are aware,” Pearson said.

Person deals in one, two and three-bedroom which interested parties part with between KSh 14.6 million to KSh 292.3 million.

Pearson said interested buyers are allowed to invest 25 percent of the amount with a mortgage company or bank paying the rest.

The owners can rent them out to locals or foreign Kenyan students studying in the UK.

“At the moment, apartments are delivering much higher returns. We are targeting areas that have a big difference between property price and affordability; places where the prices can grow,” he said.

Reuters reported that asking prices for property in Britain rose by 2.1 percent after a 1.6 percent rise the month before, mainly due to lack of new homes coming into the market to match the demand.