Estate agents in London could soon see a surge in wealthy Russian buyers acquiring properties in London again if US President Donald Tump successfully negotiates a ceasefire in Ukraine, a new survey carried out by Beauchamp Estates suggests.
The US president, who held talks with Russian leader Vladimir Putin this week, is attempting to broker a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine.
Trump hailed a “productive” call with the Russian president who issued a long list of conditions
Russia has so far agreed to limited energy and infrastructure ceasefire in Ukraine, which the White House sees as a step in the right direction.
In a statement released after Donald Trump’s call with Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, the White House said the two sides agreed to hold “technical negotiations” on a maritime ceasefire, and, further, full ceasefire and permanent peace.
Trump and Putin also “agreed that a future with an improved bilateral relationship between the US and Russia has huge upside,” with “enormous economic deals and geopolitical stability.”
If greater stability is achieved, existing sanctions will almost certainly be lifting, paving the way for wealthy Russian investors to return to London’s housing market.
Paul Finch, a director at Beauchamp Estates, said: “We are talking to quite a few people here, and some who are there – we definitely get the feeling that if they can, they would like to be back.
“From clients based here talking to their friends and family, they would all rather have a piece of London than Dubai. It’s just that for the last three years they’ve had no alternative. Europe and the US have been closed off to them.
“There’s still a lot of money and big hitters over there. As sad as it is, wars always make money, and the rich and wealthy Russians have been making quite a lot of money … and they will want to spend it.”
He added: “They like London, the restaurants, the museums, the culture, the opera, the ballet. As soon as sanctions are lifted, they will start spending here quite readily.”
Before Russia invaded Ukraine in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which had started in 2014, wealthy Russians regularly bought properties in London’s most expensive neighbourhoods and owned around £1bn worth of housing in the city, according to Beauchamp Estates.
