KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian developers are keen to tap the London property market with a handful of the new players sizing up the market there.
Knight Frank Malaysia Sdn Bhd associate director, Herbert Leong, said these companies were looking for sites of less than two hectares which offered them the opportunity to regenerate the property.
“The developers are keen on central London and the real estate consultancy had brought a few companies for site inspection,” he said this at a media briefing on the London property market here yesterday.
Leong said one of them was an infrastructure firm eager to make a foray into the property sector.
“Many Malaysian companies want to divert their focus overseas, and London offers them a lucrative return despite the requirement of a huge capital investment,” he said Among the established developers that have had a foothold in London include SP Setia Bhd, Berjaya Group and Eastern & Oriental Bhd.
Meanwhile, Knight Frank Asia-Pacific head of Research, Nicholas Holt, said east London was a rising area that developers and investors should look into.
“The ongoing large-scale redevelopment projects mean that east London, such as Newham, Tower Hamlets and Greenwich boroughs, is in demand for both new homes and jobs,” Holt said.
The Crossrail project, to be completed by 2018, was expected to boost the property prices in east London by 23 per cent by then, outperforming a 19 per cent rise of the Greater London, he
said.
The project, costing around £15 billion (about RM82 billion), is one of the most ambitious transport construction projects undertaken in London since the original underground was built over 150 years ago. — Bernama