International buyers have long been a part of Britain’s housing market. While they don’t make up a large proportion of the whole, the role they play is significant. Which nationalities are buying and where they are buying, frequently reflects what’s happening on the world stage, both in a political and economic context. And lifestyle plays a part too, with many international buyers choosing to buy in the UK for its schools, culture and family ties.
Our latest international applicant index tracks would-be buyers registering their interest to purchase a property in Great Britain with one of more than 600 estate agency branches across the Countrywide Group. We use their address and international dialling code to determine which countries these buyers are moving from.
And for first three months of the year (Q1 2025) this is what we found. The proportion of overseas house hunters in Britain fell to a record low with Americans and Middle Eastern buyers replacing those from Europe. Overseas based applicants made up 1.0% of house hunters across Great Britain this year, a figure that’s halved over the last decade.
Undoubtedly, the combined effects of Brexit and the pandemic, alongside higher stamp duty costs, have dampened international buyer interest in Britain’s property market.
Prime central London (PCL) – which includes Kensington and Chelsea, Westminster, and the City of London – has traditionally been the heartland of international buyers. Here, overseas applicants fell to the lowest share on record, making up 2.9% of all house hunters in Q1 2025, down from 4.0% in 2024 and 5.7% a decade ago.
Sluggish price growth in PCL, where average prices have grown by 3.0% over the last 10 years (according to Land Registry), combined with stamp duty increases and broader tax changes, have dampened its appeal.
Long-term, the decline in demand has been predominantly driven by fewer Europeans relocating to Great Britain. Back in 2008, Europeans accounted for 48% of overseas house hunters; in this most recent quarter, the figure fell to 43%. In particular, appetite has weakened from buyers based in France and Italy, many of whom would have relocated to the UK for work purposes.
The drop in demand for property, specifically in PCL, from Europeans has been starker. Here, Europeans made up 44% of all prospective buyers coming from overseas in Q1 2025, down from 55% in 2008.
However, Americans have increasingly replaced buyers from Europe, spurred by the strength of the dollar and potentially influenced by political events at home. Applicants from North America, primarily from the United States, accounted for a record 16% of all international buyers looking to purchase a property in Great Britain during the first quarter of this year. A figure that has more than doubled since 2008, when they made up 6% of all overseas applicants.
Nearly three-quarters (74%) of applicants from North America are looking to make a permanent move to Great Britain, with the remaining 26% seeking to buy a second home or investment property. A home in the UK that would have cost someone buying in dollars £1m a decade ago, effectively costs them around £825,000 today due to currency changes alone.
At country level, Americans and Canadians are now the largest single international buyer group from overseas – a title previously held by the French for most years leading up to Britain’s departure from the EU, and more recently, Hong Kong buyers.
Demand from Middle Eastern buyers has also risen. This year, they made up 14% of all international applicants looking to buy in Great Britain, marking a new high and up from 8% in 2008. More of these buyers are choosing to relocate to Great Britain too.
In Q1 2025, 81% of applicants from the Middle East were looking for a permanent new home, the highest on record and up 11% compared to a decade ago when many were purchasing second homes in the UK.
Meanwhile, the number of applicants looking to buy from Hong Kong has declined since peaking at 17% in 2020, just before the launch of the British National Overseas (BNO) visa. They were the most common international applicants in 2019 and 2020. In Q1 2025, they accounted for 2% of all overseas house hunters, the lowest proportion on record.
Interestingly, back in 2020, 39% of those looking to move to Great Britain from Hong Kong were looking for a home outside of London.
Our research shows that London remains the primary focus for overseas house hunters, with 54% of all international applicants looking to purchase in the capital during the first three months of this year. And it’s central London where they’re most keen to buy. In the first quarter of this year, 45% of overseas applicants registered to buy a home in Inner London, up from 33% a decade ago, when the market neared its peak.
However, those searching for more affordable homes are looking beyond the capital. One in ten (10%) international applicants were seeking a property in the North of England (North East, North West, and Yorkshire & The Humber) this year, up from 5% a decade ago. Three-quarters (75%) of these house hunters are looking to buy a permanent home, with the remaining 25% searching for a second home or investment property.
Liverpool has emerged as the star of the North, attracting 49% of all international applicants looking to buy in the North of England during the first quarter of 2025. While 34% are searching for an investment property here, more buyers are looking to make a permanent move. Europeans accounted for roughly two-thirds of the international interest in Liverpool homes.
Much of the interest in the North has come at the expense of that in the southern regions (South East, South West, & East). These regions surrounding the capital have gone from accounting for 40% of all overseas property searches in 2015 to just 29% in Q1 2025.
It seems as though overseas buyers are seeking a permanent residence in Great Britain rather than a holiday home or investment property. The proportion of international applicants seeking a second home or a buy-to-let property has decreased by over a third in the last five years, from 30% in 2019 to 19% in Q1 2025.
This fall in demand predominantly comes from the rise in stamp duty, as well as changes to the non-dom tax classification.
To remind you, back in 2021, it was announced that overseas nationals would pay a 2% stamp duty surcharge on top of existing rates. An increase in the surcharge attached to all second home purchases in October 2024 means that international buyers purchasing a second home in England now pay a 7% surcharge on a property purchase. This change, and the ending of the stamp duty holiday in April, brings the bill for an international citizen to £113,750 for a million pound second home; an effective tax rate of over 11%.
While political and economic uncertainties have undoubtedly played their part in bringing about a drop-off in international purchases, the impact of tax changes should not be underestimated. It’s the combination of all three factors that has contributed to their decline, bringing their numbers to an all-time low.
