If a week is a long time in politics, then a year must feel like a lifetime to many economists.  In this edition of The Buyside, we will try to make sense of what the current political and economic landscape means for London’s prime residential markets in the months and years...

We culminate a collective period of mourning across London, the nation and globe, by reflecting on Queen Elizabeth’s interaction with the special properties that she called home before and during her long and devoted reign. In 2017, the Queen herself remarked that: "we think of...

RFR remains one of very few advisory firms focused solely on advising buyers in London’s prime and super prime residential markets. We have never sold property and have no intention of ever doing so. With no market to make, we channel a unique, independent perspective giving...

As we enter the final quarter of 2021, RFR’s Autumn Market Report looks at the activity of London’s prime and super prime markets in our evaluation of the year to date. We investigate interesting themes in the market place, as well as explore projections for 2022 and beyond. We...

A year on from the start of Covid, our Spring Market Update looks at the state of London’s Prime and Super Prime residential property markets. We consider the impact of Covid-19 and lockdowns and share our outlook for the year ahead. We are excited to bring you our first video...

None of us could have foreseen the resilience shown by the prime/super prime London residential markets in 2020. Property elbowed its way to the top of the personal agenda and, for wealthier Londoners, a move to a home more conducive to lockdown life became a priority. It is...

As we emerged from lockdown in late May this year, we would have been brave to predict the levels of activity that the prime and super prime London markets have enjoyed over these remarkable summer months. So, encouraged by recent events, and notwithstanding the grim economic...

With the government taking an understandably cautious approach to easing the lockdown, few in the property industry expected yesterday’s decision to lift restrictions on buying, selling and renting residential property.  Within the ranks of lawyers, agents, surveyors and other...

RFR Special Coronavirus Market Report, Easter 2020. After five long years of disruption to the prime residential markets precipitated by significant increases to the rate of Stamp Duty and the evolving narrative of Brexit, we wrote to you all at Christmas with the message “All...

As we began researching our latest market musings, we did so in a blissful post-election, pre COVID-19 world. We had decided on a comparison with the Roaring Twenties; a decade of economic boom, female empowerment and technological wonders. Afterall, the ‘Boris Bounce’ seemed...

Boris Johnson's decisive majority in Friday's general election precipitated a surge in confidence across the markets. Sterling rose sharply overnight and the FTSE 250 marked its biggest jump in a decade as investors piled into UK stocks with residential housebuilders leading...

I write our latest insight on the London residential market on a long-haul flight from São Paulo, returning from my first visit to this extraordinary high-rise city of some 22 million inhabitants. Brazil is going through significant economic change with interest rates at record...

For those of us who grew up with the original Star Wars trilogy, the ‘Rebel Alliance’ was an interstellar coalition of revolutionary factions that raged against the totalitarian Galactic Empire. Whilst the Galactic Empire considered all dissent and rebellion to be an act of...

As we put pen to paper, our friends across the Pond are celebrating their 243rd Independence Day. One of the opening tenets of their Declaration of Independence is that “all men are created equal”. Equality, or more correctly, inequality, is also a central theme of George...

Since the New Year, Ken Griffin, the founder of Citadel, has been making headlines on both sides of the Atlantic. In the US he acquired the most expensive home ever at $238m (almost double the previous record) with a quadruple apartment 50 floors up on Central Park South....

It’s far too early to make any serious predictions for 2019. Whilst the residential market typically finds its stride towards the end of January/ mid-February, we suspect activity and spirits will remain dampened due to the continuing uncertainty surrounding Brexit, which...

Putting a well-known military adage to work, RFR’s Project Managers look at the holy trinity of budgeting, programming and feasibility when mobilising a refurbishment project. It can be very easy for people to get swept away by grandiose architectural schemes, free-flowing...

We are delighted to announce that RFR won "Property Advisor Of The Year" at the Spear's Wealth Management Awards 2018 at the Dorchester last night. The flagship Spear’s Awards recognise the very best in wealth management, private banking, law, property and other professional...

The 2018 Autumn Budget was predicted to be a relatively ‘quiet’ one, allowing the Chancellor enough room to manoeuvre on Brexit whatever form it takes. As far as residential property is concerned, it almost lived up to its billing with changes to the associated tax regime more...

Dancing Queen Not long after Ed Balls lauded the idea of a Mansion Tax he exited politics and became a contestant on BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing (surviving through to week 10). Last week Theresa May chose to float yet another property tax idea: a stamp duty levy on non-resident...

By and large, London is a city of two or three storey homes. We have built outwards, we have dug downwards. Does the future lie in extending upwards? In February, the then Housing Minister, Sajid Javid, announced proposals to relax planning laws to encourage upwards extensions...

Remember, remember, the fifth of November The legacy of George Osborne This Bonfire Night we might forgive the Sales Agents for wishing Guy Fawkes had succeeded back in 1605 for certainly our politicians have done a good job of stalling London’s residential property market!...

As the year draws to a close, the Projects Team at RFR, comprised of a talented group of project managers, architects and interior designers, reflect on the year gone by and the homes we have created as well as those projects being driven to completion in time for our clients...