Wealthy Indians spend £1 BILLION on Mayfair property in just 12 MONTHS

Wealthy Indians are getting a ‘monopoly’ on Mayfair housing by spending almost £1 billion in the area in just 12 MONTHS.

It is estimated around 3,000 very wealthy Indian families escape the heat at home to spend their summer in the famous London district.

Last year they spent around £450 million buying 221 residential properties in and around Mayfair.

And developers from the sub-continent are now ploughing their cash into the area with a number of huge purchases.

The Lodha Group, India’s largest residential developer, recently purchased the Canadian High Commission in Grosvenor Square for £306 million.

They will now spend a further nine-figure sum converting the building into 20 luxury homes.

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Indians are are now the largest group of overseas buyers in Mayfair, making up a quarter of all sales.

They are well ahead of Asian and Continental European buyers (19 per cent of all purchasers) and Russians and Middle Eastern buyers, who now comprise just 13 per cent each of all buyers.

Ultra high net worth individuals (UHNWI) will typically spend £1 million and £20 million on buying a home in Mayfair, with 70 per cent of Indians purchasing an apartment or penthouse.

The remainder will go for either a mansion, townhouse or mews property.

On top of the houses and embassy buildings, rich Indians are also snapping up the hotels, with The Sahara India Pariwar Group buying  Grosvenor House Hotel for #470 million in 2010.

Peter Wetherell, chief executive of Wetherell Estate Agents, said: “Indian investment in luxury property in London goes back to the Edwardian era.

“This was when some of India’s richest Princes owned mansions in the capital, most notably HEH The Nizam of Hyderabad who owned Hyderabad House at No.6 Palace Green in Kensington and purchased properties for his family in Mayfair and Belgravia.

“In more recent times in 1972 Idi Amin ordered the expulsion of Uganda’s Indian business community from the country, and some 27,200 people emigrated to Britain, with the wealthiest families buying homes in Mayfair, St Johns Wood and Holland Park.”

Flemings Hotel is owned by the Veladail Hotels Group, headed by Satinder Gulhati.

The Washington Hotel on Curzon Street is understood to be owned by the Sanga family and The May Fair Hotel which is believed to be owned by Jasminder Singh of the Radisson Group.

Mr Wetherell added: “The British and international based Indian business community are extremely successful and adroit.

“Many have chosen to invest in Mayfair, especially in Grosvenor Square, because they can see that currently the district is undervalued compared to neighbouring locations such as Knightsbridge and Belgravia.

“There has been a spectacular 314 per cent rise in sales values in Grosvenor Square since 2000, surpassing rivals such Eaton Square and Cadogan Square.

“Just a decade ago, prices and £ per square foot values in Grosvenor Square lagged behind rivals such as Eaton and Cadogan squares.

“Ten years on, the picture is very different and now values in Grosvenor Square have surpassed those in Eaton and Cadogan Square with a thrilling portfolio of £5,000 per sq/ft plus developments in housing stock underway.”