Fleeing New York after Trumpageddon? London's most desirable neighbourhoods are waiting

By Zoe Dare Hall
November 16, 2016

The Bakery Place, Battersea  CREDIT: DAVID BUTLER

As hoards of disillusioned Democrats, including the pop mogul Will.i.am, flirt with the idea of heading to Britain following Donald Trump’s victory, the Marylebone-based estate agency Kay & Co have produced a handy "go to" guide for those seeking to swap New York life for London.

It may even help to refocus the search of other anti-Trump celebrities, including Samuel L Jackson, Lena Durham and Cher, who have declared their intent to leave America in favour, respectively, of South Africa, Canada and, er, Mars.

Penthouse at The Fitzbourne

Kay & Co suggest that Manhattan’s Upper East Siders will feel at home in Mayfair, an area with an average asking price of £4.78m and a long relationship with relocating Americans seeking a spot among its designer boutiques and neighbourhood restaurants such as Scott’s.

Mayfair’s flagship projects include Finchatton’s 20 Grosvenor Square, the redevelopment of the former US Naval Headquarters, and – aptly, as Americans crash Canada’s immigration website in their fight to flee over the border - 1 Grosvenor Square, Lodha’s transformation of the Canadian High Commission.

Those accustomed to a good old New York brownstone should head to Notting Hill, suggest Kay & Co, where Ladbroke Square offers some handsome townhouses with an East Village-style supply of independent cinemas, galleries and music clubs on tap.

Manhattan’s TriBeCa tribe will find kindred spirits in Fitzrovia, where you can soak up the city panoramas from the rooftop terrace of the huge, open-plan £5.5m penthouse at The Fitzbourne by Oakmayne Bespoke. And those used to park life – Demi Moore, for example, who has been struggling to sell her Central Park penthouse for $75m since last year – could cash in by moving to the Hyde Park fringes, where a five-bed house on Connaught Square costs £7.5m.

Orchard Villa, Albany Street  CREDIT: TUNSTALL PROPERTY

Other suggested twinnings from Kay & Co include Brooklyn and Shoreditch, for the cool, wealthy millennials who like converted industrial spaces, and akin to New York’s Greenwich Village is Marylebone, no stranger to Americans already, who send their kids to the American school in nearby St John’s Wood.

Up their street perhaps is Galliard Homes’s The Chilterns, a rare totally new-build development in Marylebone with two-bed flats from £3.8m, or for those looking to rent first, Orchard Villa in Regent’s Park, available for £7,950 a week through Tunstall Property, is likely to appeal to a relocating American family, thinks the agency’s Mark Tunstall. “Close proximity to green space, the American school and a private driveway will be the items to swing it,” he says.

The Star and Garter in Richmond

Those seeking an American education in London may also head to Richmond, home to the American International University. It is also the location of The Star & Garter, London Square’s luxurious redevelopment of a Grade II-listed building with two-bed apartments from £1.75m, a Harrods concierge among the residents facilities and river views immortalised by Turner.

Kings Room at the The Star and Garter, Richmond

If Brexit started the ball-rolling for American buyers and renters in London, weakening the pound to tempting levels in an already deflating prime London market, Trump has triggered a full-blown skittles championship.

Agents predicts that it’s not just Americans who will see London as their safe haven but other nationalities – including Middle Eastern and Chinese – who will now think twice about investing in the US. On the morning of the announcement of the 45th US president, London Central Portfolio, who specialise in London property funds, saw a 300 per cent increase in hits from American investors compared with the previous day.

“London has always been the preferred relocation spot for the wealthy, but the Trump victory is likely to provide a further fillip to this. Would you move to the US with your family when you are perhaps Muslim and concerned that trade and tolerance are seemingly in decline?” asks Samuel Blake, partner at Montagu Evans property consultants. “More and more of the international super-rich may be prepared to invest £2m in a no-questions asked visa to secure their place in London,” he adds.

 The Bakery Place, Battersea 

Along with London’s trusted American heartlands of St John’s Wood, Notting Hill and Mayfair, Battersea could be a new draw for Trump-dodgers with the opening of Apple’s HQ and the new American Embassy there in coming years.

For buyers seeking a sanctuary of Englishness amid this new outpost of the US, Bakery Place near Clapham Common is a beautifully converted Victorian bakery with large, lateral apartments that combine original features - such as brickwork scored by Victorian children while waiting for their bread  - with Manhattan loft-style interiors. Prices start at £625,000 for one-bed apartments through Savills.

Alternatively, Americans with an eye on regenerating areas may feel a pull towards Elephant & Castle – and to Harvard Gardens in particular, named after the local clergyman who became the main benefactor of Harvard University. As a sweetener, the developer L&Q is offering to pay the stamp duty on any takers of the four-bed duplexes, costing £885,000.

The Bakery Place, Battersea 

All eyes will be on how the coming months of Trump’s presidency play out. Some may be focusing further ahead. Now that celebrities can become US president, George Clooney’s chances of becoming Trump’s successor in the White House have just shot up to 100:1 – something that may see all those Americans flock right back again.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/luxury/property-and-architecture/fleeing-new-york-after-trumpageddon-londons-most-desirable-neigh/