A venture between Lone Star Funds and Oakmayne Properties is offering a “Brexit Guarantee Pledge” for homebuyers at a London project as the looming vote on Britain’s membership of the European Union damps demand.

“If they don’t like the result, whichever way it goes, they will have the right to withdraw and have their reservation fee refunded in full,” David Humbles, managing director at Oakmayne Properties said. Prices at Two Fifty One will start at £655,000 for a one-bedroom home in the new phase, according to Oakmayne.

Buyers will be offered a reduced rate on those homes at 251 Southwark Bridge Road at a sales offering on 25 May in return for a down payment that can be returned after the June 23 vote, Mr Humbles said. Lone Star declined to comment.

Demand for UK homes dropped in April, the first monthly fall since March 2015, as the political uncertainty and an increased sales tax on landlords and second-home buyers hurt demand, according a Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics) report published on Thursday. Surveyors expect London will see the biggest fall in homes sales of any UK region in the next three months, according to the Rics poll.

“Volumes in prime London are low, partly due to Easter holidays, and also due to uncertainty caused by Brexit,” said Robert Green, a director at broker John D Wood. “Transaction costs continue to be a drag also.”

business@thenational.ae

Follow The National's Business section on Twitter