Hello from The National and welcome to the View from London – your weekly guide to the big stories from our London bureau
Merry-go-round
Barely a week went by in 2025 when the subject of who was leaving London for the UAE did not come up.
Whether it was the super-wealthy looking to reduce their tax bills, or just the super fed-up looking for adventure and opportunity, a flurry seemed to turn into a flood.
We spoke to entrepreneurs, business executives and wealth advisers about the trend.
And as we round off the year, we have one more piece of evidence to add to the mix – the Beauchamp Estates Billionaire Buyers’ Survey.
It found 41 luxury properties priced above £15 million ($20 million) sold in London this year, in a merry-go-round of sales between the UK and the Middle East.
London’s super-prime market was driven by openings created by wealthy people, most of whom were former non-doms, leaving for lower-tax destinations such as the UAE, Italy and Monaco.
Those homeowners were replaced by an influx of 20 to 40-year-old Middle East, Chinese and American buyers purchasing lavish “holiday mansions” at relatively knock-down prices, now standing below their 2014 values as sellers were forced to accept less than they asked for.
Buyers from the Middle East accounted for 25 per cent of all super-prime sales, up from 20 per cent last year, driven by purchasers originally from India, Pakistan, Yemen and Lebanon who are now resident in the UAE or Saudi Arabia and who were buying second homes in London.
Seventy-five per cent of the super-prime deals were cash purchases, the same as last year.
Belgravia had the most deals over the line, followed by Chelsea, then Knightsbridge.
Jeremy Gee, managing director of Beauchamp Estates, told The National the market has been driven by an outflow of non-dom sellers leaving for Dubai and Abu Dhabi, replaced by an incoming wave of bargain-hunting Middle East, Turkish, Chinese, American and domestic UK buyers purchasing large houses and family apartments.
London real estate is now viewed by global wealth as providing extremely good value for money, he said, while sounding a note of caution as overseas customers were increasingly buying properties as secondary homes or homes for investment. “This evolution risks increasing the proportion of properties in areas such as Belgravia, Knightsbridge and Mayfair that are not occupied full-time," Mr Gee said.
“To help sustain London's position as a globally competitive and economically important capital city, it is essential to maintain a balanced mix between UK nationals and high net-worth individuals who base themselves here, invest locally and contribute to the wider economy.”
The survey analysed sales of residential properties valued at more than £15 million between January and December this year, based on in-house deals, market intelligence and figures from external market data.
And what of 2026? Well, the flight of the rich does not appear to be letting up. As international tax expert David Lesperance told me recently, the push-pull factors that inform a decision regarding location is currently weighted heavily in the UAE’s favour, and the Labour government needs to do much more to make Britain an appealing place to do business.
As for the luxury property market, Beauchamp Estates forecasts that super-prime properties are likely to fall by between 2 and 3 per cent next year, not returning to positive growth until 2027 at the earliest.
However, they calculate that the super-prime market will remain extremely active, as domestic and international buyers now view London real estate as providing extremely good value and stability.
London will still appeal, and there could be bargains to be had if you have a spare £15 million.
Catastrophic cuts
We have also witnessed in 2025 a new era of belt-tightening, or realigned priorities, when it comes to how western countries deliver aid.
While the most significant harm came from Donald Trump pulling USAID almost overnight, Britain’s overseas aid cuts are having a “catastrophic” impact on women in the world’s poorest countries, the head of a UK charity group has told The National.
As chief executive of Bond, representing more than 340 organisations working in international development, Romilly Greenhill is more aware than most of the growing impact from Britain's decision to slash billions from its aid budget to pay for increased defence costs.
She warns that as the UK’s overseas aid budget shrinks from £15 billion ($20 billion) to £10.7 billion, charities working on the frontline of global poverty have still to feel the full, damaging consequences.
Save the Children has estimated that about 55 million people could be affected by the UK reductions. Meanwhile, the Gates Foundation has raised the troubling figure of 200,000 children under five dying in the next year because of cuts to international aid spending.
“It’s really disastrous,” Ms Greenhill said. “The people being hit are some of the poorest, most vulnerable and most marginalised in the world.”
But she also says that the widespread international cuts will not just affect impoverished places but will also undermine the global community's ability to tackle pandemics and the climate emergency. “It’s lose-lose,” she said.
London delivers
Let's end with some good news. London’s stock markets have staged a rebound with a late spurt in activity driving the strongest year for listings since 2021, data shows.
There were 11 new listings, known as initial public offerings (IPOs), on the London Stock Exchange in 2025, analysis from PwC shows, raising £1.9 billion in total proceeds. That makes it the strongest year since 2021, when £16.8 billion was raised in a record year for the London Stock Exchange.
It is also more than double the £700 million raised last year.
A late flurry of IPOs helped to deliver a boost to the market with £1.3 billion of the total proceeds raised during the final quarter of the year, marking a shift following a dearth in activity.
Vhernie Manickavasagar, the IPO leader at PwC UK, said: “London has delivered its strongest year for IPO and listing activity since 2021.
“In addition, global multibillion-pound companies selected the London Stock Exchange for their international listings in 2025, the largest of which had a market capitalisation of £16 billion in December 2025.
“These developments underscore the resurgence of London’s capital markets and its returning appeal as a leading listing destination."
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