Big cheeses warn about London housing market

Some of the property industry’s biggest names have used a newspaper article to warn about possible London housing market worries in 2014.

The Financial Times’ House & Home section has run the forecasts of 15 leading property developers, agents, architects and journalists.

Nick Candy, chief executive of Candy & Candy - the firm behind One Hyde Park, of course - put the cat amongst the pigeons by writing: “London will still be the home for international money in real estate in 2014 [but] there will be no significant price growth in the super prime sector in 2014 partly due to a potential oversupply in specific areas.”

Irvine Sellar, founder of the Sellar Property Group and developer of The Shard, says: “Only developments in parts of London which investors know and recognise will appeal. Perhaps in the coming year, prices will show signs of levelling off and possibly, in some areas, ease back.”

More strident still is Charlie Ellingworth, founder of international buying agency Property Vision. His forecast? “Perhaps there will be a realisation that as London supply goes into overdrive, there may be a limit to overseas buyers who pay whatever any developer asks.”

The FT’s own property correspondent, Kate Allen, is harshest of all, predicting that “Prime London property may become a zombie market this year as political rhetoric ramps up ahead of the 2015 election. All parties will probably propose policies affecting tax, finance or ownership. This uncertainty is likely to deter potential buyers.”