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More than one in eight of the staff working for a major London agency is now fluent in a second language, as the company claims a quarter of its buyers are from outside the UK.

Greene & Co says this change in buyer profile has led to a rise in the need for agents to speak a host of different languages. Currently 13 per cent of its staff can speak a language other than English, and in its flagship West Hampstead branch, for example, employees speak Spanish, Polish, Afrikaans, French, Farsi, Italian, Portuguese and Arabic.

The demand for languages differs by area. Kentish Town, for example, has seen many French buyers and tenants clustering close to its two sought-after primary and secondary schools the College Francais Bilingue de Londres. The Kentish Town branch is able to respond to their needs as a number of the staff are able to speak fluent French.

French buyers and tenants are also increasingly searching for family homes between Wembley Park and Maida Vale along the Bakerloo Line to live within commuting distance of the new Lycee due to open in September 2015 in Wembley.

Maida Vale is also seeing an influx of Italian and Greek buyers who had previously chosen to rent in the capital.

Greene & Co. negotiator Franco Difato regularly translates for Italian buyers and tenants who need the UK process explained. Language skills are a huge asset for an estate agent as it's easier for international buyers to understand the intricacies of buying and renting in their own language and it puts them at ease immediately he says.

David Pollock, MD of Greene & Co, says the firm is actively recruiting multi-lingual agents and this is a trend I see growing.

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