The Rise of Luxury Apartment Living

If there’s one statistic that shows the rise of luxury apartment living, it’s that over the last decade, sales of £1 million plus flats in England and Wales have trebled.

For a second statistic, consider that the number of luxury flats sold increased the most out of any property type within the same price bracket.

This asset type represents the level of demand that comes with a growing population and a finite supply of properties. In city centres where space is at a premium, the only way is up.

It’s also the by-product of an increasing popularity for quality city centre residential units. As people look to ‘put down roots’ where there are commercial, professional and leisure opportunities nearby, more tenants are looking for luxury city-centre living.

Developers, naturally, have identified this trend and expanded on it. Enter the ‘bleisure’ market. The mixing of business and leisure is represented by the next wave of luxury apartments being twinned with similarly luxurious hotels.

Allowing residents to make use of room services, concierge services and everything in between, these residential apartments with hotel services can carry on average a 30% premium over traditional apartments, creating a unique opportunity for luxury apartment living.

At a time when developers are always looking to add exclusive value to their builds, the chance to offer busy residents a ‘hands-off’ lifestyle is hugely enticing, It’s a move aimed at the executive, professional tenants and its growing in popularity. According to JLL, over 3,500 apartments of this type will be proposed over the next two years.

‘Branded apartments’ are another type of asset class that can fit into the luxury niche.

As a relatively new concept in the UK market, the branding of residential units is fairly common practice in the US. It’s particularly alluring for foreign investors that are more reassured by well-known brands.

Take the ‘Versace Tower’ for instance, which is one of Britain’s first branded high-rises. Built-in collaboration with Italian fashion house Versace, it’s a 50-storey tower block built with pure luxury in mind. It’s also fairly popular with overseas investors, particularly in the Gulf States and Hong Kong, thanks to its close proximity to embassies and of course, the exclusivity of it’s high-end branding.

With such a large selection of properties both completed and in the pipeline, developers are constantly delivering innovative features designed to help their units stand out, both for domestic and overseas investors.