LONDON: UK attracting a growing number of high net worth Indians

LONDON: The United Kingdom is a
destination of choice for Indian professionals, students and entrepreneurs. In
the post pandemic situation and after Brexit, the popularity of the UK has been
increasing manifold.

The ambitious new migration partnership which was signed by the UK and India
earlier this year, will, in fact, make it easier for young Indian professionals
to live and work in the UK. The agreement is part of the UK government’s
commitment to deliver an immigration system that attracts the best and brightest
individuals from India and around the world.

An important segment of Indians who are attracted to the UK are high net worth
individuals, looking at setting up businesses or expanding their existing
operations. The UK provides them with access to investors and good financial
markets, feel experts.

“Immigration to the UK by wealthy Indians has been on a steady increase
and surprisingly Brexit has not been a deterrent as some people expected. The
pandemic has again brought in added momentum to this trend of immigrating to
the UK and buying homes there. The reasons remain the same – familiarity of
language, clean air and good infrastructure, access to capital markets, ease of
doing business and the UK being well situated to deal with time differences both
in the east and west – hence a lot of global businesses find it easier to
operate out of the UK,” explains Pallavi Bakhru, partner and leader,
private client services at Grant Thornton Bharat, a tax advisory firm.

The presence of a large Indian
diaspora, good educational facilities and access to good healthcare also remain
some of the long-term reasons for Indians to move to the UK.

Sole representative of an overseas business is a visa category that is gaining
popularity among Indian business families looking to move to Britain. “The
overseas business category has picked up interest among our clients from India.
There has been a major shift in interest towards this category and we continue
to see a rise in enquiries and mandates. This category allows business owners
across the globe to open a branch or a subsidiary in the UK and nominate one
immigrant to run the business, who is not a major shareholder in the overseas
operations,” says Ashish Saraff, founder and CEO, Aretha Capital Partners,
a UK-based real estate investment company. He adds that the investment
requirements of this category are significantly lower than the minimum £2
million requirement of UK’s Tier-1 investor visa and approvals are usually
swift. Besides, the sole representative of an overseas business can take their
spouse and minor children to the UK. After five years of legal residence, the
migrant can apply for indefinite leave to remain or permanent residence.
“Clients from India have been very successful in this category, across varied
industries ranging from construction, fast food, exports, entertainment and
technology,” Saraff said.

Mark Davies, global chairman at Davies & Associates, a law firm, agrees
that Indian HNIs are one of the largest applicant groups for the UK sole representative
visa as well as the UK investor visa, and the UK start-up visa with about 20
per cent of the total visas issued in each of these categories going to Indians
every year.

No surprise that investing in property has become an important route for high-net-worth
Indians to invest in the UK. “Culturally Indians love to buy houses, in
whichever part of the world they may choose to call home. And the UK is no
different with most people tending to concentrate on London and its suburbs
when investing in property. We increasingly find that HNIs who are not
contemplating immigrating to the UK are keen to buy second homes there for
vacations and for their children who go there for education,” says Bakhru
of Grant Thornton Bharat.

The advantages, according to her, are diversifying family wealth via real
estate in a market that is not volatile and gives steady and significantly
higher returns on rentals than India as well as capital appreciation. “The
challenges, however, are around navigating the regulatory requirements placed
under the Indian Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) for such investments,
ensuring adequate disclosure in tax filings and of course the attendant costs
of owning and looking after a property in the UK including annual property tax,
home owners’ insurance, utilities and maintenance cost , which can be a concern
if the property is not used enough,” adds Bakhru.

The fact that London is one of
the most desirable cities in the world to own property in, adds to the
attraction for Indians. “The global elite, especially the who’s who of
Commonwealth countries own a property in London. They are attracted by the security,
lifestyle, cultural delights and low property taxes,” says Reshma Mukhi,
owner and founder of Millennium Blue, a property search firm in London. She,
however, cautions that London is a complex market for outsiders to comprehend
because every neighbourhood has its own unique character. “Prices per
square foot between neighbourhoods, and even between adjoining streets within a
neighbourhood, can differ dramatically. Without a competent local agent to
help, it may seem like a maze to an overseas buyer.”