Acquist Realty Group banks on London Realty Connect to Reinforce its UK Presence

Acquist Realty, a leading real estate firm, announced on November 14, 2019, that London Realty Connect, its real estate venture with UK focus, has completed over 1 year of operations. The venture, according to Acquist, streamlines the entire property sale and purchase lifecycle, including post-sale services, catering the unique demand of Indians looking forward to invest in the UK, and vice-versa.

File Photo - One of the London Realty Connect’s prime properties in London

As per a report from Hamptons data, 58% of buyers in prime central London in the first half of 2018 were based overseas. With the recent house price falls due to Brexit, and sterling’s depreciation, the real estate market in the UK is ripe for penetration.

According to Sanjay Guha, Founder & CEO, Acquist Realty, when he collaborated with many high net worth individuals in India, he observed that Indians had an inherent desire to invest in the west. But the lack of proper channels and extensive paperwork resulted in little deals moving on to the closure stage. London Realty Connect is uniquely positioned to address this problem statement via its existing tie-ups with leading developers, including the likes of Berkeley Group, Barratt Group, Redrow, etc., along with service providers across the complete real estate sector.

Sanjay stated, “We offer an exhaustive support system, i.e., if a client wants to set up a business in the UK, we help with immigration, launching a business, regulatory compliances, and finally, real estate.”

London Realty Connect enables multiple investment options for property buyers and investors, and also offers exhaustive guidance across market trends, laws and practices prevalent in the region. Namrata Goyal, Head - International Sales, Acquist Realty, commenting on the company’s portfolio, said, “Since launch in October 2018, the company has clocked sales of over 15 million GBP from the region. London Realty Connect’s offerings start from about INR 85 lakhs to INR 40-50 crores and upwards, along with mortgage options from the UK's financial institutions.”

The company has a unique approach towards getting the best ROI yield. London Realty Connect curates property options with high rental yields, making the apartments effectively free of cost. Ankita Jain, Business Head, London Realty Connect stated, “London is one of the most safe and stable investment zones with rental yields at 4-5% per year, and a steady growth at 5-6% YOY. With a good regulatory framework safeguarding investments, we have seen real estate deals in London generating a lot of interest.” She added, “While we ensure the client gets good rental yields, we also help resell the property if they want to realise their investments.”

Acquist Realty, which started as a privately-held marketing consulting company in December 2013, has grown into a real estate giant, observing about 35% growth YOY, since inception. According to Somdutta Basu, Business Head, Acquist Realty, Domestic Real Estate, “This December, we will enter the 7th year of successful operations. Our growth is entirely organic, debt free, and we have been profitable with an ever-expanding international presence!”

Acquist Realty currently partners with Tier 1 developers including the likes of L&T Realty, Godrej Properties, Mahindra Lifespaces, Shapoorji Pallonji Group, Kanakia Group and Purvankara. Ipsita Guha, Head HR, Acquist Realty, attributes the growth of Acquist to its core employees. She reiterated, “Many of the 30-member team at Acquist joined us as trainees a few years ago. When the economy was volatile, they could have switched. But they chose to work without hike or incentives. And, Acquist couldn’t be here without them.”