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Brits dazzled by Dubai

Jaimie Kanwar

British companies are slowly taking over the Dubai real estate market, argues one expert..

There may be a credit crunch and house prices are continuing to fall, but the smart UK money is now in Dubai, claims Oliver Hickey, UK Sales Director at Profile Europe.

And he seems to be right - Latest figures from the Dubai Land Department show that British companies lead the field when it comes to land investment, with 147 companies in total now owning 1,900,000 sqft of prime real estate land.

Mr Hickey explained: “British companies are now the number one overseas investors in land in Dubai and have recently overtaken Indian investment companies who collectively own 862,000 sqft. Effectively, by breaking down the UK's 1,900,000 sqft of land we see that each British company now owns on average, some 12,925 sqft which dwarfs Indian investors who currently average some 6,986 sqft of land each.

“The fact that UK companies now top the land list in Dubai is also a reflection on just how many private individual investors there are from the UK. This is further proof that although the UK markets are struggling there are alternatives and Dubai is by far, the most popular.”