Iranian Billionaires Set to Compete for Luxury Real Estate in London

Iranian capitalists are soon to begin competing with their Arab counterparts for expensive apartments and villas in London. This prediction comes from the real estate agency Rokston in the British capital. English-language websites, including The Independent, have published articles about the ambitions of Iranian billionaires for luxury properties in Europe. According to Rokston, Iranians with a minimum of $30 million in assets will spend up to £6 billion (approximately $8.5 billion at current exchange rates) on real estate around the world in the next five to ten years. The agency, owned by an Iranian woman named Becky Fattahi, specializes in buying and selling high-end properties and predicts that in the next two years, the number of Iranian buyers for luxury properties in London will increase by 25%. Rokston believes that Iranian capitalists, now with the relative lifting of sanctions, will have greater interest in the attractive real estate markets in various regions of the world. Besides London, other major targets for this group of Iranians will include the pleasant regions of southern France, Switzerland, Germany, and Dubai. Iranians interested in the British capital have set aside between £1 million and £30 million for purchasing properties in the city. Becky Fattahi states that London is at the top of the list of cities favored by Iranian capitalists for property purchases; these investors include individuals and families, professional investors, private companies, and entities affiliated with the government or quasi-governmental organizations.