McCauley Wycliff
Member
According to Knight Frank’s forthcoming edition of The Wealth Report 2021, 17% of ultra-high-net-worth individuals (UHNWIs) in Kenya are planning to buy a new home in 2021, with Kenya as their most popular destination, followed by the UK, US, South Africa and Canada.
Ben Woodhams, Knight Frank Kenya MD, said: “The Wealth Report confirms a clear rise in demand for residential property as wealthy Kenyans look to buy a new home this year.
This was also confirmed in a local Buyer’s Survey that we conducted as Knight Frank Kenya in December 2020, which indicated demand for a second home amongst our clients, especially with a strong focus for rural and coastal properties that have access to open space.
The pandemic is super-charging demand for locations that offer green spaces as more people are increasingly focused on wellness as they spent a great deal of 2020 at home, working remotely.”
According to the results of The Wealth Report’s Attitudes Survey of Private Bankers and Wealth Advisors, only 19% of Kenyan high-net-worth-individuals (HNWIs) are considering applying for a second passport or new citizenship, indicating that they see many of the opportunities to create wealth lie at home.
This compares with 39% of wealthy Chinese and a whopping 62% of HNWIs in Nigeria.
Respondents in the Attitudes Survey also revealed that Covid-19 is by far the biggest current worry for the Kenyan wealthy when it comes to creating and preserving their wealth.
The Knight Frank Wealth Sizing Model shows that Kenya’s population of High-Net-Worth Individuals (HNWIs) – those worth over one million US dollars - slipped by 22% last year, compared with a global decline of just 8%, although our wealth sizing model predicts that over the next five years Kenya’s High-Net-Worth individuals (HNW) population will bounce back by 46%
Andrew Shirley, editor of The Wealth Report at Knight Frank said: “Many may ask why are we interested in the wealthy in the middle of a pandemic? The objective of The Wealth Report is to assess how and where the ‘one – percent” are investing and what they are likely to do next. This gives policymakers and investors, insight into behaviour and attitudes to understand market and asset performance.”
Wealth advisers who participated in the Knight Frank Attitudes Survey in 2020 stated that their Kenyan clients allocated their property investment portfolio in the following property types: Residential private rented sector (PRS) (22%), Retail (17%), Offices (14%) and Retirement (13%).
The top 5 popular sectors that Kenyan UHNWIs are becoming more interested in and directing investments towards are: Retirement & Development land (38%), Residential private rented sector (PRS) (33%), Agricultural (29%), Healthcare & Retail (25%) and Offices (21%).
Knight Frank Kenya MD Ben Woodhams noted: “Even though 2020 caused upheaval for most businesses and investors, there is renewed optimism in 2021 that as travel restrictions reduce and the rollout plans of the vaccination programs reaches an advanced stage, private capital will look to increase exposure back to the market and focus on sectors with a strong long-term outlook.”
Which of these sectors are becoming of more interest? %
| Retirement | 38% |
| Development land | 38% |
| Residential private rented sector (PRS) | 33% |
| Agricultural | 29% |
| Healthcare | 25% |
| Retail | 25% |
| Offices | 21% |
| Student housing | 13% |
| Data centres | 13% |
| Hotel and leisure | 4% |
| Industrial | 4% |
| Infrastructure | 4% |
| Education | 4% |