President Trump’s controversial reign in the US may be driving a rise in foreign ownership of prime London property, it’s being claimed.

The number of foreign homeowners found across the prime London market has increased on an annual basis, with Westminster home to the highest number of properties registered to foreign owners.

Property consultancy Jefferies London analysed the latest figures of foreign homeownership across the high end London housing market and how this number has changed on an annual basis.

The figures show that the number of London property titles registered to individuals with an overseas correspondence address has increased by 3.9% on an annual basis, hitting almost 64,000 homes. However, across the prime central London market, the number of foreign homeowners has climbed by 4.7%.

Westminster tops the table with 6,582 homes registered to foreign owners. The borough has also seen the largest increase in foreign homeownership of all prime central areas, up 6.4% year on year.

Kensington and Chelsea is home to the second highest number of prime foreign homeowners, with 4,002 titles registered outside of the UK, however at 2.8%, the borough has seen the lowest annual increase in foreign market activity.

Hammersmith and Fulham has seen the second highest annual increase, with 4.4% more homes owned by foreign nationals versus a year ago. The borough is also home to the third highest number of foreign owned homes at 2,987.

Both Camden and the City of London have seen an annual increase of 4.2% in foreign homeownership, however, the number of foreign owned homes is considerably higher at 2,349 versus just 647 in the City of London.

Hong Kong nationals are the most prominent nation in the prime central London market, accounting for 17% of all foreign owned homes.

Other prominent nationalities include owners from Singapore (9%), China (7%), the United States (7%) and the UAE (6%).

A Jefferies London spokesperson says: “Prime central London has always been the jewel in the crown of the global property market and so it’s no surprise that it continues to attract high-end buyers from all over the world, despite growing popularity for other emerging destinations such as Dubai.

“Whilst this interest has predominantly come from Asia, there are a range of nationalities that make up the fabric of prime London foreign homeownership, one of which is the United States and, with Trump now back in office, we expect this segment of the market to strengthen over the coming months.”