<Eastern European> bought an apartment in London for a record £140 million

London - The heated London real estate market has reached another record. An unnamed wealthy individual from Eastern Europe has purchased an unfurnished penthouse in one of London's most luxurious projects, One Hyde Park, for £140 million, or 4.7 billion crowns. A source familiar with the sale informed Reuters today.
    Nick Candy, one of the developers of the ostentatious project on the southern side of Hyde Park, confirmed that his company, CPC Group, sold the penthouse measuring about 1,500 m², but he refused to disclose the price and the name of the buyer. CPC Group, led by his brother Christian, stated that such an apartment with furnishings would cost up to £175 million.
    The previous record in London was held by Ukrainian billionaire Rinat Akhmetov, who paid £136 million three years ago for two combined apartments in the same One Hyde Park project. The developer, whose partner is the firm Waterknights of Qatari Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabr Al Thani, has already sold apartments from the project for more than two billion dollars (about 40 billion crowns).
    However, Candy pointed out that some of the asking prices in London are already excessive and unsustainable. "We are experiencing a boom that is more expensive than anything in human history . . . There are concerns about overheating in the market," he said.
    The London real estate market is driven upward by purchases of "trophy apartments" from Russian oligarchs, Chinese magnates, and Arab sheikhs. London is one of the most expensive real estate markets in the world, leading to concerns about displacing local residents ahead of parliamentary elections next year. Since 2009, residential property prices in London have increased by about 80 percent, and strong growth is also seeping into areas where ordinary people live.
    Real estate prices in the UK have not yet returned as a whole to the levels seen before the financial crisis of 2008, but they are rising by about ten percent annually. The Bank of England is increasingly warning about the risks of rapid growth in real estate prices for the entire economy.
    High demand is driving an increase in development and construction activity. More than 20,000 residential units are planned to be built in London over the next ten years, which is double the plans from 2011, according to consulting firm EC Harris in December.
    The value of London's real estate is now so high that, according to real estate consultant Savills, ten London districts have a total real estate value equivalent to that of Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland combined.
    According to the British press, wealthy Russians and Ukrainians are now trying to move their money into London real estate. Some Eastern European oligarchs want to hide their wealth from possible international sanctions. The outflow of capital from Russia and Ukraine has sharply increased this year due to the Ukrainian crisis.