Advertisement
Concrete Analysis | For BN(O) passport holders, the rising star of Southeast England is a great relocation option
- Reading town makes up for its tiny size with excellence in education records on national stage
- Property prices along the Crossrail project operated by MTR of Hong Kong have surged since the project was approved in 2009
Reading Time:3 minutes
Why you can trust SCMP
From January 2021, any of Hong Kong’s 2.9 million BN(O) passport holders – and their immediate dependants – will be able to apply for a special visa which gives them the opportunity to live in the UK for five years and a path to permanent residency.
Advertisement
The announcement has sent BN(O) passport holders scrambling for UK real estate. Some 7,000-odd homes have been sold in the past two months to Hongkongers alone, according to industry sources.
A combination of excellent educational institutions and cosmopolitan buzz have made the UK an ideal study-abroad destination for Hong Kong students. State schools admit students on a “catchment” basis. The nearer you live to your preferred school, the higher your chances of enrolling your kids there.
This has prompted hordes of Hong Kong parents to buy properties near the schools of their choice to shorten the odds of admission.
London, Manchester and Birmingham have been the top destinations for BN(O) passport holders, driving up home prices in those cities. The Southeast of England could very well be the next favourite relocation spots.
Advertisement
Advertisement