It’s been dubbed by one Republican — with a Yankish disregard for proper English — as the “MAGA British summer”. It began last Friday on the west coast of Scotland, with Donald Trump flying in for a round or two of golf and a summit with Sir Keir Starmer at Turnberry. His vice president JD Vance holidays here next month, heading with his family to Charlbury in the Cotswolds (Ellen DeGeneres cannot be thrilled). And in September, Trump returns for an unprecedented second state visit. Neither the President nor his second-in-command can be expecting the warmest welcome from their fellow countrymen, who are here in record numbers.
“What’s happening with the administration at the moment is absolutely terrifying, and the consequences are really immediate,” says business strategist Farrin Mann, 38, who moved to London from Dallas late last year. “I bought my ticket on election day, because knowing he was going to win meant prices were going up,” she says. “I got a $700 ticket, but that same ticket a week later doubled.” Because people were wanting to get out? “Uh-huh.” Divorce and the chance to start over — not Trump — were Mann’s primary reasons for first coming over. But with things as they are, “I really don’t want to go back.”
Amazon program manager Cassandra Ganzak, 35, who moved here from Seattle, echoes those sentiments. The day after the election, she recalls going to work and seeing staff crying. “I remember going in already feeling upset and that hit me in another way — that people’s lives were going to be brutally affected by the decisions and policies the administration were going to enact,” she says. “Prior to the election, there was an assumption that our progressive leaders, our democratic leaders, would help us navigate the political field after the election. And by the time I left, it was extremely clear to everyone that that was not happening.” Ganzak’s move came in early May and although, like Mann, she says Trump wasn’t the primary motivation, she’s in no hurry to return. “I’d like to be here as long as possible.”
An increased interest in Britain happened during Trump’s first presidency, says Sophie Barrett-Brown, a senior partner and head of the UK Practice for Laura Devine Solicitors, one of the country’s top immigration specialists. This time around, though, “it’s more pronounced”.
“We have these fantasies about London — the elegance, the charm, the manners”
“We’ve definitely noticed an increase, a building trend over the past six months or so,” Barrett-Brown says. “There is a significant rise.” Data released by the Home Office in May reveals more than 6,600 Americans applied for British citizenship in the 12 months leading up to March — a 26 per cent increase on the year before and the highest number since records began in 2004. Almost a third of applications were sent in between January and March this year, the first three months of Trump’s second term.
Like everyone, Barrett-Brown points out that a shared language makes it easier to move here than elsewhere, and notes that for most Americans, the cost of living is generally cheaper, especially given the recent exchange rates. The pound may presently be rallying, but in February, the dollar reached a historic high against it. The NHS helps too, says Ganzak. “It’s so much more simple!” she laughs. “I don’t have to navigate insurance, premiums, all those things I had to pay for up front.”
More striking to Barrett-Brown than the numbers is how people are framing their decisions. “Just a few days ago, a client contacted us indicating that they were looking to move because of a ‘change in the US’s societal values’,” Barrett-Brown says.
“It was really interesting to hear it framed that way, rather than just ‘it’s Trump’. Sometimes the way clients speak, they think it’s obvious — almost as if it is odd why they need to articulate it, because they consider it a given.”
Her observation rings true: the 47th (and 45th) president’s name seems to some Americans almost to be a word best not said. “There’s a lot of things happening politically these days, right?” is how hospitality consultant and former co-owner of the Nobu group Richie Notar euphemistically puts it in his NYC drawl. “I think a lot of people have said: I’ve had enough. It’s fragile. They’re saying: I want a time-out, let’s go to a lovely country like England.”
“People feel the US is a less tolerant, less welcoming environment. The UK is perceived, rightly or wrongly, as a rather liberal, tolerant society”
“We have quite a lot of same-gender couples, for example, who feel the US is a less tolerant, less welcoming environment,” adds Barrett-Brown. “Or I’ve spoken to those in, say, green energy who don’t think it’s a welcoming place for their business area. But it’s definitely a theme that’s been apparent, where people will comment on that change in society, the willingness that people have to be openly anti-diversity. I think the UK is perceived, rightly or wrongly, as a rather liberal, tolerant society.”
London-based New Yorker Matt Wolf, a theatre critic for the New York Times, agrees — while once again avoiding mentioning the President by name. “There really is a sense that the democratic ideal of America is on the verge of a cliff. So if you care about that, it’s very unsettling and then London — I don’t want to say Britain is perfect by the way, but it’s all comparative — is a wonderful alternative. Americans’ appetite for being here in London … escape is a strong word, but they want a change of scene.”
The number of Americans wanting this change of scene is far from small. Estate agents say they have witnessed a significant jump in interest from US buyers and renters over the past year, for what they call the “Empire state of London”. According to Knight Frank, one in 10 overseas buyers in prime central London are from America, a proportion matched only by the Chinese. A few years ago, Americans would have accounted for not even half that.
Stuart Bailey, Knight Frank’s head of super prime sales in London, says although few US buyers disclose their political affiliations, there is no doubt the spike happened at about the time it became clear Trump could win a second term in the Oval Office last autumn. American traffic to London properties on Knight Frank’s website in November was five times higher than a year previously.
It helps, too, that with an exodus of high-net-worth individuals, house prices for those coming in are well below the peaks seen in 2014, particularly in dollar terms (there’s that favourable exchange rate again). “London is still considered a fun place to enjoy that has so much to offer and also a stepping stone to other places,” Bailey says. “We have plenty of wealthy clients who are happy to pay the tax to be where they want to be. Full stop. They love London.”
Not all are buying, says Becky Fatemi, executive partner at Sotheby’s International Realty. She estimates American interest in London is up 20 per cent this year. Most of the recent deals she has transacted are to US buyers looking to rent before they fully commit with a purchase. “They want to see the lay of the land; they are looking at the Trump time-frame, at the Labour time-frame. They’re thinking, ‘Why pay 19 per cent stamp duty when Starmer could be out in three years’ time and replaced by Farage?’”
The interest is at all ends of the market. Away from the big-time agencies, New York Times critic Wolf, who owns property he rents out, notes that “I probably get two requests a week from Americans wanting to know when and how they can rent that flat, because they want to get out”. So too for American Kate Krader, the Bloomberg editor, who from a trip in New York writes: “Ninety-five per cent of the people I have seen are like, ‘Make room for me in your apartment!’”
Where are Americans moving to? Upmarket agency Ashton Chase points to St John’s Wood — the American School is a big draw — while Fatemi says “the Julia Roberts effect” means Notting Hill is popular, even 26 years after the movie, as is “villagey” Marylebone. But the Americans the Standard spoke to paint a broader picture, too: Kentish Town, Hackney, Stoke Newington. North London seems more popular than south.
Despite Trump’s apparent friendliness to the super-wealthy, some of London’s biggest transactions have come courtesy of Stateside buyers. Astonishingly, a quarter of all the capital’s sales of more than £20million went to Americans — among them Tom Ford (an £80 million white stucco block in Chelsea, the deal signed on the day of the US election); Eric Schmidt, former Google top dog (£42 million on a double-fronted gaff in Holland Park), and Enterprise car rental heiress Christine Broadhurst Taylor and husband Lee Broughton, who paid £68 million for a Hyde Park penthouse.
These, though, are dwarfed by the £138.9 million sale of the Holme, the second-largest recorded sale in UK history, which also went to an American, albeit an anonymous one. The 40-bedroom property sits in Regent’s Park, not far from Winfield House, the official residence of the US Ambassador. Winfield House — built in 1937 for heiress and “poor little rich girl” Barbara Woolworth, who lived there with her third husband (of seven) Cary Grant — is a reminder that American interest in London is nothing new.
Certainly not in the West End, says Wolf, who notes A-listers have been on stage here regularly since the 1980s (Al Pacino and Dustin Hoffman were both huge draws at the time). But there has been a change, he says. “The investment model for theatre in New York is largely broken, and one of the remedies that’s available to people is to do stuff in London. It’s not a new appetite for London — that has always, always been there — but it’s just ramped up. Your rule of thumb is that the average show in New York costs between five and eight times what it costs to produce in London, something like that. Why? The answer in one word is unions…”
Film and TV have brazenly invested over here. Not just the stars relocating, but the big studios too
London only benefits from producers and directors looking to move, says Wolf. While on Broadway, costs cripple a huge production like Cabaret — closing in October — here the sister show is rolling on and on. And American money has been crucial too: “Is there American investment in theatre here? The answer is definitely. Most of the not-for-profit theatres here wouldn’t exist without ‘the American friends of…,’ the ‘American patronage,’ or seed money... And commercial producers, of course, depend on American co-productions. Not to get too political, but as the blighted American presidency continues, this is only going to get more so.”
Film and TV have even more brazenly invested over here. Not just the stars recently relocating — DeGeneres and wife Portia de Rossi, but also Ryan Gosling and Eva Mendes, and Lena Dunham, whose new show Too Much is based on her move — but the big studios too. London is home to an astonishing number of high-profile players: Disney, Netflix and Amazon Prime all have offices here, while Pinewood Studios, just outside the M25, is where 12 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe movies have been shot.
The country’s world-beating tax incentives and our relatively liberal attitudes mean Britain is an attractive place to film, even for the most American of American productions (the Mission: Impossible franchise and Spider-Man: Far From Home both filmed here extensively).
It helps that the capital is an easy place to work in with enough going on for days off, and a superb fly-point for Europe — the middle of the jungle might be interesting for a shoot, but there’s nowhere for coffee; Australia might be lovely, but you can’t fly to Rome for a weekend break. “As a world-class city, London is an easy ask for top-tier talent,” Shadowbox Studios chief operating officer Mike Mosallam told the Hollywood Reporter this year.
Sport, too, has taken Hollywood’s lead. The NFL is increasing its London presence — the games reportedly sell out every time — but the real money seems to be in getting into British sport. Famously, actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney bought Wrexham AFC in 2021, and two years ago the pair put money into the UK’s Alpine Formula One team. Birmingham City, Burnley and Bournemouth likewise all have A-list money in them. And Snoop Dogg just put money into Swansea.
Could a London club be next? “Charlton Athletic” would look great on a bomber jacket, after all. There’s hope elsewhere: Notar remains discreet, but says a high-net-worth American friend is making serious inquiries into financing a cricket league. “He’s putting together a big cricket consortium,” says Notar. “He’s seen the buzz when you’re at Lord’s or wherever.”
The biggest change since I first moved here in the Eighties,” laughs Wolf, “is the food.” It’s true — and nothing to do with the hellish American sweet shops. London has a claim as the food capital of the world, and joining its legions of sushi bars, French bistros and British fine dining palaces are countless American restaurants.
There’s the Dover, which with its low-lit, New York-ish feel, remains one of London’s hardest bookings and for good reason. Jeremy King, who operates in the professional Englishman mould, has the Park, an American-style brasserie. In Shoreditch is new opening Paulie’s, a NYC-style “real deal” pizzeria doing slices for less than a fiver; coming soon to Mayfair is Carbone, the Italian-American celebrity magnet from New York. At Claridge’s, the summer pop-up is NYC bar Dante, which has “been so popular, with high demand,” says the hotel’s head of communications Paula Fitzherbert, “that we’ve had to extend for another month.”
For those after a bite of the Big Apple, then, London has it covered. Which is smart, really, as fewer people are willing to travel to the US for it: Bloomberg’s Krader points out that New York specifically is set to see visitors drop 17 per cent compared with last year — a loss of about 2.5 million people. Local tour operators have reported 75 per cent fewer bookings.
“The public transport is much, much better, the dining scene is phenomenal, and I love how close it is to Europe”
But London seems to have a charm that appeals to Americans whether rich and famous, or not. There was Taylor Swift with London Boy and Ariana Grande singing “I left my heart at a pub in Hampstead” on her track Eternal Sunshine. As Notar says: “When we opened Nobu here in 1998, we knew nothing of London, but we were enchanted by it. As an American, we have these fantasies about London — the elegance, the charm, or the manners. These are very attractive to Americans. It’s very like New York, it’s aligned in terms of the arts, the culinary scene, the fashion. This is what makes New York and London love each other. They’re the same but different.”
“I love London so much! To me, it feels safer than the US,” says brand consultant and New York native Rachel Dube, 26, who now lives in north London. “The public transport is much, much better, the dining scene is phenomenal, and I love my friends here. I also love how close it is to Europe.”
Her Kentish Town neighbour, Caroline Kelley, 23, who first came to the UK to study at St Andrews and now works in commercial partnerships, says there’s something different about the work culture, too. “From a young age in the US, you’re taught that the career is the most important thing,” she says. “Everyone is talking about internships, networks … there isn’t the same thing about spending time together. London isn’t perfect, but in the US it’s very much career, career, career, and that’s our big topic of conversation.”
That’s exactly it, says Mann. “Defining your worth by how much you can take home and how much you can do and how busy you are, that to a tee is what it is in America,” she says. “Overscheduling yourself and then complaining about it is the thing. There is a constant barrage of conversation around the idea that the busier I am, the more worth I have, and communicating that is a form of currency.”
“I wanted to have the chance to be who I wanted to be, without all these manufactured worries. I feel like in London I’m being elevated in a way — to go back would feel like a punishment, honestly.”
Illustration by Lisa Sheehan
