Rising crime in San Francisco prompts tech bosses to relocate to London

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Last year, American buyers became the largest group of foreign buyers in central London, taking the top spot from Chinese and French buyers in 2020.

In the year to April 2023, US buyers accounted for 7.6% of all foreign sales. This was an increase from 3.9% in the previous 12-month period, according to the Knight Frank real estate agency.

Coutts, as well as Knight Frank, have said that the influx of tech workers from San Francisco was a major reason for the boom in American shoppers in London.

Annie Ingram, Coutts’ private banker, said: “Tech workers have become disillusioned with San Francisco.”

She attributed this to a combination of crime rates in wealthier areas, chronic homelessness (1 percent vs. 0.2 percent in the rest of the United States) and the rising level of unemployment, which has risen about 1 percent in the last year.

Cash App founder Bob Lee reportedly found stabbed unconscious by police outside a luxury apartment building in Rincon Hillan area in San Francisco where the median household income is around $208,000 (£167,000), according to US property portal ZeroDown.

Ms Ingram said living in San Francisco now “seems less safe” for Coutts’ high-income foreign clients, who she said are “looking beyond the US now.”

London’s expansive prime real estate market, six airports and coveted parenting education system are just some of the draws for San Francisco’s tech workers, experts say.