San Francisco crime surge drives tech chief exodus to London

In the past year, US buyers have become the largest group of overseas buyers in prime central London, taking the top spot from Chinese buyers, and the French in 2020.

In the year to April 2023, US buyers represented 7.6pc of all overseas sales. This was up from 3.9pc in the previous 12-month period, according to estate agency Knight Frank.

Coutts, as well as Knight Frank, have said the influx of tech workers from San Francisco was one of the primary reasons for a boom in American buyers in London.

Annie Ingram, a private banker at Coutts, said: “Tech workers have grown disenchanted with San Francisco.”

She put this down to a mixture of crime rates in richer areas, chronic homelessness – 1pc versus 0.2pc in the rest of America – and the rising level of unemployment, which has ticked up around 1pc over the past year.

Cash App founder Bob Lee was reportedly found stabbed and unconscious by police outside a luxury apartment building in Rincon Hill, an 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” to Coutts’ high-earning, overseas clients, who she said are “looking beyond the US now”.

London’s extensive prime property market, six airports, and much-sought-after education system for those with children are just some of the draws for San Francisco’ tech workers, experts said.