London, Nov. 22 Nearly a third of the large country houses sold in Britain in the past four years have been bought by foreign buyers, a new research has revealed.

More and more foreign buyers, mainly Russian, Chinese, Middle Eastern and Indian, are outdoing traditional owners of rural retreats in the home counties and immersing themselves in hunting, shooting and other rural pursuits, Times Online reports.

According to Savills, the estate agent, 30 per cent of all properties sold for more than four million pounds in the past four years, were bought by international buyers.

Swedish billionaire Stefan Persson, who owns fashion giant H and M, recently paid 25 million pounds for the Linkenholt country estate near Andover, Hampshire.

The estate includes an entire village and is Persson's second rural retreat. He already owns a 6,500-acre site near Marlborough, in Wiltshire, where he hosts partridge and pheasant shoots.

Foreign buyers have been boosted by the fall of the pound against other currencies.

There are now twice as many foreign buyers as sellers, the agent said.

For foreigners with more than two million pounds to spend, Surrey is the prime target, followed by West Sussex, Berkshire and Kent.

The southwest is also becoming more attractive to international buyers.

Over half of all properties bought in London for 1 million pounds or more during the past year went to international buyers.

According to a Savills' research, 43 percent of buyers of properties worth more than two million pounds work in the financial services sector. (ANI)