Almost 200 homes in London have been sold for £10m in the past year as the super-rich’s pandemic-inspired desire for a place in the country wanes compared to their wish for swish bolt-holes in the capital.
A total of 175 homes were sold for £10m-plus in the 12 months to November 2023, the highest number for eight-years, according to research by the estate agent Knight Frank.
In 2014, when high-end sales leapt just before the introduction of higher rates of stamp duty for properties above £1m, 225 £10m-plus home were sold.
More than £3.4bn was spent on the properties, referred to as “super prime” by estate agents. That’s the highest combined figure since 2014 when £4.2bn was spent.
The figure for the full calendar year of 2023 is likely to be even higher as a number of extremely pricey sales have recently completed. This week Indian billionaire Adar Poonawalla, known as “the vaccine prince” due to his family’s vast vaccine factories, agreed to buy a mansion in Mayfair for £138m.
Poonawalla’s Serum Life Sciences company is buying Aberconway House, which at 2,300 sq metres (25,000 sq ft) is 24 times the size of the average English home, from the daughter of the late Polish billionaire Jan Kulczyk. Poonwalla is familiar with the house, having rented it from Kulczyk’s daughter for £50,000-a-week since 2021.
The most popular locations for super-prime transactions was Mayfair, where 29 sales took place, followed by Kensington (24) and Belgravia (23). In total there were 28 deals in the capital above £30m, 24 in the £20-£30m bracket, and 123 between £10m and £20m.
Radlett House, a “true country house” in St John’s Wood on its own private road and with direct private access to Primrose Hill, sold for £42.9m.
While expensive sales increased in the capital, they declined in the countryside. The number of £8m-plus sales outside London fell to 35 between December 2022 and August 2023, compared with 42 a year earlier.
“There are two reasons driving London’s strong performance,” said Rory Penn, head of London sales at Knight Frank. “First, its enduring appeal as global ‘super city’ alongside New York, Paris, and Singapore – London remains front and centre on this list, Brexit or not.
“The other reason, often overlooked, is financial. Clients can buy a trophy home in most prime central London postcodes at the same price, or lower, than around 10 years ago. London is showing genuine value at what could be the low point in a 20-year cycle.”
High-end sales have not been consistently strong over the year, with demand depressed by the mini-budget at the end of last year and inflation and interest rates causing “subdued activity”. Knight Frank detected a “notable pickup” over the last six weeks as the economic outlook has improved.
However, the UK’s two most expensive properties on the market, have failed to sell. They are 2-8A Rutland Gate, a 45-room “private palace” overlooking Hyde Park, whose owners are looking for bids in the region of £200m, and The Holme, a 40-bedroom mansion set in four acres of Regent’s Park, which is on the market for £250m.
