31st January 2025
9mins
After almost two years languishing on the market with a £250m price tag, The Holme, a 40 bedroom mansion in Regent’s Park, has been sold.
The deal kicks off the super prime year in style, and proves that homes will sell in London, providing the price is right. The 29,000 sq ft house, formerly owned by the Saudi royal family, was purchased by the UK subsidiary of investment manager Zedra for a reported £139m. It is not known who the end buyer is.
This is not a sign of the weakness of London’s super-prime market. Camilla Dell, who has seen the property, believes it took so long to sell simply because it was wildly overpriced. “I always felt it was worth about half what they were asking for it,” said Dell. “It needs total gutting because it is dated and in disrepair, and it is not as private as you might want with the garden backing onto the boating lake.”
Meanwhile, in Belgravia, an eight bedroom townhouse on Wilton Crescent, has been sold to a UK businessman for £38m. He fought off four other bidders looking at the property, which went on the market last May.
New research by Savills suggests returning confidence in London’s prime market since the General Election and autumn statement last year. The number of homes priced at £5m or more jumped by 25 per cent in the final quarter of 2024, when compared to the previous six months, with 128 homes sold for a collective price of £1.59bn.
These figures, plus headline grabbing deals, might suggest that Prime Central London (PCL) is back after a decade in the doldrums. “Yes, there are deals happening, but the truth of the matter is, there are far fewer deals happening than in the past,” said Dell. “Prices are still coming down, there are fewer transactions, and I don’t see matters changing gear for the foreseeable future.”
Dell’s views are backed by house price analyst LonRes. Its latest research showed that London’s prime property market flatlined during 2024, with transactions down 7.6 per cent in December, compared to December 2023, and prices down a marginal 0.5 per cent during the year.
While PCL’s market has been treacly, out in the suburbs, there have been some strong performances from leafy, family friendly postcodes with busy high streets and good (state) schools.
Data from Rightmove has highlighted strong price growth in Wandsworth, south west London, where prices have increased by six per cent year on year to an average £847,000. Crouch End, in north London, where average prices have increased 5.5 per cent, to just over £720,000, and Dulwich, south east London, where prices have hit £811,000, up more than four per cent during 2024.
“We have seen a lot of activity, and competition, for three to four bedroom Victorian family houses near to transport links and good schools,” said Dell. “Compared to PCL, the market feels like a different country in popular suburbs.”
Buyers are young professional British couples, often with young children, looking to put down roots in the capital. In many cases, they are first time buyers who have continued renting for longer than previous generations would have because they want to leapfrog the traditional starter flat rung of the property ladder – and the associated buying costs – and go straight into a family house.
This market is surprisingly competitive. “It is a bun fight,” said Dell. “We get these calls from people who are exasperated. They are not even able to book viewings.”
Tom Kain, a partner at Black Brick, believes that the recent imposition of VAT on private school fees is fuelling this market, with buyers looking to spend up to £3m on a family home within the catchment area of a high performing state school. “They might also be working from home a few days a week, and these areas really work for that lifestyle,” he said.
From BT to PwC, Starling Bank to Amazon, London employers are backtracking on the work from home regimes which evolved at the height of the pandemic, and are recalling staff to the office part-time at least.
The end of WFH has been hailed by Savills for driving a noticeable recovery in the office property market, with vacancy levels in London at their lowest for three years.
From a residential property perspective, this trend is fascinating. Central London property – and particularly small flats without outside space – was a really hard sell during the pandemic, and prices have fallen accordingly.
In the City itself, for example, average sale prices have dropped ten per cent in the past year to £801,000, according to research by estate agent Hamptons.
But as workers return to their desks, there is an argument that Zone 1 apartments will soon be in greater demand – not least from the crowd who rushed out to the country during the pandemic and now want to spare themselves from long regular commutes.
A smart buyer might want to get out in front of the crowd.
Meanwhile, owners who have been grimly hanging on to their central London pied-a-terres for the past few years, appear to be losing hope of making a profit on their properties – or even covering their costs. As a result more stock is coming onto the market.
“There is more choice, and sellers are generally unemotional about pied-a-terres,” said Kain. “They have held off from selling hoping the market will improve, but there is a realisation that they are not going to make big money and they want to get on with it.
“Buyers have got choice, and sellers are realistic and willing to negotiate.”
Almost 11,000 millionaires left the UK during the course of 2022 according to global analytics firm New World Wealth, with the dismantling of the non-dom system blamed for this exodus of the wealthy.
Last year, the government announced that it was ending the tax system which allows wealthy foreigners to live in the UK without paying tax on overseas assets and income. It is being replaced by a residence-based scheme, offering incentives to investors and wealthy foreign nationals.
Three months later, Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced that she was going to water down the changes – a little. The amount of money wealthy former non-doms can bring into the UK will be increased, and double taxation agreements – treaties protecting individuals from paying tax to two Governments – will be upheld.
But will it help? Black Brick thinks not.
“The thing the Government is missing, and the reason non-doms are leaving, is inheritance tax,” said Camilla Dell, managing partner at Black Brick.
“Our clients who were born overseas but have chosen to live in the UK are leaving because they don’t want their entire global wealth to fall into the UK’s inheritance tax system, and end up having to pay 40 per cent tax when they die.
“We have got one client who bought the most beautiful house in Wimbledon two years ago. Now he is moving back to Australia, without even spending a night there, because he doesn’t want all his assets falling under inheritance tax.”
Camilla Dell and Tom Kain have both been included in the latest Spear’s 500, billed as a definitive expertise directory for ultra-high net worth individuals.
Dell is named as a “top flight” buying agent on a mission to exceed clients’ expectations, whether they be Middle Eastern royals or a young family after their first home. This makes her one of just seven buying agents who have made it into the highest tier category.
After more than a decade with Black Brick, Tom Kain is also recognised by Spear’s for his ability to help buyers discover off market opportunities and negotiate hard on their behalf.
The Spear’s 500 is recognised as the most trusted and respected publication in the market as it is not possible to buy a place in the directory.
Our British buyers were after a turnkey and spacious London home – somewhere they could use when in town and their children, previously renting, could live in.
With little time to search for properties they turned to Black Brick and we found them a newly-built home in one of London’s loveliest villages. Size wise it was perfect, measuring 2,665 sq ft, and it is also within walking distance of Regent’s Park.
We were able to persuade the developer to allow our clients an early tour of the property, before it went onto the open market, and then negotiated a 4.4 per cent discount on the guide price – working out at a competitive £1,538 per sq ft.
Our Prime Asset Management team is now managing the property for our clients, ensuring it is secure, maintained to the highest standard, and ready for whenever they are in London.
This client was a German national returning to Berlin after many years living in the UK and Ireland – their sister, a previous Black Brick client, recommended our services and we were able to connect them with our partner buying agency firm in Berlin.
They were looking for a home in the centre of the city and our partners helped them find a period apartment in a historic building in his preferred neighbourhood – Mitte.
The circa 800 sq ft property is currently laid out with one bedroom but could easily be converted into a two-bedroom home, making it extremely flexible. And our partners helped them secure a six per cent price reduction in one of Berlin’s most sought-after locations.
If you are searching for a property overseas, please get in touch to see how our trusted network of buying agents can assist.
For some clients, renting makes better sense than buying, but supply of super-prime rental properties in central London is very tight. Our clients were already renting in Mayfair but, with a baby on the way, wanted to upsize.
With time of the essence, we stepped in to assist, finding a 5,780 sq ft house in Mayfair which our clients had liked, but failed to secure on their own. We negotiated with the landlord, stressing their credentials as excellent corporate tenants, and managed to get him to agree to a three year tenancy.
We would be delighted to hear from you to discuss your own property requirements. For a non-obligatory consultation, please contact us.
