Sales at the very top of London's property market have surged this year among US and Middle Eastern buyers, who now account for almost half of purchases.
American citizens bought 25 per cent of all super-prime London properties, or homes worth more than £20 million ($25.5 million), in the year to September, while Middle Eastern buyers, around a third of whom are from the UAE, bought 20 per cent of homes in the category, according to data from Beauchamp Estates and LonRes.
That is a rise of 11 percentage points on 2023, when together they accounted for a little more than a third, or 36 per cent, of all super-prime London sales.
One property which may interest super-prime buyers is 139 Piccadilly, a mansion townhouse offering 14,624 square feet (1,358 square metres) of space overlooking London's Green Park. It is priced at £29.95 million. Most recently used as an office building, it has full planning permission to convert back into a single family house, which could be worth up to £70 million upon completion.
Meanwhile, luxury developer Caudwell has topped out its £2 billion residential scheme 1 Mayfair, where apartment prices start from £35 million, with completion planned for spring 2026.
“When you compare £20 million-plus sales this year, January to September 2024, with the equivalent figures for 2023, sales to both American and Middle Eastern buyers have grown, from 18 per cent to 25 per cent of all sales for American purchasers, and from 18 per cent to 20 per cent of all sales for buyers from the Gulf region,” Paul Finch, director and head of new homes at Beauchamp Estates, told The National.
By contrast, British buyers of super-prime properties in London fell from 12 per cent to 10 per cent, and there were also decreases in sales to people in Eastern Europe (13 per cent to 8 per cent); in Western Europe (6 per cent to 5 per cent) and India (from 23 per cent to 20 per cent). The only other group to grow was those from China and Hong Kong, up from 10 per cent to 12 per cent.
But London is not the only popular European destination for American property buyers. US buyers account for an even larger chunk of super-prime homes above €30 million euros ($31.7 million) in the French Riviera, at 80 per cent of all sales, said Mr Finch.
Middle Eastern buyers there are a much smaller group, according to Mr Finch, but are growing. They are typically younger, in their late twenties to early forties, and represent the “next generation” of the Gulf elite who are looking for properties, homes ready to move in and close to the sea, near the larger homes of their elder family members, many of whom have owned property along the French Riviera dating back to the oil price boom of the 1970s.
The $390 million, 39-residence Le Provencal in Antibes development by Caudwell is one example proving popular with buyers from both the US and Middle East, a spokesman for the company told The National.
In London, buyers from the Middle East – 30 per cent of whom are from the UAE, 30 per cent from Saudi Arabia, 10 per cent from Qatar and the remainder from other GCC countries – are also increasingly younger.
“In London, the younger buyers are typically in their late twenties to late thirties, looking to spend £3 million to £5 million on a pied-à-terre,” said Mr Finch. “Alongside the younger generation of buyers from Middle East there are also buyers aged between 40 to 60 who will typically spend between £10 million to £30 million on buying a house, villa or large luxury apartment in London.”
They tend to favour Mayfair, Belgravia, Knightsbridge and the Hyde Park estate, with four streets being particularly popular – Duke Street in Mayfair, the Edgware Road by the Hyde Park Estate, and Basil Street and Brompton Road in Knightsbridge.
American families tend to prefer large family houses or family apartments, ideally new-build or newly refurbished, in Notting Hill, Chelsea and St John’s Wood, close to the American school. “The American billionaires tend to choose mansions, lavish pied-a-terres or penthouses in Belgravia, Mayfair, St James’s or Regent’s Park,” said Mr Finch.
Agents expect the number of US buyers to grow over the next four years as a result of president-elect Donald Trump’s victory. “Last time Donald Trump was in power we saw a significant 20 per cent upturn in wealthy Democrats buying £15 million-plus homes in London and the South of France to live out the first Trump administration.
“Since June 2024, we've noticed a 30 per cent rise in overseas clients enquiring about suitable homes in the capital that they could purchase, and the largest group of buyers have been Americans.”
Illustrious history in Mayfair
139 Piccadilly was built in 1760-64 and was the Mayfair home of William Douglas, the 4th Duke of Queensberry, who paid for his long-term mistress Kitty Frederick to live in a neighbouring house, 135 Piccadilly.
After the Duke’s death the property became the London home of the newly married poet Lord George Byron and his wife Annabella. In 1891 it was let to and eventually bought by Baron Emile Beaumont d’Erlanger, whose family owned the French merchant bank Emile Erlanger and Company, and his wife Baroness Catherine d’Erlanger, one of Mayfair’s most important society hostesses of the time. Catherine was a multi-millionairess in her own right. Her father, the Marquis d’Aqueria de Rochegude, was a French landowner and shipping magnate who owned the Château de Rochegude (where Caroline was raised) and was the heir to the Medici family banking fortune.
Other distinguished guests included neighbour the Duchess of York (who became Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother), the ballet dancer Serge Lifar, French author Paul Morand, society photographer Cecil Beaton, and Winston and Clementine Churchill.
In the 1940s it was sold and has served as a private member’s club and later commercial office premises before returning to residential use just over a decade ago.
Robert Britten, sales director at Wetherell, said: “This magnificent period building is one of the few surviving private palaces in Mayfair providing a discerning buyer with the opportunity to regenerate and transform it into a single palatial family home, an embassy, private members’ club, new offices or a flagship retail boutique. Buildings of this scale and importance and in such an ultra-prime Green Park location rarely come up for sale.”
Churchill connection
Another property that may appeal to buyers from the US is an apartment in Mayfair’s Berkeley Square. It is on the site of a building once home to two British prime ministers – Sir Winston Churchill and Earl Grey.
The two-bedroom, 1,859-square foot apartment, on the third floor of 48 Berkley Square, is on the market for £6.5 million.
Sir Winston’s father, Lord Randolph Churchill, leased a property at the address between January 1874, the year Winston was born, and December 1879 as his London home. He lived there with his wife Jeanette, Lady Churchill, an American-born socialite, after becoming elected as the Conservative MP for Woodstock.
Recent American buyers of London property include the fashion billionaire Tom Ford, who has bought a mansion in Chelsea in an £80 million deal.
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Lexus LX700h specs
Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor
Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh590,000
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
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RESULTS - ELITE MEN
1. Henri Schoeman (RSA) 57:03
2. Mario Mola (ESP) 57:09
3. Vincent Luis (FRA) 57:25
4. Leo Bergere (FRA)57:34
5. Jacob Birtwhistle (AUS) 57:40
6. Joao Silva (POR) 57:45
7. Jonathan Brownlee (GBR) 57:56
8. Adrien Briffod (SUI) 57:57
9. Gustav Iden (NOR) 57:58
10. Richard Murray (RSA) 57:59
Uefa Nations League
League A:
Germany, Portugal, Belgium, Spain, France, England, Switzerland, Italy, Poland, Iceland, Croatia, Netherlands
League B:
Austria, Wales, Russia, Slovakia, Sweden, Ukraine, Republic of Ireland, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Northern Ireland, Denmark, Czech Republic, Turkey
League C:
Hungary, Romania, Scotland, Slovenia, Greece, Serbia, Albania, Norway, Montenegro, Israel, Bulgaria, Finland, Cyprus, Estonia, Lithuania
League D:
Azerbaijan, Macedonia, Belarus, Georgia, Armenia, Latvia, Faroe Islands, Luxembourg, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Liechtenstein, Malta, Andorra, Kosovo, San Marino, Gibraltar
UAE v Zimbabwe A
Results
Match 1 – UAE won by 4 wickets
Match 2 – UAE won by 5 wickets
Match 3 – UAE won by 25 runs
Match 4 – UAE won by 77 runs
Fixture
Match 5, Saturday, 9.30am start, ICC Academy, Dubai
The specs
Engine: Dual 180kW and 300kW front and rear motors
Power: 480kW
Torque: 850Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh359,900 ($98,000)
On sale: Now
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The specs
Price: From Dh180,000 (estimate)
Engine: 2.0-litre turbocharged and supercharged in-line four-cylinder
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Power: 320hp @ 5,700rpm
Torque: 400Nm @ 2,200rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 9.7L / 100km
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1. Julian Alaphilippe (FRA) Deceuninck-QuickStep 4:39:05
2. Michael Matthews (AUS) Team BikeExchange 0:00:08
3. Primoz Roglic (SLV) Jumbo-Visma same time
4. Jack Haig (AUS) Bahrain Victorious s.t
5. Wilco Kelderman (NED) Bora-Hansgrohe s.t
6. Tadej Pogacar (SLV) UAE Team Emirates s.t
7. David Gaudu (FRA) Groupama-FDJ s.t
8. Sergio Higuita Garcia (COL) EF Education-Nippo s.t
9. Bauke Mollema (NED) Trek-Segafredo s.t
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Panipat
Director Ashutosh Gowariker
Produced Ashutosh Gowariker, Rohit Shelatkar, Reliance Entertainment
Cast Arjun Kapoor, Sanjay Dutt, Kriti Sanon, Mohnish Behl, Padmini Kolhapure, Zeenat Aman
Rating 3 /5 stars
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Starring: Abdullah Boushehri, Laila Abdallah, Lulwa Almulla
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Zakat definitions
Zakat: an Arabic word meaning ‘to cleanse’ or ‘purification’.
Nisab: the minimum amount that a Muslim must have before being obliged to pay zakat. Traditionally, the nisab threshold was 87.48 grams of gold, or 612.36 grams of silver. The monetary value of the nisab therefore varies by current prices and currencies.
Zakat Al Mal: the ‘cleansing’ of wealth, as one of the five pillars of Islam; a spiritual duty for all Muslims meeting the ‘nisab’ wealth criteria in a lunar year, to pay 2.5 per cent of their wealth in alms to the deserving and needy.
Zakat Al Fitr: a donation to charity given during Ramadan, before Eid Al Fitr, in the form of food. Every adult Muslim who possesses food in excess of the needs of themselves and their family must pay two qadahs (an old measure just over 2 kilograms) of flour, wheat, barley or rice from each person in a household, as a minimum.
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Transmission: 6-speed automatic
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Company profile
Date started: December 24, 2018
Founders: Omer Gurel, chief executive and co-founder and Edebali Sener, co-founder and chief technology officer
Based: Dubai Media City
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Sector: ConsumerTech and FinTech
Cashflow: Almost $1 million a year
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The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 261hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 405Nm at 1,750-3,500rpm
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New UK refugee system
- A new “core protection” for refugees moving from permanent to a more basic, temporary protection
- Shortened leave to remain - refugees will receive 30 months instead of five years
- A longer path to settlement with no indefinite settled status until a refugee has spent 20 years in Britain
- To encourage refugees to integrate the government will encourage them to out of the core protection route wherever possible.
- Under core protection there will be no automatic right to family reunion
- Refugees will have a reduced right to public funds
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FFP EXPLAINED
What is Financial Fair Play?
Introduced in 2011 by Uefa, European football’s governing body, it demands that clubs live within their means. Chiefly, spend within their income and not make substantial losses.
What the rules dictate?
The second phase of its implementation limits losses to €30 million (Dh136m) over three seasons. Extra expenditure is permitted for investment in sustainable areas (youth academies, stadium development, etc). Money provided by owners is not viewed as income. Revenue from “related parties” to those owners is assessed by Uefa's “financial control body” to be sure it is a fair value, or in line with market prices.
What are the penalties?
There are a number of punishments, including fines, a loss of prize money or having to reduce squad size for European competition – as happened to PSG in 2014. There is even the threat of a competition ban, which could in theory lead to PSG’s suspension from the Uefa Champions League.
