Super-rich to pay £10,000/sq ft for London homes, Knight Frank says

Published 16th Nov 2011

London’s super prime residential developments are expected to achieve values of £10,000/sq ft by 2016, research from Knight Frank has shown.

The market, attractive to the likes of Russian oligarchs and Middle Eastern royalty and typified by the One Hyde Park development in Knightsbridge, has seen values rise from £1,000/sq ft in 2000 to £3,000/sq ft in 2006, up to £7,500/sq ft achieved at One Hyde Park in late 2011.

The report, which focuses on One Hyde Park’s impact on the super-prime London residential market, says that it is unlikely to be a similar development for some time due to the lack of suitable sites and the difficulties in obtaining finance.

Knight Frank said that the reason for One Hyde Park’s success was the combination of being targeted at new wealth which emerged from the recession relatively unscathed and being located in central London which was also, relatively, unscathed.

Liam Bailey, head of residential research, said: “In key markets like London the availability of top-end developments that attract wealthy international purchasers is still very limited. The opportunity for developers to capitalise on this market is therefore a real option.

“The problem is that the sites suitable for these developments are limited, and so too are the skills and knowledge required to deliver the right product. But get this combination right and the rewards can be significant.

“Bearing in mind the £1,000/sq ft jump to close to £8,000/sq ft in the 10 years to 2011, as well as the recent success of One Hyde Park and other super-prime apartment sales, I suspect this record will be broken even sooner – and that the very best developments will be sold with prices of £10,000/sq ft, sometime before 2016.”

Source: ' Property Week '

View All Latest News