The number of property millionaires in London hit a record high at almost 350,000 as property trends that emerged during the pandemic start to unwind. Of the homes in the capital one in 11 now has a seven-figure price tag as people are increasingly called back to offices at least some days a week, new research from Savills found.
In the course of the past year, 5,202 London homeowners saw themselves promoted to the property millionaire league, half the number seen in 2023. Of the 8,000 electoral wards in the country, 103 now have an average house price of £1 million or more, 67 of which were in London and 36 of which were concentrated in the boroughs of Kensington & Chelsea, Westminster and Camden.
With its positive year-on-year growth, London outshone the rest of the country, where the number of £1 million homes actually fell one per cent, to 702,600, making one in every 73 homeowners outside London a property millionaire. In some traditional commuter areas and further flung destinations the number of million-pound properties fell, with the South East, East of England, South West and Wales all seeing their £1 million-plus housing stock decrease.
Chalfont St Giles in Buckinghamshire, Penshurst in Kent and Fosseridge in the Cotswolds among the wards where average house prices fell below £1 million. But looking back further the five-year growth figure for number of property millionaires outside London (58 per cent) is three times that of the capital’s (16 per cent).
“Growth has been limited by higher mortgage costs and stretched affordability, further reducing some of the gains made over the course of the pandemic in suburban and rural areas,” said Lucian Cook, head of residential research at Savills. “However, increased demand for city living driven by the return-to-work movement has rebalanced the market back in favour of London homeowners, with 5,000 properties crossing the £1 million threshold in 2024.
“Falling mortgage rates and improved optimism among second steppers should increase the share of £1 million homes more significantly over the coming year. With commutability and good schools likely to be the key drivers for where growth is most concentrated.”.
