International buyers vastly dominate the market for county houses priced over £10 million in the UK, especially now that there are fewer bankers in the market. They are made up of Middle Eastern Sheiks, Russians, Indians and Azerbaijanis.
According to Alex Newall at Knight Frank, who specialises in these types of sales, most foreign buyers of country houses will gravitate towards the inner Home Counties.
Indians and Azerbaijanis are currently active in the country house market stretching from the M40, south round to Ascot and Wentworth to just south of the M3, to include the St George’s Hill estate. Wealthy Russians follow a similar pattern although some are now looking further afield into the West Country.
Buyers of multi-million pound homes generally want to be within 1hr30 driving time from central London. Key locations are areas around good schooling, Windsor Great Park, golf courses, racing at Ascot and the private jet airport at Farnborough.
‘Most view their purchasing power having increased by 50%. Not knowing how long the dollar will stay strong against the pound has meant many are seeing the current market as a great opportunity not to be missed,’ says Mr Newall.
Nationalities buying +£10m houses in the UK
Middle East 10%
Russian and CIS 35%
Indian 10%
UK 35%
Others 10%