Estate agency Oliver Bernard claims to have set a new Mayfair and St James record, selling off market an unmodernised lateral apartment at St James’s Place to an East Asian buyer which was on the market for £21.95m.

Selling for £5,093 sq ft, the sale is one of only ten apartments that have ever sold in the area over £5,000 sq ft, all of which had been redeveloped for sale. The previous record was £4,597 sq ft which was achieved at Cleveland Court on Cleveland Row in March 2022.

The lateral four-bedroom apartment benefits from an art studio, office, TV room, living room, two kitchens, a large balcony, parking, 24 hour porterage and uninterrupted views of Green Park. Part of just six apartments within the building, this home on the fifth floor offers its new buyer the opportunity to fully renovate and refurb it to create an exquisite residence.

Charlie Gibson, MD at Oliver Bernard, commented: “I am thrilled to have secured a buyer for this spectacular apartment, it offers an incredible opportunity to transform it into a magnificent home. Any apartment with views of Green Park demands a premium, but the very few apartments that are located on the East of the Park are once in a generation purchases. St James’s has excellent security, the entrance is extremely private which of course by nature, attracts the world’s most powerful people.

“It’s instructions like these that fuelled our desire to launch a password encrypted off market platform where prospective buyers are carefully selected and then matched to homes which meet their requirements exactly. Not only does this achieve even more privacy for selling a home off market, it also ensures we can provide our clients with serious buyers who are looking for their type of home specifically.

“We are not surprised that St James’s Place was snapped up so quickly. Since June, there have been eight sales in the capital over £20m. This flurry of deals shows those who are not reliant on debt are capitalising. These opportunistic buyers are purchasing best in class assets for their family offices that are available only once in a lifetime.”