London’s super rich buyer market is set to boom during 2022 driven by Russian and Chinese buyers, according to Beauchamp Estates.

The company says that the surge in London’s billionaire property deals is due to the huge accumulation of wealth that billionaires have enjoyed over the last 12 months

Combined with the availability of highly advantageous interest-only “billionaire mortgages” which has triggered a massive “buying spree” of luxury homes in the UK capital, which is set to continue in 2022, the firm reports.

Over a two-year period, there have been a total of 49 sales for luxury London homes priced over £15m with 32 sales in 2021 compared to 17 sales in 2020, with over £1.29bn worth of property sold, and yet there appears to be plenty of room for growth.

The 2021-2022 deals data provided by Beauchamp Estates shows that super rich buyers are looking for London mansions/grand townhouses providing 10,000 sqft to 30,000 sqft plus of living space, complete with gardens and 6,000sqft plus penthouses with private roofterraces.

Over the last two years London’s super rich homes deals have achieved £3,221 per sqft on average, with the highest in 2021 hitting a reported record £11,000 per sqft.

Over the last two years the SW1 postcode – Belgravia followed by Knightsbridge – has been London’s top address for super-prime sales, accounting for 14 deals, followed by the W1 postcode (Mayfair) with 10 deals.

Key SW1 addresses for super-prime deals have included One Hyde Park, Wilton Crescent, Eaton Square and Grosvenor Crescent

Looking at how London’s super-prime residential market will perform in 2022 Beauchamp Estates forecast that for properties priced above £15m values will rise by 5% to 7% – the biggest jump for over a decade.

Gary Hersham, founding director of Beauchamp Estates, said: “During 2021 the volume of £15m-plus deals in London’s super-prime housing market doubled, driven by super rich buyers having access to a plentiful supply of preferential-rate interest-only “billionaire mortgages” which has enabled them to borrow at rates below the rate of inflation, essentially borrowing for free.

“Over the last 24 months there have effectively been two to three billionaire buyer property deals per month in Central London which underlines that the capital’s luxury real estate market is the best place in the world for the super-rich to store their wealth.

“Each decade the property asset increases in value, and the buyer has the additional benefit of visiting London for shopping, fine dining, leisure, the arts and entertaining friends and family.”

Marcus O’Brien, director at Beauchamp Estates private office, added: “2022 has the potential to be the best year in the last decade for London’s super-prime housing market, especially for mansions, newly bult homes and refurbished houses.

“Russians are likely to overtake the Chinese as the leading buyers of super-prime homes in London the flight of capital from Moscow driven by worries over US sanctions because of the escalating Russian-Ukraine border dispute.

“London real estate is a stable safe haven to invest global wealth in an increasingly turbulent and uncertain world.”