The number of £5m mortgages has hit a five-year high as the super-rich flock to lower rates and discounted prime properties, research shows.

Analysis of Financial Conduct Authority data shows high-net worth individuals (HNWs) and super HNWs are accessing credit rather than using their own funds to make purchases.

There were 185 mortgages in the year to the end of September, one more than 2018 and up from 138 in 2014.

Law firm Boodle Hatfield said the rise has been driven in part by HNWs taking advantage of low interest rates to borrow rather than use their own capital and by overseas investors benefiting from the weak pound.

Saskia Arthur, partner at Boodle Hatfield, said: “The number of high-value mortgages suggests that both buyers and banks remain confident in super-prime property in the capital as a long-term investment.”

“Overall the market has weathered Brexit insecurity, and London will always remain an attractive destination for HNWs to live.

“Wealthy individuals who had put off buying due to uncertainty about the market are deciding to act now in order to take advantage of current prices and often because there is a Sterling discount.

“These buyers often take a long-term view of the market and appear to be of the opinion that prime properties will in the long term retain their value in the years to come.”