The number of homeowners in Britain whose property is worth £1m or more – making them ‘property millionaires’ – has exceeded half a million for the first time, according to the 2015 Zoopla Property Rich List.
The number of property millionaires now stands at 524,306 – an increase of 8.3% on last year’s figure.
The growth in house prices at the top end of the market has helped fuel the increase in the number of streets with average property values of £1m+. There are now 10,958 streets in Britain with average property prices over £1m with 43% located in London. Areas outside the capital with the highest proportion of £1m+ streets are all in Surrey, with Guildford, Leatherhead and Richmond housing 158, 154 and 144 respectively.
At the very top end of the market, the data shows there are now 13 streets in Britain where the average house price is over £10 million – all of which are in London. Kensington Palace Gardens in W8 ranked as the country’s most expensive street overall, with homes there worth £42,591,972 on average, over 150 times the average national property value.
The Boltons in SW10, where a nine-bedroom detached house sold for £51m in April, takes second place, with average property values standing at £30,288,586. Grosvenor Crescent in the exclusive suburb of SW1 rounds out the top three, with an average property price of £22,752,425.
While exclusive London boroughs boast most of Britain’s priciest properties, certain areas of Surrey and Buckinghamshire have also acquired a reputation for very high property values. Virginia Water and Cobham, both in Surrey, top the towns table, with average property prices of £1,208,638 and £1,037,825 respectively. Beaconsfield in Buckinghamshire, where the average property value amounts to £982,660, comes in third.
In terms of postcodes, W8 (Kensington) remains top of the heap, boasting average property prices of £2.77m. Neighbouring SW7 (Knightsbridge), the next most expensive area in the capital, has average values of £2.43m, while property values in third-placed SW3 (Chelsea) stand at £2.24m.
Lawrence Hall of Zoopla said: “London continues to be the epicentre of the million-pound property market in Britain but the Zoopla Property Rich List reveals a number of high value property areas outside the capital, particularly in Surrey and Buckinghamshire, that are very attractive to professionals seeking to live outside yet within easy reach of the city and enjoy low crime rates coupled with good schools.”
| Britain’s Top 10 Most Expensive Streets | |||
| Rank | Street | Average property value (£) | Annual change (%) |
| 1 | Kensington Palace Gardens, London W8 | £42,591,972 | -0.45% |
| 2 | The Boltons, London SW10 | £30,288,586 | -4.46% |
| 3 | Grosvenor Crescent, London SW1X | £22,752,425 | -4.12% |
| 4 | Courtenay Avenue, London N6 | £19,609,231 | 3.74% |
| 5 | Ilchester Place, London W14 | £13,718,746 | 2.53% |
| 6 | Compton Avenue, London N6 | £12,049,363 | 4.20% |
| 7 | Manresa Road, London SW3 | £11,600,920 | -5.88% |
| 8 | Grosvenor Gardens, London SW1W | £11,321,413 | -4.12% |
| 9 | Cottesmore Gardens, London W8 | £11,037,133 | -0.45% |
| 10 | Frognal Way, London NW3 | £10,702,421 | 5.42% |
| Britain’s Top 10 Most Expensive Towns | ||||
| Rank | Town | Average property value (£) | Annual change (%) | |
| 1 | Virginia Water, Surrey | £1,208,638 | 1.88% | |
| 2 | Cobham, Surrey | £1,037,825 | 5.94% | |
| 3 | Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire | £982,660 | 7.81% | |
| 4 | Keston, London | £976,354 | 3.26% | |
| 5 | Esher, Surrey | £969,337 | 4.90% | |
| 6 | Richmond, Surrey | £939,652 | 0.98% | |
| 7 | Chalfont St. Giles, Buckinghamshire | £920,797 | 7.34% | |
| 8 | Radlett, Hertfordshire | £843,814 | 6.18% | |
| 9 | Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire | £828,974 | 2.97% | |
| 10 | Weybridge, Surrey | £799,828 | 4.34% | |
