"Increased demand for city living driven by the return-to-work movement has rebalanced the market back in favour of London homeowners, with 5k properties crossing the £1mn threshold in 2024."
- Lucian Cook, Head of Residential Research at Savills
There are now 702,580 homes valued at £1mn or above in Britain, finds Savills. This represents a 34% increase in the last five years with 1 in every 42 homes valued at £1mn or above.
London saw the biggest increase with the market continuing to experience the impact of pandemic trends unwinding – there are now 349,068 properties in London valued at £1mn or above.
The number of homes at this value across the rest of Britain has reduced slightly, but the five-year growth figure is still three times that of London’s (58% vs 16% in London). Outside of London, 1 in every 73 homeowners are currently property millionaires.
The highest percentage rise in property millionaires outside of London was in the North East (5.5% increase), despite the market continuing to hold the smallest overall market share. The West Midlands saw the biggest increase in the number of people becoming property millionaires (918) in the year.
Meanwhile, the South East, East of England, South West, and Wales continued to see a decline in properties valued at £1mn or above. However, the number of properties falling under the threshold in those locations has slowed down since 2023.
“This market returned to growth last year, after the market and prices fell from their pandemic high in 2023. But growth has been limited by higher mortgage costs and stretched affordability, further reducing some of the gains made throughout the pandemic in suburban and rural areas,” explained Lucian Cook, Head of Residential Research at Savills.
He said: “However, increased demand for city living driven by the return-to-work movement has rebalanced the market back in favour of London homeowners, with 5k properties crossing the £1mn threshold in 2024.
“Falling mortgage rates and improved optimism amongst second steppers should increase the share of £1mn homes more significantly over the coming year. With commutability and good schools likely to be the key drivers for where growth is most concentrated,” Lucian added.
Peter Daborn, Head of Residential Sales at Savills in the West Midlands, agreed that “We see many buyers still taking advantage of flexible working and the appeal of living in the countryside is still a big draw, with London commutable in little over an hour from the likes of Stafford station.”
He also highlighted that recent changes to school fees are also impacting the region’s property market, “with more buyers driven to the West Midlands to take advantage of the abundance of highly regarded public schools on offer.”
“When coupled with the relative affordability in counties like Shropshire and Staffordshire, a new balance is struck, meaning families can still have the complete package of the home, lifestyle, and education they want, without increased financial burden,” Peter concluded.
