The Holme, a mansion situated in the heart of Regent’s Park in London, is set to become the most expensive house ever sold in the capital, following the expiry of a massive loan secured by its
Saudi Arabian owners. The property is now in the hands of receivers and has already attracted interest from wealthy buyers. Agents selling the property are hoping to achieve a price of up to £250mn from the deal, surpassing the £210mn sale of the previous most expensive London home owned by Evergrande founder Hui Ka Yan.
The sale of The Holme offers an unusual insight into the dealings of wealthy foreign investors in London’s real estate market, which are often shrouded in secrecy. The property is owned by Prince Abdullah bin Khalid bin Sultan al-Saud, a member of the Saudi royal family and representative of Saudi Arabia to the United Nations in Vienna, and other family members. The mansion fell into the hands of receivers after a loan of approximately £150mn, secured against the property as well as other assets including a New York home and a plane, expired.
The receivers have appointed agents Knight Frank and Beauchamp Estates to handle the sale, with the Holme being the highest-valued asset in the portfolio of properties against which the debt is secured. A sale of the London house is understood to be the easiest way to pay off the loan. The 205-year-old villa is one of only a small number of desirable residences located inside Regent’s Park, built as a home for Georgian property developer James Burton. The Crown Estate owns the freehold of the land.
The market for London’s most expensive homes has been increasingly dominated by overseas buyers in recent years, as the capital is favoured in part for its robust property laws and the ability to purchase discreetly, leaving virtually no trace of ultimate ownership. However, the UK government has recently sought to reveal opaque ownership structures, pushing overseas organisations to declare their beneficial ownership status or face fines. According to those with knowledge of the sales process, two of the three potential buyers expressing interest are London-based, with the other being overseas.
Roarie Scarisbrick, a partner at Property Vision, a buying agent, described The Holme as “a proper trophy” and predicted that the sale would require a buyer who is “not at all shy”. The list of buyers with the resources to purchase the house is small, and so the final price is hard to predict, but it is expected that the property will be purchased by a developer rather than a family planning to live in it.
London’s previous most expensive house sale, the 45-room mansion at 2-8a Rutland Gate, was sold in secret just before the Covid-19 pandemic and involved a British Virgin Islands company buying the property from a Curaçao-registered entity. The Financial Times revealed last year that the home belongs to Hui, once China’s richest man. Photo by David Hawgood, Wikimedia commons.