Despite a sluggish market driven by fears of property tax changes, 2025 saw a series of extraordinary property sales in London and beyond. Among the most notable was The Holme, a 40-bedroom mansion in Regent's Park, which sold for £138.9 million after a £100 million price cut from its original £250 million listing. The 29,000 sq ft property, formerly owned by the Saudi royal family, was purchased by a subsidiary of wealth management firm Zedra on behalf of a US tech billionaire and requires a full renovation.
American buyers have been particularly active in London, fleeing Donald Trump's America. Former Google boss Eric Schmidt bought a double-fronted white stucco mansion in Holland Park for £42 million, while Star Wars creator George Lucas spent a reported £40 million on a grand house in St John's Wood, close to Pinewood Studios. Actor Ryan Gosling has also relocated to Hampstead with his family.
Celebrity-linked homes also proved popular. Mick Jagger's former party pad in Marylebone, a four-bedroom sub-penthouse he shared with Marianne Faithfull in the 1960s, sold for £5.5 million to a British Rolling Stones fan. Christine McVie's penthouse in Belgravia fetched £6.95 million and was bought by a young European couple after just ten weeks on the market.
Renovation projects attracted dreamers, including a Chelsea townhouse formerly owned by landscape artist Arthur Croft Mitchell. The three-storey property on Mallord Street, with two studios and floor-to-ceiling windows, was reduced from £9 million to £7.25 million before selling. Outside London, Hallsmead Ait, a five-acre uninhabited island on the River Thames in Berkshire, sold at auction for £98,000 to an anonymous buyer who has until 2026 to complete the sale.
Other unusual sales included a former Quaker meeting house in Esher, complete with a graveyard in the front garden, which sold for £730,000 to a local interior designer. A hobbit house in West Yorkshire also attracted significant interest and sold within a month of listing.
