Fund manager Fairway Capital, advising the Fairway Capital Fund, has sold a £26.25 million 5,222 sq.ft lateral residence on Old Park Lane in London’s Mayfair, formerly part of the Rolls Royce HQ.
The sale is part of a series of London residential property deals, worth £120 million, that Fairway Capital has secured over the last few months of 2024 to buyers from the UK, Middle East and Asia.
The four-bedroom apartment on Old Park Lane, providing three palatial reception rooms, reception hall, 4.3 metre (14ft) high ceilings and park views was funded by equity investors Fairway Capital and DAR Global and developed by Leconfield Property Group.
The partners transformed an upper floor of a grand Edwardian building, built in 1904 to designs by Savoy Hotel architect Thomas Edward Colcutt, into the finest new lateral residence in Mayfair offering panoramic park views.
ROLLS ROYCE MOTORCARS
Pic credit: Beauchamp Estates
Between 1906 and 1971 the Old Park Lane building served as the Mayfair headquarters of Rolls Royce motorcars, so the new residence was called ‘The Mulliner’ in a nod to its heritage, however the interiors were specifically designed and dressed in a classic contemporary style as part of a strategy to appeal to the new generation of younger multi-millionaires and billionaires who are now the main drivers of trophy home sales in London.
Pic credit: Beauchamp Estates
Sales agents advised Fairway Capital that the average age of buyers of London homes worth £25 million or more is now just 41, down 12 years in the last decade.
During 2023, 526 homes priced at more than £5 million were sold across Prime Central London, 77% of which were to cash buyers.
This included 44 trophy homes priced at more than £15 million, worth a combined £1.3 billion, the majority of these sold to buyers aged in their early 30s to late 40s, comprised of young Middle East royals, UK, Indian and Asian businesspeople and technology billionaires from the United States.
Pic credit: Beauchamp Estates
The £120 million worth of residential deals all involved newly refurbished, built or consented properties funded by Fairway Capital and developed by Leconfield Property Group.
The finished products have seen highly successful sales campaigns, clearly appealing to the younger demographic, with the majority of the buyers being in their early 30s to early 50s.
The deals include a house in Belgravia and in Knightsbridge a £7.25 million 1,856 sq.ft. three bedroom apartment in Cadogan Square, created from the amalgamation of two flats into one large unit, was sold after the first viewing to a family from Singapore.
Pic credit: Beauchamp Estates
There was also a £20 million residential scheme on Ansdell Street in Kensington sold to a business investor from Taiwan, alongside two other deals, both in Belgravia sold to buyers from the UK and United Arab Emirates. Fairway Capital highlight that all these projects also attracted a significant number of other serious potential buyers from the Middle East, China, Continental Europe, the United States and Turkey.
As a fund manager Fairway Capital has a 15-year track record carrying out some 100 projects with development partner Leconfield Property Group, delivering an IRR (return on investment) in excess of 20%.
The business focuses on residential value-add investment opportunities in Belgravia, Knightsbridge Mayfair and Kensington, buying projects in garden squares or locations overlooking parks since green views are proven to command a sales price premium, providing a strong exit strategy.
London real estate is viewed as a good long-term investment by global wealth because in the capital’s best addresses demand far exceeds supply due to listed building status, planning challenges, conservation areas and protection of green views. This is alongside the draw of London’s rich culture, fine dining, political stability, the international use of the English language, independent legal system, location between Europe and the UK and the capital’s world-class schools and universities.
London real estate is also attractive because property transaction, holding and taxation costs in the UK capital remain significantly lower than rival cities including New York, Hong Kong, Singapore, Mumbai, Berlin and Madrid.
George Brooksbank, Chief Executive of Fairway Capital, says: “We have sold one of our Fund’s flagship assets, a turn-key £26.25 million 5,222 sq.ft lateral residence on Old Park Lane in London’s Mayfair, formerly part of the Rolls Royce HQ, to a young international buyer.
“The average age of buyers of London homes worth £25 million or more is now just 41, down 12 years in the last decade.
“Over the last few months the Fairway Capital Fund has exited £110 million of trophy homes in Prime Central London to buyers from the UK, Middle East, USA and Asia, the majority being in their early 30s to early 50s.”
“Around 50% of our sales have been to domestic UK buyers, who have mostly purchased family houses, whilst the remaining sales have been to international buyers, predominantly from the USA and Middle East, who have bought pied-a-terre apartments.”
NEXT GENERATION
And he adds: “At the top end of the London property market the market is being driven by a new generation of younger buyers who are wealthy, mostly self-made, and are far more bullish and impulsive than older buyers, who are more cautious and bearish about the market. This new wave of “young wealth” like to buy newly built or newly refurbished homes ready to move in.”
“These younger buyers are also driving the London trophy home market because their age enables them to take a long-term investment view on the London property market, purchasing and holding for 10 to 20 years, which makes sound financial sense given stamp duty costs.”
“American buyers are attracted by the strength of the US Dollar against Pound Sterling. Middle East buyers are using London as a safe place to “park” their wealth given the current instability in the Gulf region.
“The wars in Israel-Gaza, Syria and Yemen and the tensions with Iran have unsettled a lot of wealthy Gulf families who like to buy in London as a property in the UK capital provides a good long-term investment and a “safe house” property far away from the Gulf.”
