Two leading firms get joint agency deal on £250 million house sale

It’s a house sale that will attract a sales commission sailing into the millions, something joint sales agencies Beauchamp Estates and Knight Frank will be relishing if either of them can find a buyer for the UK’s most expensive home ever – at the accepted agency rate of 1.5% commission.

The property is a detached mansion called The Holme in the centre of Regent’s Park said to be on the market for £250 million.

The property has 40 bedrooms and was built by James Burton in 1818, although it’s been in Saudi hands since the 1980s. Burton was one of Georgian and Regency London’s most successful property developers, erecting some 3,000 homes across the capital.

Land Registry records show the vast mansion he built in Regent’s Park has several ‘beneficial owners’ including Prince Abdullah bin Khalid bin Sultan al-Saud, the Financial Times has reported, although agents The Neg has spoken to say it’s unusual for deals like this to get any exposure – most happen without anyone knowing or noticing.

Receivers

The newspaper claims that the mansion’s sale is being handled by receivers after a loan of £150  million secured against the property was called in. Other assets secured against the debt include a New York home and a plane.

If the price of £250 million can be achieved then not only will the agencies involved be well paid, but the sale would top that of a 45-room mansion on Rutland Gate also in central London bought by Chinese property magnate Hui Ka Yan, boss of troubled developer the Evergrande Group.

NDAs

Trevor Abrahmsohn, whose firm Glentree International has sold properties in the park, says Knight Frank and Beauchamp Estates are unlikely to reveal any details of the deal soon because they will have signed strict non-disclosure agreements before agreeing to take on the property.

“This is a treasured address and properties like this don’t come up very often – it’s a once in thirty years event – remember its not the price but just the fact that it’s for sale at all that’s important to the handful of people who can afford to buy it,” he adds.

“This deal illustrates in an extraordinary way the fact that our vibrant economy for many people places us at the centre of the world, and that many wealthy people want a little bit of our heritage to own themselves.

“Remember that London is one of the three most most important global hubs for diplomacy and China is spending more on its embassy here than anywhere else and this, on top of our education and the capital’s great transport links locally and internationally, makes our super-prime properties like this very desirable.”