Hyde Park Mansion to Top UK Property Charts

It looks as though Hanover Lodge (that we previously documented as being Britain's most expensive property) has some competition... 
[see blog £250 million Russian Investment in London Property]

A Knightsbridge mansion (pictured below) is likely to be sold for £280 million. 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk

Hyde Park Mansion is a 60,000sq ft, 45-bedroom property with underground parking, a large swimming pool and lifts to enable easy traverse from room to room. The most recent owner passed away in 2012 and it has been looking for a daring suitor ever since. As also discussed in a recent Dawson & Associates article [see blog The Politics of Property], the marketplace is now better suited to these kind of extreme-end sales due to the absence of mansion tax. In addition, property sales are naturally stimulated by a view of political – therefore economic – stability. But even millionaires/ billionaires need to be realistic with the potential new owner negotiating a revised price tag, significantly lower than the original £300 million. It remains to be seen whether the new owners intend to reside here in a single residence or whether the building will be split into 4 more manageable (and market accessible) family homes, with some believing that it will be divided even further into numerous high-luxury apartments.


The property's contents are yet another multi-million pound investment. Though the 1,252 items are said to be auctioned without a guide price, they include ornate chandeliers, jewel-encrusted bidets, curtains, doors and even gold-plated waste-paper bins. The auction is said be staged by Mark Flynn of auctioneers ProAuction Ltd, over two days in July. Mark states that decorations include "such semiprecious stones as malachite and amethyst together with precious metals such as bronze, gold and silver”. He suggests that the auction enables everybody to have a little taste of luxury with some lots available for as little as £15.


For up-to-date information on the UK property market, please see Dawson & Associate's regular blog posts