One in every 42 homes in Britain ‘is now valued at £1 million-plus’

Sign up to our free money newsletter for investment analysis and expert advice to help you build wealth Sign up to our free money email for help building your wealth Sign up to our free money email for help building your wealth SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Savills calculated a net gain of 3,127 more properties being worth at least £1 million last year, compared with 2023, taking the total number of homes valued at this level to around 702,580, a number which has increased by 34% over the past five years. “However, increased demand for city living driven by the return-to-work movement has re-balanced the market back in favour of London homeowners, with 5,000 properties crossing the £1 million threshold in 2024.” Outside of London, one in every 73 homes are worth £1 million-plus, Savills estimated. “When coupled with the relative affordability in counties like Shropshire and Staffordshire, a new balance is struck, meaning families can still have the complete package of the home, lifestyle, and education they want, without increased financial burden.” The South East, East of England, the South West and Wales all saw a decline in their £1 million-plus stock, according to the research, which involved looking at the distribution of housing stock by price band and applying price movements from Savills’ prime regional index. So we expect tenants renewing their contracts to face smaller increases in 2025 than they did in 2024.” Here are the number of million-pound properties last year, according to Savills, followed by the annual increase or decrease : London, 349,068, 5,202 South East, 159,973, minus 1,902 East of England, 64,339, minus 1,320 South West, 46,324, minus 1,527 West Midlands, 22,065, 918 North West, 20,764, 834 Yorkshire and the Humber, 12,200, 522 Scotland, 11,330, 11 East Midlands, 9,286, 348 Wales, 4,485, minus 100 North East, 2,746, 142