Sellers of properties in prime London postcodes were forced to accept discounts of 10.1 per cent in September, as overall sale prices fell by 7.1 per cent compared with a year earlier.
The number of sales was the lowest in any September since 2016, according to property analysts LonRes, with 16.8 per cent fewer transactions than September 2025 and 13.9 per cent fewer than the 2017-20129 pre-pandemic average.
There was slightly better news for properties worth more than £5 million, with transactions falling 12.5 per cent but new instructions increasing by 32.5 per cent.
Buyers continued to pay well below asking price. Compared with pre-pandemic levels, prices were 8.2 per cent lower in September.
For homes above £5 million, there was 0.8 per cent more discounting, but 88.8 per cent above the levels from 2015-24.
The founder of London taxi company Addison Lee sold a mansion overlooking London’s Regent’s Park for little more than half the price he paid 13 years ago. John Griffin, who sold his business to the Carlyle Group for about £300 million ($464 million) in 2013, offloaded the property on the park’s western perimeter for £11.5 million at the beginning of October, down from his purchase price of £20.7 million. It had been discounted a number of times over recent years but failed to sell.
LonRes said that, in the context of a weaker market, it was important to set a competitive initial asking price “as the longer a home is on the market, the bigger the discount needs to secure a sale”.
Between July and September, the average discount for homes selling in under three months was 3.8 per cent, but increased to 11.1 per cent for homes taking six to 12 months to sell.
There appears to be movement at the top end of the market, with 32.5 per cent more new £5 million-plus instructions compared with the same month last year, and 63.6 per cent higher than the 2017-2019 average.
LonRes said super prime sales continue to be “impacted by news and speculation, resulting in a stop-start market”.
Nick Gregori, head of research at LonRes, said: “September typically sees the market pick up after the summer lull, and this year this was partly true. Activity across prime London – from both buyers and sellers – improved relative to the summer but remained sluggish for the time of year. Achieved prices continued to slide downwards, reflecting buyer hesitancy.”
He said borrowing costs and a perceived lack of future growth were the two factors driving lower demand, combined with global uncertainty and fears of inflation.
He believes there are unlikely to be any giveaways for prime property buyers in Chancellor John Healey’s budget on October 28, “so the best that can be hoped for is no further damaging changes”. Reports that dropping the mansion tax threshold from £2m to £1.5m is not going ahead would probably be welcomed by a market seeking certainty, he said.
“The £5 million-plus market continues to be most impacted by uncertainty and weaker sentiment, with a higher proportion of discretionary buyers and sellers meaning less urgency to do deals,” he said.
Super properties
Knight Frank’s latest Residence Report highlighted the growing scarcity of larger new build apartments, with fewer than 3 per cent of completed homes across Westminster and Kensington & Chelsea exceeding 200 sq m, making super prime residences rare.
One of the luxury properties released on to the market in recent weeks is a £15.5 million, 3,100 square foot, four-bedroom duplex penthouse with a private roof terrace at 100 George Street in Marylebone.
Developers Native Land said the 41-residence development was one of the fastest-selling in prime central London.
The trophy penthouse has been designed by Eloisa Cuturi of design studio Cuturi Cameto. It includes bespoke furniture and commissioned artwork including paintings by Joanne Yulan inspired by the neighbouring Regent’s Park.
Nicholas Gray, executive director at Native Land, said: “Opportunities to acquire a newly built home in Marylebone of this calibre, with this quality of interior design and scale of private outdoor space, are exceptionally limited.”
Rupert des Forges, head of prime central London developments at Knight Frank, said: “We are seeing sustained demand from buyers for larger, turnkey homes in prime central London.”
A £20 million ($26.4 million) penthouse has also gone on sale at Southbank Place, the final launch of a £1 billion development delivered by Braeburn Estates, a joint venture by Qatari Diar and Canary Wharf Group.
The development is on the site of the former Festival of Britain, and has taken more than 10 years to complete.
