Rich drivers in London are splashing out on supercars more than ever before, new figures show.
Ferrari, McLaren and Lamborghini top the list of the most popular supercars bought in the UK capital, with Bugatti and Koenigsegg finishing off the stylish top five.
Westminster, and Kensington and Chelsea — two London boroughs known for the luxurious, wealthy enclaves of Mayfair and Holland Park — had the most supercars.
Of the top-10 UK areas for supercars, only two are outside south-east England: East Cheshire, known for a collection of villages that is home to a number of footballers from the Liverpool and Manchester clubs; and Birmingham, the country's second largest city.
Accountancy firm UHY Hacker Young, which compiled the data, said there were more than 18,000 supercars on British roads.
More than 3,000 are registered in London, making the capital home to almost 20 per cent of supercars in the UK.
Westminster, with 553, has the most supercars, while Kensington and Chelsea has 507.
“After a very difficult pandemic period, a lot of wealthy individuals treated themselves to a supercar last year,” said David Kendrick, of UHY.
“The wash of money from the government and central banks into the economy has inadvertently helped supercar sales in unexpected ways, such as overnight cryptocurrency millionaires and extremely low-cost finance for supercars.”
Westminster Council has installed acoustic cameras that measure decibel levels and monitor supercars to check if they are breaking noise laws.
Data collected by the local authority shows that between June last year and last month, about 10,000 vehicles triggered the cameras.
There were 118 incidents involving BMW drivers, 109 with Lamborghinis, 104 with Mercedes, 88 with Ferraris, 77 with Audis and 31 with Porches.
Acoustic cameras — which locate and categorise sounds — were installed around Kensington and Chelsea after the council received hundreds of complaints from residents about the noise being caused by supercars in the area.
Luxury London
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1. Chelsea - 140 sales of £5 million-plus properties between 2020 and 2022. -
2. Kensington - 131 sales of £5 million-plus properties between 2020 and 2022. -
3. Belgravia - 120 sales of £5 million-plus properties between 2020 and 2022. -
4. St Johns Wood - 85 sales of £5 million-plus properties between 2020 and 2022. -
5. Mayfair - 82 sales of £5 million-plus properties between 2020 and 2022. -
6. Knightsbridge - 76 sales of £5 million-plus properties between 2020 and 2022. -
7. Marylebone - 64 sales of £5 million-plus properties between 2020 and 2022. -
8. Notting Hill - 60 sales of £5 million-plus properties between 2020 and 2022. -
9. Hampstead - 50 sales of £5 million-plus properties between 2020 and 2022. -
10. South Kensington - 36 sales of £5 million-plus properties between 2020 and 2022.
