Widening north-south divide... and the millionaire properties in Yorkshire's golden triangle

Figures released today have shown that some 660,900 homes across the country are now estimated to be worth at least £1m – an increase of more than 40,800 since January.

Four out of five of Britain’s property millionaires live in London or the South East of England, according to the study compiled by the property website, Zoopla.

In the W8 postcode of London, close to Kensington and Notting Hill, Kensington Palace Gardens, with its imposing mansions, was identified as Britain’s most expensive street where average homes will set a buyer back an average of £38.26m.

Yorkshire ranked second from bottom on the list of regions – compiled by Zoopla – in Britain for property billionaires, with 3,164 compared to London’s 398,312.

And Peter Clarkson, manager of the Harrogate branch of Manning Stainton, says the divide will only increase unless property prices in the capital fall.

But the likelihood of London property price tags dropping is thought to be unrealistic because of the demand for homes in the capital.

Mr Clarkson, who lived in London before moving to north Leeds, said: “It’s obvious that the property in London is very expensive.

“Where I used to live in Clapham, you can spend £2m on a flat, whereas here in Yorkshire you are looking at massive houses [for that price].”

Harrogate’s Rutland Drive was previously named as Yorkshire’s most expensive street – with average property price tags of more than £1.1m.

Typically the most expensive homes and most sought-after streets in the region fall into the “Golden Triangle” area around north Leeds, Harrogate and Wetherby.

Yorkshire boasts a total of 68 streets where the average property is valued at £1m or more.

According to Zoopla, property values in the region have also risen in the last year – in Leeds, Sheffield and York by between 1.5 and 2.5 per cent.

Zoopla spokesperson Lawrence Hall said: “Though Yorkshire may come in towards the bottom end of the table when it comes to the region’s number of property millionaires, the area does boast a total of 68 streets where the average property is valued at £1m or more.

“What’s more, property values in the region are holding strong and over the past 12 months, values in Leeds, Sheffield and York have all risen by 2.43 per cent, 2.68 per cent and 1.28 per cent respectively.”

Leeds has a total of 818 properties worth £1m or more, while there are 785 in York and 506 in Sheffield. Across Britain, there are now 12,418 streets where the average property value is more than £1m, according to Zoopla’s calculations.

While 60 per cent of Britain’s property millionaires live in London, and a further 22 per cent live in the South East, only 0.48 per cent are in Yorkshire and 0.56 per cent in the North East – which reflects the stark variation in property prices across the country as a whole. All 10 of Britain’s most expensive streets are in London.

But despite their expensive price tags, properties in some capital neighbourhoods have fallen in value over the past year amid economic uncertainty, and following changes in stamp duty which made it more expensive for people buying top-end properties.