Revealed: Yorkshire’s most exclusive homes

YORKSHIRE’S most exclusive addresses have been revealed in a “rich list” which shows a rise in the number of homes worth over £1 million.
Homes on Leathley  Lane, near Harrogate. Below: Roundhay, Leeds.Homes on Leathley  Lane, near Harrogate. Below: Roundhay, Leeds.
Homes on Leathley Lane, near Harrogate. Below: Roundhay, Leeds.

The country’s economy may be in the doldrums but the number of “property millionaires” in Britain has risen in the last 12 months by an estimated 78,000 - 32 per cent - to just over 323,000, according to Zoopla.co.uk.

Zoopla also named Kensington Palace Gardens in London as the country’s most expensive street. Nestled close to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s home at Kensington Palace, the road has been nicknamed the “boulevard of billionaires”.

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With an average price tag of £36 million, a home in Kensington Gardens is typically worth more than 156 times the value of an average UK property.

Houses on Roundhay Park Lane, Leeds.Houses on Roundhay Park Lane, Leeds.
Houses on Roundhay Park Lane, Leeds.

In Yorkshire, the priciest properties can be found in Roundhay Park Lane, Leeds, where the average property is estimated to be worth £1.7m. The second highest is Burnt Yates, Harrogate with price tags in the region of £1.4m.

Of the 8,320 streets where homes typically cost more than £1 million, only 67 are in Yorkshire whereas a third are in London.

Estate agents in Yorkshire say that the top end of the market is still fairly quiet compared to previous years.

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Patrick McCutcheon, of Dacre Son & Hartley, said there has been a modest upturn in the number of million pound homes coming onto the market in Yorkshire.

Dacres put up for sale two such properties last week, one in Guiseley and one in Middleton, Ilkley, both of which are attracting interest.

“There is a core of prospective purchasers who are wanting to spend £1m-plus. But they are frustrated by a lack of supply,” said Mr McCutcheon.

He said Yorkshire’s million pound property market was “slowly improving” but that “people need to keep their feet on the ground”.

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“This year we will probably sell around one third of the volume of million pound properties we sold in 2010. I would call it an evolving recovery rather than a slow recovery.”

Housing academics say the demand for million pound homes in Yorkshire is partly driven by wealthy people from outside the region.

Peter Bibby, a lecturer in town planning at Sheffield University, said wealthy people were investing their money in property because of a lack of confidence in other investments.

“If you look at what has happened in the last 10 years, house prices are historically very high. Too much money has found its way into housing, which is not altogether a good sign. It doesn’t do an awful lot for people looking for homes.”

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Rising demand for million pound homes did little to inspire house builders as few of them were involved in this sub-market, he said.

“It is not going to send out a signal that it is now time to start building,” added Mr Bibby. “There are economists who ascribe the funding collapse (in the economy) to too much money being diverted from the real economy into assets like housing.”

Zoopla said that outside London, the biggest clusters of million pound streets are in Surrey. Richmond, Guildford, Mitcham and Leatherhead.

It took its findings from estimates on its own website of the current worth of properties. It put the big jump in property millionaires over the last year down to strengthening competition for homes at the top end of the market.

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House prices have been recording some big increases in London over the last year amid demand from wealthy overseas buyers who have been looking for a safe haven for their cash among the troubles of the eurozone.

Lawrence Hall, spokesman for Zoopla, said: “Only the super-wealthy can entertain the notion of living on the most expensive streets and they are paying as much for the address and the location as they are for the size and quality of the property.

“You can find magnificent mansions in other parts of the country for a similar price to even just average properties in areas like Kensington.”

In terms of Britain’s most expensive towns, Virginia Water in Surrey was top, followed by Cobham, also in Surrey.