Our guide on flats for sale in London by budget stops at £2,000,000. Above it the market changes character: the buyers are fewer and nearly all international, the stock is scarce and specific, and prices are set by the last comparable sale on the street rather than by any index. What £5 million, £10 million and £20 million buy in autumn 2026 is set out district by district below, with the running cost that comes with each tier.
Market notes
What £5 million, £10 million and £20 million buy in London in 2026: the prime ladder, district by district
What £5 million, £10 million and £20 million buy in London
In autumn 2026, £5,000,000 buys a four- to five-bedroom house in Kensington, Chelsea, St John’s Wood or Hampstead, or a 2,000 to 2,800 square foot lateral flat, in Belgravia or Mayfair for the flat only. £10,000,000 buys a Belgravia or Knightsbridge house on a garden square or a 3,000 to 4,000 square foot flat in a prime block. £20,000,000 buys the Mayfair, Belgravia and Holland Park houses that rarely come to market. Stamp duty for a non-resident with a home abroad is £863,750, £1,813,750 and £3,713,750, and the top tier costs £160,000 to £360,000 a year to run.
What each budget buys in autumn 2026, flat or house:
The prime ladder, autumn 2026
| Budget | Flat | House | Districts |
|---|---|---|---|
| £5,000,000 | Three-bedroom lateral, 2,000 to 2,800 sq ft, portered | Four- to five-bedroom terraced house, 2,500 to 3,500 sq ft | Kensington, Chelsea, St John’s Wood, Marylebone, Hampstead; Belgravia and Mayfair for the flat only |
| £10,000,000 | Four-bedroom lateral, 3,000 to 4,000 sq ft, in a prime block or new scheme | Five- to six-bedroom house with garden, 4,000 to 5,500 sq ft | Belgravia, Knightsbridge, Kensington, Holland Park, St John’s Wood, Hampstead; a Mayfair flat |
| £20,000,000 | Penthouse or whole-floor lateral, 4,500 to 6,000 sq ft | Detached or double-fronted house, 6,000 to 9,000 sq ft, garden, garage | Mayfair, Belgravia, Knightsbridge, Holland Park, Regent’s Park, the Avenue Road side of St John’s Wood, Hampstead’s Heath edge |
Source: Land Registry sales and current listings, October 2026; per-square-foot figures from the firm’s district guides.
What £5 million buys in prime London districts
A good family house in Kensington (the streets off Kensington Church Street, the Phillimore estate’s smaller houses), Chelsea (the Markham and Paultons squares, the streets between the King’s Road and the river), St John’s Wood (a semi-detached villa on a quiet road) or Hampstead (a Redington Frognal house or a village house with a garden). Or a lateral three-bedroom flat of 2,000 to 2,800 square feet in a Cadogan or Grosvenor mansion block, in a Marylebone estate block, or on the Hyde Park Estate facing the park.
House or flat at £5 million, and the stamp duty
£5,000,000 is the budget at which a Gulf family has a real choice between house and flat in most of prime London, and our guide on houses or flats sets out how to make it. Stamp duty for a non-resident with a home abroad: £863,750.
What £10 million buys in Belgravia, Knightsbridge and beyond
A Belgravia or Knightsbridge house on a garden square, a Holland Park villa, a large St John’s Wood or Hampstead house with a proper garden and parking, or a four-bedroom lateral flat in a prime block on Eaton Square, Cadogan Square or Grosvenor Square, or in one of the new schemes around Knightsbridge and Mayfair at the schemes’ prices.
Best streets or best houses at £10 million, with stamp duty
At this level the buyer is choosing between the best streets’ ordinary houses and the ordinary streets’ best houses, and the firm’s view is that the former holds value better. A new scheme at £10,000,000 buys 3,000 to 3,500 square feet with a service charge of £50,000 to £70,000 a year; a mansion block buys 4,000 with a quarter of that. Stamp duty: £1,813,750.
What £20 million buys: London's rarely sold prime houses
The houses that rarely come to market: Mayfair’s townhouses on Upper Brook Street or Charles Street, Belgravia’s on Chester Square or Eaton Square, Kensington Palace Gardens and the Holland Park villas, the Nash terraces of Regent’s Park (Crown Estate leases), the rebuilt houses on Avenue Road, The Bishops Avenue’s rebuilt best, and the Heath-edge houses of Hampstead. Or a whole-floor lateral or penthouse in a trophy scheme.
The private, off-market London property market at £20 million
Buyers at this level are a few hundred families worldwide, a quarter of them from the Gulf; the market is private, the sales are off-market, and the price is a negotiation between two advisers. The firm’s rule at £20,000,000 is the same as at £500,000: the street and the building, at the neighbours’ price per foot, never the brochure. Stamp duty: £3,713,750.
Prime London price per square foot by district
The ladder is explained by the per-square-foot figures in our district guides: £1,400 to £2,300 in Kensington and Chelsea, £1,200 to £2,000 in St John’s Wood and Marylebone, £2,000 to £3,500 in Mayfair, Belgravia and Knightsbridge, £1,000 to £2,200 in Hampstead, and £4,000 to £6,000 in the new trophy schemes. £5,000,000 at £1,800 is 2,800 square feet; at £3,000 it is 1,650. The same money buys a house in Hampstead and a flat in Belgravia, and the choice is a choice of district first.
What a prime London budget does not buy
At any price: a freehold in Mayfair, Belgravia or most of Marylebone, where the estates hold the freeholds and sell long leases; a basement without the borough’s consent; parking in most of the stucco terraces; a view that a neighbour cannot build in front of (unless the view is of a royal park); and a house that stands empty without a housekeeper, as our second-home guide explains. At £20,000,000 and above the buyer also does not buy privacy from the Land Registry, which records the price and, for a company buyer, the company and its beneficial owners under the register our guide explains.
Annual running costs of a prime London home
The annual running cost at each tier, for a home used a few months a year:
Annual running cost by tier, 2026 (£5 million to £20 million)
| Annual running cost, used a few months a year | £5 million flat | £10 million house | £20 million house |
|---|---|---|---|
| Service charge (flat) or maintenance fund (house) | £25,000 to £50,000 | £30,000 to £60,000 | £60,000 to £120,000 |
| Council tax, Band H, with the second-home premium | £3,300 to £8,800 | £6,700 to £8,800 | £6,700 to £8,800 |
| Insurance | £1,500 to £3,000 | £8,000 to £15,000 | £15,000 to £30,000 |
| Staff, security, garden | £5,000 to £15,000 | £30,000 to £80,000 | £80,000 to £200,000 |
| Indicative total | £35,000 to £75,000 | £75,000 to £165,000 | £160,000 to £360,000 |
Source: the firm’s indicative estimates, October 2026; Annual Tax on Enveloped Dwellings figures from GOV.UK.
The Annual Tax on Enveloped Dwellings, if the property is held in a company and used by the family, adds £75,450 at £10,000,000 and £151,450 at £20,000,000 in 2026/27, which is why none of the firm’s clients at this level hold a family home that way; our company guide explains.
Where the best value in prime London is in 2026
In 2026 prime London is at its 2014 price in sterling and a third below in dollars, as our market note sets out, and the discount is largest at the top: the £10,000,000 to £20,000,000 houses that sold for more in 2014 than they would fetch now are the best value in the city for a family that will hold for a generation.
The new trophy schemes are the exception, priced at a premium the resale market has not paid. The firm’s advice at every tier is a house or lateral flat in an established street at the neighbours’ price, bought from a seller who has been on the market for a year, and the patience to wait for one.
Sources: UK House Price Index (HM Land Registry) · Stamp Duty Land Tax rates (GOV.UK) · Annual Tax on Enveloped Dwellings (GOV.UK) Figures verified 14 October 2026.
Frequently Asked
Questions about the prime London ladder
For a small mews house, sometimes; for a house on a square, no, that is £10,000,000 and more. £5,000,000 buys a Belgravia flat or a Kensington or Chelsea house.
For a buyer who wants the concierge, the pool and no maintenance, and will hold for fifteen years, perhaps; for value, no, and the resale evidence since 2016 bears that out.
£3,713,750 for a non-resident who owns a home elsewhere, or £3,800,000 at the 19 per cent company rate; our stamp duty guide gives the bands.
A good family house of 2,500 to 3,500 square feet in Kensington, Chelsea, St John’s Wood or Hampstead, or a lateral three-bedroom flat of 2,000 to 2,800 square feet in a Cadogan or Grosvenor mansion block, a Marylebone estate block or on the Hyde Park Estate. It is the budget at which a Gulf family has a real choice between house and flat in most of prime London. Stamp duty for a non-resident with a home abroad is £863,750.
A Belgravia or Knightsbridge house on a garden square, a Holland Park villa, a large St John’s Wood or Hampstead house with garden and parking, or a four-bedroom lateral flat on Eaton Square, Cadogan Square or Grosvenor Square. A new scheme at £10,000,000 buys 3,000 to 3,500 square feet with a service charge of £50,000 to £70,000 a year; a mansion block buys 4,000 with a quarter of that. Stamp duty is £1,813,750.
The houses that rarely come to market: Mayfair townhouses on Upper Brook Street or Charles Street, Belgravia’s on Chester Square or Eaton Square, Kensington Palace Gardens, the Holland Park villas, the Nash terraces of Regent’s Park, Avenue Road, The Bishops Avenue’s best and Hampstead’s Heath edge; or a whole-floor lateral or penthouse in a trophy scheme. Buyers are a few hundred families worldwide, a quarter from the Gulf; sales are off-market and the price is a negotiation between two advisers. Stamp duty is £3,713,750.
£1,400 to £2,300 in Kensington and Chelsea, £1,200 to £2,000 in St John’s Wood and Marylebone, £2,000 to £3,500 in Mayfair, Belgravia and Knightsbridge, £1,000 to £2,200 in Hampstead, and £4,000 to £6,000 in the new trophy schemes. £5,000,000 at £1,800 a foot is 2,800 square feet; at £3,000 it is 1,650. The same money buys a house in Hampstead and a flat in Belgravia, so the choice is a choice of district first.
Used a few months a year, £75,000 to £165,000: a maintenance fund of £30,000 to £60,000, Band H council tax with the second-home premium of £6,700 to £8,800, insurance of £8,000 to £15,000, and staff, security and garden of £30,000 to £80,000. A £5 million flat runs at £35,000 to £75,000 and a £20 million house at £160,000 to £360,000.
Not a family home. If the property is held in a company and used by the family, the Annual Tax on Enveloped Dwellings adds £75,450 at £10,000,000 and £151,450 at £20,000,000 in 2026/27, and the company stamp duty rate at £20,000,000 is £3,800,000 against £3,713,750 for a non-resident individual. None of the firm’s clients at this level hold a family home that way.
In 2026 prime London is at its 2014 price in sterling and a third below in dollars, and the discount is largest at the top: the £10,000,000 to £20,000,000 houses that sold for more in 2014 than they would fetch now are the best value in the city for a family that will hold for a generation. The new trophy schemes are the exception, priced at a premium the resale market has not paid. Buy in an established street at the neighbours’ price, from a seller who has been on the market for a year.
