The London ‘billionaires’ row’ targeted by thieves earlier this month is one of the country’s priciest streets – where homes are put on the market for as much as £110million and snapped up by wealthy foreign investors.
Data from Lloyds Bank suggests mansions on Avenue Road in St John’s Wood have sold for an average of £15.1million in the last five years.
Once upon a time the thoroughfare was home to old money but a glut of purchases by ultra wealthy foreign tycoons have seen old homes razed to the ground in favour of McMansions that can be sold off or rented out for £40,000 a week.
However, residents are likely to be on high alert after one of the pricey properties was ransacked by a thief who stole over £10million of jewellery, climbing into the house through a second-floor window.
The victim, influencer and art collector Shafira Huang, had vaunted her collection of priceless jewellery – including a 10.73 carat diamond ring and a diamond and sapphire necklace – on an Instagram account with 13,000 followers.
Alongside the jewels – many of which were one-offs – the burglar also stole £150,000 of Hermes Crocodile Kelly handbags and £15,000 in cash. Nobody was at home at the time of the raid.
A host of famous faces once lived on Avenue Road, which connects Swiss Cottage to Regent’s Park in the north of the capital.
Among its tenants for a time were Rihanna and boxer Anthony Joshua, who rented a home for £20,000 a week ahead of his fight with Wladimir Klitschko in 2017.
Singer Robbie Williams, currently depicted in cinemas as a monkey in biopic Better Man, is reported to have decamped there for a spell after plans for his Holland Park home ran into trouble with his local council.
However, famous faces have fled elsewhere and in recent years many of the homes on Avenue Road have lain empty.
Taking a stroll along the street reveals its many facets – from the older, long-standing mansions to the new-build behemoths, and a host of roadworks and construction that long-term residents say ruins the enjoyment of their homes.
Most of the homes are protected by huge gates with visible security cameras peering down at anyone who walks past on the street.
Drivers are on hand to take residents to where they need to go, while housekeepers, and security guards also remain at some of the homes 24/7.
It’s also no longer London’s priciest street. That honour, as of today, belongs to Knightsbridge.
Avenue Road is still in the top 10, according to the survey by Lloyds Bank published today, but only a handful of properties have changed hands in recent years.
Data from Rightmove shows mansions have recently sold for as much as £31.6million – which got the lucky buyer a 10-bedroom house in the middle of the street.
As of late the nouveaux riche from abroad have moved in. Last year, UAE investor-developer Select Group obtained planning permission to build 12 townhouse-style mansions with a health spa and concierge at 52 Avenue Road.
A report from ultra-luxe property estate agent Beauchamp Estates states six new mansions were built on Avenue Road between 2020 and 2023, valued at a total of £370million.
And of the newly built properties, one worth £110million was put on the market two years ago. It is now off-market.
A two-year Land Registry backlog means many sales of properties that were on the market may not yet be recorded. Seven new Avenue Road projects worth £570million are also on the way.
Not everyone is happy about the street’s constant chopping and changing. Mother Sima Alam fumed to The Sun in February: ‘You find a lot of them in their big cars a bit snotty, it’s like they think “it’s my right of way and I belong here, you move out the way”.’
Retired milkman Les Trim added: ‘You get the flash cars but you don’t see these people, they keep themselves to themselves.
‘You see the odd girl, cleaner, servant, someone who looks after the property. It’s for the super rich. They don’t really live here.’
Other recent top sales included No 77, an eight-bed property, which was sold for £13million in December 2020 and owned by the late Chincacraft founder Gerald Lipton. It has planning permission to be knocked down for a new three-storey home.
Number 62 was purchased for £12million in 2019, with planning permission to be demolished and replaced with a four-storey giant property including a super-basement, which is now halfway to being finished.
Number 87 set a new record in 2020 as London’s most expensive home for sale at £75million – an achievement long since surpassed several times, most staggering of all the £138million sale of Mayfair’s Aberconway House.
Developed by Greek businessman George Dragoumanos, who bought the plot in 2013, Number 87 Avenue Road was also available to rent for £160,000-a-month.
It boasted ten bedrooms, ten bathrooms, outdoor pool, twelve-seat cinema with bar, a cigar room and two secure climate-controlled wine cellars.
Elsewhere, Zoopla currently lists two properties available for rent at a princely £40,000 a week – or £173,333 a month – pre-furnished with opulent artworks and enviable fittings.
Those looking to spend a little less could buy a flat for somewhere in the region of £1.5million, or rent one for anywhere from £3,000 to £15,000 a month – the latter including a private swimming pool.
Crime is not particularly high in the Primrose Hill area where Avenue Road can be found, just north of Regent’s Park.
Burglary rates are lower than the rest of the Camden borough area, and below the London average.
A total of 288 burglaries have been reported since December 2020, an average of six per month.
Detectives are continuing to investigate what they called the ‘brazen’ raid on Shafira Huang’s home on December 7.
The influencer had shared images of herself in her pricey wares, and despite the theft was able to attend a dinner for the British Forces Foundation and shared a meal with Sarah, Duchess of York earlier this month.
She is now offering bumper rewards totalling £1.5m, including £500,000 for anyone who provides information leading to the arrest and conviction of the suspect and 10 per cent of the value of any recovered items.
Detective Constable Paulo Roberts from the Central North Basic Command Unit, who is investigating the burglary, said: ‘This is a brazen offence, where the suspect has entered the property while armed with an unknown weapon and violated the sanctuary of the victims’ home.
‘The suspect has stolen £10.4m worth of jewellery, much of which is sentimental and unique in its design, and therefore easily identifiable.
‘We urge anyone who was in the area of Avenue Road, NW8, and saw anything suspicious to please come forward.
‘Also, if you have seen this jewellery since, someone has offered to sell you it, or you have any further information, then please also contact the police or Crimestoppers anonymously.’