2-8 Rutland Gate is the most expensive property in London. It went on sale in October for £200 million, or $221 million, according to The Guardian.
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2-8a Rutland Gate was constructed between 1985 and 1987, according to the property’s official website. It was initially designed as five apartments, which included an apartment for the property’s caretaker, and was then converted into a single-family home in 1998.
In 2020, Chinese billionaire Cheung Chung-kiu bought the property for a record £210 million, or around $232 million, Bloomberg first reported. According to an October report by the Financial Times, the founder of Chinese property developer The Evergrande Group, Hui Ka Yan, is the actual owner of the property.
The official website of 2-8 Rutland Gate does not reveal who currently owns it, but states they are “an overseas family.” It was previously owned by the late Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Sultan bin Abdul-Aziz, per the Guardian.
While the property is the most expensive in the UK capital, its interior is in complete disrepair, according to its website. The Guardian reported that it has been in a poorly maintained state since the crown prince died in 2011.
“The building was acquired vacant and heavily dilapidated, requiring as a minimum, extensive refurbishment before the new owners can take occupation,” the property’s reconstruction team, which comprises of several companies including architectural firm Squire & Partners, wrote on the website.
Despite the dilapidated interior, its size allows it to command such a high price tag, Nikodem Szumilo, a professor of the built environment who specializes in economics and finance at the University College London, told Insider.
“There’s nothing special about it, other than the fact that it’s a large piece of real estate,” Szumilo said. “But you can parcel it as smaller properties worth millions of pounds,” he added.
