Stepping forward to scratch that itch is Britain’s Most Expensive Houses, set to air on Channel 4 on December 28 to add a little sparkle to a flat festive season. Taking us behind the scenes at UK Sotheby’s International Realty, who deal in some of the most spectacular property for sale on the planet, the fly-on-the-wall documentary offers a glimpse inside the world of multi-million pound home sales throughout the UK. Not only do we get to see through the keyhole of mega mansions from Yorkshire to Surrey, but we also discover how the super-rich go about buying and selling their homes. Suffice to say it’s a little more targeted than popping in to the high street estate agent’s office.
Diana Tran from the London office, meets with Shy Aviation, a private jet broker who also provide concierge services. She shows them a five-bedroom St James’ townhouse on the market for £17.75 million in the hope they might introduce one of their ultra high net worth clients. We also follow the gorgeous Charlie and Zack who are thinking of moving out of central London, with a budget of £4 million.
They’re shown around “modern day Downton Abbeys” in Buckinghamshire, Surrey and Sussex but can’t agree on whether they’d prefer a modern or period home. Agents from different offices are drafted in to help find clients thinking of relocating from London to the countryside, or vice versa. And Guy Bradshaw travels up to the Wirral to pitch for the instruction on the ex-CEO of Liverpool football club Peter Moore’s £2.35 million home, Axholme. If it were in London, says Bradshaw, it would be worth £15 million plus.
A case in point is Heathfield House in Highgate. It’s a third bigger than Axholme but has an asking price of £40 million. North London agent, Lee Koffman enlists Polina Shchepetkova, head of the Russia desk in the London office to help him find a buyer.
Meanwhile Homes & Property is also called in to view the property – one of the most expensive homes for sale on the open market in the capital – in the hope that it’s newsworthy enough to run a story, which might then be seen by potential buyers (or, more likely, their staff). With a quite extraordinary crystal- and peacock-embellished décor scheme and a top-secret roster of A-list viewings it makes the page.
The idea to make a television show with Sotheby’s International Realty was in the pipeline for three years. Already a property-mad nation, the pandemic coupled with the stamp duty holiday sent Brits into a home moving frenzy in the search for more space and Channel 4 decided to seize the moment.
Britain’s Most Expensive Houses will draw inevitable comparisons to the smash hit of the summer, Selling Sunset, but the production team stress that beyond showcasing lavish homes, the two shows are very different. “For a start, they’re all real people, we’re coming from a point of authenticity, seeing what it’s really like to buy and sell these properties,” says Wurzer Williams.
“We’ve got a real cross-section of property across the country accompanied by some of these brilliant brokers who are entertaining informative and professional. You see how the houses are really matched to their broker, they suit their personalities. They have to love it to sell it.” A cross-section, perhaps, but with observations like “It’s five and a half million, so it’s really not that expensive,” the show will also provide some much-needed escapism from the travails of 2020.
Article source: Mansion Global
