Cheltenham sees Britain’s biggest increase in £1m properties as map reveals the areas where prices are smashing through the seven-figure barrier

• Cheltenham topped list with the number of £1m homes almost doubling in a year
• Figures reveal there were 23 sales of £1m home in 2016 which rose to 45 in 2017
• Most expensive was a five-bed detached property which was bought for £2.6m
• Birmingham second with an 86 per cent rise, while North Hertfordshire was third

A spa town famous for horse racing and its history of code breaking has topped the list for the biggest growth in the sale of million-pound homes.

The prime property market in Cheltenham has exploded with the number of millionaire homebuyers almost doubling over the past 12 months.

Figures reveal there were 23 sales of a £1million home in 2016, but there were a staggering 45 houses above the threshold last year – a 96 per cent increase.

The most expensive property sold was a state-of-the-art five-bedroom detached property which was bought for £2.6million.

Cheltenham, Glocs, topped the list of local authorities with the fastest growing number of £1million sales, with Birmingham second with an 86 per cent rise 

The prime property market in Cheltenham has exploded with the number of millionaire buyers almost doubling over the past 12 months (pictured: the town’s regency architecture)

Cheltenham, Glocs, topped the list of local authorities with the fastest growing number of £1million sales, with Birmingham second with an 86 per cent rise.

This is according to research by Knight Frank, which analysed Land Registry sales figures.

North Hertfordshire (77 per cent), Woking (58 per cent) and Wycombe (58 per cent) made up the top five.

Most million-pound sales outside London 

Elmbridge – 450

Windsor and Maidenhead – 197

South Bucks – 192

Chiltern – 185

St Albans – 182

Waverley – 180

Guildford – 146

Epping Forest – 126

South Oxfordshire – 120

Cambridge – 116

Oliver Knight, an associate in the Knight Frank research team, said: ‘While prime markets across the UK remain price sensitive following change to stamp duty and wider political and economic uncertainty, some locations have proven remarkably robust.

‘An increase in £1 million-plus sales in Cheltenham over the last 12 months is primarily a reflection of stellar house price growth in the town.

‘Values increased by 8.1 per cent in 2017, pushing a number of homes above the £1 million threshold.

‘Plans to revitalise the town centre, which include the opening of a new John Lewis store later this year, will help underpin pricing and demand going forwards.’

There were 19,100 properties selling for £1 million or more in England and Wales last year, with London accounting for 60 per cent of these deals.

In Kensington and Chelsea, 64 per cent of homes cost more than £1 million. In Westminster, this figure is 51 per cent.

There were 18 local authorities outside of London recorded 100 or more £1million-plus transactions in last year, up from 14 in 2016.

Elmbridge in Surrey, had the most £1million sales outside of London, but they remained relatively flat, rising from 443 to 450.

Elmbridge was far and away where the most million-pound homes were sold outside of London, followed by Windsor and Maidenhead and then South Bucks

Figures reveal there were 23 sales of a £1million home in Cheltenham in 2016, but there were a staggering 45 houses above the threshold last year – a 96 per cent increase

Top ten areas for £1million homes 

Local authority

Cheltenham

Birmingham 

North Herts  

Woking

Cotswold

Lewes

West Berkshire

Cheshire East

Runnymede

Harrogate

 2016: £1m+ sales

23

22 

30

72

41

23

39

76 

44 

38 

 2017: £1m+ sales

45

41 

53

114

58

32

54

105 

60 

50 

Annual increase

96 per cent

86 per cent 

77 per cent

58 per cent

41 per cent

39 per cent

38 per cent

38 per cent

36 per cent 

32 per cent

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