Fashion designer Tom Ford has added to his trophy homes collection, having completed what is thought to be the UK’s most expensive deal of the year, buying an £80m mansion in Chelsea.
Ford acquired the house, a white stucco-fronted mansion in a garden square, after deciding to sell another home in Regent’s Park for an eight-figure sum.
The deal, which brings Ford’s total spend on his global property collection to about £270m, actually saved Ford £1.6m in tax, as it completed just before Rachel Reeves increased the stamp duty surcharge last week for buyers of second homes by 2%.
It is estimated that £400m of luxury purchases were made by wealthy buyers in London in the weeks before the budget, as the super-rich tried to get their deals over the line before anticipated tax rises.
Before last week’s budget it had been a subdued year for the ultra-luxury market in London, with many buyers put off by fears of tax rises. An analysis by Knight Frank in the summer found that there were ten transactions above £30m in the year to July, compared with 38 in the preceding 12-month period.
Paul Finch, a director at Beauchamp Estates, told the press that American buyers made up a disproportionately large portion of the pre-budget influx of buyers, given additional concern among some about a Donald Trump presidency.
“A significant number of these are American buyers of which Tom Ford is the most famous,” he said. “I think part of it is these American buyers wanting a second home away from the US mainland if Trump does come to power, and the urgency of the sales has also been fast-tracked because American buyers have wanted to avoid anticipated tax rises. ”
Stamp duty changes could have sizable implications for many homebuyers
