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Sales of £1m-plus homes have surged since lockdown as affl uent buyers look for more space and lifestyle change, with two-thirds more deals agreed in the past four months than in the same period last year.

An average of 868 £1m-plus sales have been agreed each week since the beginning of June, 66 per cent higher than the weekly average of 522 over the same period in 2019, new data from Savills and TwentyCi show.

Despite the key spring market weeks being An unusual, and vast, property has gone on the market. Brunel Manor, the neo-Gothic style house, is nestled amongst woodland with views over Babbacombe Bay, about 20 miles outside of Exeter, and was built for the renowned engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel. The property was actually intended to be his retirement home but he died, in 1859, before the property was completed.

While Brunel never saw the home or gardens fi nished he was able to plant numerous trees in the grounds of the site which still stand today. The property was subsequently purchased and the building completed by James Crompton all but lost to the lockdown, when sales fell to just 69 in the week ending 19 April, a total of 23,000 sales were agreed in the fi rst three quarters of 2020, 16 per cent higher than in 2019.

Lucian Cook, Savills head of residential research, who ran the analysis, says, “This points to a rebalancing of the market between London and the rest of the country.

Whereas sales in London rose by four per cent in the fi rst nine months of the year, they are up 27 per cent across the rest of the UK, albeit London still accounts for over four in 10 sales with a £1m-plus price tag.”

The South West has seen the biggest surge in demand, with sales rising 38 per cent to 2022. “Lifestyle relocation has been a big theme in the market since lockdown began to ease, and this is very clearly refl ected in the

There are 67 bedrooms, no less

in 1873. Most recently, it has been used as a conference facility and Christian meeting centre and retreat. The house claims 67 bedrooms, has over ten acres of land, and is available in the three separate lots.

“Brunel Manor is a unique collection of buildings in an exceptional setting,” says Rhiannon Charles, at Savills in Exeter. "Retaining many of the period and characterful features of its original design, the main manor house is Grade II listed and would make a wonderful conversion into residential apartments or houses.”

UK SALES OF £M-PLUS HOMES JUMP Market commentary from Sarah-Jane Bingham-Chick, head of residential for Savills Exeter

For more: www.savills.co.uk numbers,” says Sarah-Jane Bingham-Chick, head of residential for Savills Exeter.

“By the year end we now expect the number of £1m-plus sales agreed to exceed 2019 volumes – a performance nobody could have anticipated in the depths of lockdown,” Cook continues. “That said, recent evidence suggests fewer high-value homes are now coming to the market, suggesting we may be hitting a high plateau.

“For many, the challenge is now in getting deals through to completion by Christmas, after which point eyes will be on beating the 31 March stamp duty holiday deadline in order to benefi t from the maximum £15,000 saving for those buying at this end of the market.”

For more: www.savills.co.uk