Rich UK based property owners see real estate portfolios recovering, survey reveals

Written by Ray Clancy

Wednesday, 24 November 2010 11:16

The Duke of Westminster, who controls a London estate with the world’s most expensive office space, remains the richest property investor based in Britain, according to a new report.

While wealthy property owners saw almost £30 billion taken off their collective wealth in 2008 and 2009, their real estate portfolios are now recovering, according to the annual survey of the 250 wealthiest people in the industry from Estates Gazette.

In 2007 their property assets were worth a combined £98 billion but this fell to a low of £69 billion last year, a loss of around £30 billion. It has now recovered to £72 billion.

The Duke, whose name is Gerald Grosvenor, had assets with an estimated value of £6.8 billion as of the end of September. He owns much of Mayfair, Belgravia and Knightsbridge as well as more recent acquisitions such as the Liverpool One shopping centre.
David and Simon Reuben are again ranked second with £5.43 billion of assets and in third place is Earl Cadogan and his family with £2.5 billion of real estate.

The combined wealth of the people included in the survey increased by 4.3% to £72 billion in the year through to the end of September, Estates Gazette said.

UK commercial real estate appreciated by 15% during that period, according to figures from Investment Property Databank, while the MSCI World Index increased by 4.6%.

‘The recovery in commercial property values, which began in the third quarter of 2009, is now feeding through. The top performers this year are inevitably those with low borrowings and solid assets,’ said Estates Gazette.

This is the first improvement since commercial property values began to fall in the second half of 2007. But not all rich property owners have seen their fortunes rise again, in particular Irish investors who were backed by the country’s troubled banks, the survey also shows.

There are two new entries in the top 10 for 2010. Finish businessman Poju Zabludowicz is included for the first time after being granted British residency and is eighth with £1.5 billion of real estate assets. And John Caudwell, who made his fortune from mobile communications, invested in property during the last quarter of 2008 and is now joint ninth with Howard de Walden and his family, with £1.4 billion of assets.

The survey covered the UK and Ireland, with individuals and families resident in those countries, as well as British citizens living abroad being eligible for inclusion. All of them created a significant part of their wealth from investing in real estate.

Fourth is London based property developers Eddie and Sol Zakay at £1.9 billion. The brothers run the Topland Group. In fifth place is the Barclay brothers David and Frederick at £1.8 billion. While Ian and Richard Livingstone are sixth with £1.65 billion and Mark Pears and family seventh at £1.6 billion.