There’s something about the word ‘mansion’ that ignites the imagination and conjures up images outside of the everyday. Its root lies in the Latin word manēre, meaning ‘to remain’, referring to the supposedly perpetual seat of a noble family.

Mansions are still alive and well in the UK and nowadays, the barriers to entry are more financial than dynastic. We have used Savills sales data to examine their key features and, specifically, how these vary by location. We also measured price growth for this property class, using a bespoke cut of Savills prime quarterly house price indices.

To achieve this, we suggested that a contemporary ‘mansion’ measures, on average, 7,500 square feet and comprises four reception rooms, six bedrooms and four bathrooms. We used this size as a baseline to investigate how average pricing for larger homes compares across different locations in Great Britain.

It is perhaps no surprise that the highest value was found in the traditionally affluent districts at the heart of the capital, with an average achieved price of £18.23 million in prime central London (PCL). This is almost double the average value observed in outer prime London at £9.14 million. However, mansion prices in the outer prime districts have proved to be more resilient over the past five years, growing at a rate of 11.7%, outperforming the overall average of 7.3% for that region. In contrast, five-year price growth for PCL mansions fell marginally by -0.6%, remaining broadly consistent with the decrease of -0.3% for all property types in this location.

In terms of metropolitan mansion hotspots, larger-scale homes in Kensington and Chelsea transacted at a premium of 2% above PCL, with an average price of £18.55 million – this encompassed neighbourhoods of large detached and terraced houses, such as Holland Park and The Boltons. Conversely, the outer prime London equivalent was Richmond upon Thames, covering leafy districts like Barnes and East Sheen, where the average price of £8.69 million mildly underperformed the wider average by 5%.

Proximity to the capital also impinges on pricing for mansions in the regions, with the average across the suburban (£4.08 million), inner (£3.31 million) and outer commute zones (£3.2 million) all coming in at over 50% below the average value for outer prime London. Elsewhere, larger prime homes transacted at an average of £2.56 million in the wider south, at £1.86 million in the midlands and north, and in Scotland, the average mansion price was just under 12 times smaller than the equivalent in PCL at £1.53 million.

Despite this, Scottish and northern English mansions both experienced double-digit five-year price growth of 17% and 14%, respectively. They outperformed outer prime London by this measure and were broadly in line with wider prime price growth for these regions. However, across the commuter zones, the rate of growth over this period increased in line with the average price – so, the outer commute grew by 6% and the inner and suburban by 8%, respectively.

Standout commuter locations for grander residences include Elmbridge, which commanded a 10% premium above the wider suburban zone for such properties. Sevenoaks achieved the same increase above its inner commute region, and it is perhaps no coincidence that the borough includes a range of high-performing state-funded and independent schools.

Looking further north, the market towns of Knutsford and Wilmslow, orbiting the economic hub of Manchester, drive the near 30% premium for mansions, with an average price of £2.4 million. North of the border, both rural and urban mansions achieve premiums above the Scottish average of £1.53 million. A classic townhouse in Edinburgh can achieve an over 80% premium at an average of £2.81 million, while the more rural Perth and Kinross experienced a more modest 7% uplift.

Ultimately, scale is only one of many characteristics that can underpin the value of a fine home. Size doesn’t always matter in this respect, but in certain locations, a modern-day mansion can loom large over the competition, both in terms of price appreciation and premium.

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