The secrets of selling the capital's £40m homes

Armed security, NDAs, a gold temple...inside the world of ultra high-end property deals

- EMMA MAGNUS

Becky Fatemi is used to matching clients - no matter how selective - with the perfect property. But in 2022, one tried something new: he would only buy a property if it had his dog's approval. "The dog would come in, the dog would look around. If the dog liked it, he'd buy the house," says Fatemi, executive partner at Sotheby's International Realty. "They bought a house in St John's Wood. The dog loved it."

A handful of these super-prime deals are conducted every week in London. According to Knight Frank's research, there were 147 sales above $10 million (£7.9 million) between January and September this year. Buyers flock towards the "Platinum Triangle" of Mayfair, Belgravia and Knightsbridge, as well as Holland Park, Hampstead and Highgate. Some come from overseas, some are born into family wealth, and there is an emerging breed of younger, tech start-up types. "It's a mixed bag, but effectively you are only speaking about billionaire families at this sort of level," says Grant Bates, head of private office at Hamptons. "It's very rare that it's their only residence. I sold to a family in Holland Park recently who have six or seven houses within a quarter-mile radius." Despite the existence of programmes like Selling Sunset and Buying London, it remains an elusive world where most properties are sold off-market, where confidentiality is king - and where clients can ask for whatever they like.

"The main difference is the discretion," says Hamish Eggins, partner in Knight Frank's prime central London developments team. Rather than listing on portals, agents take what Eggins calls a "targeted approach", curating a handful of billionaire buyers for each property.