American billionaire Tom Ford has bought a mansion in London’s high-end Chelsea district for more than £80 million ($104 million), making it the UK’s most expensive home deal this year.
The fashion designer purchased the property — nestled in a neighbourhood famous for its stucco-fronted mansions — this summer, according to people familiar with the matter who weren’t authorised to discuss the transaction. A representative for Ford declined to comment.
Ford’s namesake brand was purchased by Estée Lauder Cos. at the end of 2022 at a valuation of $2.8 billion, giving him a net worth of more than £2 billion after the deal. The Austin, Texas, native was the creative director of Gucci before starting his own company with former Gucci chief executive officer Domenico De Sole.
The transaction is one of this year’s rare high points for London’s property market that’s suffered a slump in luxury-home deals partly due to highly anticipated reforms affecting wealthy UK residents officially domiciled overseas, or “non-doms.” Last week, besides announcing the abolition of the preferential tax status enjoyed by non-doms, the Labour government also increased the stamp duty on second home purchases, further damping sentiment among wealthy, discretionary buyers.
Ford’s purchase is the latest example of London homes drawing Americans, whose interest has helped keep the luxury market afloat with dollar-driven discounts. The share of US buyers purchasing London homes rose to 6.1 percent in the first six months of the year from 3.3 percent in the latter part of 2023 — the second-largest half-on-half increase in the past 12 years, according to data from brokerage Knight Frank.
On top of currency discounts, price cuts have been rife over the past year — with some mansion sellers resorting to reductions of around 30 percent. For instance, a Belgravia home that was purchased for £34 million about a decade ago changed hands for £23.5 million.
The number of price cuts on £5 million-plus homes rose 39 percent between July and September from a year earlier, according to a report by researcher LonRes. That’s 174 percent higher than the third quarter average between 2017 and 2019.
Ford’s sprawling mansion — situated between Hyde Park and the north bank of the River Thames — is the most expensive home to sell in the UK this year, the people said. The previous owner purchased the property for £16 million almost 20 years ago.
While it’s unclear whether Ford negotiated a discount, the prices of more than half of the homes were reduced prior to sale in Chelsea in the year through October, LonRes data show. United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan bought a mansion in the same neighbourhood for £65 million in November last year.
By Damian Shepherd
Learn more:
Why Estée Lauder Bought Tom Ford
The designer’s makeup and fragrance line brought glamour, sex appeal – and sales – to the cosmetics giant. Keeping the magic in house was worth nearly $3 billion.