FCA data shows cash-rich buyers give way to borrowers in prime market
The number of UK residential mortgages worth £5 million or more rose to 333 last year, up from 313 the year before, as fewer ultra-wealthy buyers paid entirely in cash, according to data from Karis Capital.
The specialist real estate finance advisory firm said the figures, supplied by the Financial Conduct Authority for the year to March 31, 2026, point to a shift in how high-net-worth buyers fund luxury property purchases. The combined value of the 333 mortgages reached £3.3 billion, putting the average loan at roughly £10 million.
For mortgage brokers working in the prime and super-prime space, the data signals a widening pool of borrowers who might otherwise have bypassed lending altogether.
London still dominates high-value lending
London accounted for 292 of the 333 mortgages, or 88% of the total, up from 263, or 84%, the previous year. Just eight of the mortgages were secured against properties outside London, the South East and the South West.
Francesco Amato, senior debt advisor at Karis Capital, said the trend "reflects a change in how wealthy buyers are approaching the luxury property market." He added that "many are choosing to borrow because it allows them to preserve capital for other investments."
The pattern comes as prime central London property prices have fallen sharply over the past year. Karis Capital cited Office for National Statistics data showing declines of as much as 22.8% in Westminster and 10.7% in Kensington and Chelsea.
Separate market data adds further context to that price softening. The Coutts London Prime Property Index for the first quarter of 2026 found prime London prices edged up 0.1% in the fourth quarter but were down 2.3% over the year and 10.3% below their 2014 peak. The same index recorded a sharp pullback in top-end activity: super-prime transactions of £10 million or more fell 36% in the fourth quarter compared with the same period a year earlier, while new listings dropped 35% quarter-on-quarter. Separately, Knight Frank's research has tied the softer sentiment in the £5,000-a-week-plus rental bracket to the same buyer pool, noting 17% fewer lettings deals above that threshold in the first half of 2026 compared with the same period in 2025.
Falling prices reframed as opportunity
Karis Capital said the lower price point is drawing some ultra-high-net-worth buyers back into the market on the expectation that values will eventually recover.
Amato said London "remains one of the world's premier destinations for international wealth," pointing to continued demand from buyers in the UAE, Hong Kong and Singapore. He said the end of the UK's non-dom tax regime has affected sentiment, but that current price falls "offer compelling long-term investment opportunities" for some buyers.
He said luxury property finance is a specialised field, noting that borrowers "often have complex income structures" and international assets that require bespoke lending structures rather than a standard rate-driven approach.
Karis Capital, founded in November 2023, said it has arranged more than £1 billion in debt to date.
