Behind closed doors: Saul Empson on the strange business of super-prime deal-making
In a new series for PrimeResi, seasoned buying agent Saul Empson reveals the absurdities and dramas that unfold behind the scenes of high-end property sales, from Notting Hill townhouses to country estates...
Saul Empson is an independent property buying agent, offering a personal, bespoke service to a small group of private clients. He has been involved in the central London property market since 1985 and spent his first fifteen years as a selling agent selling residential property and running sales offices for some of the big high street names. In 1999 he made the switch to finding and buying property on behalf of clients instead of selling houses and has never looked back.
Saul Empson: What the Dickens is going on in the prime property market?
If we all stopped in our tracks every time the papers rang a bell to call the onset of the next property crash, none of us would have bought homes since 1998, says buying agent Saul Empson...
By Saul Empson
London Super-Prime Market Survey: What changed in 2025 – and what lies ahead in 2026
Non-dom exits, international bargain hunters and a raft of trophy listings reshaped the £15m-plus sector over the last 12 months, reports Beauchamp Estates,
London’s super-prime property market slumps to five-year low
£15mn-plus deals dropped off by a quarter in 2024, reports Beauchamp Estates, as tax hikes, non-dom changes & political uncertainty spooked billionaire buyers.
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More details emerge around record Chelsea mansion sale
Low-profile hedge fund boss named by the Financial Times as purchaser of Candy’s '£265mn' Providence House
Super-prime agency lines up brokerage model expansion
'This is not a shift towards scale, nor an attempt to mirror larger brokerage platforms... it is a natural extension of our boutique approach', says Beauchamp boss Gary Hersham.
Knight Frank: Middle East conflict will impact UK housing market in four stages
The agency's resi research boss Tom Bill breaks down the likely path for policy, rates, sentiment and pricing - starting with what’s already playing out in the prime country market
By Tom Bill
Freehold Marylebone mansion block heads to auction
33-home building is being sold by order of the Howard de Walden Estate, which has owned the land for over 300 years.
Savills installs new head of Fulham sales
Tom Reeves takes charge of multi-office operation in SW London following the retirement of Emma Stead, who spent over thirty years with the agency.
Middleton Advisors boosts Cotswolds buying team
Former Knight Frank agent Charlotte Hall has joined to advise buyers across the region’s most sought-after addresses.
Savills reports flurry of £10mn-plus country deals
Agency tucks away £112mn worth of super-prime country piles as HNW buyers make their move.
Sales hit halfway mark at luxury Kensington scheme
Residence One says its Allen House project has 'consistently outperformed other schemes'
Prime London sales market still struggling as uncertainty reigns
LonRes reports another poor month in the capital's high-end property market, with deal volumes and prices both down - but rising under offer numbers suggest there's demand out there.
NYC lines up ‘pied-à-terre tax’ on $5mn+ second homes
State-first measure targeting ultra-wealthy and global elite announced by Mayor Mamdani.
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