The latest «victim» of the slump in the top-tier private real estate segment in London is a British billionaire with a colorful past: David Sullivan, who built his fortune through soft-porn and sex shops. According to the Sunday Times Rich List, his wealth is estimated at £1,2 billion.

According to a report by Bloomberg, Sullivan, who is also chairman and largest shareholder of London football club West Ham United, has reduced the asking price for his residence in the western district of Marylebone by £10 million, now asking £65 million.

The property, with nearly 2'000 square meters of living space, features 10 bedrooms, a wine cellar, pool, elevator, roof terrace, and a professional kitchen, according to the property brochure from agency Knight Frank.

«You have to be realistic»

“I’m selling at a loss now, but you have to be realistic,” says Sullivan. According to him, he bought the building, originally built in 1775, for £27 million in 2015 and invested around £50 million in renovations.

«The market has changed, there’s no doubt about that,» says Paddy Dring of the real estate agency. According to Knight Frank, only 10 properties in the price range over £30 million were sold in the 12 months up to June 2024, compared with 38 in the previous 12 months.

«Interest rates are high – they’re dropping, but not by much,» says Sullivan. «I also think that what the government is doing with the Non-Doms isn’t very nice, and a lot of wealthy people are leaving the country as a result of what they expect in the budget. Three or four of my friends have already moved to Monaco or Dubai,» he says.