British Developer Appears to Shatter Global Home Sale Record

This is no belated April Fools’ Day joke: there appears to be a record-setting deal for the most expensive home sale in the world.

Developer Nick Candy sold the Providence House in London’s Chelsea neighborhood for more than £270 million, or $350 million USD, Bloomberg reported. While there’s no way of confirming, there has been no publicly known home sale more expensive across the globe.

Many of the details regarding the sale, including the identity of the buyer, are shrouded in secrecy. Candy declined to comment, while U.K. Sotheby’s International Realty’s Marcus O’Brien, who led the transaction, did not respond to requests for comment.

Despite a lack of formal marketing, there were reportedly multiple offers for the two-acre site, once home to Robert Walpole, the United Kingdom’s first prime minister. The estate is on a lake and has a swimming pool on the grounds, but little else is known about the property.

At minimum, the London sale price record appears to be shattered. In 2020, the family of China Evergrande Group’s Hui Ka Yan paid £210 million ($279 million) for a home overlooking Hyde Park. Two years ago, a 40-room Regent’s Park property sold for £139 million.

The sale price exceeds any in the United States, where the distinction of most expensive purchase belongs to Citadel’s Ken Griffin, who spent $238 million on a penthouse in Manhattan prior to the pandemic.

Candy doesn’t appear destined for similar success in Los Angeles. Last month, he relisted his Holmby Hills estate for $58 million, a 32 percent drop from the original $85 million asking price in July 2022. The property was purchased by Candy from his brother, Christian, in 2018 for $28.5 million.

The brothers worked together at their Candy & Candy firm before they went their separate ways. The brothers are two of the wealthiest property developers in the U.K., according to Mansion Global.

In 2015, Nick Candy formed the Candy Ventures venture capital fund, as well as Candy Capital, which manages his businesses and companies. He’s also honorary treasurer of the Reform U.K. political party.

— Holden Walter-Warner