Everything has a price...even Buckingham Palace
(Offers in region of £1BN welcome)
- Ideal family home, suitable for entertaining, central location -
2nd Sep 2008
For the first time, new figures revealed today have put a value on Britain's most famous residence, Buckingham Palace - revealing HM The Queen's official London home to be worth a whopping £935 million (£935,031,012).
Zoopla.co.uk, the UK's leading property values website, which provides FREE estimates of the value of EVERY UK home, has finally put a price tag on the UK's most expensive single family home, indicating what it might fetch in today's market. The figure reflects the Palace's 52 bedrooms, cinema, swimming pool, post office, staff quarters and 40 acres of land amongst other factors. And it shows that the Royals might be shrewder investors than they are given credit for given that Buckingham House (as it was known then) was purchased for only £21,000 by George III in 1761 - clearly the Sarah Beeny of his time!
Her Majesty's weekend retreat, Windsor Castle, also gets a value for the first time ever and is estimated by Zoopla.co.uk at a mere £180 million (£180,338,400), taking into account the £37 million spent on restoration following the 1997 fire.
Reminding us that in some respects the Windsors are like many British families, the figures also show that the Royals are not immune to the recent property market woes and that Buckingham Palace has seen a fall in value of more than £57 million over the last 12 months after reaching a value peak of almost £1 billion (£992,285,909) in August 2007. Windsor Castle has fared slightly better and 'only' seen a drop in value of £8 million since last summer.
And should The Queen ever think about downsizing now that the kids have left home, she can even test interest in any of her palatial properties with Zoopla.co.uk's unique TemptMe feature, allowing her to set a 'magic number' that she might be willing to entertain and seeing if someone bites.
Alex Chesterman, CEO of Zoopla.co.uk, commented:
"As a nation obsessed with both property values and the Royal family, it's certainly interesting to know what it might cost to live the life of a Royal. Zoopla.co.uk allows users to check out the current value of any home - theirs or anyone else's - and to make offers on their dream homes not on the market today. One has to wonder if one of these 'royal residences' isn't next on the wishlist of British trophy assets for a Russian billionaire to snap up and we will definitely keep Her Majesty informed of any offers we receive via our website."
- Ends -
For further information, please contact PR Team on pr@zoopla.co.uk or +44 (0)20 3873 8770.
Notes to Editor
- Winner: 'UK's Most Promising Internet Company 2008' (First Tuesday)
- Nominated: 'Socially Powered Site of the Year' (.net Magazine)
What is Zoopla
Zoopla is a revolutionary online publishing service and community website providing information and tools to give users an advantage in the UK residentia l property market. Our aim is to create a transparent marketplace and we believe that information should be free and easily accessible to everyone.
How did it start? In early 2007, following the success of bringing DVD rental to the internet with LOVEFiLM.com, Zoopla founders Alex Chesterman and Simon Kain realised that the internet had yet to deliver meaningful change to the UK property market. It became clear that consumers lacked essential tools and information to help them understand home values, view similar properties, learn about past transactions...
...and then we thought:
- Why not offer users a tool to get access to FREE, instant value estimates on their homes or anyone else's?
- Why not let buyers make offers on ANY home, instead of just the 4 per cent of homes currently on the market 'for sale'?
- Why not let owners find out if there is any market interest in their homes without having to list them 'for sale'?
- Why not let agents and sellers market their 'for sale' listings FREE by providing them with easy-to-use tools?
- Why not let anyone ask/answer questions and share their knowledge about any homes or neighbourhoods?
- Why not put current value estimates, sold prices, homes for sale and local information all together in one place?
So, we have started by providing FREE value estimates and sold prices on homes, allowing sellers and agents to list homes for sale FREE, and letting all users edit information and upload photos. We have also launched some unique features, like TemptMe™ and AskMe™ which allow users to gain an insight into the market and discover information they won't find anywhere else.
By making TemptMe™ offers, buyers can try to entice owners to consider selling. Owners also benefit from this unique feature by being able to see what level of interest there is in their home without actually having to list it for sale. The AskMe™ community feature allows anyone to find out more about any home or neighbourhood that they are interested in by posting questions for those in the know to answer.
Zoopla value estimates are calculated using a proprietary algorithm (secret formula) that we have developed by analysing millions of data points relating to property sales and home characteristics throughout the UK. The algorithm works by comparing relationships between home prices, economic trends and property characteristics in given geographic areas. Our estimates are constantly refined by our team of analysts, using the most recent data available and a variety of statistical methodologies, in order to provide the most current information on any home.
Zoopla Limited is a privately held company, backed by leading international venture capital firm Atlas Venture.