The Biggest Celebrity Property Stories of 2024

Battle Planning

Another year, another planning spat on Robbie Williams' Grade II listed Holland Park home.

The singer moved into his Queen Anne-style property in 2013, and his ambitious renovation plans, which included digging a basement swimming pool beneath the house, quickly drew objections from his neighbor, Led Zeppelin guitarist, Jimmy Page. In 2019, four years after submitting its first application, Williams' plans were approved, with a long list of noise prevention conditions. But despite this, the work did not go without setbacks.

Latest dispute with Williams concerned a Norway maple infested with fungus, which he wanted to cut down. An anonymous neighbor objected, saying Williams failed to provide clear evidence that the tree was not salvageable. In late November, Kensington and Chelsea Council ruled in favor of Williams: the tree was in poor health and would be cut down and replaced with a tulip tree. Beautiful.

Williams isn't the only public figure whose renovation plans have ruffled some feathers. Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson plans to demolish and rebuild an extension to a 3.8 million Georgian mansion in Oxfordshire have been approved, but precautionary measures will need to be taken to protect the rare population of great crested newts which live in the property's moat.

Ed Sheerans 16 acre complex near Framlingham in Suffolkmeanwhile, has angered neighbors, who say its hedges and security fences have spoiled their views of the countryside. This summer, when he posted a photo jumping into a pond, residents accused him of taking the mick because he had been allowed to dig the pond on the strict condition that it be used as space wildlife and not for recreational leisure activities, such as swimming. Luckily for Sheeran, the council agreed to remove the restriction.

In other Sheeran-related news, the singer has reportedly expanded his 70 million real estate portfolio by purchasing an 8.25 million office building in the heart of Soho. Sheeran owns at least 27 homes in London, as well as his Suffolk estate and a property in Umbria, Italy, but this is believed to be his first major investment in commercial real estate.

Politicians and their properties

The year 2024 brought elections in the UK and US, accompanied by a look at the vast property empires of the ruling class.

Before his electoral victory, Donald Trump announced opening of its new Links golf course in Aberdeenshire next year. It's his third golf course in the United Kingdom. Named after his Scottish-born mother, the 18-hole MacLeod Golf Course has faced strong objections, with conservation experts urging Aberdeenshire Council to reject the course proposal. Campaigners have called claims that the new course would be one of the most environmentally friendly and sustainable ever built as laughable and utter nonsense.

Former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was forced to move after losing this summer's general election, but don't worry: he had a luxury house chain to choose. This includes two properties in Kensington, a Yorkshire mansion and a penthouse in Santa Monica.

THE many houses of his former conservative colleagueJacob Rees-Mogg, were also brought to public attention after his reality TV series, Meet the Rees-Moggsbroadcast this month. Set primarily in his Grade II listed Somerset mansion, Gournay Court, the scheme features Rees-Moggs Tudor fireplaces, a paneled dining room and enormous family portraits. The family divides their time between their Somerset mansion and their five-storey townhouse on Cowley Street, just yards from the House of Commons.

All roads lead to Hampstead

Hampstead has retained its charm among the rich and famous, with Lewis Capaldi is one of the latest celebrities to join its ranks. Earlier this year, the Scottish pop sensation spent more than 3 million on a new home near the ponds, which is said to be a stone's throw from Harry Styles, who spent 3.2 million on his first home in Hampstead in 2012.

In addition to Styles, Capaldi's neighbors include Cat Deely and Patrick Kielty, who obtained planning permission to transform its €4.9 million property in a mid-century modern style home last year. Dua Lipa, who lives on one of the neighborhood's most popular tree-lined avenues, is also working on a total overhaul of its Arts and Crafts propertywhich will add a swimming pool, a hammam, a cinema and a studio to its new basement.

But even though Hampstead won Capaldi this year, he lost Taylor Swift after her breakup with actor Joe Alwyn. At the beginning of last year, Swift is rumored to be looking for a place to live in the area.. No more. I left everything I knew, you left me at home near Heath, she sings in So Long, London. I'm just angry because I loved this place during / Goodbye London.

Boy George, too, has been trying to get away from Hampstead for several years. He has listed his Grade II listed Gothic mansion for 17 million in 2022 and, unable to find the right buyer, advertised the property for rent in September for 65,000 per month. According to Julia Garber among listing agents Robert Irving Burnsthe singer of Karma Chameleon received very good offers, which he refused. Whether we sell it or rent it, he is happy with both. He is very relaxed. He is not under any pressure. The property still appears to be available.

Escape to the Cotswolds

Celebrities looking to escape the city have long flocked to the Cotswolds. In 2011, political and media figures from the region, including David Cameron, Rebekah Brooks and Jeremy Clarkson, were among those dubbed the Chipping Norton set. Soho Farmhouse opened in 2015 and has attracted many stars, including Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise, Harry Styles, Ariana Grande and Margot Robbie. The Beckhams bought a Grade II listed farm nearbywith a 91 meter long lake and a football field.

Things picked up post-pandemic, with Kate Moss among those sell your house in Highgate and move. But this year, the region has tightened its grip on the rich and famous. After leaving Hampstead, Taylor Swift and her partner Travis Kelce reportedly have rented a 3.3 million property in Chipping Norton while Swift was on her UK leg of her Eras tour.

They were joined later in the year by former talk show host Ellen DeGenereswho left the United States after Donald Trump's electoral victory and will never return.

Celebrities who have sold

2024 has been a year of reunions of bands from the 2000s: Oasis, Sugababes, The Libertines, The Darkness and Stereophonics have all played or announced gigs. It was also a year when members of the 2000s group were selling their homes in London.

Sugababe Heidi Range and her real estate developer husband Alex Partakis, for example, put their Fulham house on the market for 5.3 million in February to move to Surrey with their daughters. They bought the Edwardian Laundry Factory in 2015 when it was still an empty warehouse and converted it into a luxurious 4,124 square foot space, with Partaki's vintage Ferrari Dino on display in the living room , parked in an interior garage with glass doors.

A member of the Libertines group, who did not wish to be named, made a similar decision, swapping his maximalist Victorian property in Stoke Newington for trendy Margate. The house, fittingly located on Albion Road, bore the imprint of its owners in its interiors and was the prototype for The Albion Rooms, the Margate hotel and recording studio opened by the Libertines in 2020. It was listed for 1.95 million in February. It's been a wonderful setting for writing and raising children, but it's time for us to move on, the owner said. The sea suits us more these days. I dare say, go back to London one day.

Some celebrity moves, however, have been necessitated by circumstances. In November, former Liverpool striker Andy Caroll and his ex-wife Billi Mucklow put their six bedroom house in Chigwell on the market shortly after the announcement of their divorce. The Grade II listed mansion, previously owned by Sir Rod Stewart, sits on 25 acres of land with panoramic views of Epping Forest, a boating lake, tennis court, swimming pool and full-size football pitch nature. The couple bought the house from Stewart for 4.1 million in 2019 and listed it for 8.5 million, with Savills more than double what they paid for it.

André Portasio, husband of the late Paul OGrady, put their shared house on the market in September. The broadcaster and chat show host bought the property in the Kent countryside in 1999 and lived there until his death in March last year. The 20-acre country estate is a wildlife refuge, with native woodland, livestock enclosures and a wildflower meadow. [The gardens] are incredibly special in spring, when everything is blooming, Portasio said. Here you really feel like you're in your own world; the sky is vast and the earth slopes down almost as far as the eye can see.

More than three decades after the death of Freddie Mercury, his The Kensington house has also been put up for sale. The Queen frontman purchased his neo-Georgian home in 1980 during his first visit and left it and all its contents to his friend Mary Austin when he died. Austin has lived at the property ever since. Last year she auctioned Mercury Collection at Sothebysand this year the house was listed for 30 million with Knight Frank. She said: Since Freddie and I walked through the legendary green door, it has been a place of peace, a true home of artists, and now it's time to pass that sense of peace on to the next person.