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Millionaire's row

Catherine Deshayes

New research from Savills shows that Oxfordshire is the county of choice outside of London for buyers with more than £1million to spend on a property...

While London accounted for just under a third of all demand, Oxfordshire was in second place with 16.5 per cent of Savills applicants looking to purchase in the £1million plus price bracket.

Lucian Cook, Director at Savills research comments, "It is perhaps surprising that Oxfordshire is now more popular than the more traditional stockbroker counties but is does suggest that buyers are prepared to put up with a longer commuter in order to live in a more rural location where there are plenty of good schools and a number of vibrant towns."

The research also analysed what size property the £1million would buy in terms of floor area and number of bedrooms. In the traditional commuting counties including Surrey, Buckinghamshire and Berkshire the number of bedrooms was similar to the outer reaches of London such as Weybridge and Esher but did buy another 200 square foot of floor space.

Such is the growing popularity of the South-West that both the number of bedrooms and total floor space is less than the eastern counties; 5.11 bedrooms versus 5.34 bedrooms and 3105 square foot compared with 3594 square foot.

Mr Cook said, "Buyers believe that they're more likely to find a house and location that lives up to their imagined idyll in Dorset and Somerset than in Cambridgeshire and Essex, which are perceived to be overpopulated and not truly rural."

In the North the most popular county is Cheshire but it is Scotland where it is possible to buy most for £1million. On average, this buys you 6.47 bedrooms and 5,520 square foot.

Source: Savills