Expensive wastelands: Billionaires' Row where mansions worth £350MILLION have been abandoned and left to rot for up to a quarter of a century

© Unknown
Vacancies: Around a third of the houses on
'Billionaires' Row in Hampstead are standing empty

Expensive wastelands: Billionaires' Row where mansions worth £350MILLION have been abandoned and left to rot for up to a quarter of a century
Feb 1, 2014 | Hugo Gye \ Daily Mail

More than a dozen properties on one of London's most expensive streets are currently standing empty after being abandoned by their super-wealthy owners, it has emerged.

The Bishops Avenue in Hampstead, north London - dubbed 'Billionaires' Row' - has at least 16 giant mansions standing vacant, with a combined value of an estimated £350million.

Some of the homes have been unoccupied for up to 25 years, with the interiors left to rot and rooms taken over by plants, according to a new investigation.

The Guardian reported that around a third of the properties on the most expensive stretch of the road are currently standing empty.

And even some of the houses which have not been abandoned are unoccupied much of the time, according to residents, as they have been bought by rich foreigners who usually live abroad.

The Bishops Avenue, which runs between Hampstead Heath and East Finchley, attracts wealthy buyers thanks to its large houses and extensive gardens, giving it a rural atmosphere despite its relatively central location.

Among the empty houses on the road - home to media baron Richard Desmond as well as members of the Saudi and Brunei royal families - is Heath Hall, currently on sale for £65million.

The 14-bedroom house, which was built for the founder of the Tate & Lyle sugar empire, cost its latest owner £40million to renovate after it fell into disrepair after years of neglect.  

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