Britain’s cut price country homes: Why stunning mansions the cost of a London flat are languishing on the market

Britain’s country homes were once the hottest properties on the market – held proudly for generations by the landed gentry or snapped up by wealthy businessman from Moscow to Dubai.

But now, the tide is turning, and some of the country’s stunning sprawling mansions are languishing on the property market.

Research from the Daily Mail has identified a string of impressive country seats – ranging from disused castles to private Scottish islands – for prices you would normally associate with an average London flat.

And despite their prices being repeatedly dropped – many of them are still not tempting prospective buyers.

Experts have blamed a perfect storm of Labour’s plans to impose a mansion tax and wealthy buyers waiting ‘turn key’ homes, rather than fixer-up projects in the current market.

One country homeowner, who put his estate on the market last year, told the Mail: ‘The market is the worst it has ever been.

‘We bought it four years ago for about £1.4million and spent around £200,000 doing it up.

‘But we like many others realised we weren’t getting the life we needed from the property due to all sorts of reasons.

 ‘We have a viewing this week, so we’ll see, but in truth it has been knock after knock in the current economic climate.’

According to estate agent Savills, values across the prime country market – what it defines as the most expensive 5 to 10 per cent of rural homes – have fallen in value by 8.1 per cent on average over the past 12 months. 

The cost of insuring such large properties also keeps increasing as large country houses often will cost much more to rebuild and maintain as they would fetch on the market.

By contrast, value elsewhere on the market isn’t suffering  anywhere nearly as much. 

For just under the price of a 23-bedroom Georgian manor in Wales, house hunters can snap up a two bedroom flat in Hackney. 

Speaking to the Daily Mail, Trevor Abrahmsohn – the founder of prestige real estate agent Glentree International revealed the economy was affecting every level of real estate.

‘Generally’, he explained, ‘if you are trying to sell anything over £2million and it isn’t ready to move into to provide instant gratification- you are going to struggle unless the asking price is very near to value.’

Mr Abrahmsohn has been selling property to the super wealthy for over 50 years and represents the majority of properties along Bishops Avenue – a North London enclave that was once known as ‘Billionaires Row’ due to the exorbitant cost of any home along it.

He continued: ‘With the market how it is, even the mega rich aren’t going to just shell out for a project which needs substantial renovation. It needs to be ready to go so you can move in with your food and clothes and if the asking price is off by even 1-2 per cent – forget it.

‘I recently sold a property in Hampstead Garden Suburb – which has the highest share of homes worth over £1.5million in the country – and unlike other estate agents who are often guilty of playing up to the vendors greed, I was refreshingly honest.

‘The owner had been given a valuation of £3.75million by other agents – which in this market, for the property involved is unsellable. He saw sense and drunk from the cup of reality and we stuck the property on for £3.29million and it sold within weeks in early August no less .

‘What you are increasingly seeing is these huge impressive country homes and castles on the market for months, sometimes years and the asking prices just keeps going down and down because the market has changed and so have the buyers.’

One such property is the imposing Ripley Castle – a gargantuan 166 acre estate nestled on the banks of a private lake near Harrogate.

The sprawling property has been on the market for over a year and has now been reduced to just £7.5million.

The lack of demand from foreign money isn’t surprising to those in the know.

Mr Abrahmsohn continued: ‘You look at that property and yes, in the past that would be snapped up in seconds by someone or other with a ludricrous networth and access to cash as and when they need.

But you have to actually consider the costs which are involved now which weren’t a consideration previously.

‘The property comes with considerable stamp duty and is in need of significant renovation and modernisation – which itself provides problems as you have to deal with the National Trust and English heritage

‘A prospective buyer would likely have to factor in an additional cost of £10million on top of the asking price – plus a stamp duty bill of £1million on top of it – and they couldn’t even live in it until the works are done which in many cases could take two or three years to complete”

As a result of these higher costs and increasingly overbearing government regulation, many buyers are now looking for homes that don’t require major work. 

‘Nearly every buyer wants a turnkey, or close to turnkey, property which they can move straight into,’ says buying agent Jennie Hancock.

‘Planning is an absolute disaster at the moment and buyers are very wary about subjecting themselves to a long and expensive project and putting their lives on hold in the meantime.’

Since October last year, second home purchases in England have been subject to an additional 5 per cent stamp duty surcharge on top of existing rates.

This means that someone looking to buy a holiday home in the countryside or along the coast, or a pied-à-terre in the city, will have to shell out more upfront tax in order to do so.

Someone buying a second home for £500,000 can now expect to pay £40,000 in stamp duty, up from £27,500 before the autumn budget.

Someone buying a £1million property will face a stamp duty bill of £93,750 while a £2million home will command £253,750.

Before the changes made in the autumn budget last year, these same buyers would have paid £71,250 and £211,250.

These additional costs, as well as the rest of the UK’s crumbling public infrastructure, has led to more people selling up and going back to the towns and cities they left behind. 

Andrew Langton has seen £500,000 wiped from the value of the Hestate he bought just four years ago.

In his day job, the founder of Aylesford International works with vendors and buyers from all over the world trying to break in or out of the UK’s country house market.

But the reality of the dip doesn’t take a back seat when Mr Langton returns home to his own Hampshire country estate – as he has been trying to sell it for over a year.

Mr Langton explained: ‘I’ve been working in this industry since the 1960s, to put it bluntly – the market is the worst it has ever been, and I don’t see how it shifts at the moment. 

‘The country house market, or the idea of it, simply doesn’t exist as it did – due to all manner of reasons that stave off both domestic and foreign interest. 

‘Domestically, the bills for everything from petrol, to heating to train fares to and from their offices have increasingly made it a very unattractive proposition for British families. 

‘And obviously the foreign market, and the types of people interested in these grand heritage estates has shifted as the world has changed.

‘For one thing, you can rule out [rich] Russians.’

He added: ‘I was having lunch with a client the other day and he asked me, ‘What is wrong with you Brits at the minute? Why are you always stabbing each other?’

‘Obviously I couldn’t really explain it or what people like Sadiq Khan are doing, so I just said “I’m very sorry, I really don’t know.”

‘We are changing as a country and then you factor in the additional levies that are imposed on any foreign money coming in – it’s suicide.

‘Anyone with real money and good legal advice is thinking twice before spending large sums here now because if they buy in this country the government wants to introduce a new raid on their other assets abroad. 

‘In this climate, would you buy a castle here? Many foreign buyers are increasingly leaning towards no on that one – and if you’re a British buyer you wouldn’t, as you couldn’t afford to heat it!’

Francis Fulford, doesn’t quite own a castle, but it comes pretty close. 

Mr Fulford, 72, is the 26th Fulford to call Great Fulford home – the imposing Devon manor house and 3000 acre estate having been bequeathed to his family by Richard the Lionheart in 1199 for a ‘job well done’ in the crusades. 

In 2004, he and his family lifted the curtain on their secretive and wildly ostentatious lives by inviting a Channel 4 camera crew in to film them as they battled to stay on top of their sprawling estate.

The program, titled ‘The F****** Fulfords’ due to their fetish for swearing, exposed them as endearingly rude and crude, dirty and skint, with compellingly politically incorrect, biased, bigoted and archaic views on life.

It made an instant star out of Francis, who says he was paid £40,000 for his work on the program. 

All the money from these appearances, he says, went directly back into the upkeep of the house and helped them stay afloat – so has he had any interest? 

‘Not a sniff’, he told the Mail, ‘but also I’m not trying to sell!’ 

The Fulfords have always freely admitted they are asset rich but cash poor living under a black cloud of maintenance obligations – with the estate alone costing £150,000 a year to run.

Francis is the 23rd Francis Fulford to own the hall, and he says he will not be known as the shameful ancestor who surrendered it to the ‘heinous’ National Trust.

‘They’re run by committees’, he told us disdainfully in May this year, ‘they are incredibly extravagant, totally incompetent and wasteful. If it became a National Trust site I would have failed – I would have lost the battle, lost the war. No, I’ll never surrender.’ 

According to Francis, the sad decline of Britain’s stately homes can be laid firmly at the door of successive Labour and Conservative government’s not understanding what they are dealing with. 

He explained: ‘It’s everywhere really, anything over £2million is a very tough sell at the minute. It is sticky nobody knows what is going to hit them in the budget. 

‘Fundamentally the market is changing and its not as attractive as it was. Put it this way, these days if you want to have a taste of country living you can spend £1000 on a weekend at a place like Cowley Manor or Coombe House. 

‘There’s loads of boutique experiences at former grand country piles these days – why on earth would you f****** buy one?

‘The old English dream used to be you would make a bit of money and then buy a place in the country – but I don’t think that’s true anymore. In the golden age of the country estates we had money pouring in to the country from trade all over the world. 

‘I don’t think we do anymore and fundamentally who actually wants to own a 23-bedroom house? It’s silly really.’ 

The cut price country homes on the market

Newton House, Sneaton – £750,000

Listed: 2024 (REDUCED in July 25)

Stamp duty: £27,500

The agent says: ‘Newton House is a small country house dating from the 18th Century with later 19th and 20th Century additions. It is a grade II listed stone-built property with a slated roof and timber framed windows. 

‘The building faces southwest over its own gardens & woods/moors beyond.’

Heathfield Mansion, Pembrokeshire – £950,000

Listed: 2024 (REDUCED in Oct 25 from £1.1million) 

Stamp duty: £38,750

The agent says: ‘Heathfield Mansion is an attractive period country house set in the stunning West Wales county of Pembrokeshire. The property has been sympathetically renovated and refurbished over the years while retaining its character features.

‘The property has a large pasture field opposite the Mansion and a large parcel of woodland on the other side of the entrance driveway, that surrounds the stunning lake.’ 

Orielton, Pembrokeshire – £650,000

Listed: 2021 (REDUCED and now being sold at auction)

Stamp duty: £22,500

The agent says: ‘An impressive freehold Grade II* listed Georgian Country House

‘Orielton is an historic country house and estate. It was the seat of the Owen baronets from the 16th to 19th centuries. Over the years the property has been owned by various families. 

‘The Estate has not been used since 2022 and is now suitable for renovation and refurbishment.’ 

Arrina, Strathcarron – £550,000

Listed: 2024

Stamp duty: £45,000

The agent says: ‘Traditional four-bedroom, stone built-cottage and outbuildings in approx. 9.26 acres of land together with Eilean Mor, a private island extending to 7.42 acres, in an area of natural beauty on the shores of Loch Torridon, with direct shore access.

‘Camus An Eilean is a traditional, C Listed, stone-built cottage, under a slate roof. Although in need of upgrading and modernisation, it offers an excellent opportunity to acquire a charming, traditional property in an idyllic location.

‘The property has single glazing and is heated with two wood burning stoves. There is no central heating system.’

Norton Manor Park, Norton – £1.3million 

Listed: 2025

Stamp duty: £73,750

The agent says: An extremely handsome Grade II Listed Jacobethan country house, Norton Manor offers a rare combination of architectural grandeur, lifestyle flexibility and income opportunity. 

Set within private grounds in the heart of the Mid Wales Marches, this landmark residence is steeped in history and beautifully positioned for both rural living and commercial potential. Auction details available.’ 

Nook Farm, Sheffield – £1.5million 

Nook Farm, Sheffield – £1.5million 

Listed: 2025 (REDUCED in Sept 25)

Stamp duty: £93,750

The agent says: A fabulous combination of 4/5 elements in a wonderful location, overlooking the majority of its land in a block, with a further 7 acres across the road.

‘Overlooking the stunningly beautiful Ewden Valley, Nook Farm is an enchanting mixture of three residential properties, a beautiful stone barn and a modern barn that offer the purchasers a huge range of possibilities in this spectacular location with approximately 23 acres of land.’ 

Dunstan Road, Oxfordshire – £1.8million 

Listed: 2025 (REDUCED in Nov 25) 

Stamp duty: £129,750

The agent says: ‘A truly rare opportunity to acquire a substantial detached house with off street parking for multiple cars, occupying over 5000 square feet of internal space, and boasting spectacular private gardens. Chain free. 

‘This impressive house was built in 1935 and lived in by the family of Dr Alfred Emden; a founder member of the Oxford Preservation Trust. It also benefits from owning a covenant to the rear of the garden which will protect it from future development, with a potential option in the future for the covenant to be sold on (subject to all necessary consents).’ 

… and the manors that might cost you a little extra! 

The Old Lodge, Malton – £1.75million 

Listed: 2025 (REDUCED in Sept 25 from £2.15million) 

The agent says: ‘The Old Lodge hotel is a fantastic 17th Century Tudor mansion with a more recent sympathetic extension to the property. The hotel has many original features one would expect from a period building including fantastic high ceilings and oak panelling. 

‘The hotel is set in its own grounds of approximately 3.6 acres.’

The Gyrn Castle Estate, Flintshire – £2million 

Listed: Sept 25 

The agent says: ‘The Gyrn Castle Estate occupies a prominent yet private position in a particularly attractive part of North Wales. It stands on elevated ground above the coast on the edge of the picturesque village of Llanasa which is a designated Conservation Area and from the castle there are views to the Dee Estuary, Wirral Peninsula and Liverpool skyline. 

‘The sale of Gyrn Castle which is steeped in history, not least of all because of its connection with the Cunard Shipping Line, will appeal to a wide audience of potential buyers as it lends itself to a variety of uses subject to the availability of planning permission.’

Ripley Castle, Harrogate, North Yorkshire – £7.5million 

Listed: 2024 (REDUCED in Sept 25)

The agent says: ‘A historic 14th Century Grade I listed Castle together with a substantial private apartment. The castle was a wonderful family home to the Ingilby family for over 700 years. 

‘It is steeped in history and owned by the same family for over 700 years, Ripley Castle forms the iconic centrepiece of the estate. A 14th Century Grade l listed building, depicting three different styles of architecture in which the castle was constructed over a period of almost 500 years.’