S ⁘Poshest Neighbourhood⁘ Now ⁘Ghost Town⁘ As Billionaires Quit UK...

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An exclusive central London district where houses can sell for £50million is fast becoming a ghost town, an explorer claims.

According to the New York Times, the Central London spot of Belgravia is a region where "practically the only people who can afford to live there don't actually want to".

Podcaster Hannah Ricketts visited the ultra-posh enclave nestling between Chelsea and Westminster to find out why one of the UK's most desirable districts is also one of its most empty.

She explains: "There's hardly anybody here … the majority of people who own and live in Belgravia, it's not their first home. They have multiple homes and they're international…"

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Belgravia has had a chequered history, Hannah explains, dating back to the Tudor era, when it was a notorious hunting-ground for bandits and highwaymen. It wasn't until the early 19th Century, when Richard Grosvenor, then Marquess of Westminster, bought up most of the land in the area and laid out a series of elegant squares that the area became a sought-after neighbourhood.

Properties in Belgravia are among the most expensive anywhere in the world, according to most recent figures. As prices have soared, all but the wealthiest Brits have been priced out of the market, and many of the residential properties in the area have been brought up by Russian oligarchs and other overseas billionaires.

Well over a third of all London wealthiest buyers see their luxurious Belgravia townhouses as investments, rather than homes, visiting for just a couple of weeks a year if at all.