Top Ten Country Specialists

‘Our view is that the country property market is very well set,’ says Crispin Holborow when Spear’s catches up with him over the phone as he makes his way to Oxfordshire for a viewing.

The deputy chairman of Savills’ private office deals with country houses, farms and estates, but he only touches the top end of the market, where his firm enjoys a position of strength. ‘There were only a small handful of those top-end properties sold last year – three or four – and Savills sold all of the ones worth £20 million or more,’ he reports.

‘We are all very excited about this year,’ adds Holborow, although he cautions that the coronavirus could affect the timing of some travel to the UK. That’s especially important given that more than 50 per cent of buyers now come from overseas – a trend that he can’t see being reversed any time soon. ‘But that’s the only glitch on the horizon.’

When Holborow speaks to Spear’s it’s still February – early in the year, especially for the country market. But, he says, Savills has a ‘very good book of properties coming on to the market’ and the firm is already launching some, ‘which you wouldn’t normally do, because country property doesn’t look its best when it’s cold, dark and wet outside’.