Roosevelt Ogbonna, the chief executive officer of Access Bank Plc, purchased a large, expensive house—a mansion—in a wealthy London neighborhood called Hampstead.
He paid £15 million (about $20 million) for the property on a street famously nicknamed Billionaires’ Row. This purchase is notable because the market for expensive homes in London hasn't been doing well recently.
A report from Bloomberg on Wednesday stated that Ogbonna, who has been leading Nigeria's largest bank for more than three years, bought the massive home in August, according to a UK record. The house is very spacious and even has a spa and an entertainment area. It was actually listed for a higher price, £17 million, as recently as 2021. A spokesperson for Ogbonna, one of Nigeria's well-known bankers, did not respond when asked for a comment.
This deal, one of London's most expensive this summer, shows that some high-end homes are now selling for much lower prices than before. This drop in price is happening because the UK recently increased taxes on property purchases (called stamp duty) and got rid of a special tax break for very rich foreigners. These changes have made fewer people want to buy super-expensive homes. Data shows that between January and May this year, there were 45% more price cuts on properties over £5 million compared to the same time last year.
However, a few huge sales have still happened this year, often involving wealthy people from other countries. For instance, a member of the family that owns Thomson Reuters Corp. agreed to buy a luxury London apartment for around £25 million. Also, Matt Cohler, an investor from Silicon Valley, bought a house in Notting Hill for about £22 million in late April.
Ogbonna is the head of Access Bank, which is one of Africa’s five largest banks. The bank is currently working on a big five-year plan to double the amount of its business outside of Nigeria by 2027. Access Bank operates in about 24 countries, including the UK, and serves more than 63 million customers across three continents. Although the banker resigned in August as a non-executive director of the bank's parent company, Access Holdings Plc, he remains the CEO of the bank itself.