The gates are shut, the driveways are cracked and the mansions are emptyAdam Toms Senior Politics and Transport Reporter
09:00, 03 Apr 2026
(Image: W8media)
I recently visited Billionaires’ Row in Hampstead – the Bishops Avenue, one of the most expensive streets in Britain – expecting a display of extreme wealth. Instead, I found rows of vast, decaying mansions sitting empty, their gates locked and gardens overgrown. The road that once symbolised global money flowing into London now feels like a warning sign for the UK economy.
“Don’t cut down the tall poppies,” Margaret Thatcher warned in 1975 during a visit to the United States as Leader of the Opposition, in the same speech that she embraced being dubbed the Iron Lady by the Soviets. Using the saying, uttered often then in the Middle West, she added: “Let them rather grow tall.” Her belief was that this advice should be heeded to ensure an economy that grows well and generates ample tax revenue to fund public services.
But yet it feels like us Brits can sometimes hold resentment for people who are financially very well-off. If you are talented and work hard, the natural payoff is a high income and a good lifestyle. It makes sense. These people, of course, pay more tax, even though some try to avoid it as much as possible. And it goes without saying that individuals should both abide by the law and pay what is due to the Treasury.
There is undoubtedly some corruption in the finances of the powerful, which is unavoidable and must be tackled firmly. But having too many rules comes with the risk of syphoning money out of Britain’s bloodstream, as those with lots of cash think again about residing, investing, or holding their money here.
Bishops Avenue is still home to rich individuals(Image: PHIL HARRIS)
Instead of looking with envy at the rich, a greater sense of ambition is what’s needed – a need to do well, both for ourselves and our families. Sometimes, however, we choose to tread water and blame others. The left can utilise this mood and stoke resentment of those with healthy-looking bank accounts. And now it looks like this approach is backfiring, as those with lots of cash are cautious about the UK’s future and don’t want to move here or are planning to, or already have, upped sticks and moved elsewhere.
The Saltus Wealth Index Report – a biannual barometer of high net worth individuals’ (HNWI) confidence in the British economy and their own wealth – fell from 64.7 to 61.3, it was revealed in February.
HNWIs’ overall confidence in the economy fell from 66% to 59%, and remains far below the 84% recorded before Labour’s first Budget, experts said. And there is no more sobering sign of this than what I saw on a recent visit to so-called Billionaires’ Row.
In Hampstead, one can see a metaphor for the UK as the Government, intentionally or not, discourages the presence of the rich. The Bishops Avenue in London contains some of the country’s most expensive properties. Huge mansions line the road, once home to the likes of pop star Justin Bieber and the Sultan of Brunei.
But when I visited in February, I was confronted by the state of some of its houses: one of disrepair. Some of its glamorous past is firmly in the rear-view mirror. These massive properties stand empty, when they should be being enjoyed by families or individuals – people who act in the right way and deserve them – in a beautiful part of the capital.
Instead, each one is a symbol of an apparent decline in the nation’s wealth – with the economy growing by a pitiful 0.2% in the three months to January 2026, after a 0.1% increase in the final quarter of 2025.
With an ageing population, it’s more important than ever that people are able to continue to look after themselves financially, well after retirement.
Another thing I noticed was the abundance of property for an older generation. Riverstone Living offers apartments for 116 residents with private terraces. Signature at Highgate is nearby – a luxury care home, where “care and independence meet in refined surroundings”. And the state-of-the-art Hammerson House, Wohl Campus, which describes itself as “a modern, state of the art care home”.
In order to afford to live in these places, you or your family would have to possess the necessary funds. Lots of these pensioners will have worked extremely hard during their working lives and been canny with their earnings in order to enjoy a comfortable end to their lives in a place enjoyed by some of the world’s elite.
They became tall poppies, who contributed plenty towards keeping the country ticking over. We shouldn’t look at them negatively. We should be thinking: “You know what, fair enough.”
Looking for more from MyLondon? Subscribe to our daily newsletters here for the latest and greatest updates from across London.