London's most expensive property sale: Who is Hui Ka Yan - the man who bought £210m home?

Billionaires buying homes in London is nothing new. But some property purchases just stand out more than others - particularly those that set a new benchmark.

While a major property sale in London - the biggest of the year - has recently made headlines, many may be wondering what the most expensive property ever sold in the capital is.

Adar Poonawalla - the billionaire who runs Serum Institute India - is the man who bought Aberconway House this year for £138m. But the most expensive property in London ever sold was bought for £210m back in January 2020.

That was the purchase of 2-8a Rutland Gate - overlooking Hyde Park in Knightsbridge. It was bought by a man named Hui Ka Yan - but who is he?

Who is Hui Ka Yan?

Hui Ka Yan is a Chinese billionaire businessman, who is the chairman of the board and Communist Party secretary of Evergrande - a Chinese real estate development company. He is the largest shareholder of Evergrande - a company said to be worth around $367 billion - and his personal net worth is said to stand at around £3.1 billion. Hui was born in Zhoukou, Henan, China and worked in a cement factory in his younger years before building his way up at Wuyang Iron and Steel Company.

Hui married Ding Yumei, who he met at the Wuyang Iron and Steel Company. The couple have two children together.

In March 1997, he founded Evergrande Group and Hui is also the owner of Guangzhou Evergrand football club. With his net worth formerly standing at around £45bn in 2017, it has substantially dropped following rising debts that also resulted in a liquidity crisis for Evergrande over the last three years.

In September 2023, Reuters reported that trading of Evergrande shares had been suspended as Hui was placed under police surveillance - a move that falls just short of a formal detention or arrest. In October 2022, it became clear that the 2–8a Rutland Gate had been put up for sale again as Evergrande's woes continued. It has not yet clearly emerged if a new buyer has purchased it and now lives there.

Why is 2-8a Rutland Gate such an expensive property?

Well, it's likely largely down to its location in Knightsbridge - one of the most affluent areas of London. The large property was also formerly four houses but has since been converted into a single property in the mid-1980s.

The house is spread across seven storeys and has a massive total of 45 bedrooms spread across 60,000 square feet. There's also a swimming pool, underground parking, and lifts. Designers Monzer Hammoud and Alberto Pinto are both said to have played a part in its design.

Other former owners include the Prime Minister of Lebanon and Sultan bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, the former Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia.