Rising prices push 40,000 homes through the £1 million barrier

More than 40,000 new property millionaires have been created across Britain this year so far amid rising house prices, according to a website.

In total, some 660,900 homes across the country are now estimated to be worth at least £1 million - an increase of more than 40,800 since January - Zoopla found.

Four out of five (82%) of Britain's property millionaires live in London or the South East of England.

Nestled in the W8 postcode of London and within easy reach of both Kensington and Notting Hill, Kensington Palace Gardens, with its imposing mansions, was identified as Britain's most expensive street.

An average home in the road, which has previously been nicknamed "the boulevard of billionaires," will set a buyer back £38.26 million.

The Boltons, in the SW10 postcode was found to be the second most expensive street. A home in The Boltons is worth £33.31 million typically.

Across Britain, there are now 12,418 streets where the average property value is more than £1 million, according to Zoopla's calculations.

While 60% of Britain's property millionaires live in London and a further 22% live in the South East, only 1.28% are in Scotland and 0.25% are in Wales, reflecting the huge variation in property prices across the country.

All 10 of Britain's most expensive streets are in London. But despite their expensive price tags, properties in some neighbourhoods of the capital have fallen in value over the past year amid economic uncertainty and following recent changes in stamp duty which made it more expensive for people buying top-end properties.

Zoopla said the W8 postcode covering Kensington, the W11 postcode covering Notting Hill and the W1 postcode covering London's West End have seen property values fall by 4.2%, 5.2% and 3.5% respectively over the past 12 months.

Outside London, the most expensive postcode is in Virginia Water in Surrey (GU25), where the average home costs more than £1.3 million.

Many of Britain's million-pound properties are clustered around the South East commuter belt. Some 184 streets in Guildford, Surrey, have average house prices of more than £1 million, and in Reading in Berkshire there are 162 roads where homes have average values above £1 million. Sevenoaks in Kent has 150 streets where homes are worth an average of more than £1 million.

In Esher in Surrey, 44% of roads have homes typically valued above £1 million, and in Beaconsfield in Buckinghamshire 42.6% of streets have properties typically valued at £1 million or more.

Zoopla spokesman Lawrence Hall said: "It's interesting to see some property values in the most expensive neighbourhoods decreasing over the past 12 months.

"Whilst London will always attract buyers for trophy homes from across the globe, those looking for million pound-plus homes should also consider areas outside the capital that make the list such as Guildford, Sevenoaks or Esher, where they will get more bang for their buck."