Buyers have also been drawn to the idea of a renovation project, particularly those with more time on their hands following successive lockdowns and a change in work patterns.

Mr Fuller said: “People want property that has not been done up, which they can put their own mark on without paying a premium for someone else’s taste.”

The luxury market in London also broke records last year. Buyers spent £11.6bn across prime areas of the capital in 2021, the most ever recorded by LonRes, a property analysis firm. City purchasers were on the hunt for more space, with 57pc more houses selling last year compared with the average sold each year between 2015 and 2019. Flat sales were up by just 16pc.

Marcus Dixon, of LonRes, said: “In 2021 buyers bought bigger and spent more. It was in the final months of the year that the top end of the market, which we define as properties sold for £5m or more, was busiest.”

Sold prices rose by 7.2pc in the final quarter of 2021, compared with the same period in 2020. Mr Dixon added: “Demand built at the end of the year and is likely to spill into the first months of 2022, so we would expect to see the volume of sales rise again.”

The number of prime London properties under offer was 22pc higher in the final three months of 2021, compared with the long-term average.