Property entrepreneurs dominate the top 1,000 in The Rich List

Property has dominated many of the entries in the Sunday Times’ much-respected Rich List, which names the 1,000 wealthiest individuals with British connections.

There are many obvious long-standing ultra-rich individuals, couples or families with indirect property wealth. Most of the biggest property professionals are directly involved over some decades with development and/or commercial property - but there are some interesting residential names too.

Brothers David and Simon Reuben head the 1,000 with a reported £13.1 billion wealth - much of their property interest is commercial. At number 16 Earl Cadogan and family come in with£5.7 billion after the Earl was “one of the biggest beneficiaries of the London property boom.”

The De Walden family - owners of a substantial central London estate of homes and commercial properties - are number 25 with £3.63 billion. Another family-run London estate, that of Viscount Portman, is number 56 with £1.89 billion.

Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou can probably afford to keep easyProperty in business for quite a while if he wishes; his family’s wealth, mostly from aviation, is estimated at £2.59 billion putting him at number 41. Meanwhile the hedge fund operator Martin Hughes, whose company Toscafund has invested heavily in easyProperty, is at 301 with £370m.

Almost inevitably, Foxtons founder Jon Hunt features prominantly - having sold the agency for £375m, he has clearly been successful since as his total wealth is estimated at £1.25 billion - he is number 87.

Down in 856th place - but still worth a reported £110m - is Paul Rooney, who runs Horsham-based estate agency Arun Estates. He and his wife Clare also own a string of racehorses. 

Fergus and Judith Wilson, who sold much of their 1,000-plus unit buy to let empire in Kent last year, jointly occupy number 968 with an estimated wealth of £100m.