The Duke of Westminster has turned down a dividend for the second year in succession according to the latest accounts from the Grosvenor Estate. The Duke, whose wealth is estimated at £7.5 billion in the Sunday Times Rich List, last accepted a pay-out in 2010 when he received a dividend of over £11 million.
Gerald Grosvenor, the 6th Duke of Westminster, is the richest property developer in the UK and one of the country’s largest land owners. The Grosvenor Estate, which is run by a board of trustees representing the interests of the Grosvenor family, includes assets in seventeen different countries.
In the UK these include 23,500 acres of Lancashire pastures and moorland, 11,500 acres around the family home in Chester and the 1,800 acre Halkyn Estate in North Wales. The Grosvenor Estate is also active in the development of shopping centres, including the £1 billion Liverpool One.
The Grosvenor Estate’s Mayfair and Belgravia portfolio, which the family began developing in the eighteenth century, includes residential and commercial property in locations including Duke Street and Eaton Square.
Demand for West End property saw the value of these assets rise during 2012, but losses elsewhere in the estate led to a drop in returns from 9 per cent to 7.2 per cent.
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