Wealthy individuals bought 556 houses in the UK for £5 million or more last year – and 157 of them (28 percent) were cash purchases without a mortgage, according to London law firm Forsters.

Lucy Barber, partner and head of residential property at Forsters, said the number of £5 million+ transactions that took place last year shows the resilience of the UK’s prime and super-prime residential property markets even during periods of economic stress.

However, Ms ...