In it to win it: Wimbledon prize money 2018 won't buy a house in SW19 — here's how the champions could spend their winnings
For the seventh year running the All England Lawn Tennis Club has increased the prize money on offer at Wimbledon.
The overall pot for this year's Wimbledon Championships totals £34million, with men and women's singles champions due to take home £2.25million each after the deciding matches this weekend.
Yet even with the largest winnings to date — coupled with London house prices falling at their fastest rate for almost a decade — it may surprise the winners to learn that they still wouldn't be able to afford a dream home in the SW19 postcode.
The average price of a detached house in the area is now £2.9million, according to new research by online mortgage broker Trussle.
“The amount of prize money on offer at Wimbledon will seem a lot to most people, yet shockingly, it still wouldn’t buy you a dream home in the local area," said Trussle CEO Ishaan Malhi.
The glamorous homes often rented by tennis stars and their entourages, at huge premiums over the summer months, are rarely for sale.
"In such a desirable area as Wimbledon village, the best trophy houses in the most most sought after streets rarely come to the open market. It's not uncommon for rare properties to remain in one family for generations," said Simon Tollit, director of London estate agency Tedworth Property.
"For those properties achieving £10k a week during the tennis, asking prices can range from £6million to £7million and beyond."
If a player wanted to splash out on a detached home in the area, at the average of £2.9million, they'd still have to earn just under £400,000 a year to get a big enough mortgage – even using all of their winnings as the deposit. And that's without the £262,000 stamp duty costs.
Deposits scraped together to buy a first home in London are now more than £92,000 on average. So players would need to get to at least the third round to receive a prize of £100,000 and put down the average amount required to settle in the capital.
Seven-time Wimbledon champion Serena Williams, who famously won the Australia Open last year while eight weeks pregnant, is already something of a property mogul – with a portfolio that has included homes in Palm Beach, Beverly Hills, Manhattan and Paris.
Her estimated £129million net worth aside, Williams would need to get to at least the semi finals, banking winnings of £562,000, to buy a detached seaside home in Brighton with prize money alone.
Discover what this year's Wimbledon winners could buy at every round in the gallery above.