Is London's Billionaires' Row really back in business?

The once ghost town of the uber-rich is now attracting the likes of Ariana Grande.

-  By Prudence Ivey

For decades The Bishops Avenue in north London has been known as Billionaires' Row, riding on a reputation forged at the end of the 19th century for housing the world's wealthiest people in glittering mega-mansions with expansive grounds, no-expense-spared interiors, ballrooms, staff quarters and sweeping carriage driveways.

Multiple Arsenal and Tottenham footballers, as well as pop megastars Justin Bieber and Ariana Grande, are among the uber A-listers who have sequestered themselves in short-term rentals (costing up to £22,000 per week) on the street while working in the capital. But its leafy privacy and huge, country-style houses within striking distance of central London had already attracted earlier residents, including sugar magnate William Lyle, Lakshmi Mittal, Billy Butlin, King Constantine II of Greece (Prince William's godfather) and Gracie Fields, the highest paid film star in the world during the 1930s.