KENSINGTON A London mansion is about to be sold for a record £117 million, making it one of the most expensive houses in the world.

Noam Gottesman, 47, the American-born hedge fund mogul, is close to exchanging contracts on the detached residence on Palace Green, an extension of Kensington Palace Gardens, where a number of billionaires have their London homes. It works out at more than £8,000 per square foot. The price would smash the previous record of £80 million for a London home, set only three months ago for a property in nearby Upper Phillimore Gardens.

Property sources told The Times that the family of Lakshmi Mittal, the billionaire steel magnate and Britain’s richest man, had made an approach for Mr Gottesman’s home, which is next door to the Israeli Embassy.

Mr Mittal’s son Aditya, 32, has been searching for a London house of his own over the past few months but wants to stay near his family. Mr Mittal lives in Kensington Palace Gardens, having paid £57 million in 2004 to buy the house from Bernie Ecclestone, the Formula One chief.

Mr Gottesman’s fortune is estimated at £460 million according to The Sunday Times Rich List.