Education & London Property for a UHNW Nigerian Family

In this edition of the HNW Advisor podcast, we hear from Mark Brooks of Mark Brooks Education and Katya Zenkovich of UK Sotheby's International Realty about a case study that illustrates the type of families they assist on a frequent basis. A Lagos-based entrepreneur and his wife came to them with two goals that, on the surface, looked separate: find the right UK boarding schools for three daughters at very different stages of childhood, and find a London base the whole family could genuinely call home. What emerged from Mark and Katya's work together was a case study in how those two goals were never really separate at all.

A family with deep roots in British boarding tradition

The mother had been educated at an all-girls' boarding school in the UK herself, so the family's affinity with the British system was already personal. Close friends had bought property in Marylebone and St John's Wood, and that familiarity planted the idea of a permanent London base — somewhere the mother could stay for extended periods to visit her daughters at their respective schools once they were settled.

With three girls aged 8, 10 and 15, no single plan would fit. As Mark Brooks explains, the process began the way it always does: “wiping the parents' slate clean” of assumptions about which schools their child should attend, and instead building a picture of who each daughter actually was. For the 15-year-old, the priority was immediate — 13+ Common Entrance preparation and a Home Counties school with strong pastoral care and existing links to Nigeria and West Africa. The 10-year-old was registered with a prep school as a bridge to senior school at 13, with an eye on schools strong in sport and creative arts. The 8-year-old had a longer runway, registered with prep schools for entry at 11, with day options weighed against full boarding and guardianship arrangements considered for all three.

The Home Counties emerged as the natural setting — not London itself, and not further afield. It offers, as Brooks puts it, one of the densest concentrations of outstanding boarding schools anywhere, within an hour of the capital and close to Gatwick, Heathrow and direct rail links. Just as importantly, the region has decades of experience welcoming international families, with established pastoral frameworks built specifically around students moving from overseas. Brooks drew on relationships with schools including Lancing College, Hurstpierpoint College, Ardingly College, Brighton College and Worth School, each offering a distinct ethos suited to a different daughter.

For a family relocating children from Lagos, the support extended well beyond admissions letters. Guardian services were introduced to manage school communications, medical appointments and holiday logistics. An education law specialist advised on student visas, alongside immigration guidance for the parents. And, crucially, the family was connected with other Nigerian families already established in the UK — a trusted peer network from day one, something Brooks describes as central to how confidently a family settles in.

A London base built around the whole family's life, not just a holiday flat

While the schools search progressed, Katya Zenkovich was solving a parallel puzzle: a property that needed to work hard for two adults and three children across long school-holiday stays, be well positioned for day trips and easy travel into the Home Counties, and stand up as a serious long-term investment — not just a pied-à-terre.

Marylebone and St John's Wood suited the brief precisely. Marylebone offered village-like streets around Marylebone High Street and Chiltern Street, proximity to Regent's Park, and excellent transport via Marylebone, Baker Street and Bond Street. St John's Wood brought a quieter, tree-lined feel favoured by international families, immediate access to Regent's Park and the Jubilee line, and family-sized lateral flats with porter service in the £3–5m range.

Zenkovich's process ran in parallel with Brooks' throughout — establishing priorities around family size, visit frequency and legacy value, then sourcing both on-market and discreetly off-market opportunities in neighbourhoods where good stock rarely reaches the open portals. The purchase was structured around the family's wider tax and estate planning, coordinated with their private client advisors before any offer was made, factoring in the 2% SDLT surcharge for non-UK residents and weighing personal versus trust ownership. Once agreed, concierge connections covered everything from interior design to key-holding and property management between visits.

Where it landed

Within six months, the eldest daughter had confirmed Common Entrance entry to a leading Home Counties co-educational boarding school, starting September 2026. The middle daughter was placed in a Home Counties prep school with a clear pathway to senior school at 13. The youngest was registered with two prep schools, with entry planned for 2028. And the family exchanged contracts on a 2,100 sq ft lateral apartment in St John's Wood.

The result is a London base from which every school visit, exeat weekend and holiday is managed with ease — and three daughters on a considered path through the British education system, built around who they are rather than a single template.

Mark Brooks and Katya Zenkovich, along with other specialists, can be found on hnwadvisor.com.