I bet some vetting took place before this contract was signed. David Cameron apparently has tenants, in his Notting Hill home, earning him around £6,000 a week. More here.

Technorati Tags: property, real estate

According to This Is London, there's a deal worth £140m, making it the most expensive apartment in the world. No details regarding the buyer, other than he or she is "international". And presumably not the owner this time. More here.

Celebrity moves - Brand and Britney (don't panic, not together) and One Hyde Park [July 20, 2010]
Exclusive! Rat and Mouse tipster inside 1 Hyde Park

Technorati Tags: property, real estate

Word is that Russell Brand's shifted his Hampstead Village home. No details as to the deal, yet. Meanwhile, Britney Spears' face looks like being a permanent feature in the giant wealth wet dream that is One Hyde Park. She's apparently bought an apartment there so she can reach out to her fans. For (an estimated) £20m she might have reached out and touched them more effectively by buying each of them a house. More here.

Technorati Tags: property, real estate

The judge has agreed with the Candies that, after Prince Charles' intervention, their Qatari partners breached contract terms by withdrawing from the deal. He didn't, however, award damages... although that appears to be on the cards for a later date. More here.

Technorati Tags: architecture, design, development, London, property, real estate

Yesterday, the judge in the Chelsea Barracks case released a facsimile of a letter sent by Prince Charles to Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabr Al-Thani... part of a behind-the-scenes campaign in which, investors claim, the Prince abused his position and influence to scupper development plans. Lord Rogers couldn't have been under any illusions about the Prince's opinion of his work, nor – presumably – will he have cared. That said, this letter can't have been pleasant reading for him (or anyone with an interest in modern architecture). I wonder whether the Prince regrets apologising, on record, for being "so interfering". I also wonder whether he goes through everything he writes, underlining words with a marker pen. Click the image above for a larger version.

Chelsea Barracks and the case of the missing emails [June 16, 2010]
Candies go to court over Qatari Diar [October 26, 2010]

Technorati Tags: architecture, development, London, property, real estate

Things appear to be heating up in court, where the Candies are chasing Qatari Diar for compensation after their deal to redevelop Chelsea Barracks fell apart. Long time Rat readers will remember an explosion of anger on the part of investors and starchitects, when it was revealed traditionalist Prince Charles had had a hand in the business... phoning his pal the Emir of Qatar (cousin to the chairman of QD) to express his disapproval of the plans. The latest is an accusation that emails were deliberately deleted, in an attempt to separate the prince from the decision.

Monday linkage - landlords' loss, first-time buyers' gain [May 17, 2010]
Candies go to court over Qatari Diar [October 26, 2009]
The prince and the starchitect [June 16, 2009]

Technorati Tags: property, real estate

Zoopla's revealed the UK's most expensive postcodes, and it's topped - less than surprisingly - with W8, where average property prices are in excess of £1.5m. The most expensive street? Kensington Palace Gardens... at £18m a house, on average. Other £1m+ postcodes are SW7, SW3, W11 and SW10. Virginia Water, alone, represents the rest of the country in the top ten list.

Technorati Tags: London, property, real estate

You can smell the money – literally – wafting over from the floral display featuring contorted orchids crammed trendily – and brutally – into tall vases.

Holy Moses! Orchids - literally - raised on money. Over at the Primelocation blog, Cheryl Markosky gets to go inside 54 Academy Gardens (£30m) in Kensington, a 6000 square foot duplex with five bedrooms and some grand but modern interior space, poke around and sniff the affluence.

Technorati Tags: London, property, real estate

Thanks very much to the Rat and Mouse tipster who sent me this. It's 4 St Luke's Mews, in Notting Hill, the house in which Paula Yates lived, and died, in 2000. Two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a very trendy location off All Saints Road, and its own share of notoriety. It's with Bective Leslie Marsh; guide price, £1.75m; particulars, here.

If these walls could talk... Simon Day edition [April 6, 2010]

Technorati Tags: celebrity, London, property, real estate

They threw Candy & Candy's super-hyped 1 Hyde Park open to a (very) select few last night... only "the great and the good" of the property world invited (in the words of the anonymous tipster who called into the Rat and Mouse this morning, to tell us he'd been invited). Our exclusive report:

First, the embarrassing shoe episode. White hotel slippers are not the greatest look with a Brioni suit.
Down to the tough questions.
How much? They have just 'got a couple away' for 'north of £6000psf' Cheapest is a 1000 sq ft one bed at circa £6m.
How many sold? 50% - a mixture of Hyde Park views or noisiest road in London. Apparently.
All the early buyers have stuck with it? Yes but the clause in the lease that they can't 'flip' between exchange & completion might possibly have been a factor.
Who is buying? Mixture of Europeans, Brits, Russians and Arabs. All fairly young.
How fab is it? Nice views if you are at the back... bit noisy at the front.
Coolest feature? A chilled ceiling... this seriously confused our secret agent.
Added benefits? Heston's team will pop in to cook tea for you.
So what does our secret agent think overall? He particularly liked the Picasso in the loo. But
overall... wonderful.
Why would you buy the penthouse next door? It may have the same views and is £1800 psf... But, let's face it....it's not as sweet as Candy.

Technorati Tags: design, development, London, property, real estate