It's on Gauden Road... a two-bedroom flat in a large house, with big rooms, a very nice bathroom and (the pièce de résistance) a giant garden and heated swimming pool. It's with Marsh & Parsons. Guide price: £375,000. Particulars here.

Technorati Tags: property, real estate

Hats off to estate agents Marsh & Parsons for this innovative marketing initiative. Downloadable from the M&P website: three walking tours in the SWs (Balham, Clapham and Battersea), PDFs combing a map with interesting historical facts and illustrations, designed to take about an hour each. Drop into a the local branch to pick-up a free frisbee, and into partner cafes for a free cuppa. The tours are designed for potential buyers interested in the area... but probably work best for families looking for something to do at the weekend. Either way, Marsh & Parsons come away looking cool. "Love the area," they say. "We do." Download them here.

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Battersea Power Station's long and tortuous recent history of development ambition and development setback starts a new chapter with news that Irish owners Real Estate Opportunities is looking to raise cash for the development by floating the project on the Alternative Investment Market. They also want a new partner, to share the project 50-50. The firm has taken an inevitable kicking recently, with the disaster that is the Irish property market. But even before then, the Battersea Power Station has been one long tale of woe as expensive and ambitious plans have been shelved, and the iconic London landmark has been left to crumble. More here. Plus some recent history.

Technorati Tags: architecture, development, London, 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.

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Including buying the land, the house cost us £500,000, but we haven’t compromised on design: it really is a bespoke house. We have no energy bills so it’s very cheap to run and I’m not planning on selling up any time soon.

I can remember when Will Anderson began this remarkable experiment. In fact, wasn't the Independent following the build for some time, in a kind of diary/column format? What happened to that? Anyway, it's finished, it works, it's one hell of an achievement, particularly on that budget. We're pleased.

Technorati Tags: London, property, real estate

There's worry here that the curse of Battersea Power Station, a much-loved London landmark whose future has been kicked around like an old mutt for at least the last five years, might be about to strike again. Currently it's in the joint ownership of the glamorous playboy son of an Irish pig trader Johnny Ronan, whose local reputation is currently in tatters after the "Rumble in Ranelagh" saga, involving Ronan's girlfriend, her knee and his groin. And this is a man who could profit from paying a little attention to his business dealings. Treasury Holdings (the property company he co-owns) is profoundly tied into Dublin's stormy property market, and has substantial interests in China. (It's the belief of the Rat and Mouse that China's property market is about to implode in a way that will make America's recent problems look mild.) We should all own Battersea Power Station. For some background, go here.

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The Hyde Farm Estate in Balham has £100,000 in the British Gas Green Streets competition and will now spend it on making the row of Victorian terraces a showcase for energy-efficient, but traditional, London housing. A number of solar panels are expected to be fitted, and the community's looking into easy solutions for drafty sash windows.

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There's a Press Association piece here about Ocean... this extremely striking houseboat moored at Cadogan Pier, and currently marketed by Foxtons, at £1m (illustration, above). They're saying it's the most expensive houseboat they've ever had on their books, and it comes with a swimming pool, a sunken (literally) utility room, three bedrooms with bathrooms and that kick-ass location. It's not, however, the most expensive houseboat currently on the market. Check out this Putney-moored four-bedroom extravaganza, with a 30ft reception room and a guide price of £1.3m (illustration, below). I've always thought there was a real romance to the houseboat, but that may well be because I've never lived on one. Anyone have any London houseboat experiences, good or bad?

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It's a six-bedroom detached house, built in 1912 for an army officer, and - although it's been properly refurbished - still has a few nice features (colonial-style veranda... presumably ordered by the India-based army officer who commissioned it, log-burning fire in hallway). Other features? A rare mulberry tree in the garden. It's with Marsh & Parsons, £3.35m. Particulars here.

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The London market's set to blow up in an extravagant excess of top Capital property values, according to London Central Portfolio, a property search and management company. Expect - according to LCP chief Naomi Heaton in conversation with the Standard here - Westminster, Kensington and Chelsea prices to rebound 80% from recent lows.

Technorati Tags: London, property, real estate