A new week, and about time I said a big "thank you" to our sponsor, Primelocation.com. Remember, Primelocation.com isn't just about searching properties listed by 4,000 leading estate agents, the website's a mine of useful advice, information and links. An example? Go here to search up-to-date real life completion prices for UK property. Snoop on your neighbours. Do the maths before making an offer. It's useful, it's free... you need to register, but it's quick and easy. If you've feedback, let us know and we'll pass it on with pleasure.
Last month the Rat and Mouse broke all previous records with a new traffic high. If you want to know more about advertising opportunities on the Rat and Mouse, drop me a line. Or if you just want to chat with the Rat, we're on Twitter here, or email us tips here.
The Telegraph locates the smallest house in Mayfair, 9 New Burlington Place (pictured, above), a compact two-story one-bedroom pad in just about the coolest location in the west. And how compact is the price? It's listed at £750,000, particulars here.
Meanwhile, the original location for Mayfair's iconic In and Out Club is also for sale. 94 Piccadilly has been standing vacant, apparently, while Anglo Swiss Holdings planned to open an exclusive £50,000 a year private members' club at the address. For some reason interest is waining. More here.
Staying Mayfair, if you're looking for somewhere suitably spooky to spend tomorrow night, Metro explains why Mayfair's The Grenadier might not be a bad choice.
This Mayfair boozer's spooksome claim to fame involves the tale of an 18th century officer caught cheating at cards. He was flogged to death and his ghost still roams the pub keeping an eye out for devious punters. Strange clouds of cigar smoke and poltergeist-like activity have been reported.
If that's not spooky enough, how about The Killers' dungeon? What?
Nice. Lucky Gleason wasn't called Fred. Or Josef. Anyway, Michael's moving to Dublin so he's looking for a tenant for the three-bedroom house plus wine cellar (pictured below) and dungeon. It's with Knight Frank, at £5,500 per week. Particulars here.
It's Nationwide, reporting a 0.4% rise in October, leaving house prices 2% above their October 2008 level, and in the black (on an annual basis) for the first time since March 2008. So what's going on? With unemployment - a trailing indicator - still rising, credit hard to come by and interest rates capable of heading in one direction only... the Nationwide index has risen 4.6% so far this year. Well, October's 0.4% rise did what it needed to get headlines, but it was a moderate rise, still based on a small data sample, and flattered by appalling conditions a year ago. Don't count any chickens.
I know, didn't the National Association of Estate Agents launch a Rightmove-killer almost exactly a year ago? And yet... the big guns Rightmove and Primelocation and independent search engines such as Nestoria all live on.
Radar (not, it must be stressed, an NAEA product) is being launched by three NAEA members (who clearly can't be satisfied by the NAEA's PropertyLive) Mark Flynn, Julian Partridge and Jon Williams, and the business model consists of charging agents a one-off £100 joining fee (rising to £200 shortly), for which they get a share in the company. Then £45 per month per branch pays for unlimited property listings. But the success/failure of the portal will ultimately depend on how attractive it is for the end-user, not the agents, and property portals and search engines have both come along a lot recently. The bar is set high. According to EAT, the engine will be based on technology provided by (slow-loading and slightly hit-and-miss, in our experience) online property dating service HomeSwapShop.
Nationally, it's a 0.9% increase in September, slowing the annual rate of decline to 5.6%. London led the charge with a monthly increase of 1.3%, reducing the annual change to -3.2%.
The Kelly Report is irritating MPs again. The chatter this morning... MPs whose local station is within 60 minutes of Parliament will be banned from claiming any financial assistance for a second home. Others will wave mortgage interest claims goodbye, and be given an option of claiming for rent instead. MPs will also be banned from employing family members. On the face of it... all very sensible, and proper closure on the lucrative property investment sideline MPs have been enjoying and the voters haven't. But is this a case of cutting off one's nose to spite one's face? Paying MPs' rent will almost certainly cost us more. The cost of employing outsiders to work odd hours - and providing them statutory working conditions - may well cost us more, too. On the former... why not buy up enough London property, now, while it's as affordable as it's been in some time, so the State can turn landlord, instead?
Normally, the Rat and Mouse doesn't get into all this until much later in the year, but 4Homes has been pulling a few predictions out of the hat from agents and think-tanks. Our old friends Capital Economics are the most bearish, with a prediction of -10%. The most bullish? Savills. And a -3% prediction. Read it, including some interesting and - we predict - controversial commentary, here.
It's like the Hollywood one... but London, and it takes in famous London film locations, plus the homes, nearly homes, once homes of the stars. It also introduces visitors to some great British institutions.
We didn't need telling - anyone watching the convictions/bans roll in couldn't help but notice the East London link - but last week the Financial Services Authority named the area as problem, after banning the second East London broker in a fortnight.
It's an intriguing and compelling video interview... diagonal slants on their ties are all these two have in common. I've time for both views, although the interviewer sounds naive at times... it's only business.
If I could embed it, I would, but I can't, so watch it here.
London's NFT pocket book goes into its second edition. For those unfamiliar with the title, it's a little black book: part street map, part Lonely Plant, part Yellow Pages, in truth probably aimed at the very people warned off by its title, but useful for re-locators too. Its 152 area maps are marked with icons representing supermarkets, restaurants, cafes, post offices, libraries, banks, nightlife etc... handy if you discover you've an unexpectedly free hour. "Parks & Places" gives you an insider's view of the classic tourist/weekend info, Time Out Around Town style. There's a sports section, a transport section, a useful section for students considering the London colleges as an option, plus a very nice cross-referenced mini-review section giving a bit more information about the POIs marked on the maps. Here, you'll find some gems, including "Great secondhand music shop, seemingly staffed by Grouches on Mogadon" (we like the "seemingly", since - presumably - it can't be proven); "The toilet's in the kitchen!" (now that's useful to know before setting foot inside... is it even legal?); "Authentic Japanese queue. Worth it for the food."; and "Little-known outdoor market" (South Bank Book Market? Little known?).
Yes - you can probably get the technical information on your smartphone of choice, but you're unlikely to browse in the same way you will with a little analogue book. (If you absolutely prefer digital, check out Apple's app store for an iPhone edition, out now.) I've already discovered places I didn't know. And the Rat and Mouse particularly recommends it to re-locators checking out areas before a viewing or that all-important offer.
Published November 1. Pre-order it here. Oooh... free party invitation here (tell them you read about it on the Rat and Mouse).
Eight years ago he attempted to throttle her. More recently, he bit her, held a pillow over her head, and shouted, "Die, you bitch". But, in court, he claimed he never wanted to kill her. (How would anyone get that idea?) Full story, here.
Let me introduce you: Rat and Mouse reader, 68 Old Church Street; 68 Old Church Street, Rat and Mouse reader.
Regular readers will know the Rat and Mouse has a penchant for things modern. When I say "modern", I mean Modern... and this three bedroom flat in SW3 has proper Modern credentials. The property is a part of a larger house, commissioned by playwright Benn Levy, and built by Bauhaus founder Walter Gropius himself in 1936. It shares cutting edge construction material with the Empire State Building. The flat itself was separated off shortly after the war, with additional work by architect Jane Drew. It's with Chesterton Humberts, at £1,500 a week. Particulars here.
You're dead right, there. Pamela Anderson is apparently borderline broke after the mother of all home refurbishments. Gold tiles by the pool, a platinum floor in the sauna... her unfinished Malibu home has left her stuck in a trailer home, unable to pay the bills. She says, "I'm a little girl with two kids - how could you screw me?"
Yep... you'll shortly be able to buy Crystal Palace's Archibald Leitch-designed stadium. Palace keep a 25 year lease, and you'\d be contracted to keep them on as tenants, unless you can arrange alternative accommodation in Croydon. More here.
[Via the London House Hound], Madonna's Sheffield Terrace rental - from where she house-hunted for two years, and was burgled while she slept - could be your rental, if you've £13,000 a week to spend. Particulars, here.
Meanwhile, Prince Harry's girlfriend has apparently been property-shopping in London. Chelsy Davy's daddy is said to have dropped £1.65m on a two-bedroom flat. Where? Don't know, yet. Suggestions welcome.
At first they said they wouldn't, then we heard rumours they would, now - it appears - they've confirmed they're going to... they're going to buy homes affected by the third runway project.
Stacey Solomon? She's the X-Factor contestant who sings like a sophisticate before turning into the missing Catherine Tate character. Fans have apparently been making mass pilgrimages to her home, showing her their support by daubing "John and Edward forever" and "We love Lloyd" on her gate. Ah, that's nice.
I'd like to think that's something I'd have known about before signing on the line that's dotted. But then, I'd like to think that's something anybody would have made sure they'd known about before signing. Of course, within five years... the tenant was in arrears.
Adrian Reeman, who's 59 and suffers from Asperger's Syndrome, has created a painstaking impression of the interior of the palace in his flat in Southampton, despite never having seen the original. He explains... his flat needed redecorating, and he got carried away.
... presumably that means that a generation of self-employed borrowers who did secure loans during the SC days and who haven't missed a payment in the years since, will run the risk of being left floating on SVR mortgages, helplessly watching interest rates rise? So how does that reduce defaults, exactly?
They cause flooding, they effect the "architectural balance" of properties, they put tall trees at risk, according to the preservationists, who - after a little local flooding - hired consulting engineers to look have a look. (No evidence... they said.) Anyway, the news is that after a last super-ambitious underground development, the council has announced a moratorium on future burrowing.
I used to live a stone's throw from Charing Cross hospital... and remember watching plans for their specialist cancer centre closely. Architecture's all about form and function, which is why Maggies Centre won the Stirling. No Stirlings for Poundbury, eh, Charles?
A new week, and about time I said a big "thank you" to our sponsor, Primelocation.com. Remember, Primelocation.com isn't just about searching properties listed by 4,000 leading estate agents, the website's a mine of useful advice, information and links. An example? Go here to search up-to-date real life completion prices for UK property. Snoop on your neighbours. Do the maths before making an offer. It's useful, it's free... you need to register, but it's quick and easy. If you've feedback, let us know and we'll pass it on with pleasure.
Last month the Rat and Mouse broke all previous records with a new traffic high. If you want to know more about advertising opportunities on the Rat and Mouse, drop me a line. Or if you just want to chat with the Rat, we're on Twitter here, or email us tips here.
For the long catch-up, including the spat with Rightmove and Brightsale, go here. The short version... Tesco managed to make a total, copper-bottomed cock-up of entering the property listings industry in 2007. In 2008, the man who said this:
... decided he hated the Tesco Property Market so much, he bought the company. And now - according to this - Tesco Property Market might do like Arnie and be back as soon as January, under the codename Indigo, perhaps because they've been feeling blue.
Thanks to the Twitter friend who sent me this... the Times's very entertaining guide to the worst carparking spaces in the country. Talking of Twitter, here's ten Twitter tips for property professionals, courtesy of Hip-Consultant.co.uk. (Tweet to the Rat, here.)
Extrapolating from that and the current state of the credit market, a single first-time buyer would need to be on something like £93,000 to buy in. Unfortunately, not everybody in the capital is a high-flying property blogger, and the average London wage is just £26,000. Hmm, says NHF... problem. Pointing out overcrowding, they're calling for the eminently sensible building of more affordable housing.
Of course, first-time buyers don't buy "average" homes, they buy starter homes. No-one, however, would deny there's a problem.
If you believe predictions by upmarket agents Knight Frank, expect to see London prices 38% up on current levels by 2014 (against national rises of 19%). But KN, you sound so confident. Why?
Okay. No specific mention of improved credit conditions, but I suppose that comes with the recovery. And if the picture of UK prices will be heavily influenced by larger London gains; within London, we should read into this the expectation that prime property will lead the London market.
Austerity Britain has fallen back in love with rag-rugging... the (almost-forgotten, apparently) art of making mats and rugs from scrap material. Except, of course, this time around, it's called "craft" and "folk-art", so the middle classes can enjoy it too. Phew!
The vendor drought. It's what's keeping UK house prices on the up, according to the latest report by the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors. The September document's out, and shows cockiness among its members (the number reporting prices rises over falls) at its highest level since May 2007. Cockiness is at its peak in the south (there are areas of the north where members are glum), but nobody's fooled that this isn't really about a shortage of supply.
In Exmoor, according to the locals, the villages are dying. House prices are inflated by competition from the London wealthy; and houses are left empty for most of the year. Furthermore, when they're being used, the owners lack charm.
No, really. Don't get the locals started. Because - according to this - there's a bit of armed struggle in the air. Somebody's shooting fashion and restaurant gazillionaire Richard Caring's stags, and leaving them to die slowly. The Daily Mail's Jane Fryer asks around the village, and although nobody actually knows anything, there's a spooky, post-Wicker Man, post-Deliverance sense that the community's turning against Caring. It's an interesting piece.
Council of Mortgage Lenders figures for August show the number of new loans dropping 5% from July, but up 29% on the year. So what's that? Good or bad? There were 53,000 loans taken out by either first-time buyers are movers. The long-term average (over seven years, before the crisis hit) is 100,000.
A new week, and about time I said a big "thank you" to our sponsor, Primelocation.com. Remember, Primelocation.com isn't just about searching properties listed by 4,000 leading estate agents, the website's a mine of useful advice, information and links. An example? Go here to search up-to-date real life completion prices for UK property. Snoop on your neighbours. Do the maths before making an offer. It's useful, it's free... you need to register, but it's quick and easy. If you've feedback, let us know and we'll pass it on with pleasure.
Last month the Rat and Mouse broke all previous records with a new traffic high. If you want to know more about advertising opportunities on the Rat and Mouse, drop me a line. Or if you just want to chat with the Rat, we're on Twitter here, or email us tips here.
Don't be too impressed by Louis Walsh's or Cheryl Cole's pads in the sun - is the message, via the Telegraph, from Royal Villas Europe, who deal directly with royalty such as Louis Walsh and Cheryl Cole - they're just rentals. And if you're feeling particularly rich, and aggressive, and need of sun, you could pretty much go and buy them from under Walsh/Cole, because getting on for half the villas rented out are also for sale. Is it a piece aimed at Telegraph readers idly flicking through their bundles of notes while watching X-Factor? Or an ad for RVE? Meanwhile, on the terrifyingly expensive Wentworth Estate in Sunningdale, Bruce Forsyth and Graeme Souness are said to be involved in a head-to-head dance-off for Hollow Lane House, a £9m mansion in the contemporary classical newbulid style. More here.
It's a slim three-bedroom house detached in Streatham... should she take advantage of current upward trends and sell while the going's good not bad? Or add it to their current rental portfolio, making a hat-trick? Details here, and if you can bring yourselves to care, drop me a line or comment below. Agent comments more than welcome.
Coke spoons of dissipated glamour, Dave Brubeck solos in the swinging 60s, with metaphorical Ray-Bans wrapped above it, like Alice bands? Is anybody following?
It was always the smart place to live, even when first developed in the 18th century. Behind its iron railings and stucco walls it housed fashionable Londoners from peers to politicians, painters to racketeers. Then Rolling Stone Mick Jagger took up residence.
Madonna's latest boyfriend must be able to walk on water or something, because there's are stories that she's splashing out... a little gift here, a £1.7m New York apartment there. Lucky Jesus. Meanwhile, Guy Ritchie's employing his famous charm, admitting he still loves her and proving it by calling her retarded. Whatever works for you, I suppose.
He was living in the flash new Docklands, and visiting his substantial London property portfolio from the comfort of his Porsche, back in the 80s. Last year, he was found dead in a flat in Weston-Super-Mare... arguably the very last situation better than being alive in a flat in Weston-Super-Mare. It's a sad story, of cannabis-induced schizophrenia, cocaine and crack addiction.
Not a double-headed celebrity, because that would be horrible. Two celebrities, each with one head. First off, Sean Pertwee is - they say - selling his five-bedroom Islington house (below). It's one of those nice townhouses with iron railings in Angel's Liverpool Road. It's with Foxtons, at £1.575m... particulars, here. Secondly, we're hearing suggestions that Amy Winehouse might be considering a move, after more neighbour-problems. It appears she likes to rehearse and record in the dark hours, when her neighbours like to sleep. So, where to next? Somewhere with a bit of space around it? Oh, and it better be cheap.
Michelle Young - wife of multi-millionaire property tycoon Scot Young - has been served a possession order on the £10,000-a-month Regents Park rental where she and her teenage daughters have been living since the marriage broke down. Mr Young has - apparently - ceased making payments, after claiming to be penniless due to the recession. Mrs Young - apparently - is threatening to squat. So to speak.
A £1.13m mews house, paid for, apparently, in cash, by Mrs Blair. (No wonder they need protection.) According to this, it was bought for second son Nicky, and brings the Blairs' property portfolio to £11.94m.
According to a comparison website called Broadband Expert, more than half of potential buyers believe a property's broadband speed should be included in the HIP. More than three-quarters believe the figure should be listed by the estate or lettings agent. More here.
Do you remember, back in April, (and if you do remember, then you're not getting out enough) we wrote about the Devon widow taking Barclays to court to try to weasel out of test the fairness of a 1998 agreement to pay back 75% of any appreciation on the property's value on sale? These mortgages were called Shared Appreciation Mortgages. She liked them at the time, for their tiny interest rates. Now that one was costing her almost six times the loan amount (and everyone was getting tiny interest rates) she wasn't so keen. The latest is that more than 300 borrowers have been granted a Group Litigation Order by the High Court, so they can try to sue Barclays and Bank of Scotland collectively.
Over here, it doesn't look as if Times readers, at least, are buying the current crop of positive property price indices. Either that, or it's just that the bears are more politicised, more motivated to get out and vote. Either way... here's how it's looking right now:
What polarisation? The polarisation taking place between those who think the worst is over, and those who think that this little, illogical, upspring in prices - caused largely regionally by desperation and a shortage of property - we're tottering on the brink of a second, big house price collapse. This won't help... Halifax reports the biggest three-month price rise since the peak of the market, at 2.8%, and a monthly rise of 1.6% in September. Annually, prices are down 7.4% (remember, they were 17.7% down, just in April).
According to the NAEA - for whom the concept of homeownership starts, obviously, in the dream rather than nightmare category - falling house prices have done nothing to make the prospect of a property purchase more likely for struggling first-time buyers. In fact, large numbers of Britons are simply losing interest in the whole idea.
I was away on business toward the end of last week and missed "news" - in the Telegraph - that a signature Fulham venue of the 80s, Liz Hurley's flat, is on the market. It was where she lived when Hugh Grant first came a-visiting... no doubt driving a Golf GTI, and wearing brogues. It's a flat you can buy with confidence that few consonants have ever been dropped in the drawing room. The problem? Which is it? We're told it's with Douglas & Gordon, and it's for sale at £315,000. We believe it's this one.
UPDATE - DARN! WE BELIEVED WRONG... BUT A KIND READER HAS PUT US STRAIGHT. THE FLAT'S ON AT £295,000, AND IT'S HERE.
Because, apparently, it matters. A survey of 3,000 homeowners by Sandtex paints suggests that owners of blues houses are likely to be the most economically successful, earning, on average, £38,000 and taking at least two foreign holidays a year. If your house is green, you might want to consider a change. You're likely to be earning £13,100 a year. For more of this nonsense, and a rundown of the full rainbow of earning potential, click this.
According to the BBC... possibly, not very. In Hackney alone, 129 blocks haven't had the legally required fire safety checks, bringing the total in the capital to almost 500. More here.
Remember The Curved House... on Channel 4's Grand Designs? The story was: David and Anjana needed to expand their tiny Clapham coach house, so they could fit in a family. They hired architect Peter Romaniuk and built a curved wood and glass house around a protected horse chestnut tree. It was, is, lovely. And it's for sale. Guide price: £1.5m, particulars here.
In an interview with the Shooting Times, he asks, where have all the village shoemakers gone? and - with absolutely breathtaking insensitivity and hypocrisy - blames second home owners. He also says there are too many people about... not the wisest comment to make in a Shooting Times piece perhaps. More here.
A lack of family homes in the capital and an ageing population... hmm... what to do? According to this, the Mayor thinks he might have he answer. The plan is to offer council tenants of 55 or over £100,000 properties by the sea or in the country. Age Concern seems less than impressed, pointing out that older people have an emotional attachment to their homes, and that moving away from a familiar support system results in a situation in which "people suffer physically from stress and can even die". What's unclear, is whether there's any element of compulsion here. If it's just a cash offer, what does it matter?
Regular readers will know we've been following the case of Thanos Papalexis since November. He's the British property developer accused of arranging the murder of an unwanted tenant who was getting in the way of a lucrative property deal in Kilburn. Yesterday, he was jailed for life, and described as "The Devil" by his victim's sister.
The truth? Tough to value, dodgy plaster, possible asbestos, expensive glass, lead plumbing, 
