According to Winkworth, there's no sign of London's top-end boom market ending soon, while wealthy Eurozone and Middle Eastern buyers continue to plough money in. Prices in Knightsbridge, Chelsea and Belgravia rose 17% in 2011, with 41% of those sales involving figures above £2m (up from 33% in 2010). London's safe haven status is behind the demand, and a shortage of available properties is pushing prices ever higher. More here.

Technorati Tags: property, real estate

He's awaiting a decision by Kensington & Chelsea council on plans to redevelop a former clothing warehouse in Chelsea, creating offices, home and courtyard. This isn't a purely personal project (he's already developing a property down the road, which he'll call home; this looks like a proper experiment in property development. The council have made encouraging noises; much to the chagrin of the Chelsea Society. More here.

Technorati Tags: property, real estate

A clean and modern, hi-tech eco-build behind a traditional facade on Cathcart Road, leading to a (somewhat odd) landscaped garden by Chelsea Garden Show gold-winner Christopher Bradley-Hole. I know... there are plenty of expensive properties in SW10. But this one's a bit interesting. Particulars here. Guide price: £3.95m.

Technorati Tags: property, real estate

The Daily Mail takes readers on a tour of Kylie Minogue's Drayton Garden's flat, making much of the knockdown asking price (down from £4.5m to £3.95m in a matter of months). At £3.95m, it's competitively priced with the competition, although it's considerably more lavishly furnished (remember those £55 brass tiles?) It's with John D. Wood. Go here for full particulars.

If these walls could talk... Katie Price edition [August 11, 2010]

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

I could link straight to a tabloid on this one, but that would mean missing out on the wonderful Divorce Diva divorce blog (I kid you, not), which says:

It has been reported that Ronnie Wood is selling his £7.25 million five-bedroom house for £5.8 million, as he needs a quick sell so that he can pay for his divorce settlement to ex-wife Jo Wood.

If we're right about this house, it's this, on Cheyne Walk, and he bought it a couple of years ago as an investment. (Not much of one, it turns out.) It's currently little more than a shell, with detailed planning permission for a substantial extension, including basement, sub-basement and pool. Click through to the particulars for its interesting history.

Technorati Tags: celebrity, London, property, real estate

Apparently, he's on the lookout for a British pub... preferably close to the Chelsea ground. Oi, hands off The Fox.

Technorati Tags: celebrity, London

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.

Technorati Tags: London, property, real estate

From the Telegraph.

If a street can possess a dissipated glamour then Cheyne Walk has it by the silver coke spoon. It is a boulevard for the beautiful, a road for the rich bohemian that rose to international fame during the swinging Sixties when Chelsea was cooler than a Dave Brubeck jazz solo. Today it still feels as if it has a metaphorical pair of Ray-Bans wrapped above it like an Alice band.

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.

I knew he was old, but...

Property here.

Technorati Tags: London, property, real estate

Karen Menzies is upset with Foxtons, after the "single professional female" they moved into her Cathcart Road flat turned out to be a Russian prostitute who damaged the property, failed to pay any rent and took drugs. Menzies's complaint is that Foxtons provided a (Foxtons) reference for the tenant, despite the fact she apparently owed a previous landlord £6,000 in unpaid rent and damages. She did, however, hand over the keys to the woman before the previous landord's references arrived... something that a lot of people might consider unwise, Foxtons-reference or not. Foxtons have also offered to contribute to the legal costs involved in evicting the woman... something you don't see everyday. It will be interesting to learn the outcome of this one. More here.

Technorati Tags: London, property, real estate

Plans by The Fabulous Candy Boys to convert Chelsea Barracks into a complex of 300 luxury apartments, with a giant underground car park below, have run into trouble thanks to a tiny 19th Century chapel, long ago deconsecrated, but of significant architectural value and sitting right in the middle of the site. Representatives of English Heritage, the V&A, the Victorian Society and the Ancient Monuments Society have joined with the specially formed Chelsea Barracks Action Group to demand a listing for the chapel. More here. And you can see the plans for yourself, here.

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

So property price increases in Prime Central London might have taken a hit, but the same can't be said for rental growth which, according to Knight Frank, reached its highest point in eight years... 12.2% June-to-June. If you're a landlord, how did you do in the postcode lottery? Here are the winning numbers... SW1, SW3, NW1, SW10, W8, and the bonus postcode is W14. This month's jackpot isn't as high as you might expect. Although house prices in these postcodes have slipped slightly in the last quarter, they've still, historically, outstripped rental growth, meaning that in a lot of cases yields aren't actually that impressive. If you own the property, though, and you bought it in time... who cares?

Technorati Tags: London, property, real estate

The Telegraph reports on Cliffe Cottage, Redcliffe Mews in Chelsea, apparently the only house in London (apart from the Queen's) to not carry a number. The story is that the house was built after the rest of the mews had been developed. and all the good numbers had already been taken. It's said to be with Lane Fox, at £1.7 million... but we can't find any reference to it at the website. For what it's worth, the Telegraph page starts with an upbeat story about estate agents John D Wood who reported 261 users visiting their website on Christmas Day, as evidence of a turn in the property market. The Rat and Mouse can confirm the Christmas Day property frenzy with visitor figures of, well, let's just say treble that number and add some more. So if you want to consider advertising on the Rat and Mouse... email to discuss.