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It's been sold to Sirosa, an investment vehicle owned by the German Conley family who already own the nearby Whole Foods outlet (used to Barkers) and the Liberty store on Regent Street among other high-profile commercial addresses. The deal is said to have been worth £225m. More here.
If these flamingoes could talk: Kensington Roof Gardens edition [February 1, 2013]
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The developers have formed a new company specifically to manage the transition from athlete quarters to Olympic legacy rentals, and it's called Get Living London (ew, really?). According the website, there are up to three-year rental agreements (a good idea, in our opinion, although check those break clauses in the event of spiralling rents in the area), and the first 370 homes will be ready for residents by August and September. More here.
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According to the Telegraph's Allister Heath, the reason why all YouGov data points to burgeoning economic confidence among private individuals despite falling wages, increasing unemployment and an unshrinkable deficit, is Osborne's deft re-inflation of house prices… a house-price hand-job of which he doesn't approve.
Directing subsidised credit towards the housing market, as the Help to Buy and Funding for Lending Schemes are doing, is an absurd, reckless policy which suggests Osborne has learnt nothing from the sub-prime crash.
A happy ending? Not for the Tories, according to Heath, who have swapped "radical reforms to boost investment, house-building and incentives for work" for a quick economic tug for homeowners who - ultimately - enjoy the thrill but don't respect them.
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According to CBRE, the sum value of London penthouses now exceeds a billion pounds. It's also impossible, they say, to buy a "true" (more on that later) penthouse in London for less than £1m, with Islington and Camden offering penthouse living for £1.5m to £3m, and penthouses in prime central London for £4m considered a bargain. The value of being on top? A 60% premium above the value of an equivalent property elsewhere in the development and, on average, 20% of the Gross Development Value.
So what makes a "true" penthouse?
To differentiate a penthouse from merely a top floor flat, developers need to offer large lateral spaces that cover the entire top floor; or in some cases the top two or three floors. generous outdoor space is also a must. Buyers will have extremely high expectations with regards to specification, and will demand state of the art technology and appliances. security is also a consideration. perhaps most important, given the penthouse’s manhattan heritage, is the building’s height and the views the penthouse can consequently offer.
Get the report - "Penthouse London: Paying a Premium for Perfection" - here.
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CML reports a 20% rise in first-time buyer loans in March from February, but still down 22.6% on the same time last year, when a last-minute rush to beat the Stamp Duty holiday distorted figures. Loans to movers were up 10.6% on the month, down 17.3% on the year. Full figures here.
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An interesting one. Lord Mitchell is suing his Hampstead neighbour for expanding below ground, beneath a small piece of land owned by the land-owning Labour peer living in Hampstead (what? just stating the facts). He's suing for £200,000 and has obtained an injunction stopping all works. Another anonymous neighbour, quoted here, claims the Mitchells are always complaining. "They are in a permanent state of indignation."
Dragon v neighbours over basement excavation [February 28, 2013]
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You know… ad man, screenwriter, annoyingly nice guy who worked on the Make Poverty History campaign. A glimpse inside his home office in Hampstead.
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Involves a sale or flotation, with an investment bank hired to get the ball rolling later this month, according to an exclusive over at Sky News.
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It's crammed in between a couple of terrace homes on Leyton's Manor Road, and appeared about a month ago. The suggestion, from Waltham Forest Council, is that it's illegal, and likely to be removed soon. More here and here.
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An announcement is due later today following the two-day MPC meeting to fix bank base rates. BBC Breakfast has already been analysing the effects on savers/borrowers of another month at 0.5%. Nobody's expecting any surprises.
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In America, a blogger uses Tumblr to document NYC's most hideous looking rentals.


It's addictive.
[via Curbed]
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Up 1.1% on the month, up 2% three-month-average to three-month-average compared annually. Accompanying comment focuses on cheap mortgages.
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It's a one-off, I'm afraid… the work of a Washington DC-based architect, specifically for a charity auction.
[via Curbed]
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According to the Standard, London property prices and the impending expiry of a number of long-term leases are just too much of a temptation for some foreign governments, as embassies and other diplomatic buildings are expected to hit the market in the next few years. So, if they're leaving Mayfair, Kensington and Belgravia, where are they going? Nine Elms, apparently. The Americans have already announced the area near Battersea as their destination, according to the editor of Diplomat magazine (I'm not making this up), others are likely to follow. More here.
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