London trends: who’s moving the prime market higher? August 18, 2011 THE headlines are clear: core prime central London property – that is central London property at the very top of the market in places like Knightsbridge, Chelsea and Belgravia – is rocketing in value, keeping pace with gold as an asset class. Supply of these properties is now chronically low, adding even more upward price [...]
PROPERTY NEWS August 18, 2011 PROPERTIES GOING FAST IN WOODSIDE PARK Half of the apartments at the Wheston Lodge development in Woodside Park have sold in just three months. The development consists of 25 one and two bedroom apartments. Prices start at £275,000. Contact: Wheston Lodge on 020 8446 9136 or go to www.thornsettgroup. com. EQUESTRIAN PROPERTY BOLTING AHEAD Hamptons [...]
INTERIORS August 18, 2011 CREATIVE DIRECTOR AT DESIGN CONSULTANCY APD INTERIORS Q. I would like to liven up my home with wallpaper. What are the current trends? A. Wallpaper has had a revival in the last few years after falling out of fashion in favour of plain painted walls. The use of wallpaper adds detail to an interior and [...]
FOCUS ON: BOW, E3 August 18, 2011 COBOURN STREET Price: £1,395m This Victorian terrace house retains many of its period features. It has four bedrooms arranged across four floors. The interiors are well designed throughout. Contact: Foxtons’ Shoreditch office on 020 7033 1414 or go to www.foxtons.co.uk MEDWAY ROAD Price: £499,995 Located close to the Medway Conservation area, this four-bedroom Victorian town [...]
Great title, great stars, bland result August 18, 2011 Film COWBOYS & ALIENS Cert: 12A IT’S the best film title since Snakes on a Plane, and this would-be blockbuster also has two huge stars – Daniel Craig and Harrison Ford – on good form. Craig is especially memorable, riding into the dusty town of Absolution with no name, a mysterious shackle on his wrist, [...]
ALSO OUT THIS WEEK FILMS, MUSIC, GAMES August 18, 2011 FILM KIND HEARTS AND CORONETS Marvel at Alec Guinness playing nine roles in this Ealing classic. SPY KIDS 4: ALL THE TIME IN THE WORLD 4D More kiddy-friendly action fun. IN A BETTER WORLD Tremendous Danish drama, winner of the Best Foreign Language Oscar. DVD SOURCE CODE This year’s Inception, an exhilirating tech thriller with [...]
Mortgage lending subdued August 18, 2011 Mortgage lending shows no sign of picking up, according to the latest figures from the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML). Gross new lending, for both house buyers and those remortgaging, fell by one per cent in July to £12.6bn. That was also six per cent down from the figure for July last year. The CML [...]
Savills profit rise fuelled by resilient London property market August 18, 2011 British property broker Savills said global economic volatility would curb activity in Europe and Asia though markets for the best properties remained resilient. Prime London residential property was a safe haven for investors amid the current economic turmoil, which had created a two-tier British market, Savills said. Values for the best property in Hong Kong [...]
Glamorous war reporter’s memoir of danger and love August 17, 2011 GHOSTS BY DAYLIGHT BY JANINE DI GIOVANNI Bloomsbury, £16.99 JANINE Di Giovanni is statuesque: a voluptuous brunette, she seems to tower over most of her peers. She seems larger than life but this is not just a physical thing: for twenty years she reported on the world’s grizzliest wars, returning again and again to Bosnia, [...]
The death of chivalry? Men aren’t paying for dates anymore August 17, 2011 DEAR VEXED: I am confused. As a recently single woman, I’ve been dating quite a lot. Seven out of ten times the man doesn’t pick up the tab on the first date. Is this because they’re chumps or because they don’t know if I’ll see it as infringement on my feminine liberation? Marsha, 29, human resources [...]