At auction, there are bargains for cash-rich buyers September 10, 2009 PROPERTY prices might well be looking up at the moment, but the market is still gridlocked. Buyers struggling to get mortgages and others worried that they might lose their jobs. It’s no fun being in a chain right now. Which is why auctions are becoming more popular. Gary Murphy, partner and auctioneer at Allsop, which [...]
FOCUS ON: BOW, E3 September 10, 2009 CHISENHALE ROAD, E3Price: £799,950This large three-bedroom house is located in a quiet residential street but within walking distance of the amenities of Victoria Park and Mile End Tube station. Set over three floors, the property has a spacious open-plan living room, family bathroom, separate shower room and a large kitchen. The rear garden backs onto [...]
Houses with golf on tap have still got that swing September 10, 2009 GOLFERS know there is nothing better than waking up and strolling straight out onto the first tee. Developers know this too, of course, and for years, they have built properties all over the world where you can roll out of bed and start swinging straight away. Traditionally, the guaranteed sunshine of Portugal and Florida have [...]
Q&A: BUYING September 10, 2009 Camilla DellMANAGING PARTNER AT BLACK BRICK Q. Dear Camilla, I have had my offer accepted on a house, have had everything done but now the seller has decided to pullout with no explanation. Is there anything I can do legally to prevent this? A. One of the fundamental problems of purchasing a property in the [...]
The definitive Madoff book, with panache September 9, 2009 MADOFF: THE MAN WHO STOLE $65MBY ERIN ARVEDLUNDPenguin, £9.99 ERIN ARVEDLUND has written this book with relish – and not a small amount of “I told you so”. This is because, as an investigative reporter for big US financial publications, she blew the whistle on Madoff in 2001, with a big article for Barron’s pointing [...]
The Galvins’ new City restaurant will be the ultimate family affair September 9, 2009 IT’S not about the money,” says Chris Galvin, as he sips a cappuccino outside the site of his new restaurant next to the glass buildings that stand around the revamped Spitalfields market, with the Gherkin poking its head over the buildings in the distance. His brother and his wife nod. It’s an unusual thing to [...]
CRAZY HORSES beneath the bonnet September 8, 2009 BENEATH a considerable amount of wing, skirt and angular metal lies a car, the chavmobile that is the FQ 400. I clamber on board the Mitsubishi gunship, turn the ignition key and on comes Radio 3. What? The delivery driver, an ex-policeman, had been driving the mother of all on-road anarchy magnets whilst listening to [...]
A 500 jamboree of wrinkle-busting in Paris September 7, 2009 LIKE most Londoners, I spend a good deal of time rushing to and fro between fume-filled streets, the skin-shrivellingly dry Underground and an air-conditioned office. My face is a receptacle of urban wear and tear – clogged pores, bouts of dryness, sudden patches of oiliness. Any chance to cleanse, exfoliate, pamper and smooth my visage [...]
Just the place to take a world wine tour and most of it by the glass September 7, 2009 Kensington Wine Rooms27-129 Kensington Church Street, W8 7LPTel: 020 7727 8142Cost per person without wine: £35 IF YOU think chocolate shops are fun, try this. The Kensington Wine Rooms is the latest venue to make a go of enomatic, or wine-dispensing, machines. The Sampler on Upper Street has long mastered this format, with more depth [...]
THREE OTHER WINE BAR RESTAURANTS September 7, 2009 TERROIRSThis relative newcomer has swiftly become a big favourite with critics and punters alike – with small but perfectly formed French plates, you can expect the likes of snails and pork and pistachio terrine, to be eaten with something off the 200-bin wine list. It’s buzzing with people who want in on the gastronomic wine [...]