Property of the week: This £30m Belgravia mega-mansion is so big it could be an art gallery and a boutique hotel January 25, 2019 Have a collection of artistic masterpieces but no space to put them? If you have a spare £30m in the bank, then you could be in with a chance of purchasing this mega-mansion in Belgravia that’s not just an enormous home but has enough space to spare to double up as a boutique hotel. Originally [...]
New homes: Our pick of the new builds going on sale in London this weekend January 25, 2019 New developments on the market this week Pontoon Reach, Royal Docks From £315,000 The first new homes at a riverfront location in east London are going on sale tomorrow. Close to London City Airport and Thames Barrier Park in an area earmarked for £314m of investment over the next five years, this 13 storey building [...]
DEBATE: Should London impose rent restrictions, as suggested in Sadiq Khan’s campaign plans? January 25, 2019 Should London impose rent restrictions, as suggested in Sadiq Khan’s campaign plans? Dan Wilson Craw, director of Generation Rent, says YES. Londoners are paying some of the highest rents in the world. Building more homes will plug the shortage at the root of this, but that will take a decade or more. We need urgent action [...]
Legal Q&A: I bought a leasehold house 10 years ago and I am worried I may have difficulties selling it. What should I do? January 24, 2019 Firstly, please do not assume that a leasehold house is bad news. There are many parts of the UK, especially in London, where there are a considerable number of leasehold houses that are perfectly saleable and mortgageable. You need to look through the documents you received from your solicitor to check if whether there are [...]
Super-prime time: London surge in high end house sales January 24, 2019 Wealthy buyers have been on a spending spree for multi-million pound trophy houses during the last year, with demand for London’s ‘super prime’ residences bucking a wider slowdown in the capital’s property market. Despite political uncertainty ahead of Britain’s imminent departure from the EU and plans for a new stamp duty on international buyers, activity [...]
West End landlord Great Portland reports robust leasing amid growth in tenant demand January 23, 2019 Fresh signs of strength in London’s leasing market emerged today, as listed property giant Great Portland Estates (GPE) posted rising rental values and low vacancy levels amid continued demand for office space in the capital. The West End landlord signed 16 new lettings totalling than 50,000 square feet in the quarter to the end of [...]
DEBATE: Should we welcome proposals for the so-called Tulip Tower in the City? January 23, 2019 Should we welcome proposals for the so-called Tulip Tower in the City? David Buik, market commentator at Core Spreads, says YES. Sir Norman Foster’s first commercial building in the UK was the Sainsbury Centre of Visual Arts in Norwich, completed in 1974. Now that same architect has designed the Tulip Tower, to be erected and built (subject [...]
Sports Direct and Intu strike deal to save four House of Fraser sites January 22, 2019 Four House of Fraser stores have been brought back from the brink of closure following a deal struck between Sports Direct and shopping centre landlord Intu. Last-minute talks between Mike Ashley’s sportswear firm and Intu Properties has led to department stores in Norwich, Thurrock, Gateshead and Nottingham being saved, having previously been earmarked for closure. More [...]
Landsec becomes latest property giant to muscle in on flexible workspace market January 22, 2019 Landsec has become the latest major developer to launch its own flexible workspace brand, joining property rivals hoping to tap into the growing demand for shorter leases and co-working offices. In a bid to rival the likes of commercial property disruptors such as WeWork, the blue-chip firm revealed today its plans to set up a new [...]
Take-up of London office space rises as 2018 ends with a ‘bang’ January 21, 2019 Take-up of office space in London soared in the final quarter of 2018, rounding off a year of bumper demand for the capital’s commercial property market. New figures from CBRE show that take-up in Central London for the fourth quarter of 2018 was 3.9m square feet (sq ft), marking a quarterly increase of 13 per [...]