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Homes&
Property
Wednesday 1 April 2015
Decadent Deco
Eltham Palace
reopens for Easter
Page 12
EASTER BARGAINS P6 FIRST-TIME BUYERS: WEMBLEY P8 FREE DESIGN ADVICE P16 SPOTLIGHT ON WEST HAMPSTEAD P28
The world at
your feet
LONDON’S
BIGGEST AND
MOST-READ
PROPERTY
GUIDE
New homes:
Easter house hunt
Page 4
London’s best property search website: homesandproperty.co.uk
2
WEDNESDAY 1 APRIL 2015 EVENING STANDARD
Homes & Property Online
homesandproperty.co.uk with
This week: homesandproperty.co.uk
news: landlady sentenced
after tenants kick up a stink
Popular: two
tenants were
evicted from
their flat in
Novello Street,
Fulham, after
complaining
about a smell.
These homes
are nearby
A ROGUE landlady who kicked her tenants out after they
complained about “an overwhelming smell” in their topfloor flat has been been sentenced to six months jail,
suspended for two years, and faces fines and costs of
nearly £25,000.
Kathryn Dow, 56, first ignored complaints from her two
tenants about a “dead animal” stink in the flat she let in
Novello Street, considered one of Fulham’s most
attractive roads but, after the local council became
involved, the tenants returned home to find their
belongings in storage and the locks changed. Dow denied
acting illegally at City of London Magistrates’ Court. She
had previously been ordered to pay the tenants nearly
£14,000 in compensation by West London County Court.
Property
search
Trophy buy of the week
in the millionaires’ playground
£7.5 million: it’s time to have some fun in Britain’s
millionaires’ playground. Welcome to Vanquish, a dazzling
five-bedroom pleasure dome overlooking the scenic
Poole Harbour in Dorset. This may be one of the most
expensive places on Earth to live, but just consider what
you get here — a modernist masterpiece with a private
mooring, an indoor pool and spa, lawns to the water’s
edge and panoramic views to knock your socks off.
Through Hamptons International.
O homesandproperty.co.uk/trophy
London buy of the week dazzling
Fulham flat won’t fail to catch your eye
£670,000: bags of natural light,
space and a secluded garden come
with this south Fulham flat set on a
leafy street, which is just a stroll from
the exclusive Hurlingham Club.
At the front of the flat you will find
two spacious bedrooms lit by sash
windows and a bathroom, but it is the
extension into the side return that
O Read Ruth Bloomfield’s full story at homesandproperty.co.uk
Visit our new online
luxury section
HomesAndProperty.co.uk/luxury
£950,000: escape the rat race at this Oxfordshire
farmhouse just outside Bicester. With six bedrooms and
four-and-a-half acres, it comes with a popular kennels
and cattery business. Outbuildings and three paddocks
provide further potential, while the house has spacious
reception rooms with open fires, along with a pleasant
garden room with rural views. Through John D Wood.
ESHomesAndProperty • Twitter:
Join the luxury holiday
home specialists...
Many
luxury
properties
deliver over
39 weeks!
!" "
O homesandproperty.co.uk/buy
Life changer farmhouse has
potential for animal kingdom
O homesandproperty.co.uk/lifechanger
Facebook:
will catch your attention. A fabulous
open-plan kitchen has been created
at one end, with skylights leading into
a living area that has glass doors
opening out to a terrace and a pretty
garden that backs on to South Park.
Through Sell My Home.
By
Faye
Greenslade
@HomesProperty • Pinterest:
@HomesProperty
We find hot London homes reduced by up to £525,000
Editor:
Janice
Morley
VISIT homesandproperty.co.uk/
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Homes & Property, Northcliffe
House, 2 Derry Street, Kensington,
London W8 5TT.
Let the
Easter
house hunt
begin…
THE Easter house sales are under
way and, with a four-day weekend,
there couldn’t be a better time to
discover that bargain home — if you
know where to look.
We uncover some sweet property
discounts that offer reductions of up
to £525,000, with one- and twobedroom flats from just £130,000
and houses from £375,000.
Join us as we take a tour of the best
and most stylish property bargains in
London this spring.
£385,000: but was £595,000, saving £210,000. An airy
one-bedroom flat with balcony close to central Wimbledon
£625,000: but
was £799,950,
saving £174,950.
A four-bedroom
family house
near Streatham
Common, right,
with wooden
floors, a garden
and parking
O Visit homesandproperty.co.uk/flatsale or homesandproperty.co.uk/housesale
3
EVENING STANDARD WEDNESDAY 1 APRIL 2015
News Homes & Property
homesandproperty.co.uk with
Homes
gossip
By Amira Hashish
Holiday with RiRi for £75m
Buy Kate’s chart topper
É ARUNDELLS, which sits in
Salisbury’s Cathedral Close and
backs on to water meadows made
famous by painter John Constable,
was the home of former prime
minister Sir Edward Heath, below.
Considered to be one of the loveliest
houses in England, it recently
reopened to the public for the new
season until November, and is staging
exhibitions celebrating the former
Bexley MP’s long parliamentary
career and his place in the history
books as the first state-educated
Conservative prime minister.
The house remains largely as it
was when he lived there, with a mix
of political, sailing and musical
memorabilia reflecting his career
and private passions. Homeware
includes a desk owned by Lloyd
George, a pair of 18th-century vases
from the Qing dynasty presented by
Chairman Mao, and paintings and
drawings by L S Lowry and John
Nash. Arundells will also feature in a
BBC programme about Heath.
ÉKATE BUSH’S former home,
É JOHN MORPHET, 56,
a Cumbrian farmerturned-caravan park
owner, is selling Royal
Westmoreland, the luxury
Caribbean holiday
complex for the rich and
famous that he bought
in 2004. The price is
£75 million.
Sports stars Wayne
Rooney, Gary Lineker,
Michael Vaughan, Freddie
Flintoff and Joe Calzaghe
all own villas at the
Barbados golf resort, and
pop star Rihanna, right, is
also said to be a big fan.
Morphet acquired the
estate, which now includes
225 holiday homes, after
selling a chunk of his
successful UK leisure
business for £100 million
and going on holiday to the
island, where he fell in love
named Wuthering Heights after the
singer-songwriter’s chart-topping
debut single, attracted much
attention when it went on the market
— but the grand six-bedroom house
in south-east London has not sold
after five months.
The 5,333sq ft Victorian home in
Eltham has now been re-listed at
£2.6 million — £150,000 lower than
the original asking price — with Alan
de Maid.
Bush, left, lived there from 1985 to
2003. One of the bedrooms was a
dance studio, and a big walk-in
wardrobe she used for storing her
flamboyant costumes is still in situ.
Wrought iron gates proclaim the
property’s name, at the entrance
to landscaped acres which include
a tree house and a garden bar.
O homesandproperty.co.uk/kate
É TOM CRUISE has spent recent
months in London filming
scenes for Mission: Impossible —
Rogue Nation, at landmarks
including the Tower of London
and Piccadilly Circus.
The London sequences will form
key moments in the film, which is
due for a speedy release in July.
Cruise, right, has been spending
so much time away from
Tinseltown that he has decided to
sell his luxurious three-bedroom
home in the Los Angeles hills, far
right. It boasts a surprisingly
large four-bedroom guesthouse
in the 2½-acre grounds, along
with an outbuilding
that could be used as
a wine cellar.
Cruise’s price,
should you choose to
accept it, is a cool
£8.6 million.
REX
REX
Cruise is on a mission: seeking a buyer
with £8.6 million for his bolt-hole in LA
with the resort’s facilities
and beach. There is
planning permission for
more homes, with 30 plots
currently available, as well
as a hotel and a second
18-hole golf course.
REX
Take a glimpse into
political history
Got some
gossip?
Tweet
@amiranews
4
WEDNESDAY 1 APRIL 2015 EVENING STANDARD
Homes & Property Easter house hunt: new homes
homesandproperty.co.uk with
It’s all about the view: at 21 Wapping Lane, penthouses come with City views from every room, including the kitchen, left.
For an even more spectacular vista, check out the view from the show home at One Tower Bridge, right, for £5.85 million
S
PACE-PLANNING and good
architecture that is sensitive
to its location are the drivers
behind the new homes
launches this Easter.
With interiors becoming more
thoughtfully planned and priority
being given to low energy use and
innovation in building materials, new
homes have to be efficient to run and
safe and healthy places in which to
raise a family to impress buyers.
Homes for young first-timers are
fitted out with affordable furniture, and
this year sees the return of stylish
linoleum and polished concrete
surfaces, with paints and materials
chosen from high street ranges so that
buyers can easily maintain “the look”.
There is still room, however, for
decadent cabaret and burlesque
touches inspired by the Roaring
Twenties, according to the British
Interior Design Association.
LOCATION MATTERS
Developers are taking inspiration from
an area’s local character. In Broad
Court, Covent Garden, listed Victorian
workshops have been stripped back to
expose original roof rafters, vaulted
ceilings and warm brick walls. Two
double-height penthouses have been
created at the top of the building.
Prices from £2.5 million. Call CBRE on
020 7420 3050.
Interior architects are being brought
in at an early stage to create more
imaginative and flexible floor plans and
create storage solutions. One outcome
is New York-style apartments where you
enter the property directly via an
open-plan area rather than reaching the
living space via a cramped hallway. This
works particularly well in high rise
DESIGNERS
GET THE
BIG PICTURE
Architects are creating new homes
sensitive to London’s much-loved iconic
areas, discovers David Spittles
apartments with floor-to-ceiling windows as it accentuates the sense of space
and light, and brings views into play as
soon as you walk through the door.
In London, clean, crisp lines with
different surface textures — glass,
stone, stainless steel, leather, laminates
and wood — are the design theme,
which is beginning to filter into the
suburban new-builds.
IT’S SHOWTIME
Show homes are the property everyone
wants. If you buy a show home you not
only get a designer home, you get the
chance to pick up extra fixtures
and fittings — even commissioned
artworks — at a discounted price.
One Commercial Street, a 21-storey
tower in Aldgate, has four large, luxury
penthouses with spectacular views.
Each flat comes with contents worth
up to £100,000 included. Prices from
£2.95 million. Call DTZ on 020 3302
3115. Some developers offer sale-and-
leaseback deals. They sell the show
home but enter into a contract with the
buyer to use it for marketing purposes
for a set period — say, 12 months — while
the rest of the development is built. For
buyers who are happy to delay moving
in, it can be a convenient and cost-efficient option. You get a furnished home
and by the time you take possession
the property could well be worth more
than you paid.
Glamorous marketing suites that look
like a Bond Street fashion boutique are
replacing show homes at big developments such as Royal Wharf in Docklands and Embassy Gardens at Nine
Elms. The sales centre mock-up apartments offer a sensory experience of
what the development will be like.
GRITTY CAN BE GLAMOROUS
For the first time, a railway arch is
being used for show flats. More West,
at Freston Road in North Kensington,
is being built alongside a railway
£2.95 million: flats at One Commercial Street, Aldgate, have furniture packages worth up to £100,000 included in the price
viaduct. Peabody, the developer, is
unapologetically making the most of
the gritty urban streetscape. It has
leased the arch from Transport for
London and is creating a landscaped
public walkway between the train
tracks and the homes.
The architecture is solid-looking yet
sensitively designed to reduce noise,
with a tranquil central courtyard that
is a green retreat for residents. Twobedroom apartments cost from
£616,000. Call 020 7758 8431.
LESS THAN £350,000
In Lewisham in south-east London,
show flats have been created next to a
Victorian watermill, part of Galliard’s
Riverdale House scheme of 137
flats. Prices from £237,500. Call
020 7620 1500.
Epping Forest, a wild and wonderful
frontier on the eastern edge of London,
has managed to protect its rural status
despite development pressures to
build more homes to cope with the
capital’s bulging population.
The Arboretum is a rare new-build
scheme moments from the ancient
woodlands of Epping Forest and only
a 15-minute walk from the market town
of the same name, which has an 18th
century high street and some prized
listed buildings. Apartments are priced
from £345,000 and houses from
£650,000. Call L&Q on 01992 577096.
Back in town, Aura in Edgware brings
added-value design, with 189 goodspecification homes, including townhouses, set in generously-landscaped
gardens. Prices from £300,000. Call
020 8951 3907.
LESS THAN £700,000
Wesley Court in Spitalfields, a listed
former mission hall, has been split into
seven apartments — some of them with
dramatic double-height spaces — with
5
EVENING STANDARD WEDNESDAY 1 APRIL 2015
homesandproperty.co.uk with
Easter house hunt: new homes Homes & Property
Modern
intervention:
Ballymore is
building 385
contemporary
homes, left, at 21
Wapping Lane, in
a raw maritime
setting
Working with
history: welldesigned flats at
Riverdale House
in Lewisham,
right, close
to a Victorian
watermill
modern, minimalist interiors. Prices
start from £575,000. Call estate agent
Fyfe Mcdade on 020 7613 4044.
Hurlingham Walk in Fulham reinvents a traditional housing type — mansion apartment living, albeit with a
modern twist. The mid-rise, brickblocks are set around attractively landscaped courtyards and bring stylish and
functional apartments with full-height
windows and doors that open on to
spacious balconies with cast iron balustrading — outside space was rare with
traditional mansion blocks. Porterage,
24-hour security and gated underground parking make up the package
of benefits. Prices from £685,000. Call
St James on 020 8246 4199.
LESS THAN £1 MILLION
Great Minster House, opposite the
Home Office in Westminster, might be
described as “modern-classic” in
design, echoing the area’s Edwardian
£3.65 million:
The Pembridge
house design, far
left, at London
Square, Fulham,
comes with a
mix of outdoor
spaces. Call the
sales suite on
0333 666 2737
From £685,000:
at Hurlingham
Walk, Fulham, a
mansion block
scheme has been
given a modern
twist with
balconies and
full-height
windows and
doors. Call
St James on
020 8246 4199
mansion blocks, with parquet floors
and high ceilings. Prices from £885,000.
Call Barratt on 0844 811 4321.
Royal Connaught Park in Bushey,
Hertfordshire, was originally the Royal
Masonic School for boys. Townhouses
created within the splendid Edwardian
buildings have been launched, priced
from £899,000. Call 01923 222292.
The development is set in 100 acres
of parkland, has a gym and swimming
pool for residents plus a free shuttle
bus to Bushey station — 20 minutes
to Euston.
MORE THAN £1 MILLION
Long Walk Villas is a new terrace of
nine large houses with terraces and
gardens in a conservation quarter
overlooking The Long Walk, a magnificent tree-lined avenue in Windsor
Great Park.
Homes sit behind ornamental gates
and have an imposing portico entrance
plus integral garage and a generous
3,500sq ft interior.
An open-plan kitchen and family
room extends into the garden and
forms a first-floor terrace above,
while another outside space at the top
of the house has views of Windsor
Castle.
Prices from £2.5 million. Call 020 3137
8226.
Chelsea Galleries in Kings Road was
once a hub for artists and the original
home of Chelsea Arts Club. The building is now a boutique scheme of largerthan-average size homes, with private
terraces, tranquil courtyard gardens
and gated parking.
Three-storey townhouses have
interiors designed by the worldrenowned Nina Campbell, while lateral
apartments are equally lavish, with
bespoke pieces of furniture such as a
bronze and faux eel skin
dining table.
Prices from £4.75 million. Call Knight
Frank on 020 7861 5483.
6
WEDNESDAY 1 APRIL 2015 EVENING STANDARD
Homes & Property Easter house hunting
homesandproperty.co.uk with
Ruth Bloomfield goes on an
Easter property search to find
homes to suit tight budgets
O For more details and pictures, visit homesandproperty.co.uk/easterparade
£230,000:
Fox & Sons has
a one-bedroom
flat with a patio
garden for sale
right on the
seafront in
Marine Parade,
Brighton
W
ITH a four-day weekend coming up, this is
the ideal time to begin
a house hunt. The
spring market has
woken up and there are plenty of properties for sale in every price bracket,
from edgy central London neighbourhoods to leafy commuter villages and
market towns. Here is our guide for
house hunters with budgets of less than
£250,000, £350,000 and £500,000.
LESS THAN £250,000
IN LONDON
CATFORD
This is a gritty area that is growing in
popularity with those priced out of
Clapham and East Dulwich thanks to
its great City train links. The best
houses are on the Corbett Estate east
of the town centre, where twobedroom flats are about £250,000.
Upside: gentrification is on the way.
Downside: but not for a while. The
town centre could do with some TLC.
CHARLTON VILLAGE
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Based in south-east London, this is an
up-and-coming enclave with trains to
London Bridge that take 16 minutes.
The high street is compact but useful
and there are some decent local pubs
and an open-air swimming pool. Twobedroom flats in Victorian conversions
are priced at about £250,000.
Upside: excellent primary schools.
Downside: not big on café culture,
but nothing is far away.
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Often overlooked, this suburb sits close
to Blackheath and Hither Green with
many credentials of urban villagedom.
It has a pretty park, with regular
farmers’ markets and quality gastropubs. Brindishe Lee Primary School
has an ‘outstanding’ Ofsted rating. With
a £250,000 budget, you could pick up
a two-bedroom flat within a fine
Victorian house.
Upside: a 13-minute train journey to
London Bridge.
Downside: the dreary high street.
COMMUTER OPTIONS
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KEMPTOWN, BRIGHTON
Get some sea air and pick up a twobedroom flat in a period house in
Brighton’s gay heartland, stuffed with
bars and quirky shops, close to the
seafront and an easy walk to the city
centre for about £200,000.
Upside: cosmopolitan life beyond
the capital.
Downside: seafront homes need a
good deal of maintenance.
BOVINGDON, HERTFORDSHIRE
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Town and
This is a quality village on the edge of
the Chilterns, with excellent local
facilities, including three pubs and
shops. Two-bedroom cottages are
priced at about £250,000, although
family houses will cost more like
£500,000. Trains from Hemel Hempstead take from 26 minutes to reach
Euston, and a season ticket costs £4,412.
Upside: the village possesses an
Ofsted-outstanding primary school.
Downside: it’s not very picture
postcard pretty.
O Visit homesandproperty.co.uk/easterblooms — see below
£550,000: at
Ridgmount
Gardens, there is
a lovely red brick
mansion block in
Bloomsbury, just
minutes from
all the central
London action.
Foxtons has a
one-bedroom
flat for sale that
would make an
ideal weekday
pied-à-terre
ARUNDEL, WEST SUSSEX
A great mix of café culture, a castle and
a cathedral, Arundel sits within the
South Downs National Park and Londoners are attracted by the high-performing state schools. Three-bedroom
modern and Victorian houses are
priced from about £250,000.
Upside: a thriving arts scene, with an
annual festival each August.
Downside: 90-minute commute
and an annual season ticket that
costs £4,256.
LESS THAN £350,000
IN LONDON
PLUMSTEAD
The new Crossrail station at nearby
Woolwich will give this underrated area
a direct link to central London for the
first time. Good three-bedroom homes
around Plumstead Common are priced
at about £350,000 — good value.
Upside: great investment potential.
Downside: a boring high street.
BLACKHEATH
A lovely leafy London village with a
great world heritage open space at its
heart. Blackheath has got it all — independent shops and cafés on Montpelier
Vale, a farmers’ market, art gallery and
even a microbrewery. Its location over
7
EVENING STANDARD WEDNESDAY 1 APRIL 2015
Easter house hunting Homes & Property
homesandproperty.co.uk with
ALAMY
Destination: far
left, Brighton’s
lively Kemptown
has two-bedroom
flats from
£200,000; left,
Walthamstow
Village offers
neat workers’
cottages from
£500,000; and
right, Blackheath
Village is ideally
placed for City
and Canary
Wharf workers,
with flats from
£250,000
and Bloomsbury Square gardens.
Downside: you don’t get much
space for your money.
LESS THAN £500,000
IN LONDON
ALAMY
ALAMY
WALTHAMSTOW VILLAGE
country house hunt
the river from Canary Wharf means it
attracts a lot of City workers. First-time
buyers look for ex-council flats in the
village, priced from £250,000.
Upside: a high-end location with a
huge variety of architecture and
stunning Georgian terraces.
Downside: the Georgian terraces
require a seven-figure budget.
NOEL PARK
One of the few places where you can
buy a house for this budget. Noel Park
Conservation Area is one of the earliest
garden cities built of 2,000 Victorian
cottages with front and back gardens
in 1881. Noel Park Primary School has
a ‘good’ Ofsted rating and there are
plenty of shops in Wood Green and on
Lordship Lane.
Upside: great arts and crafts houses.
Downside: about a mile’s walk to
Wood Green Tube station. No pubs.
COMMUTER OPTIONS
CHEAM, SURREY
A value option within the gilded Surrey
countryside, with a pleasing town centre. Jeremy Richardson, of Christies
estate agents, says the area’s real pull
is in its top state schools, particularly
Nonsuch High School for Girls.
There is plenty of green space and
good shops, too. Buy a three-bedroom
terrace house from £300,000. An
annual season ticket costs £2,188 to
Victoria, which takes 30 minutes.
Upside: less than 10 miles to the
Surrey Hills.
Downside: a bit parochial.
BRENTWOOD, ESSEX
This town has great transport links and
good schools, says Carl Gable, director
of Beresfords estate agents. The town
is littered with ‘outstanding’ Ofsted
schools. Buy a two-bedroom cottage
near the station for about £300,000.
It takes less than 40 minutes to reach
Liverpool Street station, but an annual
season ticket costs £3,496.
Upside: there are plans for a new
shopping centre and cinema.
Downside: the TOWIE factor.
SAFFRON WALDEN, ESSEX
A lovely medieval market town with a
truly scrumptious town centre
littered with timber buildings, plenty
of good shops to explore, cafés
and traditional pubs. You can still
be in the City in less than an hour
from nearby Audley End. A £350,000
budget will buy a three or fourbedroom modern detached house on
the fringes.
Upside: a beautiful place to live.
Downside: an annual season ticket
to central London costs £5,404, and
trains take nearly an hour.
London village lifestyle on a relative
shoestring, 10 minutes’ walk from
Wa l t h a m s t ow C e n t r a l s t a t i o n ,
with some tempting cafés and interesting shops. You can find workers’
cottages priced at about £500,000
and two-bedroom flats for about
£300,000.
Upside: village shops include a
butchers and a bakers.
Downside: the rest of Walthamstow
remains rough around the edges.
WEST EALING
Get on the Crossrail bandwagon in this
rapidly improving west London outpost, where two-bedroom flats are
about £400,000. The nicest property
is in the St Stephen’s Conservation
Area, a pocket of Victorian and Edwardian semis on tree-lined streets.
Upside: green space provided by
Drayton Green.
Downside: family houses cost from
£850,000.
BLOOMSBURY
If you simply must have a central
London address, then Bloomsbury is
a relatively under-the-radar spot.
Jonathan Hudson, director of Hudsons,
says that a £500,000 budget would
secure a one-bedroom mansion flat.
“More value for money comes from
ex-council flats,” he adds.
Upside: some of Bloomsbury’s
gems include the Renoir Cinema
COMMUTER OPTIONS
BISHOP’S STORTFORD,
HERTFORDSHIRE
A fine market town less than 40 minutes from Liverpool Street station.
Families move there to get their children into The Hertfordshire & Essex
High School for girls and seniors, or
The Bishop’s Stortford High School for
boys. Properties are good value, with
three to four-bedroom modern houses
priced bet ween £450,000 and
£500,000, while an annual season
ticket costs £4,952.
Upside: Cambridge is a short train
ride for nights out and shopping.
Downside: some homes in town
suffer flightpath noise from Stansted.
WADHURST, EAST SUSSEX
Set within the beauties of the Weald,
this is a lovely market town within a
couple of miles of Bewl Water, an enormous reservoir with opportunities
for sailing, windsurfing and rowing.
The High Street has a great range of
traditional shops, pubs and cafés.
The average property price stands
at £509,198, according to Zoopla.
Trains to Charing Cross take 63
minutes.
Upside: quality schools, including
Uplands Community College
(seniors) and Wadhurst CE
Primary School.
Downside: an annual season ticket
costs £5,292.
8
WEDNESDAY 1 APRIL 2015 EVENING STANDARD
Homes & Property First-time buyers
homesandproperty.co.uk with
From £305,000:
flats in the North
West Village,
right, are the
latest phase at
Wembley Park.
Call 020 3151
8601. You can
buy a 35 per cent
share of a flat at
nearby Lime
Walk, left, for
£103,250. Call
Imagine Living
on 01923 636737
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: : 2 < , On your way
to Wembley
David Spittles discovers that
the famous sports stadium is
not the area’s only attraction
JONATHAN PERUGIA
T
HINK Wembley and you’ll
probably think of its
football stadium,
especially at this time of
year when the FA Cup final
and Football League play-offs loom.
Sports fans and concertgoers know
about the area’s efficient train links —
three stations providing quick
commutes to the West End and City.
On the Bakerloo line, it takes about
20 minutes to reach Paddington from
Wembley Central. Metropolitan,
Jubilee and Piccadilly lines also serve
Wembley. Now, homebuyers and
shoppers are waking up to the quick
commute and new look to the area
which is attracting schools, including
the Lycée Français, and homes in the
shape of Wembley Park.
A new 85-acre neighbourhood
wrapping around the stadium,
Wembley Park offers attractive
amenities for people living in and
visiting the area.
It is the size of Leicester Square,
Trafalgar Square and Covent Garden
combined, with vast, open,
pedestrian-friendly spaces and, of
course, the iconic Wembley Arch.
The new open-air shopping mall
has raised the bar with Oxford Streettype retail outlets, brand-name
eateries plus a multiplex cinema.
More than 1,000 residents have
already moved in and eventually
around 5,000 people will live there.
Flats at North West Village, the
latest phase, cost from £305,000 to
£790,000. Call 020 3151 8601.
Residents benefit from a package of
extras not normally available at new
housing schemes.
Quintain Keystone has invested
heavily in infrastructure and is not
only the developer but also the
management company, concierge
and fibre-optic broadband supplier.
It owns the roads, provides car
parking and on-site security and has
set up a waste recycling scheme.
Affordable housing, including
shared ownership options, is part of
the mix and available via Network
Housing Group. Call 0300 373 3000.
Wembley feels closer to central
London than its Zone 4 status. Prices
at Wembley Park are nudging towards
£600 per square foot, putting it on a
par with some Zone 2 and 3 areas, but
it is still relatively cheap for a location
a few stops from the West End.
Wembley Central is an apartment
complex that sits above and
alongside the train station of the
‘We felt like we were pioneers’
IT CONSULTANT Mitesh
Lad, 39, and artist Sheetal
Maisuria, 36, were among
Wembley Park’s early-bird
buyers four years ago.
Recently, the couple
decided to trade up to a
two-bedroom flat, which
they bought off-plan
and are due to move into
next year.
“We did feel like pioneers
and weren’t totally sure
that we would put down
roots,” says Sheetal. “But
it’s amazing how the area
has changed since we have
been here — the new shops
and restaurants, the gym
and the glamorous Sky bar
and cocktail lounge at the
Hilton Hotel. We love it.
“Sunday food markets
have added vitality, while
public screening on a giant
TV of events such as the
Wimbledon tennis
tournament has helped
foster a sense of
community.”
same name. Its 13-storey tower with
117 apartments is one of the tallest
buildings in the area, so the views are
good from the upper floors.
Two-bedroom flats start at £329,950.
Call Ellis and Co on 020 8022 6541.
Flats at nearby Lime Walk start at
£310,000, or £103,250 for a 35 per
cent share. Call Imagine Living on
01923 636737.
Parkside Place is another new
development, with one-bedroom
apartments starting at £255,000.
Help to Buy, the Government’s
low-deposit scheme, is available.
Call 020 8904 6523.
10
WEDNESDAY 1 APRIL 2015 EVENING STANDARD
Homes & Property Money
homesandproperty.co.uk with
Pensions are a pot of gold. Handle with care
Property has always been a long-term investment, so take a cool look at the buy-to-let market, warns Steve Lodge
T
HOUSANDS of savers are
expected to take advantage
of new pension freedoms
to snap up properties as
buy-to-let investments.
From the new tax year starting next
week (April 6), over-55s will be able to
cash in their pension plans to invest or
spend as they like, rather than swap
these funds for a traditional annuity
income.
The reform has prompted talk of a
wave of “silver landlords” flooding into
property auctions and the buy-to-let
market, previously dominated by
younger investors hoping to use
property to build a pension.
Some reports have suggested that as
many as 500,000 savers could use their
pension cash to invest in rental properties, though Tom McPhail, head of
pensions research at Hargreaves
Lansdown, the investment adviser,
says a more realistic estimate may be
in the low tens of thousands.
Buy-to-let has certainly been lucrative
for many people.
five years, with London prices rising
by as little as 10 per cent between now
and 2019, and most regions up only by
about 20 per cent.
However, even with more moderate
returns in prospect, buy-to-let may still
appeal to many savers compared to the
low annuity rates on offer for their
pension cash.
To buy a rental property outright with
pension cash, savers will need to have
a sizeable fund.
Most people have less than £100,000
in total in personal pensions and the
newer workplace pensions (“defined
contribution” or “money purchase”
schemes) that can be encashed.
TAX BILLS
GETTY
RENTAL INCOME
Landlords made 16.3 per cent a year
on average from mortgaged buy-to-let
properties between 1996 (when buyto-let mortgages first became available)
and the end of 2013, according to a
study for Paragon Mortgages.
This return includes rental income
and capital growth as well as allowing
for mortgage and maintenance costs
— and is equivalent to turning each
£1,000 invested into more than £13,000
over the 17-year period.
By comparison, returns on unmortgaged buy-to-let properties were
9.7 per cent a year on average, while
the stockmarket averaged just 6.8 per
cent annually, with four per cent from
cash.
Rob Thomas, the housing expert who
calculated the returns for Paragon,
adds that buy-to-let properties in
London would have done better still
— with £1,000 invested into a mortgaged property in the capital growing
to more than £20,000. Savills, mean-
Auction stations: over-55s could soon
be joining the bidding at property sales
while, calculates that landlords made
a staggering £177 billion in capital gains
alone over the past five years as property prices have recovered since the
financial crisis.
But after such strong returns,
prospective landlords should not
assume buy-to-let will be so profitable
in the coming years.
London’s high property prices mean
that rental yields (the annual rent as a
percentage of a property’s value) have
come down to just 4.3 per cent on
average, their lowest since 2008,
according to data from LSL Property
Services. And this figure is before tax
and costs, such as maintenance and
mortgage interest. “In London it can
be hard to generate income after costs
at all,” says Thomas.
PRICE GROWTH
Across the country, the typical rental
yield has also slipped to five per cent,
says LSL, although landlords can find
higher returns in some regions — in the
North-West the average yield is 6.8 per
cent — and with certain property types,
including ex-council and shared properties known as HMOs (houses in multiple occupation).
Meanwhile, with the recent cooling
in property prices, a range of forecasts
have suggested that capital values will
rise by less than five per cent this year.
Savills also predicts that price growth
will be generally subdued for the next
TYPICAL RENTAL YIELDS*
Area
London
South-East
East of England
South-West
West Midlands
East Midlands
North-West
Yorkshire & The Humber
North-East
Wales
England & Wales
Scotland
Gross rental yield
%
4.3
4.3
4.4
3.7
5.5
5.7
6.8
6.5
5.2
4.3
5.0
4.0
Source: LSL Property Services *Gross rental yields: annual rent
(before tax and costs) as a percentage of property value
While it will be possible to transfer
“final salary” — also known as “defined
benefit” — pensions into arrangements
that can be encashed, many financial
experts warn that savers are likely to
be better off keeping these traditional
workplace schemes.
Savers cashing in pensions may also
have to stomach a big tax bill. While
25 per cent of the value of most plans
is tax-free, the rest will be taxed like
other income when it is withdrawn. By
cashing in a pension policy worth
£100,000, you’re likely to suffer tax of
at least £20,000 and, depending on
your other income, you may have to
pay the top tax rate of 45 per cent on
some of this money.
T
HE GOOD news for those
wanting or needing a
mortgage to buy a rental
property is that loan rates
are at historic lows. Average buy-to-let rates are less than four
per cent, according to researchers
Moneyfacts, with two-year fixed rates
and trackers available at less than three
per cent. And, unlike with a mortgage
on your own home, there is tax relief
for loan interest on a buy-to-let property. Offsetting mortgage interest
against rental income saves many landlords more than £1,000 in tax each
financial year.
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11
EVENING STANDARD WEDNESDAY 1 APRIL 2015
Events Homes & Property
homesandproperty.co.uk with
1
2
3
4
Five things to
see in April
By Barbara Chandler
1 URBANISTAS: THE WOMEN
CHANGING THE DESIGN OF OUR
CITIES TODAY
Until June 27 at Roca London
Gallery, Station Court, Townmead
Road, SW6 (rocalondongallery.com;
020 7610 9503)
IN THE ultra-curvy spaces of a
bathroom showroom by Zaha Hadid
are inspirational ideas and projects
by five women architects aiming to
transform Britain’s cities through
design. Shown here, for example, is
the imaginative renovation of Altab
Ali Park, opposite the Whitechapel
Gallery in east London, by Muf
Architecture/Art (muf.co.uk).
A bland, featureless space was
remodelled with grassy slopes and
boulders for seating and play. A
memorial was renovated, and the
outlines of two old churches
revealed. Evening talks open to the
public are on April 16 and 30.
2 VIVIENNE WESTWOOD: CUT
FROM THE PAST
Until October 31 at Danson
House, Bexleyheath
FASHION rebel Dame Vivienne
Westwood has adopted the 18th
century as her “highpoint of art and
culture” and inspired an intriguing
show that will delight furnishers and
fashionistas alike.
Set amid the sumptuous interiors of
a beautifully restored Georgian villa
are edgy — shocking, even — fashions
influenced by the rococo paintings of
French artists Watteau and Boucher.
Admission is £8, or £6 for concessions.
tribal baskets and beadwork. This is a
global treasure trawl, with historic
work from Anatolia to China.
Shown here is a beautiful little
fragment of a 16th-century Persian
carpet in a weave so complicated that
no one has been able to copy it.
4 CERAMIC ART LONDON
April 17-19 at Henry Moore and
Gulbenkian Galleries, Royal College
of Art, Kensington Gore, SW7
(ceramics.org.uk; 020 3137 0750)
A WEEKEND of beautiful ceramics,
from mugs and jugs to sculptural art,
brings together exhibitors from all
over the world. We love Sophie
MacCarthy’s tall Leaves and Stalks
jugs, pictured. Take away a treasure
for your home — prices start at £30.
Also enjoy a packed programme of
demos, talks, debates and films.
5 MARCEL BREUER AT THE
ISOKON GALLERY
Until the end of October, weekends,
11am to 4pm, at Lawn Road Flats,
Lawn Road, Hampstead NW3
(isokongallery.co.uk)
THIS year is the 80th anniversary of
the London arrival of Marcel Breuer,
who studied at the famous Bauhaus
design school that was closed by the
Nazis in 1933. Breuer left Germany to
join his colleague, Walter Gropius, in
the pioneering modernist Lawn Road
Flats in Hampstead.
There is a gallery telling the story of
the building, with a special focus on
Breuer, whose curvy plywood Long
Chair, below, is on sale at Skandium
for £2,330 (skandium.com).
3 THE LONDON ANTIQUE RUG
AND TEXTILE ART FAIR (LARTA)
April 16-19 at The Showroom, Penfold
Street, NW8 (larta.net)
LIKE an eastern souk, find antique
rugs, runners, embroideries,
tapestries and kilims, along with
5
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12
WEDNESDAY 1 APRIL 2015 EVENING STANDARD
Homes & Property Interiors
homesandproperty.co.uk with
A
The house had every newfangled mod
con of the time, from its own telephone
exchange and underfloor heating, to
synchronised clocks in guest rooms.
A flower room off the hall, with 100
vases constantly filled from the 19-acre
gardens that included Stephen’s orchid
hothouses, was opposite a payphone
booth with a flip-up seat for any guest
to use... as long as they had spare
change. Also for the use of party guests,
either side of the entrance lobby was a
pair of staffed cloakrooms, just in case
— cheery from downing more Martinis
than prudent — you lost a stud or tore
a chiffon flounce.
On a more domestic note, in the basement lurked a gigantic vacuum cleaner
that looks like a steam engine, which
was connected to outlets throughout
the mansion for the army of staff; there
were 15 gardeners alone.
Meanwhile, if you opened a mysterious medieval-style door discreetly
marked Minstrels’ Gallery at the end
of an upstairs corridor, hidden behind
modernist screens, you would find
yourself on the gallery of the Great Hall
built by King Edward IV about 1470.
Henry VIII, who was born and raised
at Eltham, and other monarchs until
Charles I also used the hall.
The Courtaulds enjoyed throwing
parties here for up to 450 people,
fox-trotting gaily to the best bands
ENGLISH HERITAGE
RE separate bedrooms
the secret of a happy
marriage? If so, it might be
one reason why textiles
heir Stephen Courtauld
and his wife Virginia were so blissful in
the glamorous Art Deco mansion they
built in 1936 at Eltham Palace in Kent,
where each had their own magnificent
bedroom with en suite bathroom. Virginia’s bathroom was onyx and pure
gold while Stephen’s was entirely covered in handmade turquoise tiles, and
the two bedrooms were romantically
connected by a disguised door.
Here are just a few other suggestions
as to why the Courtaulds were so content: they were stupendously wealthy,
spending half the year globetrotting by
private yacht and chauffeur-driven car
among Europe and Africa’s glitterati,
and the rest of the time throwing parties in their lavish home, which was
decorated by the best designers of the
day with no expense spared.
Animal prints: dining room doors feature bold gold-and-black lacquer motifs
Wildly, wonderfully,
gloriously decadent
Eltham Palace
The Courtaulds were famously fabulously
rich so built themselves an Art Deco mansion
like no other, says Philippa Stockley
under the famous gilded hammerbeam
roof that had looked down on the antics
of some of our greatest kings and
queens. All this, fully restored, is now
on show.
It feels like the set for an episode of
Poirot or Jeeves & Wooster — except that
this was real, with an ever-changing cast
of people the Courtaulds met on their
travels, plus politicians, film producers
and royalty. Queen Mary visited twice,
and Stephen, who was financial director
of Ealing Studios and a trustee of the
Royal Opera House, invited streams of
guests. Born in 1883, Cambridge-educated, bookish Stephen was the
younger brother of Samuel, who
founded the Courtauld Institute of Art.
The family wealth was built on rayon
and with no need to make a living,
Stephen, who was awarded the Military
Cross in 1918, enjoyed climbing and
scaled Mont Blanc in 1919.
That year, he also met the vivacious
Virginia Spinola, née Peirano, in
Courmayeur in the Italian Alps. They
married in 1923 and Virginia bought a
ring-tailed lemur from Harrods, calling
it Mah-Jongg. “Jongy” had its own bedroom at Eltham with underfloor heating, murals and a bamboo ladder down
to the flower room. Famously quick to
bite people it disliked, the creature also
had its own striped deckchair on the
family yacht, the Virginia.
The couple began searching for a
semi-rural retreat near town, and two
young Cambridge architects, John
Seely and Paul Paget, suggested the site
of Eltham Palace, Greenwich. Once so
glorious, most of the square-moated
palace had been destroyed, leaving just
the windowless and roofless Great Hall
— used as a barn — and some of the
moat and bridges.
In 1933, the Courtaulds took a 99-year
lease from the Crown. Astonishingly
they were allowed to build what they
liked, as long as they restored the Great
Hall. Inconceivable today, but it led to
the audacious creation that quickly
13
EVENING STANDARD WEDNESDAY 1 APRIL 2015
The dining room is equally dramatic,
with its bold, key-pattern black and
silver-leaf doors decorated with
animals from the five continents, a
coved aluminium leaf ceiling, and pink
dining chairs.
Period pieces:
the Eltham
Palace shop has
a range of Art
Deco-inspired
homeware
including this
teapot, £55, and
teacup and
saucer £17.99.
Chunky black
Thirties-style
telephones
are £49.99
Following a £1.7 million restoration by
English Heritage, previously unseen
rooms are on show. They include
Virginia’s walk-in wardrobe, the
basement with its superior bomb
shelter kitted out with plenty of beds,
a billiards room decorated with murals,
and a map room.
Sadly, the Second World War put the
philanthropic Courtaulds off Eltham,
particularly after three direct hits.
In 1944 they decamped, first to
Scotland, which was too cold for Jongy,
then to Zimbabwe, where they built a
house called La Rochelle. Stephen died
there in 1967.
After the Courtaulds left Eltham, the
Army took it over.
This extraordinary home, every inch
of which tells the vivid life of its owners,
still rings — almost — to dance music
piped through loudspeakers, and the
crystal clink of cocktail glasses.
O For full details visit english-heritage.
org.uk/visit/places/eltham-palace-andgardens/
Stunning: Eltham Palace is surrounded
by 19 acres of magnificent gardens
DAVID BULTLER/ENGLISH HERITAGE
Hers: Virginia’s en suite bathroom,
decked out in onyx and pure gold
All aboard: Stephen and Virginia
Courtauld on their yacht, right, where
their ring-tailed lemur, Jongy, above,
had its own striped deckchair
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followed. This immense house, complete with all its mod cons and extensive use of unusual woods including
pear and sycamore, not to mention the
huge concrete dome in the hall, studded with circles of glass, took just three
years to design and build.
On completion, the bi-winged house,
coming off its central circular hall, was
compared to a cigarette factory but, in
fact, the building, nestled in its gardens, rather resembles a Hollywoodinspired château.
The stunning circular hall/drawing
room designed by Swedish architect
Rolf Engströmer is bigger and brighter
than you expect, with its re-woven
Marion Dorn carpet, chic loose-covered white armchairs and complex
marquetry. Most of the other interiors
were by the eccentric Italian interior
designer, Marchese Peter Malacrida.
His: Stephen’s bathroom, entirely
covered with handmade turquoise tiles
ENGLISH HERITAGE
DAVID BULTLER/ENGLISH HERITAGE
ENGLISH HERITAGE
Imposing figures: marquetry panels
in the entrance hall depict a Roman
soldier and Viking guarding the room
DAVID BULTLER/ENGLISH HERITAGE
Interiors Homes & Property
homesandproperty.co.uk with
16
WEDNESDAY 1 APRIL 2015 EVENING STANDARD
Homes & Property Easter projects
homesandproperty.co.uk with
On the house
Find your style. There are plenty of experts in London’s
shops who will help you with interiors advice for free —
or almost. Barbara Chandler has done the legwork
■AMERICAN BEAUTY
Interior design advice is free, including
a home visit at the colourful and
eclectic American store West Elm in
the West End. Five in-store home
stylists have plenty of catalogues and
samples, and can put together a
room design on their computers.
A home visit that include plans and
mood boards is also free. Consultant
Alex Shaw says: “We love adding a
contemporary touch to London’s
period terrace homes.”
West Elm, Tottenham Court
Road, W1 (020 7637 9150);
visit westelm.co.uk
Cosy green: woodwork, Green Smoke Estate Eggshell
walls, Castle Gray Modern Emulsion, both from F&B
■SHADES OF GLORY
FARROW & BALL colours
and gradations of shades
are truly impressive.
Get help to sort out a
room scheme for free at
the company’s 10 London
showrooms, and browse
its gorgeous hand-printed
wallpapers. Or book a
home visit at £195 an hour,
with a £50 voucher towards
paint. “We stick to offering
advice on colour schemes
and patterns. That is our
strength,” says consultant
Joa Studholme.
O Visit farrow-ball.com.
The Farrow & Ball flagship
store is on Fulham Road,
SW3 (020 7351 0273); also
in Notting Hill, Islington,
Marylebone, Hampstead,
Battersea, Wimbledon,
Richmond and Blackheath.
■DANISH DELIGHTS
BoConcept furniture stores are wellknown in Denmark. Now they have
five stores in London where design
advice is free, including a home visit.
Their style is contemporary and
clean-cut, with a huge range of
furniture, furnishings and accessories. Bring your room plans to a store
and a specialist will draw up a 3D
plan on the spot. Or book a home
visit, where a designer will measure
up. A finished plan includes colours
and ideas for customised furniture.
BoConcept, Tottenham Court Road,
W1 (020 7388 2447); also in Notting
Hill, Finchley Road, Battersea and
Kingston, with concessions in
Harrods and Selfridges.
■SMART PAINT-MAKERS
Paint giant Dulux offers an interior
design service. Audrey Whelan,
based in Islington, is one of three
designers covering London.
Whelan explains how colour makes
a difference, and tackles space
planning and furniture, wall
coverings, flooring, lighting and
accessories.
An initial in-home consultation is
free, after which a personal Dulux
Design Pack costs £295 a room. Then
take over yourself, or their designer
will source and buy at agreed fees.
See duluxdesignservice.co.uk; or
email [email protected]
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17
EVENING STANDARD WEDNESDAY 1 APRIL 2015
Easter projects Homes & Property
homesandproperty.co.uk with
■A QUICK REFRESH
■FLAMBOYANT
FOR modern design, Heal’s on
Tottenham Court Road offers a free
20-minute consultation from one
of 10 trained staff. Explore each
stylist’s profile on the store website
first. Longer consultations cost
£25 an hour. Or you can book a
home visit for £200, refundable on
orders of more than £10,000.
“Lots of customers want to know
how to handle open-plan family
rooms,” says designer Siofra Murphy.
It is handled with aplomb here with
an Ercol Romana dining table, from
£1,450.
O Heal’s, Tottenham Court Road,
W1; email [email protected]
INTERIOR designer Shaun Clarkson
made his name with flamboyant
hotels and restaurants. Now you can
steal his style through a new service
at his colourful shop in Pitfield Street,
N1. Advice is free in the shop, but a
second consultation costs £150. It
includes samples, a mood board and
space planning. This fee is refundable
if you spend £1,500 or more.
Here, Clarkson mixes revamped
furniture with modern furnishings in
a scheme for a client in Stockwell,
south London.
O Shaun Clarkson, Pitfield St, N1
(pitfieldlondon.com).
■TRIED AND TESTED
JOHN LEWIS has four
furnishing advisers on
Oxford Street, where a free
advice session typically
takes 90 minutes, but the
waiting list is more than
a week.
Alternatively, a consultant
can visit your home,
followed by a session instore, after which orders
are streamlined. This
service costs £200, which is
refundable against what
you buy. “Storage is a big
concern for Londoners,”
says Tony Berardis, a home
designer at Oxford Street
for nine years.
Featured here is the
Semarang Petite Sofa in
Pier Steel, £750; Ikat
cushion, £25; Figueria
cushion, £30; Berber
rug (230cm x 60cm), £349,
and Patagonia curtain
fabric at £25 a metre, all
from John Lewis.
O Visit johnlewis.com/
our-services
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20
WEDNESDAY 1 APRIL 2015 EVENING STANDARD
Homes & Property My home
CHARLES HOSEA
homesandproperty
Family ties: George and Helen spend some quality time at home with baby Ilaria
Goodbye to
the Stokey
horror show
Y
Show-stopper: an impressive, large front door and Juliet balcony give the property a classy look
OU MAY well have heard the
expression, “get the house,
get the girl”. Well, in architect
George Bradley’s case, he
didn’t expect the magic to
work quite so fast. Helen, the girl he first
dated in 2006 — on the very day he
moved into his new, “horrid” little house
in Stoke Newington — became his wife,
and is now mother of their 13-week-old
baby, Ilaria.
But that “horrid” house today looks
completely different, and there is quite
a story to tell, not only of making something out of very little, but of taking what
some might call a foolhardy leap into the
unknown.
In 2003, before Helen arrived on the
scene, two architectural students,
George, now 35, and Dutch-Belgian Ewald
Van Der Straeten, 32, became friends and
kept in touch after Ewald took a job in
Norway.
Three years later, George went house
hunting in Stoke Newington. Every agent
laughed at his small budget. Then one
showed him a picture of a 670sq ft
property that had been poorly converted
from an old workshop into a cramped
house over three floors. He only went to
look out of desperation. “The moment I
saw it, as an architect I knew it was a
steal,” says George. He agreed to pay the
£275,000 price on the spot.
With its tiny footprint and no outside
space, except a charming granite-setted
carriageway, the brick building had two
rooms squeezed on to each of the two
lower floors, with an extra bedroom
George Bradley
and a fellow architect
worked magic on
a ‘horrid house’ in
Stoke Newington
using plywood and
imaginative design.
By Philippa Stockley
lurking under the roofing eaves. There
were doors everywhere, and an awkward spiral staircase in a corner. It was
cramped, dark, over-divided and running with condensation — as well as
mice. Even the French windows on the
first-floor Juliet balcony were rotten.
CALLING CARD
After a while, Helen moved in and,
despite the state of the house, the couple
lived there happily for three years, during which they hatched a plot. George
would gut and totally rework the space,
with Ewald as his partner.
Both George and Ewald were fed-up of
working for big companies and never
meeting their clients, so they threw in
their current jobs, set up an architectural
practice and “went for it”. To save
Tall story: a once-dark space now makes
dramatic use of available natural light
21
EVENING STANDARD WEDNESDAY 1 APRIL 2015
My home Homes & Property
y.co.uk with
On the map: tall ceilings give a feeling
of grandure without being wasted
Gold fever: plywood gives the house a feeling of warmth, above. George’s friend
and business partner, Ewald Van Der Straeten, checks out the balcony, left
Tasteful: while the house was built to
a budget, quality fittings were used
money, they decided to do all the work
themselves, knowing that a hands-on
project would teach them building skills,
and make a terrific calling card for their
new practice.
However, this is where it got risky. To
make ends meet, Helen and George ran
a food stall called Pomodori in Brick
Lane and St Katharine Docks, while
Ewald, who had moved back to London,
rented a room and worked in a bar.
They drew up and submitted plans.
And then the bomb fell. To their horror,
they were told that the property wasn’t
registered as residential. “That was a
scary moment,” says Ewald with understatement. Unfazed, however, George
proved to the planners that it had been
residential for the four years, and they
agreed to a change of use. But that took
six months.
Finally, in 2011, they were able to start
work. After such a long wait they demolished the whole interior in two weeks,
discovering along the way that the condensation problem had been caused by
poor insulation and a lack of air
bricks.
Then building work started — Helen
wisely staying out of the maelstrom.
They decided to clad the whole interior
in plywood. The warm, gold wood was
deemed to be not only attractive, but
marble. And, when it came to covering
over the thousands of screw holes in the
ply, instead of using wood filler, they
hand-cut plywood plugs.
“It was a conveyor belt,” says Ewald.
“George was cutting them, I was fitting
and sanding. It took two weeks.”
Two weeks? Yes, two weeks. But attention to detail is what makes all the difference here because in such a small space
you can’t waste an inch, or bodge anything. There are cupboards everywhere
— there’s even a small loft space for
duvets, and cellar space for the plumbing. Not a jot is wasted. Ilaria even has
her own personal baby-changing cupboard in the top bedroom. And every
single cupboard is perfectly cut, sprung
and finished.
Intelligent space: the top bedroom even
includes a baby-changing cupboard
had great sound insulation qualities.
They had a terrific idea to build a detailed
plywood staircase rising up through the
centre, and all rooms were connected
by floor-to-ceiling pocket doors that
could be left open, instantly creating an
open-plan, airy feel. For a harmonious
look they used engineered oak on the
floors, with external-grade solid timber
outside. They changed the ordinary front
door for a big, tall opaque-glazed door
— a relatively simple thing that makes
everything feel grander and lighter.
CONVEYOR BELT
Endless deliveries of different grades of
plywood started arriving with alarming
regularity and, as Ewald points out,
everything had to be cut to “within a
millimetre”.
Often working seven days a week, they
used only the tools they could buy from
regular DIY shops. “We didn’t even have
a work bench,” laughs George, “we used
an old picnic table.”
They also made the kitchen and the
bathroom. Some things they could not
make but, perhaps because they were
architects, they would not accept anything as second best. When a cheap
plastic shower tray arrived they took one
look at it and bought an expensive
ceramic one. In the kitchen, though, all
the cupboards were simple ply-covered
carcases, the top a good-quality Coriantype composite that resembled Carrara
W
HAT’S particularly nice
about this house is that,
at the end of the job,
when mere mortals
would be utterly
exhausted, the two architects found
they had fallen in love with architecture
again.
After a year-and-a-half, George and
Helen moved back in and carried on
finishing odds and ends for another year
after that. So a job like this isn’t something you do on a whim, but the result
— quirky, hand-made to the last detail
and utterly bespoke — really is rather
special.
26
WEDNESDAY 1 APRIL 2015 EVENING STANDARD
Homes & Property Outdoors
, !$-$,"/
Above, from
left: transform
tired wood
planters and
window boxes
with two coats
of outdoor
paint; create a
display stand
for potted
plants by
painting a pair
of step
ladders; give
metal, as well
as wood, a new
coat for spring
with Ronseal’s
hardwearing
Garden Paint
G
ETTING the garden in
shape after a long winter
can be less than thrilling,
but there are a whole new
raft of products that offer
fast results for time-poor townies. For
instance, if getting on your hands and
knees with a trowel for several hours
holds little appeal, grab your weeding
weapons at the nearest garden centre,
and you won’t even need to stoop.
Hozelock’s Green Power Thermal
Weeder is a modern take on the blowtorch school of gardening. Instead of a
flame, the long wand, at the press of a
button, delivers a thermal shock that
destroys weeds in paths and paving.
There’s no danger of killing the family
cat or burning your toes, as a protective
cone at the base allows you to target
the weed in isolation.
For beds and borders, Burgon & Ball’s
Weed Slice is a revolutionary quick-acting hoe with a compact, arrow-shaped
steel head that exceptionally cuts on
both the push and pull strokes so,
hoorah, cuts weeding time by half.
WEED OUT EXTRA STRESS
++
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$
GAP PHOTOS/FRIEDRICH STRAUSS
GAP PHOTOS
GAP PHOTOS
homesandproperty.co.uk with
RHS-endorsed:
let the spade
take the strain
as Burgon &
Ball’s stainless
steel tools
make light
work of
digging
Ditch the unwieldy loppers and use just
one pair of secateurs for all kinds of
pruning, from slim stems to small
branches. Ratchet system secateurs
from Jardin de France can cut through
branches of up to 20mm diameter, and
the gradual cutting system — four small
squeezes on the handle instead of a
single, strenuous one — means you
exert less force, so is especially useful
for weak grips like mine.
Meanwhile, what we all need, especially at this time of year, is a spade that
Just think of
the results
With the latest garden tools, getting a London
garden into shape just got that bit easier
Pattie
Barron
to any grubby outdoor surface and lose
the scrubbing brush. The rain activates
the product and obligingly does the
clean-up job for you — but over time.
SHOW YOUR TRUE COLOURS
If getting on your hands and
knees with a trowel holds
little appeal, grab weeding
weapons at the garden centre
slices through soil like a knife through
butter, so you can dig without breaking
a sweat or breaking your back.
Burgon & Ball’s classic border spade
is endorsed by the RHS and has a stainless steel, rust-resistant head that
moves cleanly through soil, has a wide
‘tread’ to prevent foot stress and is an
absolute breeze to clean.
Of course, if you adopt the effective
no-dig policy for your garden borders,
raised beds or veg plot, you won’t need
a spade at all. You simply spread a 5cmdeep mulch of Growing Success’s No
Dig Soil Improver on the surface of the
soil, and let the worms do the rest.
This organic compost, available from
any garden centre this spring, will suppress weeds and, more importantly for
Londoners with heavy clay soil, helps
break down clay so it is more workable.
Give grubby outdoor furniture, steps,
paths and paving a speedy clean-up
with a high pressure washer.
Karcher’s Waterwise-approved range
can be used with harvested water from
a water butt and is purported to have
up to 35 times more power than a garden hose. Less forcefully, apply Wet &
Forget, an algae and mould remover,
Ubiquitous fencing in regulation
brown can be transformed with a lick
of paint, unifying disparate panels.
Copy the designers’ trick and use a
dark colour that will make all that
wood less obtrusive and provide an
effective backdrop for planting, but
note that a garden stain will fade and
needs annual reapplication.
Instead, use a weatherproof paint
that is rainproof within an hour
and will give a more opaque and
protective finish. Ronseal’s hardwearing Garden Paint, in 24 shades
from Elderflower to Blackbird, can
also be used to give everything in the
garden, barring plants, a shiny new
springtime coat — metal benches or
watering cans, wooden dining tables,
the garden shed, terracotta pots and
even brickwork and stone. Now that’s
what I call versatile.
GREAT GARDEN HELPERS
O Hozelock: hozelock.com
O Burgon & Ball: burgonandball.com
O Jardin de France: jardin-defrance.
com
O Growing Success: www.williamsinclair.co.uk
O Karcher: karcher.co.uk
O Wet & Forget: wetandforget.co.uk
O Ronseal: ronseal.co.uk
O For outdoor events this month, visit
homesandproperty.co.uk/events
O Gardening queries? Email our RHS
expert at expertgardeningadvice@
gmail.com
28
WEDNESDAY 1 APRIL 2015 EVENING STANDARD
Homes & Property Property searching
homesandproperty.co.uk with
Spotlight
West Hampstead
It’s easy to
fall in love
with these
neighbours
This village-feel suburb is popular
with families looking to make
local friends and put down roots,
discovers Anthea Masey
In tune:
Mark Pedus,
owner of Pro
Arte Stringed
Instruments in
Broadhurst
Gardens
Divine
inspiration:
St James Church
in Sherriff Road is
now a community
hub with a post
office and
children’s soft
play area
T
HEY’RE a close-knit bunch
in West Hampstead. Residents will tell you of the
strong sense of community
that is enjoyed and shared
in this north-west London suburb.
For a start, there is the extraordinary
St James Church on the corner of West
End Lane and Sherriff Road that has
been converted into a community
hub with a post office, a café and a
children’s soft play area. It’s a model
that could be adopted by many of the
capital’s under-used churches.
Then there is the local digital newspaper, West Hampstead Life, that keeps
residents up-to-date on issues of the
day, such as a fight over plans to build
a school and flats on an industrial
estate. The site also features the filmmaking efforts of local resident and
actor Edward Petherbridge. His most
recent short film is a celebration of the
unsung heroines of the suffragette
movement who lived in the area.
Estate agent James Ripp, of Kinleigh
Folkard & Hayward, says: “People come
here for the good transport links, the
cafés, restaurants and pubs along West
End Lane, and the good schools, plus
we’re not far from Hampstead Heath.
They then discover there is a real sense
of community.”
West Hampstead is five miles northwest of central London, with Golders
Green to the north, Hampstead to the
north-east, Belsize Park to the east,
South Hampstead to the south and
Kilburn to the west.
THE PROPERTY SCENE
The district has Victorian, Edwardian
and Twenties houses, mansion flats and
period conversions. Price per square
foot is about £900, which is cheaper
than nearby Hampstead or Belsize Park.
Properties in the best roads such as
Crediton Hill, where Emma Thompson
lives opposite her mother, fellow actress
Phyllida Law, sell for about £4 million.
Victorian terrace houses in the “Greek”
roads — such as Achilles Road and
Ulysses Road — sell for between £1.8
million and £2 million. Homes in the
“African” roads, including Asmara and
Somali Roads, go for similar prices.
A spacious two- or three-bedroom
mansion flat in Harvard Court starts at
about £800,000 and a two-bedroom
flat in Yale Court, where the flats are
smaller, from about £550,000. Period
conversions are common — one with a
garden starts at about £650,000.
Staying power: Ripp says many
people put down roots and scale the
West Hampstead property ladder.
To find a home in West Hampstead, visit
homesandproperty.co.uk/westhampstead
£3.75 MILLION
£3.45 MILLION
£1.69 MILLION
£875,000
A SIX-BEDROOM house with 3,900sq ft of living
space and a 120ft south-facing garden in
Goldhurst Terrace NW6 (Benham & Reeves).
O homesandproperty.co.uk/goldhurst
THIS new four-bedroom family home in College
Crescent NW3 features four floors and comes with
a panoramic roof terrace (Goldschmidt & Howland).
O homesandproperty.co.uk/colcres
A THREE-BEDROOM flat in an attractive mansion
block in West End Lane NW6, with a modern
interior and Gaggenau kitchen (Foxtons).
O homesandproperty.co.uk/westendlane
THIS two-bedroom apartment in Greville Road
NW6 has a large, bright family room opening
directly on to a garden (Marsh & Parsons).
O homesandproperty.co.uk/greville
29
EVENING STANDARD WEDNESDAY 1 APRIL 2015
Property searching Homes & Property
homesandproperty.co.uk with
Focal point:
popular
West End Lane,
left, has a
village-like feel
with a bustling
café culture and
thriving shops
CHECK THE STATS
■WHAT HOMES COST
BUYING IN WEST HAMPSTEAD
(Average prices)
One-bedroom flat £516,000
Two-bedroom flat £757,000
Three-bedroom house £1.17 million
Four-bedroom house £1.96 million
Tea for two:
Andre Millodot,
right, owner of
The Wet Fish
Café in West End
Lane, with a
customer
Source: Zoopla
RENTING IN WEST HAMPSTEAD
(Average rates)
One-bedroom flat £1,531 a month
Two-bedroom flat £2,034 a month
Three-bedroom house £2,930 a month
Four-bedroom house £4,521 a month
Source: Zoopla
GO ONLINE FOR MORE
O The best schools in and around
West Hampstead
O All the latest local housing
developments
O The best streets
O How this area compares with the
rest of the UK on house prices
O Smart maps to plot your
property search
HAVE YOUR SAY
WEST HAMPSTEAD
Have a butchers:
the Hampstead
Butcher &
Providore in
West End Lane is
a delicatessen,
charcuterie, wine
shop and grocer
SHOPS AND RESTAURANTS
West End Lane and Mill Lane are good
places to hang out for a coffee, go for
lunch or enjoy an evening meal.
Wired is an artisan coffee shop in
Broadhurst Gardens. The Wet Fish
Café, in a former fishmongers in West
End Lane, is a local institution and
describes itself as a café and brasserie,
while The Alice House gastropub has
venues in West End Lane and nearby
Queen’s Park.
The Kitchen Table is an independent
café that uses seasonal ingredients to
prepare a daily changing menu. Also
in Mill Lane is Bake-a-Boo, which
describes itself as a bake shop, tea
room and party parlour, and the Curled
Leaf tea house. Chain restaurants in
West End Lane include Nando’s,
Banana Tree and Gourmet Burger
Kitchen. A Sainsbury’s Local, Tesco
Express and Little Waitrose are ideal
for grocery shopping, and The Hampstead Butcher & Providore opened
recently, offering free-range meats,
artisan deli goods, wines and a range
of hampers.
The fashion for home sewing and
knitting is catered for at The Village
Haberdashery, which also has an
online business, while Achillea is a
quirky flower shop. Both are in Mill
Lane. The independent West End Lane
Books carries a stock of more than
10,000 titles. A thriving farmers’ market occupies the Thameslink station
forecourt on Saturday mornings.
Open space: there are two greens — in
West End Lane and Fortune Green
Road, the latter having an active
friends’ group. The 790 acres of
Hampstead Heath with its three openair swimming ponds and a lido are not
far away.
Leisure and the arts: Camden Arts
Centre on the corner of Arkwright Road
and Finchley Road is a leading contemporary art gallery. Nearby theatres and
cinemas include the Tricycle Theatre
in Kilburn, Hampstead Theatre in Swiss
Cottage, two branches of the Everyman
cinema in Hampstead and Belsize Park,
and a Vue multiplex cinema at the O2
shopping centre in Finchley Road.
For sport, Cumberland Lawn Tennis
Club and Hampstead Cricket Club are
@WHampstead Wet Fish, Guglee and
One Sixty are all good restaurants.
Cocoa Bijoux is a great choc shop and
La Brocca an excellent bar with jazz.
in Alvanley Gardens, while the nearest
council swimming pool is at Swiss
Cottage.
Travel: West Hampstead has three
stations. West Hampstead Underground is on the Jubilee line with trains
to the West End and Canary Wharf,
while the new West Hampstead
Thameslink station offers services to
St Pancras, Farringdon and City
Thameslink. West Hampstead railway
station has trains to Stratford.
All three stations are in Zone 2 and an
annual travelcard to Zone 1 costs
£1,284.
Council: Camden is Labour controlled
and Band D council tax is £1,336.81.
Photographs Daniel Lynch
@philip_trotter @TheAlliancePub
best local, @WELBooks awesome
bookshop, @AchilleaFlowers best
flowers and @SherriffCentre for
Hullabaloo soft play.
@kitchentablenw6 @MOAgallery
for art and tattoos, @AchilleaFlowers
for blooms, @ViniViviWines for booze
and @bakeaboo for pretty cakes.
@ubernista Great coffee, lunch
and dinner @TheWetFishCafé. Wine
with friends in the back garden
@TheBlackLionNW6. @waitrose
for shopping.
NEXT WEEK: Kenington. Do
you live there? Tell us what
you think @HomesProperty
TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE
Bath time: a quirky garden in Crediton Hill, where properties can fetch £4 million
Welcome break: Alketa Mripa, owner of the Curled Leaf tea house in Mill Lane
For more about West Hampstead, visit homesandproperty.co.uk/spotlightwesthampstead
F
Who links West Hampstead with
Liverpool? There is a clue in the picture.
Find the answer online at
homesandproperty.co.uk/spotlightwesthampstead
30
WEDNESDAY 1 APRIL 2015 EVENING STANDARD
Homes & Property Ask the expert
homesandproperty.co.uk with
What’s happened to the furniture I bought?
Fiona
McNulty
WHAT’S
YOUR
PROBLEM?
OUR LAWYER ANSWERS
YOUR QUESTIONS
Q
WE HAVE just bought a
penthouse flat and,
though we completed a
couple of months ago, as
we don’t live in the UK, we have
only just visited the apartment for
the first time. We agreed to buy the
furniture on the roof terrace and a
separate balcony, but when we got
there the furniture was missing.
We paid the sellers £10,000 for
the furniture by a transfer to their
joint bank account. We have since
been unable to contact them and
have no forwarding address. What
can we do?
A
CONTACT the solicitor who
acted for you during the
sale and explain what has
happened. Your solicitor
should have given you a copy of the
Law Society fittings and contents
form supplied by the sellers, which
should have listed all the items in the
sale price and also those excluded,
and may have mentioned any items
that the sellers were prepared to
sell to you. Had your solicitor known
you intended to buy the outdoor
furniture, then that could have been
reflected in the contract.
Your solicitor could have collected
the monies due from you for those
items as part of the completion funds
and paid them to the sellers’
solicitors on completion.
The difficulty now is proving the
agreement you had with the sellers,
but at least you can prove the transfer
of funds into their bank, although
that does not necessarily prove the
terms of your agreement with them.
Your solicitor can contact the
solicitors who acted for the sellers,
but they may no longer be acting for
them. If the situation cannot be
resolved, you may have to take court
action against the sellers, provided
you can trace them. Contact the
selling agents to see if they can help.
IF YOU have a
question for
Fiona McNulty,
please email
legalsolutions@
standard.co.uk
or write to Legal
Solutions, Homes
& Property,
London Evening
Standard, 2 Derry
Street, W8 5EE.
We regret that
questions cannot
be answered
individually, but
we will try to
feature them
here. Fiona
McNulty is legal
director in the
real estate
team of Foot
Anstey LLP
(footanstey.com)
More legal
Q&As
Visit: homesand
property.co.uk
Q
LAST June, I moved out of a flat I had shared
with a co-tenant for almost eight years. He
continued to rent the property, this time with
his girlfriend. I’ve emailed the landlords
repeatedly to recover my deposit of £500, but they
claim it’s up to my former housemate to reimburse me
—though I do not think the deposit has been repaid to
him. The ex-housemate ignores my emails. Who
should repay my deposit? My share of the deposit was
paid to the agency acting for the landlords, and both
shares of the rent were paid from my bank account.
A
YOUR tenancy appears to have begun some time in
2006 or 2007. The date your tenancy started is
important because if you and your co-tenant
entered into an assured shorthand tenancy after
April 6, 2007, your landlord or his agent should have placed
your deposit in a government-backed deposit scheme.
If this was the case, then you should be able to get your
deposit back provided you did not breach the terms of
your agreement, damage the property and you were not
in arrears with your rent.
If there is a dispute, then your deposit is protected
within the tenancy deposit scheme until the dispute is
resolved and the scheme can arbitrate and make an
award. Landlords can have a liability to pay to a tenant up
to three times the deposit for failing to lodge it in a scheme.
If your tenancy with your co-tenant was entered into
prior to that date, then your deposit does not need to
have been protected. In this case, your claim is against the
landlord and you can issue a claim in the small claims court.
O These answers can only be a very brief commentary on
the issues raised and should not be relied on as legal advice.
No liability is accepted for such reliance. If you have similar
issues, you should obtain advice from a solicitor.
RESIDENTIAL
We see
the future
NEW RESIDENTIAL THINKING
Land sales, Funding, Development consultancy, International marketing, New homes, Research,
Prime sales and lettings, Valuation
020 3627 0918
JLL.CO.UK/NEW-HOMES
34
WEDNESDAY 1 APRIL 2015 EVENING STANDARD
Homes & Property New homes
Great combo: good
schools, new homes
Smart
S
Sma
mar
mart
m
m
By David Spittles
Prized plots
on way up
FAMILIES put down roots in Putney
because schools are good, gardens
are large and houses are cheaper
than those in Parson’s Green, just
across the Thames.
Now, a cache of new flats is
attracting singles and couples,
mainly City career professionals
and downsizers.
On one side of the busy Putney
High Street lies a wedge-shaped
neighbourhood bounded by the river
and 400-acre Putney Heath.
Land released by listed Ark
Academy, a highly praised local
school, has paved the way for
Putney Rise, a scheme of 125
apartments and 30 townhouses set
amid landscaped communal gardens.
Flats cost from £515,000 and
houses from £1.075 million. Call
Barratt on 0844 811 4334.
U
BERHAUS is a collection
of intelligently designed
split-level homes at Acton
Gardens, a new 2,500home quarter being built
close to the Crossrail station in this
up-and-coming west London district.
Designed by RIBA prize-winner
Alison Brooks Architects, the two
floors are linked by an external as
well as internal staircase, allowing
for an enclosed sunken patio off the
kitchen and living space at ground
level, with steps leading to a spacious
first-floor terrace that can also be
reached from the upstairs bedrooms.
The apartments have their own front
door facing the street, rather than
being reached via a hotel-like corridor,
making them feel even more like a
house. Prices from £625,000 to
£850,000. Call 020 8993 6923.
homesandproperty.co.uk with
35
EVENING STANDARD WEDNESDAY 1 APRIL 2015
New homes Homes & Property
homesandproperty.co.uk with
Cycle
haven
for City
types
NEW homes are sprouting in
Zone 1 along the Blackfriars Mile,
which is part of the new cycle
superhighway from Elephant
& Castle to King’s Cross.
Building has started on this
boulevard-like section, which
will have a safe, “segregated”
route for cyclists and an enlivened
parade of shops and cafés,
improving life for pedal-pushing
young professionals.
Bikes make up more than half of
all traffic crossing Blackfriars
Bridge during the morning and
evening peak hours, with most
riders heading to and from the City
and the fast-growing “Midtown”
employment centre around
Holborn and Farringdon.
The Residence is the first of
more than a dozen new schemes
coming to this river-hugging
neighbourhood. Comprising
86 flats with new shops at street
level, prices start at £765,000 for
two-bedroom duplexes. Call
Linden on 0844 644 2514.
The Chroma Buildings, left,
in Lancaster Street is a
redevelopment of former
Colorama print works.
This has 40 flats in two low-rise
blocks. Prices from £575,000.
Call developer Fabrica on 0800
083 3199.
READ ALL ABOUT IT DIMBLEBY HOUSE TURNED INTO FLATS
Read more: visit
our new online
luxury section
HomesAndProperty.co.uk/luxury
WELL before the Dimbleby dynasty
became a broadcast legend, the
family owned a publishing business
in south-west London.
For four generations the Richmond
and Twickenham Times newspaper
was published from Wickham
House in King Street in Richmond’s
town centre.
The Dimbleby family sold up in
2001 and the newspaper was moved
out so the building could be sold for
redevelopment into eight smart
apartments, named after renowned
20th century writers such as Conrad
and Orwell.
The interior design picks up on the
building’s industrial past, with steel
staircases and metallic walls, while a
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striking new mural depicting printing
presses adorns the foyer.
New homes in Richmond town
centre are rare, so these are likely to
be popular. Prices start at £525,000.
Call estate agent Featherstone Leigh
on 020 8940 1575.
With its royal roots, the Thamesside town is one of the capital’s most
coveted addresses. It is in no real
sense a suburb, having a densely
packed centre and feeling like inner
London with its Tube station.
Plus it enjoys a truly unique setting
— bounded by an enormous park
with 2,500 acres of primeval English
landscape, a river promenade and a
superb vista from its Hill, a prospect
protected by an Act of Parliament.
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36
WEDNESDAY 1 APRIL 2015 EVENING STANDARD
Homes & Property Inside story
homesandproperty.co.uk with
General election?
Don’t let it put
your life on hold
MONDAY
I’m very excited to be joining the
rapidly expanding Residential Developments & Investments team at Marsh
& Parsons as a new homes sales consultant.
Full of positivity, I take on an instruction from a well-known Asian developer in east London. This is perfectly
timed with the opening of our new
office in Shoreditch, and I predict the
development will be the jewel in our
crown.
This afternoon I meet a jet-lagged US
client who is in the UK to review plans
and specifications for an exclusive
penthouse development. The views
and surrounding 30 acres of parkland
are a pleasant surprise.
Diary of
an estate
agent
about the general election. My advice?
Don’t put your life on hold — you might
miss out on the property you love.
Meanwhile, I’m working hard to
exchange on two properties I sold offplan on our Queens Park Penthouses
scheme.
ments haven’t proved too much of a
hardship — the specification speaks for
itself as the open day is booked solid.
It’s perfect weather for my busy afternoon of viewings. I usher clients
ahead of me — gallant behaviour that
cunningly disguises my hobbling.
FRIDAY
WEDNESDAY
My lunch meeting today is spent with
one of London’s largest mainstream
developers, discussing the UK and
overseas property markets, as well as
the benefits of buying new-build developments off-plan. It’s always good to
catch up with people in the business
and find out what they’re working on.
There is also the company-wide endof-month meeting this evening. I am
proud to report two agreed sales that
contributed to a pretty decent monthend result. It’s great to meet people
from the other offices and share in
their successes. And, of course, the
generous open bar makes for a very
sociable evening.
Today’s site visits see me all over the
shop, starting in Kensington and Chelsea, then on to Bankside and finishing
up at Royal Victoria Dock. It’s worth
the legwork to keep up-to-date with
new and current developments.
Then we have leaving drinks in the
evening for a team member. We’re all
sad to see her go.
THURSDAY
TUESDAY
The spin class before work is a bit of a
shock to the system having had two
months off. My burning thighs suggest
this is a morning to be spent at my desk
preparing for the launch of our Effie
Road scheme, a boutique warehouse
development in the heart of Fulham.
Arranging viewings for the nine apart-
Today I draw on the expertise of Rose
Capital Partners to secure the best
mortgage deal for one of my clients.
They offer tax advice to overseas
investors, which is useful for my buyers
who are coming from all corners of the
globe. This afternoon I’m with a client
who is hesitating over a £2.5 million
property. He loves it, but is concerned
O Chris Griffin is a new homes
sales consultant at Marsh & Parsons
(020 7368 4832)
#&'&!!#!(!%0'!#,(#%,
We’ve saved the best until last.
It’s time to get a new view of East
London living. Our prestigious
penthouse collection is the final
release at these three superbly
connected developments.
Actual view from Pembury Circus Penthouse.
Poplar New Festival Quarter, E14 6FY
Greenwich Platinum Riverside, SE10 0SZ
Hackney Pembury Circus, E8 1JG
,!!$'&0!'+'!,%/&,)
,#'!',&'"!)0!#&!*+!%%,')'!#//
,+,!
#/.,)!&,#%'!!//!#,!,%'!(0!£654,995 #//!0845 548 8075
,#/!/!!$'&0!'+'!',)!#!+,)+
'%,%#,!!'/#!/,,)!#%%00&#,
,+,!'#!'#%+!(!##! +#(!!''
,%+,%'&!#!£839,995 #//!0845 257 6067
,)+!'%,%#,!!$'&0!'+'
('#,)!,#'!',&'"!)0!#&!%%,')'
,!#!'$!/%#,!!#/!#',%'!(0!£739,995 #//!0845 548 8035
Actual view from NFQ Penthouse.
www.bellway.co.uk
New Festival Quarter & Pembury Circus open daily 10am - 5pm.
Platinum Riverside open Sunday - Wednesday 10am - 5pm.
All developments open late night Thursday 12pm until 7pm.
,%'!%'%!#!,0'!(!),)!!'-!'%,%#,!!,'!0#!&,'-!,%'!(!,//#,'!'!/-!#'/!,0'!#&!&,#%'!#'!#,0#'!/-
38
WEDNESDAY 1 APRIL 2015 EVENING STANDARD
Homes & Property Letting on
homesandproperty.co.uk with
There’s no room for sublets in my flats
L
AST month’s Budget might
have passed you by in a
blur, but buried in there
was a statement that will
strike fear into the hearts of
all landlords — it’s going to be illegal
for us to include a blanket ban on
subletting in tenancy agreements.
It’s not clear yet whether we’ll still
be able to insist that tenants ask our
permission to sublet or whether
they’ll be given the freedom to let
rooms or even entire properties
willy-nilly.
But what the Government has said
is that it will outlaw clauses that
“expressly rule out subletting
or otherwise sharing space on a
short-term basis”.
Initially, this will apply to fixed-term
tenancies, but it is also considering
extending this to statutory periodic
tenancies, so, in theory, all tenants
will be able to sublet, even those
who are just renting on a month-bymonth basis.
The Government said: “This will
ensure that landlords always have
to consider tenants’ requests
reasonably.”
Well, yes, landlords should consider
tenants’ requests reasonably, and
personally I don’t have a problem
if a tenant renting a one-bedroom flat
wants their partner to move in or if
tenants want to sublet a flat for a
Victoria Whitlock
explores what impact
new subletting rules
might have on those
who rent properties
The
accidental
landlord
week or two while they’re on holiday,
but I hope the Government isn’t
suggesting tenants will be given carte
blanche to sublet to anyone at any
time. If so, we’re all in trouble.
My tenants often try to sneak in
extra sharers — usually boyfriends or
girlfriends — into my flat, turning it
from a property designed for four
tenants into a mini youth hostel, and
I don’t think I’m unreasonable for
promptly booting them out.
Sure, I don’t want the extra wear
and tear on my property, that’s
certainly true, but I’m more
concerned about overcrowding
and the effect this will have on the
health and safety of my tenants. This
property has only one bathroom and
one loo, which isn’t enough for more
than four people. Also, there’s only
one exit door so if, God forbid, there
was a fire and the property was
crammed full, I would worry they’d
never all get out alive.
Another concern is that if tenants
sublet, a landlord might accidentally
end up with an HMO (House in
Multiple Occupation), for which he
or she would have to apply for a
licence. This would almost certainly
be expensive and time-consuming
for a landlord.
It’s not clear yet whether landlords
would be allowed to raise the rent
if the number of tenants increased
but, if not, this would certainly
discourage them from including
energy bills in the price as they’d go
up if the occupancy levels rose.
Landlords whose tenants are
subletting might also find their
insurance premiums increase, and
some might not even be able to buy
cover as brokers aren’t terribly keen
on properties that are sublet.
And then there are the neighbours
to consider. I wonder if the
Government has thought what it
could be like living next to an
overcrowded rental property?
Also, what happens if the head
tenant leaves and the person they are
£575 a week: in Reed Place, Clapham North, a split-level two-bedroom conversion
flat is available to rent through Hamptons (homesandproperty.co.uk/alrent)
subletting to stays, who would be
responsible for the property?
And if the Government goes
ahead with plans to force landlords
to check tenants have a right to
live in the UK, who would be
responsible for checking the
immigration status of tenants who
rent from another?
This change to the law is part of the
Government’s plan for a “sharing”
economy, apparently. Well,
Chancellor George Osborne and
David Cameron can share their
properties if they want to, but they
shouldn’t expect the rest of us to
open up ours to all and sundry.
Victoria Whitlock lets three properties
in south London. To contact
Victoria with your ideas and views,
tweet @vicwhitlock
Find many more homes to rent at
homesandproperty.co.uk/lettings
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about antics
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Nip to
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FORGIVENESS BY
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