31 August 2016 - Homes and Property

Transcription

Homes&
Property
Wednesday 31 August 2016
What’s
eating
him?
London’s Biennale
Page 20
THE STAMP DUTY DISASTER P10 SUPER-CHIC FLORENCE P12 PERFECT OUTDOOR SPACE P26 SPOTLIGHT ON TWICKENHAM P30
Shaping up for
the future
Islington’s Tech City in the sky.
One of 10 new live/work districts
Page 6
London’s best property search news: homesandproperty.co.uk
WEDNESDAY 31 AUGUST 2016 EVENING STANDARD
4
Homes & Property | News
Young
artists
told to
push off
Unesco World Heritage city
Trophy
home of
the week
summon the
board to your
beautiful Bath
stone pile
REX
Y
Uncertainty: top contemporary artist Gavin Turk must leave
his Hackney Wick studio after developers bought the building
ALAMY
OUNG artists are getting the
push again after Olympic
legacy chiefs masterminding the regeneration of
Stratford decided to break
up one of London’s largest communities of creatives.
More than 100 small start-up firms
based in studios and live-work spaces
at Vittoria Wharf, a former factory
building, have been given notice to quit
next week, on September 5. The building is to be bulldozed to make way for
a new bridge over the River Lee Navigation linking the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park to Hackney Wick.
The London Legacy Development
Corporation — LLDC — bought the site
by compulsory purchase before the
2012 Olympic Games, and says the
bridge is a crucial link between the two
areas. But news of the demolition of
Vittoria Wharf comes as London is forecast to lose 3,500 artist studios in the
next five years — a third of the capital’s
creative workspaces — according to The
Art Newspaper.
Gavin Turk, one of Britain’s leading
contemporary artists, is also being
squeezed out of Hackney Wick. He has
occupied a studio near Vittoria Wharf
for a decade but the building has now
been sold to a developer, and he is waiting to hear when he must leave.
Meri Atkin, Turk’s studio manager,
said: “Hackney Wick is changing really
fast. There are hoardings for big developers everywhere. It has always been a
hub of creativity, and it still feels like a
creative place to be, but artists are being
pushed out daily.” Musician Nima Teranchi, who has had a studio at Vittoria
Wharf for two years alongside everyone
from film-makers to set designers to fine
artists to ice sculptors, said: “Artistic
Creative hub:
Hackney Wick
has been seen as
a key example
of successful
arts-led
regeneration
hubs like this have been shunted from
one area of London to another for years.
I think the danger is there isn’t anywhere
else to go now.”
The LLDC said the pedestrian and
cycle bridge was granted outline planning consent in 2012. Work is due to start
early next year. “This new bridge will
significantly improve connections
around Fish Island, Hackney Wick and
into Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park,
helping the area properly to benefit
from the regeneration investment being
made there,” said a spokeswoman.
£3.55 million: lovers of
understated Georgian
grandeur in its biscuitcoloured stone variety, will
spot instantly that this
imposing pile can’t be far
from Bath. And, of course,
they are right.
Standing on the southern
banks of the River Avon,
Avonstone is just two miles
from the centre of the
Unesco World Heritage city.
The Grade II-listed gem has
6,500sq ft of space. There’s a
magnificent double drawing
room and a wonderful
domed sitting room with
doors to a balcony, plus a
high-spec kitchen/breakfast
room that has double doors
to the gardens, a boardroom,
library, gym and wine cellar.
A luxurious master bedroom
suite and five further
bedrooms span the upper
and lower floors.
Glorious walled lavenderfilled gardens showcase
formal borders, a Japanese
garden area and a useful
detached studio. Through
Savills (01225 686082).
including six bedrooms —
three of which are en suite —
plus a generous kitchen
equipped with a range
cooker, a dining room and a
beamed study/snug with a
log burner. The 36ft sitting
room has a big open
fireplace and French
windows to a conservatory,
beyond which lie colourful
landscaped gardens for your
guests to enjoy.
It’s for sale through
Hamptons International
(01722 480 142).
Lifechanger
of the week
boutique B&B’s
got prime spot
in Wiltshire
village
£645,000: if you would love
to run a B&B, the Wylye
Valley in Wiltshire could
provide just the change of
pace you are seeking.
This Grade II-listed family
home runs as a thriving
boutique B&B and
commands prime position in
the pretty riverside village of
Heytesbury. Inside covers
more than 3,000 square feet
O Find Ruth Bloomfield’s full story at homesandproperty.co.uk
London buy of the week live the waterfront
dream with a balcony flat on the Thames in SW11
Editor:
Janice
Morley
VISIT homesandproperty.co.uk/
rules for details of our usual
promotion rules. When you
respond to promotions, offers or
competitions, the London Evening
Standard and its sister companies
may contact you with relevant
offers and services that may be of
interest. Please give your mobile
number and/or email address if
you would like to receive such
offers by text or email.
Editorial: 020 3615 2524
Advertisement manager:
Ann Finan
Advertising: 020 3615 0266
Homes & Property, Northcliffe
House, 2 Derry Street, Kensington,
London W8 5TT.
Facebook:
£700,000: there’s nothing
like living on the river when
the sun shines, so here’s your
chance to soak up some rays
at a two-bedroom flat right
on the Thames within the
Ivory & Calico Riverside
development at Clove Hitch
Quay in Battersea.
Set on the second floor, the
apartment has gorgeous
views across the Thames
from its bright, open-plan
living/kitchen/dining room
and from the master
bedroom, both with floor-toceiling glass doors to
balconies, while the second
bedroom has an en suite and
fitted wardrobes.
Concierge, 24-hour security
and free bicycle storage is
included so you can make the
most of the Thames Path.
Through Douglas & Gordon
(020 8012 3780).
ESHomesAndProperty • Twitter:
By Faye Greenslade
@HomesProperty
5
EVENING STANDARD WEDNESDAY 31 AUGUST 2016
News | Homes & Property
homesandproperty.co.uk powered by
Commute in from
Essex Tory towers
By Amira Hashish
Doctor Who house could really take off
property has bespoke
interiors with a modern
twist.
There is plenty of
room for hosting timetravelling friends, with
three large bedrooms
and bathrooms. The
reception area has
double-height
windows, while
outdoor space
includes a courtyard
garden and balcony.
É THIS recipe is not working. A
Clerkenwell warehouse conversion,
above, the setting for Jamie Oliver’s
debut TV series, The Naked Chef, is
back on the market.
The home, listed last year for
£2,695,000, failed to find a buyer
and is on sale again at £2.75 million
with Dexters.
The main body of the house is
accessed by the spiral staircase that
the star chef, below, would slide
down on his show. There is also a
gym and full-height windows
overlooking Quaker Gardens.
Around the corner from Whitecross
Street Market, it’s well-located for
foodies and City types.
Live like Penélope for £3k a night
É GLAMOROUS Hollywood husband
and wife Javier Bardem and Penélope
Cruz, below, recently holidayed at
Bougainvillea House on Great Exuma
in The Bahamas. This spectacular
seven-bedroom villa, above, sleeps
18 and has nine bathrooms, with
the ocean in front of the property
to lull you to sleep, and the private
beach on your doorstep.
Bougainvillea House was the
location for the cover shoot of
Sports Illustrated’s 2016 Swimsuit
Edition featuring martial arts star
Ronda Rousey, while actress
Glenn Close is among
a string of A-listers who
have spent luxurious
holidays there.
The villa comes
complete with its
own 10-passenger
speedboat and
captain, and
starts at £3,037 a
night — less than
£170 per person
if you fill the
place.
You’ll find the
rental details on the
TripAdvisor.com/
Vacation Rentals
website.
Got some gossip?
Tweet @amiranews
SPLASH NEWS
Homes
gossip
É DOCTOR WHO fans
are eagerly awaiting the
Blu-ray release of the
TV movie version,
starring Paul McGann
as the Time Lord,
available from
September 19.
Committed Whovians
will know that this
house in Chiswick,
right, was used as a
location for the first
episode of the cult
series in 1963. Close to
Turnham Green station,
it is now for sale at a
guide price of
£1,749,950 through
Dexters.
On the popular Glebe
Estate, the period
It needs more
dough but this
recipe isn’t working
SCOTT MCMULLEN
É A LANDMARK Grade II-listed
former Cabinet minister’s house in
the Tory stronghold of Coggeshall
Village, Essex, is on the market.
The seven-bedroom house, right,
belonged to the late Tony Newton,
who served in both Margaret
Thatcher’s and John Major’s Cabinets
and was a key figure in the Maastricht
negotiations. His widow is selling the
house, which features a mixture of
14th-, 16th- and 19th-century
architecture and sits in over an acre
of beautiful grounds. The small
market town of Coggeshall is an easy
trip to the city and at £1.4 million
through Fenn Wright, this would
make a fab family commuter home.
6
& %
! !
ׄ ׄ ׄ &' "
ׄ & & % % Homes & Property | New homes
A
MBITIOUS regeneration
changes the live-work pattern for Londoners. When
new business districts and
fresh centres of creativity
emerge in previously uncelebrated
parts of the capital they trigger new
homes — and as more people move into
these areas for walk-to-work jobs, they
leave traditional business centres such
as the West End or the City behind.
“When companies relocate, the
money follows,” says Andrew Bridges
of estate agent Stirling Ackroyd. “Developers build ever-smarter apartments,
and new bars and bistros, shops and
galleries open. The fresh vibe on the
street attracts more homebuyers.”
Having seen Shoreditch transform into
the capital’s tech and digital centre, the
agency reports that a record number of
financial services firms are now shifting
away from the Square Mile heartland as
far afield as Willesden.
A top 10 league table of where most
financial firms are based includes Camden, Lambeth, Southwark, Marylebone, Kensal Green, Hampstead and
Poplar. Even Old Kent Road, where
retail parks have set the pace, is attracting finance sector firms. Such companies in these areas now outnumber
those in the Square Mile, at 13,100
compared with 11,100.
Businesses are relocating or starting
up elsewhere not just because of the
high cost of City offices. Regeneration
has greatly boosted the appeal of districts such as Stratford, while the
improved Overground network allows
passengers to bypass central London
by travelling from any side of the capital
to another without changing trains.
The same trend is happening in the
capital’s dynamic creative sector,
which employs more than a million
people and contributes £35 billion to
the national economy, according to a
study by the Mayor of London.
$"'''
$"''
$"''''
$""'''
New business areas
GETTING CREATIVE
For more than a decade Clerkenwell
benefited from a migration of media
and design companies from Soho and
Covent Garden. Now firms are heading
further east and to south and west
London, boosting Bermondsey, Hackney, Camberwell, Deptford, Wandsworth, Hammersmith, Acton and north
Kensington.
Creative businesses tend to operate
on lower margins than big law and
accountancy firms so they actively seek
out and “make” the next hot place.
In a sense, secondary commercial
areas don’t exist anymore, suggests
David Rosen of Pilcher Hershman, a
consultancy that specialises in finding
space for creative companies.
“London is now full of creative areas.
Usually, they are the first to discover
gritty urban areas. They like the
authenticity and the interesting buildings, and the lower rents.”
From £1.65 million:
bespoke homes at
Townhouse Mews in
Goldhawk Road, W12,
an area benefiting
from White City
regeneration around
the former BBC
Television Centre
HOTSPOT HUBS
DEPTFORD
SE8 is one of London’s burgeoning
creative and small business hubs, with
enviably quick train connections — five
minutes — to London Bridge.
Railway viaducts slice through the
area, and adjacent land and factories
are being bought for housing and work
New neighbourhoods for creative, tech and
finance staff are springing up away from the
West End and City. By David Spittles
studios. Deptford Foundry, which
has 316 homes and 70 studio spaces for
artists, makes a virtue of its gritty innercity setting by using robust, industrialstyle architecture, while creating a new
central street and opening up the threeacre site by punching through listed
arches. Prices from £345,000 to
£690,000. Call 020 7526 9229.
SHEPHERD’S BUSH
Another hotspot, Shepherd’s Bush is
feeding off change at White City, where
£8 billion of investment is bringing thousands of new homes and jobs with the
former BBC Television Centre at the
heart of things. As well as apartments
in the iconic Beeb building itself, the
scheme includes an Imperial College
campus of academic excellence, a new
media village, an expanded Westfield
shopping mall with the largest-ever John
Lewis department store, green public
space and upgraded transport links.
Tucked away close to this new commercial complex is Townhouse Mews,
a scheme of contemporary-design
houses on the site of a former recording
studio. The homes range up to
2,800sq ft and have double-height,
open-plan spaces, glass walls, a roof
terrace and inner courtyard that acts
as a light well. Prices from £1.65 million.
Call Kerr & Co on 020 3723 2836.
SOUTHWARK
Southwark used to be an overspill area
for City and West End businesses, but
has become a first-choice office
address, popular with architects and
boutique financial services firms,
according to Stirling Ackroyd.
The area stretches back from the
Thames towards Elephant & Castle and
has a charming urban mix of smart newbuild flats, pretty Victorian terraces,
charitable and church housing, well
cared-for council estates, factory and
warehouse lofts and live-work homes.
The Music Box, in Union Street, is a
funky scheme of 55 flats above London
Centre of Contemporary Music. The
14-storey tower has a glazed brick base
and a geometric form of slender vertical
blades reminiscent of piano keys. It rises
elegantly on a compact site and provides splendid views of the Shard. Prices
from £737,500. Call 020 3857 3792.
7
New homes | Homes & Property
From £850,000: apartments at 250 City Road, EC1, above and right, are in two towers set in two acres of landscaped space
From £737,500: flats at The Music Box, a 14-storey scheme of 55 homes in Union Street, Southwark. Call 020 3857 3792
reshape how we live and work
Farringdon station: commuter numbers will burgeon with the Elizabeth line
STATIONS ARE NOT
JUST FOR TRAINS
Rival centres of commercial activity
are also emerging around mainline
train stations. At King’s Cross, Paddington, Euston, London Bridge, Liverpool
Street and Victoria, planners are promoting big mixed-use developments
combining homes, offices and shops
with “integrated” public transport,
making it easier for people to get to and
from work. Crossrail is boosting this
From £345,000: homes at Deptford Foundry, which also offers artists’ studios
phenomenon. At Farringdon, more
than 300,000sq ft of office space is
being built and when the Elizabeth line
opens in 2018 the number of commuters passing through the station is predicted to increase sevenfold, as it will
be the only London terminus with
integrated north-south (of the river)
and east-west routes. The changes are
lifting the veil on the ancient parish of
St Luke’s, just to the north. An 18thcentury Hawksmoor church, now a
Find a home within easy commuting distance of London
recording studio for London Symphony Orchestra, and a splendid Art
Deco public baths help to set the tone
of an area that still feels like a secret.
City University, with a campus radiating out from Georgian Northampton
Square, is one of the enduring institutions, while a small business village has
emerged in Central Street, where a
courtyard complex of buildings
includes an agency for opera singers,
charity Catch 22, a Montessori nursery
school, architects and the Contemporary Art Society. The scheme revives
the spirit of the area’s 19th-century
industrial heyday when it was filled
with small craftworking businesses —
printers, bookbinders, watchmakers
and jewellers — alongside big brewing,
gaslight and coke companies.
East Central, a crisp-design scheme
of 35 flats slotted between playing
fields and the upgraded St Luke’s Community Centre, has arrived on this
patch. Prices from £750,000. Call Stirling Ackroyd on 020 7749 3810.
Closer to Angel, a 930-home scheme
has replaced a low-rise industrial estate
and data centre. Called 250 City Road,
it includes two towers, a rooftop gym
and sky terrace, two acres of landscaped space with mature trees, ponds
and wildflower beds, offices and studios for start-up companies, shops,
cafés and restaurants, plus a four-star
hotel. Prices from £850,000. Call 020
7749 3810.
8
Homes & Property | Commuting
Leaving London
Be home in
your Kent
village in an
hour or less
Ruth Bloomfield puts the
county under the spotlight in her
search for perfect family villages
with quick commutes to London
GOUDHURST
Where is it? Within Kent’s High
Weald, between Tunbridge Wells and
Ashford.
How to get there: trains from Marden,
five miles away, take 56 minutes to
reach Charing Cross. An annual
season ticket costs from £4,428.
Plus points: the high street is pretty,
with wonky timbered buildings and
clapboard cottages. Goudhurst —
pronounce it “Gawdhurst” — is in an
elevated spot with beautiful views
over open countryside. Good local
ALAMY
Find a
home
within
easy
reach
of the
city
T
HE true antidote to
London life is a country
village. It needs to look
lovely, be thriving and
active and have reasonable
commuting access to London. In the
latest instalment of our series looking
at the top commuter destinations for
London workers, we find the best of
the capital’s satellite villages in Kent.
Bags of village charm: attractive
timbered and clapboard buildings
characterise Goudhurst, above, set in
lovely High Weald countryside, with
trains to London in under an hour
managing director of the Country
Property Group. “It is a really vibrant
village but there is something very
calming about it. It is the good life.”
Watch out for: the hills — you need
strong calf muscles to stroll around
this village. And it is popular with
tourists and day trippers, so it can get
moderately crowded.
Property prices: about £350,000 will
buy a two-bedroom cottage, while a
four-bedroom family house will cost
up to £650,000. Top-end houses at
the village edge with a bit of land
range from £1.5 million-£2 million.
BRIDGE
£1.6 million: a
handsome listed
house in Ranters
Lane, Goudhurst,
with six
bedrooms,
outbuildings
including a
separate onebedroom oast
house, and large
gardens with
rare trees.
Through Knight
Frank (01892
323036)
facilities include tennis, football and
cricket clubs, half a dozen pubs in
walking distance, several useful
village shops and a GP surgery.
This is an affluent village where the
shop sells artisanal bread and locally
smoked meats. There is a pre-school,
and the village school, Goudhurst &
Kilndown CofE Primary School, is
rated “outstanding” by Ofsted.
Seniors can go on to the topperforming Cranbrook School.
Lovely local destinations for a day
out include the National Trust’s
Scotney Castle and Sissinghurst
Castle Garden, and Bewl Water
reservoir. “It is the most sought-after
village for miles,” says Mary Stanley,
Where is it? On the edge of the Kent
Downs, less than four miles from
Canterbury.
How to get there: trains from
Canterbury to St Pancras take 56
minutes. An annual season ticket
costs from £5,172.
Plus points: despite Bridge being a
small village there are three pubs in
the High Street, plus a mini market, a
butchers and a post office. The local
£475,000: a
three-bedroom
terrace house,
above, in a pretty
setting in Plaxtol.
Call Kings (01732
677039)
£625,000: a
lovely listed
period cottage,
below, with four
bedrooms in the
heart of Bridge.
Call Colebrook
Sturrock (01227
917083)
comunity is active, organising
everything from kids’ groups to
regular farmers’ markets. Bridge and
Patrixbourne CofE Primary School
gets a “good” Ofsted report, with
some outstanding features.
“It has a community and that is
something people really enjoy,” says
Edward Church, a partner at Strutt &
Parker. “It’s got some good services,
which really helps — all these things
give it a life and soul. Bridge is rare,
in that it still has most of the basics.”
Watch out for: parts of the village
have suffered periodically from
winter flooding, most recently in
2014. Depending on wind direction
some houses get traffic noise from
the nearby A2.
Property prices: a two-bedroom
cottage costs about £250,000, and a
four-bedroom family house would be
about £500,000. At the top end, an
edge-of-village house with five or six
bedrooms and a few acres would set
you back about £1.25 million.
BENENDEN
Where is it? In the beautiful High
Weald, about 17 miles south-east of
Tunbridge Wells.
How to get there: the nearest station
is Staplehurst, seven-and-a-half miles
away. Trains to Charing Cross take an
hour, with an annual season ticket
from £4,772. It might be quicker to
drive the 16 miles to Ashford
International and get the high-speed
train to St Pancras, taking 38 minutes.
Plus points: Sarah Simmonds of
Savills calls this a “quintessentially
English” village, complete with a
beautiful church, a green, a pub, and
a quality primary school. There’s a
good village shop, run now as a cooperative by locals after it was
threatened with closure. Lovely local
towns include Tenterden.
Benenden falls within the
catchment area of Cranbrook School,
one of the UK’s best state schools,
and there is, of course, the option of
posh private Benenden girls’ school.
Watch out for: you will end up driving
everywhere, and add parking costs if
you are a commuter. If you use highspeed trains the season ticket is more
expensive, from £5,140.
Property prices: about £350,000 for a
two-bedroom cottage, from about
£850,000 for a four-bedroom family
house, and up to £2 million for a
period house in five to 10 acres.
9
Commuting | Homes & Property
ALAMY
ALAMY
Heritage: the
listed Lister Wing
of Benenden
Hospital is a
modernist
architectural
gem, built in 1937
and designed to
expose patients
to natural light
and fresh air at a
time when
tuberculosis was
common
Spoilt for choice:
Ye Olde George
Inne is one of
four village pubs
at Shoreham,
which also has
tea rooms, a
village shop and
a train station
REX
Purple patch: glorious fields of lavender in full bloom at Shoreham in Kent
£800,000: a
three-bedroom
detached barn
conversion with
an annexe in
Dingleden, about
one-and-a-half
miles from
Benenden. Call
Savills (01580
471030)
THE BEST OF THE REST
SHOREHAM: PERFECT VILLAGE
PLAXTOL: WONDERFUL VIEWS
SALES consultant Suzy Phillips, of
Winkworth, calls this the “perfect
village”. On the banks of the River
Darent, Shoreham has four pubs, a
village store, tea rooms, school, train
station and bus service. “I fell in love
with it the first time I went to show a
property there,” adds Phillips. “It is
tucked away from the main roads
and hustle and bustle of Sevenoaks
and the other nearby villages, yet it
isn’t that far from the M25.”
SMALL but perfectly formed Plaxtol
has a good primary school, a historic
church, a grocer, a butcher and a
pub. “Plaxtol is surrounded by open
countryside with many of the houses
offering wonderful views, and yet it is
still well-positioned for access to
Sevenoaks and Tonbridge,” says
Edward Rook, regional chairman of
Knight Frank. “However, you would
only go to Plaxtol to visit the village
— it is not a route to anywhere else
and therefore Plaxtol is largely
unspoilt.”
WYE: HOMES SELL QUICKLY
PRETTY, sought-after Wye is one stop
beyond Ashford International for
high-speed trains to St Pancras in
under an hour. This has been known
for a good few years by the London
crowd, so a good house here will sell
very quickly, say local agents. Wye
has tennis courts, a church and the
beautiful Wye Downs — a very
popular walking spot, which you can
walk to from the village. There are
great local pubs, plus a butchers,
bakery, village shop and post office.
UNDERRIVER: GREAT PUB
SET between the towns of Sevenoaks
and Tonbridge, Underriver is a “little
green pocket”, says Dominick Brown
of Savills, while Knight Frank’s
Edward Rook rates it for its facilities.
“It has a great pub — the White Rock
Inn — a reliable bus service, village
hall and parish church.” With
Sevenoaks three miles away you can
get to London Bridge or Charing
Cross in about half an hour.
% " &#$ $ ' # % # ' " ! # " " %
10
Homes & Property | Comment
Jitters: interest rates have been cut but property sales are down across all price brackets in parts of
prime London, Land Registry figures show. Foreign investors are buying but Britons are staying put
Following the Brexit vote, could we see stamp duty
suspended next year to revive housing sales and stop
foreign investors pricing Londoners out of the market?
There’s a precedent from 1991, says David Adams
I: A>E
K I
:O M > MH
: Q< ;N
BE A R
: :
;E G
> @
>
W
E WON’T see the true impact of
Brexit on the property market
for at least four or six months.
This is how long it takes to
launch properties at new
prices, put them under offer, exchange and
complete the sale and report the data to the
Land Registry for publication.
There is no question that a collapse in the
volume of property sales, leading to the risk of
a wider retail recession, spooked the Bank of
England into cutting interest rates. The
numbers are stark. The Land Registry has just
published April’s year-on-year figures for all
sales in each London borough. In April this
year, Kensington & Chelsea, across all price
brackets, saw sales volumes down 72 per cent
on April last year. And April 2015 was already
down 41 per cent on April 2014. The stamp duty
tax hike which caused this crash in sales was
imposed on December 3, 2014.
The tax hike hasn’t only impacted rich areas as
intended. For England as a whole, the average
number of sales for April between 2000 and
2007 was 70,000 to 80,000. April 2008 and
2009, during the “Great Recession”, produced
53,000 and 37,000 sales respectively. April
2014 recovered to normal levels at 71,000 sales.
The new tax burden introduced in December of
that year, and the further hike for investors in
April this year, led to the April 2016 sales
number for England slumping to just 42,000 —
similar to 2008, the year of global finance
collapse.
Such low sales numbers are having a
devastating effect on tax revenues: few sales
mean less stamp duty is paid. Because of this, it
would be surprising if stamp duty is reduced in
the coming Autumn Statement.
The picture is grim in London, too, where a
large proportion of English buyers have
vanished, driven away by the current high
levels of stamp duty. Sales volumes generally
have collapsed across the capital by nearly half,
with Britons preferring to stay put rather than
move and pay the tax. Last year the stamp duty
changes also led to a 15 per cent price drop in
the prime market. The same “correction” is
now cascading into London’s mid-market,
despite its not being taxed as harshly.
When former Chancellor George Osborne
massively increased tax on property above
£925,000 to 10 per cent, and reduced tax for
property below £925,000 to five per cent in
2014 — and then added a further three per cent
for investors in April this year, this may have
been an earnest attempt to cause the First Class
compartment at the front of the property train
to slow down while speeding up the following
carriages. Alas, the result was a crash in sales
volumes and not just a drop in prices at the top
end of the market.
The collapse in the volume of sales in London is
now putting pressure on the wider retail
economy as it did in 2008, and is starting to
impact on growth and investment, as well as
upon new housebuilding. The limited response
by the Bank of England has been to loosen
monetary policy. On the back of the fall in the
pound following the EU referendum and a
loosening in monetary policy, enquiries by
foreign investors are increasing. Having
compared the number of enquiries received by
its London office during the months before and
after the Brexit result on June 24, my firm, John
Taylor, found a 1,200 per cent increase in
property enquiries from prospective buyers,
80 per cent of whom had international phone
numbers.
This level of foreign interest will continue as
long as the pound is down against the dollar,
and the currency window will itself remain
until the consequences of the Brexit
negotiations become clear.
To counter this there is a large increase in
enquiries across John Taylor’s European offices
from UK buyers, as stamp duty in France is only
5.8 per cent, compared with 15 per cent in
London if you are buying a second home. The
PA
GETTY
Sorry George, your
stamp duty hike has
gone horribly wrong
‘Osborne’s actions have
caused a crash in sales
volumes and not just a
drop in top-end prices’
Algarve is also taking off, and Spain’s property
market is recovering well. Unfortunately the
influx of foreign investors does not nearly
“make up a market” or replace the number of
English investors now looking elsewhere or just
putting off moving, it simply means that we are
able to trade a little more, and that prices at the
top end don’t have to fall further. That will
remain so until we have tax reform.
A tax raid on the prime market in 2014 to stop
a price bubble in London, dampen foreign
demand and raise tax revenues, is now
producing the worst of all possible worlds.
Outcomes include: an overall collapse in sales
across England and in all price brackets,
leading to a potential wider retail recession; a
collapse in tax take, and a massive increase in
the proportion of foreign investors compared
with local buyers in central London, as they are
the only ones able to afford the tax as a result of
the declining pound. We will now see a sharp
reduction in property on the market as the
English decline to buy until there is more
political stability and tax reform.
F
ORMER Chancellor Norman Lamont
suspended stamp duty in the 1991
recession to kick-start sales.
Something similar could happen next
year. Following such a suspension,
once stamp duty is restored, it could be twotier: one tier of tax could be for UK residents on
the old stamp duty rate of five per cent, and the
other tier could apply to international investors
at a higher tax rate.
This, of course, is presently not allowed under
EU law, but following Brexit it would be an
obvious way to tackle a reduction in sales
volumes and supply, while also offering a
politically acceptable way of preventing foreign
investors from making housing in the capital
unaffordable for Londoners.
O David Adams is managing director of luxury
market estate agent John Taylor UK.
12
Homes & Property | Design destination
Find design
and style in
WHERE TO STAY
Florence
B
UILT on architecture and
fashion, Florence is a mustvisit for design inspiration.
From secret hideaways to
the hottest restaurants in
town, here is a guide to exploring this
stunning Italian city in style.
PORTRAIT FIRENZE
THE Ferragamo family dominates
Florence’s fashion and social scene
so it is only fitting that their
boutique hotels are the epitome of
Florentine style.
Their Lungarno Collection
comprises four hotels — but it is
Portrait Firenze that is the mustvisit among them.
Celebrated Florentine architect
and interior designer Michele
Bönan used the birth of Italian
couture in the Fifties as his
inspiration for the interiors.
A grey, black and gold colour
scheme offers understated
sophistication. Handcrafted
furniture supplies the mid-century
modern injection and, in the
modernist spirit of functional
luxury, some of the rooms have
kitchens, discreetly hidden behind
glossy doors with brass handles.
Iconic photos are seen
throughout the six floors of suites
and public areas, with images
taken from the Locchi, Giorgini and
Alinari archives. Spot the image of
Salvatore Ferragamo dressing
Audrey Hepburn, or Brigitte
Bardot and Grace Kelly holidaying
in the city. Also look out for largescale works from Florence-based
master of interiors photography
Massimo Listri.
Tailored to be a home away from
Iconic view: the master bathroom
in the Ponte Vecchio Suite, with an
unimpeded sweep of the bridge
home, you’ll find no check-in desk
at Portrait Firenze, just a lounge to
relax in, coffee in hand, while you
wait to be escorted to your room.
The hotel’s Caffè dell’Oro is the
place to go for a lovely breakfast
before you head out to explore.
Fortunately, the hotel is just a few
steps from Ponte Vecchio and
Piazza della Signoria.
■ Portrait Firenze offers a threenight stay from £968 per person,
based on two sharing, booked
through Red Savannah (01242
787800, redsavannah.com).
Included are three nights in a
Portrait Studio on a bed-andbreakfast basis, return GatwickFlorence airport flights with Iberia,
and private return airport transfers.
WHERE TO EAT
LA BOTTEGA DEL BUON CAFFÈ
THIS super-chic restaurant is the
place to be seen for Florence’s hip
crowd. Tables are draped in grey
linen, while exposed brick walls and
quirky chandeliers create a cool,
rustic look. It is the latest project
from Danish husband-and-wife team
Claus and Jeanette Thottrup, who
run residential and commercial
property design practice PN Homes.
They moved to Italy in 2001 from
London, their adoptive home, and
fell in love with the architecture.
They have been developing historic
buildings for 20 years but decided to
combine their property expertise
with hospitality.
Their magnificent boutique hotel in
Tuscany garnered such a strong
reputation that they opened a sister
restaurant in central Florence this
year. The blend of Scandinavian style
and Italian food and drink is divine.
Florentine fine
dining: watch
incredible food
being prepared
at La Bottega del
Buon Caffè,
below, where
Michelin-star
chef Antonello
Sardi is in charge
“As most of our ingredients are
forested wild, or farmed by us, I
wanted the interior to reflect this
with rustic wooden and forest green
decoration,” Jeanette tells me. “All
materials are natural and most are
created by artisans from Tuscany or
Europe, including the lamps, tables
and the stone finishes and paintings
on the walls. The restaurant also
features sottopiatti (placemats) from
the Italian navy.”
Executive chef Antonello Sardi, 36,
is lauded as one of Tuscany’s rising
stars, leaping from washer-up to
Michelin-star chef in 10 years. You
can watch him prepare his incredible
dishes in the open-plan kitchen. This
is quickly becoming one of the best
restaurants in a city built for foodies
— so book a table while you can.
O borgointhecity.com.
With designer hotels
and shops, plus fine
art and architecture,
this is the go-to city
for interiors inspiration,
says Amira Hashish
IL PALAGIO AT THE FOUR
SEASONS, FLORENCE
FOR an elegant evening there is no
better place than this exquisite
restaurant in the Four Seasons Hotel.
Michelin-star Italian cuisine, 400
superb wines to choose from, and an
indoor-outdoor setting make for a
glittering destination.
Friendly executive chef Vito Mollica
and his team have earned
international acclaim for thoughtful
preparation of the freshest local fare.
Coveted ingredients include Paolo
Parisi eggs and artisanal Amadei
chocolate.
Order the tasting menu featuring
lobster salad or risotto with seasonal
porcini mushroom, chorizo and
Bettelmatt cheese. Then ask the
enthusiastic restaurant manager
Gabriele Fedeli, formerly of The Ritz
London, for one of his signature rum
cocktails, set alight and served with
pizzazz.
O ilpalagioristorante.it
LE BISTROT AT VILLA CORA
PALATIAL Hotel Villa Cora, built as a
residence in the 1870s by Baron
Oppenheim for his wife, is a love letter
to architecture and art. Unashamedly
opulent, it strikes the perfect balance
between good taste and extravagance.
The interiors reflect the passion
between the baron and his belle,
conjured by roses, the Orient, ornate
parquet and frescoes. The hotel is
also home to the only heated outdoor
pool in Florence, and dinner is
served between April and October.
Marble tables sit beneath a smart
white canopy and as evening draws
in, the lights twinkle. The authentic
Tuscan tasting menu takes you on a
tour of the region’s signature dishes.
Delicious in every sense of the word.
O villacora.it
LA TERRAZZA
WHEN the smart set fancy cocktails
with a view, they head to La Terrazza.
This buzzing bar on the top floor of
the medieval Consorti tower of the
fashionable Hotel Continentale offers
views of the Arno, Brunelleschi’s
Dome, San Miniato, Palazzo Vecchio
and Forte di Belvedere.
WHERE TO VISIT
A TRIP to Florence isn’t complete
without perusing its most famous
attractions including the Uffizi
Gallery and Galleria dell’Accademia
ALAMY
Location and pedigree: the Ponte
Vecchio Suite at Portrait Firenze, a
Ferragamo family boutique hotel
Timeless skyline:
above, Il Duomo
di Firenze, the
dome of the
Santa Maria del
Fiore cathedral
Ultimate room
with a view:
below, the River
Arno from Ponte
Vecchio Suite sun
terrace at hotel
Portrait Firenze
— but there are some brilliant
alternatives for those seeking
interiors inspiration.
ANTICO SETIFICIO FIORENTINO
ONE of the last workshops for silk
manufacturing in the world, Antico
Setificio Fiorentino was founded in
1786, and its hand-operated and
semi-mechanical looms weave
beautiful fabrics, embellished using a
machine designed by Leonardo da
Vinci. Tours of the factory are by
appointment only. Book to see
13
Design destination | Homes & Property
Shop for cool
gifts: right, street
sign art by CLET,
upcycled
sculpture and
washable paper
bags by Essential,
all at Mio; below,
pitchers from
Mario Luca Giusti,
priced from
about £43
Enjoy a cocktail, drink in the vista:
La Terrazza bar, left, at the top of
the medieval Consorti tower of the
Hotel Continentale; above, striking
glassware at Mario Luca Giusti
OPERA DUOMO MUSEUM
FOLLOWING a major overhaul, the
museum opened its doors again this
year. More than 750 Renaissance
masterpieces are reunited in one
grand space.
O museumflorence.com
FIRENZE YES PLEASE
ELEVEN five-star hotels have joined
forces with an Italian publisher to set
up a website called Firenze Yes
Please which is launching
imminently, and is aimed at those
seeking exclusive access to city sites.
Contact the organisers to set up a
tour of Michelangelo’s secret room
under the Medici Chapel, which is
usually closed to the public. Only
discovered in the Seventies, this
tomb-like space is where the artist
took refuge, and his sketches remain
on the walls.
O firenzeyesplease.com
GUCCI MUSEUM
HOUSED in a 14th-century building,
the museum charts the fashion
empire’s 90-year history.
O guccimuseo.com
inspiring craftswomen in action.
O anticosetificiofiorentino.com
MUSEO SALVATORE FERRAGAMO
JUST below the flagship store, the
museum is devoted to the luxury
footwear and fashion firm’s history
and the life of its founder, Salvatore.
The latest exhibition, Across Art and
Fashion, questions whether fashion
is a cultural movement and features
incredible pieces from Alexander
McQueen to Andy Warhol.
O ferragamo.com/museo
Ancient skills:
above, book to
see silk weaving
at the historic
Antico Setificio
Fiorentino
workshop
WHERE TO SHOP
THE MALL: from Pucci to Prada,
find top brands with bargain price
tags at Tuscany’s luxury outlet. Well
worth the 40-minute bus ride from
the city centre (themall.it).
BJORK FLORENCE: a concept store
with Scandi-style fashion brands
and books. One for the scenesters
(bjorkflorence.com).
SELFHABITAT: from 20th-century
masterpieces and design classics
to the latest in contemporary
furnishings, including some coveted
LIVE THERE
KNIGHT FRANK is selling this recently revamped twobedroom ground-floor apartment, left, in Via Cavour for
£646,000. In a palazzo that was once a convent, it is a
fusion of traditional and contemporary design. Visit
knightfrank.it.
Savills has a two-bedroom house, Casa Moderna, for
sale in a small, quiet residential complex a few minutes
from the centre of Florence for £765,270 (savills.com).
For sheer luxury, at Palazzo Tornabuoni, 27 private flats
are offered under freehold whole ownership in a restored
15th-century palace in the heart of the city — or you can join
the residence club and use one of 10 selected flats. Owners
can treat their flats as their main or second home, and all
residents can use the Four Seasons Hotel spa. There are no
flats for sale right now but annual residence membership is
available from £418,000 (palazzotornabuoni.com).
items — keep the credit card handy
(selfhabitat.it).
FLAIR: glamour and craftsmanship
meet in a haven for discerning
furniture seekers (flair.it).
MIO: quirky designer gifts and funky
furniture in a cute setting (mioconcept.com).
FRILLI GALLERY: the best
antique and contemporary bronze
sculptures (frilligallery.com).
GALLERIA BELLINI: the bestknown spot for modern art
(galleriabellini.com).
PRATESI: the place to go for fab
Florentine linens (pratesi.com).
MARIO LUCA GIUSTI: striking
glassware that won’t break the bank
(mariolucagiusti.com).
16
Homes & Property | Design
You say
y
PICTURES COURTESY OF THE V&A
Djinn’s a tonic:
Olivier
Mourgue’s
Djinn chair
featured in the
film 2001: A
Space Odyssey
(1968)
Psychedelia: poster for pop band The
Crazy World of Arthur Brown’s gig at
UFO in Tottenham Court Road, 1967
The Sixties was the decade that changed the world. Turn up, turn on and tune in at
a fascinating exhibition opening next week at the V&A. By Corinne Julius
C
and idealistic communities formed,
offering new utopian visions. Fuelled
by the expansion of visual media and
disposable income, consumerism
boomed. We spent on electrical goods
and interiors products.
BRITS IN THE VANGUARD
(
$6
ALAMY
444)5*/#!+%#)#
OULD there possibly be anything left to say about the
Sixties? It’s an era that still
has plenty to teach us, insists
Victoria Broackes, co-curator of You Say You Want a Revolution?
Records and Rebels 1966-1970, the new
autumn show at the Victoria & Albert
Museum in South Kensington.
“The people who were active then are
still around,” she says. “We wanted to
bring the V&A’s ability to provide cultural context and the creative process
to bear on one of the most exciting contemporary periods, when the world
opened up for ordinary people.
“In the words of the Beatles’ 1968
song, Revolution, ‘You say you want a
revolution. Well, you know. We all want
to change the world’ — and for nearly
everyone the world did change.”
The show features music, fashion,
design products, furniture, architecture
and graphics to illustrate what the curators call “six revolutions in 1,826 days”
— covering the five years from 1966 to
1970. “Revolutions in identity, the head,
on the street, in consuming, in gathering
and in communicating,” says Broakes.
New world: Habitat 67, modular homes presented at 1967’s
World Expo in Canada as a vision for the future of cities
O You Say You Want a Revolution:
Records & Rebels 1966-70 runs from
September 10 to February 26 at the
V&A, Cromwell Road, SW7 (020 7942
2000; vam.ac.uk). Admission £16.
THE SWINGING CITY
616 ,, "16 #* $6( # #**+
% 5 %/ * 06/ &2#/
0$6') * 3+/ #2* +#4*## + /
6- */#! # $ ! -$ -0
#//! ! *#2 ! ")
The show recreates a mix of Carnaby
Street with a hint of King’s Road to show
what, in 1966, Time Magazine dubbed
“The Swinging City.” The Sixties opened
up society; customs and values were
challenged, by young people from different social classes. There was full
employment. Many had disposable
income and credit cards for the first
time. The young bought fashion and
music, spawning new art and design.
Artworks by Bridget Riley and Richard
Hamilton feature in the show, alongside
clothes from Biba, Mary Quant, Mr Fish
and Granny Takes a Trip. There are
costumes designed for Mick Jagger and
Sandie Shaw, photography of musicians
of the day, their music and clips from
the 1966 films Blow Up and Alfie.
This world of experimentation with
music, drugs and counterculture is
looked at in an evocation of London’s
UFO club, where live music combined
with avant-garde film, and Pink Floyd
was the house band. Graphics from
posters and album sleeves influenced
interior design, especially textiles. The
music scene expanded to festivals and
gatherings promoting political protest,
British design schools led the way.
Designers had access to new materials
and technologies, which changed the
way they could think about everyday
objects. New plastics and moulding
techniques allowed for fresh forms,
illustrated in the exhibition by furniture
including Olivier Mourgue’s Djinn chair,
and Eero Aarnio’s Ball Chair.
Architecture, too, assumed new forms
offering a futuristic vision. Science and
technology could solve every problem,
or so it was thought for a while.
Broackes suggests that “visitors to the
V&A reflect on how the ideals of the
Sixties have shaped today”. She also
hopes the show will “encourage a rediscovery of an imaginative optimism to
envisage a new and better tomorrow.”
We certainly need it.
Face of the swinging Sixties: model
Twiggy in Battersea Park, pictured in
1967 for Vogue; right, the Ball Chair by
Finnish interior designer Eero Aarnio,
illustrates fresh Sixties furniture forms
17
Contemporary art | Homes & Property
TOD-WHITE ART PHOTOGRAPHY
PAUL WARCHOL PHOTOGRAPY
TEXTILES USED LIKE PAINT
KNOWN for his large-scale textile
installations, Abdoulaye Konaté’s
first exhibition at Blain|Southern
London, in Hanover Square W1, is a
riot of colour and texture, including
Composition vert, émeraude et
rouge, above. “We live with textiles
every day. They’re very accessible. I
realised I could use them like
paint,” says the Malian artist.
Konaté provides a new spin on
ancient West African traditions and
is inspired by his homeland, from
vibrant colours of the rocks, to the
fringed capes of Senufo musicians.
See how textiles are used in
contemporary art and how his
observations on the natural world
are conveyed through pattern and
texture. From September 2-24.
Kate
Gordon
Founder of London Art Studies
The art of
interiors
London’s contemporary art scene
is a mine of ideas for the home
ME, MYSELF
AND I
THEY’RE
ALWAYS
WATCHING
IT’S the 30th
anniversary of
the Freud
Museum — and
also the 160th
anniversary of
Sigmund Freud’s
birth.
To celebrate,
Turner Prizewinning artist
Mark Wallinger,
seen left at the
museum in
Hampstead, has
temporarily
transformed the
study of the
founder of
psychoanalysis.
And don’t miss
Wallinger’s
permanent
contribution of a
big black letter I
on a plinth. Until
Sept 25; artist’s
talk, Sept 19, 7pm.
ON OUR
reading list
for the end
of summer is
Sophie
Calle’s newly
re-issued
True Stories.
This multihyphenate
artist is best
known for
her works
that explore voyeurism, surveillance
and lost love — several pieces have
been exhibited at the Freud Museum
in NW3 — and this is as close to an
autobiography as we’re likely to see.
Part visual memoir, part meditation
on the resonances of photos and her
belongings, with an additional four
tales added since its initial release in
1994, True Stories is a terrific
introduction to the work of Calle,
which spans photography, writing,
conceptual and installation art.
EVERYONE has their favourite local
park, but it’s worth visiting Battersea
Park to see Samara Scott’s Developer
installation, right, at the Pleasure
Garden Fountains. The artist has
used biodegradable dyes to create a
delightful display of colours and
images that change with the
movement in the water and the
reflection of the sky.
She has included photosensitive
paper sculptures as well as fabrics in
the water, and the result is hypnotic.
Scott wants us to remember the
industrial history of Battersea — the
EOIN CAREY
Battersea Park
can be hypnotic
constant movement within the water
is a reminder of an area in constant
change. You can view Developer until
September 25.
PETER MARINO, right, dubbed “the
Leather Daddy of Luxury” by New York
magazine, is the subject of a new book
Peter Marino: Art Architecture, by
Brad Goldfarb.
The book explores how Marino has
commissioned site-specific artworks
to live within his designs for luxury
retail spaces — including at the
Chanel store, left, and the Dior
flagship, right, in New Bond Street —
from artists including Jean-Michel
Othoniel, Tony Cragg, Richard Deacon
and Vik Muniz. For Marino, it’s always
a collaborative relationship between
architect and artist, art and space.
GETTY
FOR LUXE INTERIORS
INSPIRATION WHILE YOU SHOP
18
Homes & Property | Reader promotion
Alison
Cork
Get a terrific deal
on tables with Art
Deco good looks
Sit in
style
for
£299
THE Delano garden lounge
set includes a three-seater
sofa, two armchairs and a
waterproofed storage
coffee table. In cappuccino,
above, or matt graphite,
the set is made of
maintenance-free 100 per
cent UV-stabilised resin.
Readers get £200 off this
designer set, reducing the
price to just £299 with free
two-man delivery. Quote
“Summer299” before
September 21 at outandout.
com or call 0344 417 1419.
FEATURING gold-coloured
brushed brass frames, Within
Home’s Criterion collection has
that Twenties members club look.
There’s a 40 per cent discount
across the whole range, with side
tables starting from £135, coffee
tables — such as the Hemingway,
right — from £255 and nests of
tables from £267. Visit
withinhome.com/deco31 or call
020 3455 7731 and quote DECO31
to claim. While stocks last.
Bargain news
Fun, funky new cube seats
BEAT the end-of-summer
blues with these fun and
versatile cube seats from
Pouf Daddy, now available in
a wide range of colours and
styles and in fabric choices
that include denim, faux
Relax, there’s 60% off your outdoor lounge
THE Chelsea sofa set comprises two
armchairs and a two-seater sofa
with generous cushions, plus a
matching glass-topped coffee table.
With a five-year guarantee, each
piece is steel framed with
weatherproof powder coating and
made from PU weather-resistant
brown rattan. Get 60 per cent off in
the Wallace Sacks summer sale,
cutting the price from £995 to just
£398. You can also claim free
delivery by quoting code
ABN31AUG16 before September 21.
Visit wallacesacks.com or call 020
8808 3275 for details and to order.
leather, linen and velvet. Get
30 per cent off when you
quote ESAUG30 by
November 1, reducing the
price to £35 each. To claim,
visit poufdaddy.co.uk or call
0845 544 3055.
For a dreamy night’s sleep
THE medium-tension
PostureForm pocket
mattress, from £139.99,
combines 1,200 individual
pocket springs and
resilient high-density foam
for a great night’s sleep. It
has orthopaedic support,
full ventilation and it’s
hypoallergenic to keep
dust mites at bay.
Get free delivery on all
sizes when you order at
oneregentplace.com/
post31 or call 020 3455
7730 before September 8.
O The companies listed here are wholly independent of the Evening Standard. Care is taken to establish that they are bona fide but we recommend that you carry out your own checks prior to purchases and use a credit card
where possible. To offer feedback on any of these companies, email [email protected] with “Bargain News” in the subject line. For more bargains, visit alisonathome.com or homesandproperty.co.uk/offers
:HVW /RQGRQ _ 6W $OEDQV _ %RXUQHPRXWK _ +LJK :\FRPEH
WRGGGRRUVFRXN
20
Homes & Property | Design
What’s eating
him?: fun, a vital
ingredient of
Utopia, comes
from South Africa
with animal
sculptures you
can climb inside
MARIA LEVENE
A nation obsessed: above, Britain
adds weather to the conversation with
Forecast, an installation from Barber
& Osgerby in association with the V&A
Futurescape:
Spain conjures a
vision, above, of
how Santander
will look 100
years from now
JUSTIN PATRICK
Shining circle:
Albania’s entry,
left, in Somerset
House courtyard,
means to evoke a
Renaissance city
Dreaming the
future of design
London’s first Design Biennale features futuristic
ideas from 37 nations on the theme of ‘Utopia’
at Somerset House. Philippa Stockley reports
T
HE first London Design
Biennale starts next Wednesday with a huge international exhibition featuring
work from 37 countries in
the beautiful surroundings of Somerset
House in Strand. Running for three
weeks, it kicks off the London Design
Festival, and the director, Christopher
Turner, is also the festival’s deputy
director.
This year marks the 500th anniversary
of Sir Thomas More’s book, Utopia. The
idea of a place where people are kind
and life is pleasant has come into the
language as “utopian”, a term also used
to criticise the ideas of fantasists. Utopia
is the biennale theme, and the installations and exhibits range from poetic to
purposeful, with architecture, product
design, art, and archive history. Each
country takes a different approach.
In the great courtyard, the British
exhibit, Forecast, is a huge kinetic
sculpture by Barber & Osgerby — the
award-winning design duo behind the
2012 Olympic torch — in association
with the V&A. It is based on the instruments used at weather stations including a weather vane and anemometer,
with wind speed cups that whizz
round. Perhaps it’s a metaphor for testing our prevailing Brexit wind. At any
rate it is striking, and blue.
Also in the courtyard, a shining circular arrangement of polished steel
benches and columns, from Albania,
is apparently based on the idea of a
Renaissance city.
On Somerset House’s terrace overlooking the Thames will be a monumental installation by architect
Annabel Karim Kassar, called Mezzing
in Lebanon. This conjures a Beirut
street using scaffolding poles, stripy
material and specially made furniture,
where street food — mezze — by Momo’s
Mourad Mazouz, will be sold. There’ll
be a pomegranate lorry squeezing fresh
juice, plus a working barber’s shop.
Backed up by evocative sounds, this
should be a crowd pleaser.
On the architectural front, China looks
at the housing crisis in mega cities such
as Shenzhen, where in 35 years the
population has soared from 300,000
to 1.5 million. Architects Urbanus
present a design for new towers that
create a kind of mini city. This is classic
utopianism, a favourite of architects:
t h i n k o f L e C o r b u s i e r ’s U n i t é
d’Habitation in Marseille, or our own
garden cities.
Mexico has an idea for a new form of
city, called Border City. Its design is
based on hexagons and is supposed to
promote more efficient trade in rapidly
growing border towns.
The idea of fast-growing cities drives
Cuba, too. The newly West-looking
country has only had internet since
2013. In the capital, Havana, people
Getting connected: Cuban designers
envisage Parawifi modules, above and
right, solar-charged pods in wifi
hotspots where people can work or surf
gather on the streets around only 135
wifi hotspots, trying to connect. The
Cuban team has designed Parawifi a
solar-charged wifi pod, so people can
work or surf in comfort, which sounds
much needed.
With our globally expanding population, two countries look at the problem
of water supply, while Israel’s Aid
Drop features parachutes that resemble giant sycamore seeds, their elegant
wings gently pirouetting. According to
director Christopher Turner, these are
probably self-assembly modules made
from cardboard, but it’s all hush-hush
until the show opens. However they
are made, they will carry 3kg of aid and
could make a difference in disaster
areas.
Nigeria will show a hut on stilts constructed from the plentiful water hyacinth growing in the Niger Delta. It’s
called Ulo, which means “home”.
Spain will take a futuristic look at its
city Santander 100 years from now,
while Russia delves nostalgically into
past design ideas that never made it off
the drawing board, with previously
unseen photographs.
improve the quality of life, to create “a
little slice of paradise”. Simple ideas
are often the best, and this Immersion
Room promises an absorbing experience, rather like being inside a child’s
kaleidoscope.
Young designers have been brought
together by Sweden to create useful
items, including bowls and vessels, in
an exhibit called Weden. Again, these
are under wraps, but there might be a
saleable prototype or two among them.
Norway celebrates “people-led design
that makes us happy”, by showing real
things built on these principles, such
as Bergen’s light railway. UK rail operators should come and look.
America is filling a room with wraparound screens to show an ever-changing display of 100 historic wallpapers
that trace 300 years of history. The
curators’ take is how interiors can
OME ideas don’t seem to have
much bearing on Utopia but
look fun, particularly South
Africa’s sculptures of animals
that can devour people, such
as piranhas, which you can climb into
— and Japan’s giant inflatable human.
S
O The London Design Biennale 2016, in
partnership with Jaguar, is at Somerset
House, Strand, WC2 from 7-27 September, admission £15, £10 concessions. Full
details at londondesignbiennale.com
O My home, with Annabel Karim
Kassar: see Page 22
22
Homes & Property | My home
homesandproperty.co.uk
Beautiful — and
practical: in the
kitchen, the walls
are lined with
handmade tiles
and the steel
island drawers
are refrigerated
Everyone’s
favourite room:
the cosy bar
features garnet
silk velvet walls.
“Large homes
need a small,
intimate space,”
says Kassar
UNITING
NATIONS
Parisian chic, Portuguese tiling, African wood and
Brazilian marble meet the souk at an award-winning
architect’s London home. By Philippa Stockley
G
ter was already living here, so their house
search centred around north London, to
be close to her. The house they fell for was
a huge, three-storey, five-bedroom, turnof-the-century Arts and Crafts classic in
a leafy Swiss Cottage street.
Born and raised in Paris, Kassar had several career options. Her father was an
engineer, and she was good at both science and art, so started out taking maths
and physics, but realised it wasn’t for
her, and left. After a spell of theatre
design and painting she took an architecture degree, in which all her skills fell
into place. She met her husband, Radwan, an engineer, in her twenties.
After working for several architects and
the City of Paris, Kassar set up her nowglobal practice in 1994. She and her husband spent almost 20 years in Lebanon
before coming to London. Their daugh-
While the outside has cottage-style hints,
the inside is super-swish. The enormous
white entrance hall has outsize woodblock flooring designed by Kassar, that
conjures up chic Parisian apartments.
With a leather-covered ceiling installation, and an avant-garde love seat apparently made of orange string, there’s a
feel of art gallery.
But throughout the house, magazine
style is counterpointed by a homely
atmosphere, created by the use of lots
of big sofas, plus textures, pattern and
innovative lighting, much of it designed
by Kassar, who co-runs a lighting company. This house loves entertaining.
Kassar’s luxe style is dramatic and colourful, but her handling of texture and
pattern is unique and distinctive. She
applies unusual surface detail with many
different types of handmade tiles, textured wood, hand-painted wallpaper
and marble. There’s a lot of embossed
leather — even gold-covered in one small
bathroom — which adds charm. A giant
LAMOROUS, award-winning
French architect Annabel
Karim Kassar, 55, never
stops. With offices in Beirut,
Dubai and in London, where
she lives, she is now working on three
houses and a clutch of offices. When we
meet, she has been up all night working
on designs for the inaugural two-week
London Design Biennale, which opens
at Somerset House on September 7.
Kassar is designing the Lebanese pavilion, inspired by a Beirut street, with a
café serving street food cooked by Momo
and Sketch supremo Mourad Mazouz
— who just happens to be married to her
daughter, Caroline.
MAJORING IN LUXURY
Luxe textures: Kassar uses wood, leather and tiles — leather-covered sliding doors can close off the drawing room from the hall
23
My home | Homes & Property
powered by
My design: Kassar at the top of the
stairway down to the basement pool
GET THE LOOK
Garden room glamour: architect Annabel Karim
Kassar designed this comfy, traditional room with
hand-painted wallpaper, sofas covered in striped
djellaba fabric and mirrored souk tables
sliding door that can close off the drawing room from the hall is leather-covered, too, as are the surrounds of the
French doors looking out to a romantic
garden swaying with foxgloves, roses
and acanthus. A finish used since the
17th century, embossed leather has
patina and warmth. It contrasts beautifully here with other doors done by
craftsmen in faultless, glossy lacquer.
From family to friends, everyone’s favourite room is the “bar”, a small and cosy
snug with a plump sofa in sensuous garnet silk velvet. The same velvet lines both
walls and ceiling. “Large homes need a
small, intimate space,” Kassar says.
Since she loves cooking, the big kitchen
is practical, its large steel island holding
pull-out refrigerated drawers — a fantastic idea if you have the space. Opalescent-glazed handmade Portuguese tiles
line the walls.
The master bedroom is really dramatic:
the bed encased in a circular rail, from
which sweep lustrous, weighted silk
curtains made from hand-woven Lyons
silk in duck-egg and green-gold. The
bespoke carpet is sinkably soft silk, while
at the end of the room, a bathroom
flames with an orange rubber floor,
orange mosaic-tiled shower, and woodlined walls. However, none of this drama
prepares you for the pièce de résistance,
the swimming pool in the basement.
When the Kassars bought the house, it
had an Eighties-style sun room at the
back, with a circular opening and spiral
stair down to a pink swimming pool and
a jumble of changing and shower rooms.
Kassar changed the circular opening to
a sexy glass aperture you can walk on,
and moved access to the corner, via a
fluid spiral of African hardwood she
designed and had made in one piece.
She then swept the changing rooms to
the side, leaving a clean space divided
by a glass wall; an antechamber in one
section and the pool beyond lined with
tiny turquoise tiles.
Architecture and interior design:
by Annabel Karim Kassar
(annabelkassar.com)
Builder: Building Designs (bdlondon.
co.uk)
Joiner: Ateliers Perrault (ateliers
perrault.com)
Trompe l’oeil painter: François Le
Roch (0033 6 63 91 28 40)
Various lights: CAI-Light (cai-light.
com)
Leather-covered sliding drawing
room door: Poliform (poliformuk.com)
Green Brazilian marble lining pool
room: Palatino (palatino.fr)
Mosaic tiles: Bisazza (bisazza.com)
Steel fridge drawers: by Varenna
Kitchens, from Poliform (as before)
Asymmetric bronze door handles:
Azucena (azucena.it)
Lyons silk in bedroom: MCS Flooring
(email [email protected])
Custom-made silk carpets: Tai Ping
(taiping.com)
Orange rubber flooring: Dalsouple
(dalsouple.com)
Lacquered doors: Lualdi (lualdiporte.
com)
Orange Corallo chair: by Fernando
and Humberto Campana (edra.com)
Gilded leather in bathroom: Tassin
(tassin-cuir.com)
Garden design: by The Natural
Gardening Company
(naturalgardening.com)
striped djellaba fabric, and mirrored
souk tables. Yet, when she first saw the
house in winter 2012, she felt that it
“didn’t have a soul”, and almost didn’t
buy it. She really disliked its sweeping
marble staircase with cast-iron handrail.
That was the first thing to go, replaced
with a simple stair with hardwood book
boxes instead of a handrail, all lit by
coloured light from handblown glass in
the landing window.
Otherwise, her main act was to open up
the house as much as possible, then have
artisans work on the interior. Her obsession with detail shows everywhere, from
asymmetric bronze door handles to a
beautiful little perforated light in the bar,
which dapples the red wall.
A fluid spiral: the
African hardwood
stairway down to
the basement
pool area with
turquoise-green
marble walls
Diamonds are
forever: in a
striking feature,
the pattern from
wallpaper is
continued across
wardrobe doors
Arts and Crafts
classic: Kassar’s
five-bedroom,
three-storey
house in a leafy
Swiss Cottage
street
LONDON’S LOVELIEST POOL
The walls are gigantic pieces of turquoise-green marble with riverine veining, while the end wall has bespoke
églomisé turquoise tiles, and a chandelier like a glittering spaceship, by Kassar.
This is surely the most beautiful pool in
London. The constant play of light,
reflection, and marble are like the flip of
a mermaid’s tail.
You’d never believe this lay beneath
the comfy, traditional garden room —
though even that got the Kassar treatment, with hand-painted wallpaper in a
diamond pattern, sofas covered in
A
LL spaces should be beautiful, says Kassar, “even the
inside of cupboards. I draw,
and draw, and draw again,
and work with a lot of artisans. English houses really suit having
things brought into them from all over
the world, which has been a tradition
since the days of the Grand Tour.”
O The London Design Biennale runs from
September 7-27 at Somerset House. Full
details at londondesignbiennale.com
Photographs::
Charles Hosea
Super-size, super
storage: generous
rooms offer
magazine style,
counterpointed
by homely
touches and
expert lighting
26
Homes & Property | Outdoors
Learn trompe l’oeil
design tricks to make
your tiny town plot
appear far larger
T
HE best gardens, however small,
entice you in because they do not
reveal everything all at once. “If you
catch glimpses of places that suggest
there is more beyond, then you have
created a reason to get up and explore, and the
journey has begun.”
So says garden designer and plantsman Noel
Kingsbury, who has gathered together a
multitude of design tricks in his book, New
Small Garden, which also includes planting
ideas and garden case studies.
“Dividing up the space will make the garden
more intriguing. If your plot is not big enough to
do that, consider including stopping places,
such as a bench or seat, that will allow you to see
the garden from different angles and provide
multiple viewpoints, which will also help to
visually enlarge the space.” Mirrors edged with
planting and false doors help lend the lie that the
garden has secrets to hide, while a gate in the
adjoining garden fence, although unused,
suggests that the garden extends further.
If a visitor asks where your garden ends, says
Kingsbury, you have triumphed. “Trees and
shrubs that poke above your back fence and
merge with trees behind them are effective in
breaking up boundary lines. Or use a large shrub
or tree that blends with neighbouring greenery,
together with a path on one side of it, suggesting
that the route continues through.”
Think diagonally, not only because setting the
garden on a diagonal creates the longest lines,
but also because it creates fat triangles on
either side for planting, which, says Kingsbury,
are preferable to mean strips on either side of a
central lawn. Laying out paving slabs diagonally
in a courtyard is another way of making the
space appear larger.
Repeating materials or plants lends visual
unity to a small garden, which is especially
important if it is an awkward or complex space.
Kingsbury suggests using the same ground
surface material throughout and repeating a
distinctive permanent element, such as a strong
colour, clear plant shape or sculptural feature.
“Reducing the visual complexity of a smalll
garden conveys a sense of calmness, which most
of us want from our gardens,” he points out.
Avoid the straight path that rushes you down
the garden. “Breaking a path so that it suddenly
changes direction delays the journey time and
Leafy canopy: a quartet of trees planted in
four corners of a secluded spot is enough
to create an intimate dining area
Pattie
Barron
makes you see and experience different things.
A straight path can be broken in two and given a
kink part of the way down. Even more effective
is the Chinese idea of the staggered path that
forces the walker to change direction several
times.”
A step also makes us pause. “Wide, low steps
slow the pace. Even a four-inch drop from one
area of the garden to the next will produce a
similar effect to subdividing it,” says Kingsbury.
“If there are no changes in level, you can use
raised beds to increase visual interest and add to
the perception that the space is larger than it
really is.”
You can also take attention away from limited
ground space by incorporating a tall element
that takes the design upwards. Repeating a
narrow feature such as upright box topiary or a
simple set of coloured poles will also develop a
strong sense of rhythm. To emphasise the
length of the garden, Kingsbury advises laying
decking at 90 degrees to the house and doing the
same with paving slabs, reducing the gaps
between the shorter sides so that those closest to
the house are larger than those at a distance.
S
MALL gardens have a great advantage:
their limited amount of terrace or patio
coupled with the proximity of the
garden unites them more intimately to
the house, and you can accentuate this
by reflecting the colours of the rooms
overlooking the garden with the planting, or by
using common elements, whether paving,
sculpture or ceramic containers. Kingsbury
says: “French windows or bifold doors mean the
garden is only a few steps away, and by carefully
framing a view of the outdoor space, you can
shut out the boundaries, neighbours and city,
focusing on the lush greenery, convincing the
onlooker that they are somewhere else entirely.”
O New Small Garden (Frances Lincoln) costs £20,
but Homes & Property readers can buy it for £15 by
calling 01903 828503 and quoting code 451.
Smart moves:
above left,
framing the view
from indoors;
above, vertical
poles take the
design upwards
On the slant:
setting a garden
on the diagonal
creates longer
lines and larger
planting pockets
Gardening
problems?
Email our RHS
expert at: expert
gardeningadvice
@gmail.com
PICTURES BY MAAYKE DE RIDDER
Do you
want to
know a
secret?
30
Homes & Property | Property searching
A sporty, boating set: the Embankment at Twickenham
Green and pleasant: craving peace? head for the river
Historic Twickers: Phil McEwan, World Rugby Museum curator at Twickenham Stadium, which saw its first international in 1910
Spotlight on
Twickenham
Parents come for the schools but when the children leave they can’t
bear to move from the Home of England Rugby. By Anthea Masey
A
Take to the water: this London village hugs the Thames
RRIVING at Twickenham
train station, passengers
are greeted by a sign reading: Home of England
Rugby. It’s more than 100
years since this small riverside town,
10 miles south-west of central London,
became famous the world over for its
rugby stadium, where in October last
year in the final of the World Cup, the
New Zealand All Blacks retained their
title with a 34-17 win over Australia.
Twickenham is one of those London
villages that hug the Thames and suit
families who just can’t bear to leave the
heart of the capital too far behind. With
excellent schools and an easy commute
to Waterloo, the only downside is the
town centre, which suffers from being
squeezed between Richmond to the
north and Kingston upon Thames to
the south. Both are major shopping
magnets, while Twickenham has too
many empty units and charity shops.
But plans are afoot. Enter Francis
Terry, who recently left Quinlan and
Francis Terry Architects, the practice
he ran with his father Quinlan Terry,
Prince Charles’s favourite architect, to
start his own practice nearby. The local
council has hired Francis Terry & Associates to inject classical style into the
heart of Twickenham with a new shopping arcade in King Street and a new
riverside plaza with a colonnaded
amphitheatre.
The plan will tidy up the riverbank
opposite Eel Pie Island, a private island
in the Thames. Local music enthusiasts
raised £15,000 last month with a
crowd-funded appeal for a museum to
celebrate the Sixties music scene at the
old Eel Pie Island Hotel, where the likes
of the Rolling Stones, Rod Stewart and
Eric Clapton all played at the start of
their careers, and a generation was
introduced to R&B.
£525,000
£379,950
£735,000
THIS pretty refurbished two-bedroom cottage
in Holly Road is moments from Twickenham
town. Through John D Wood (020 8012 1758).
A ONE-BEDROOM period property conversion flat
with St Margarets railway station and village on the
doorstep. Through Snellers (020 8892 8008).
TWO-BEDROOM Orleans Arms Cottage in the St
Margarets riverside area was once a local ale
house. Call Featherstone Leigh (020 8744 0595).
Twickenham in
bloom: Heath
Road forms the
shopping centre,
with King Street,
Richmond Road
and London Road
£999,950
To find a home in Twickenham, visit rightmove.co.uk
For more about Twickenham, visit homesandproperty.co.uk/twickenham
IN Amyand Park Road, this lovely modernised
Victorian family home sits between St Margarets
and Twickenham train stations and has four
bedrooms, two bathrooms and a landscaped
garden. Through Dexters (020 8744 9400).
31
Property searching | Homes & Property
STATS CHECK
WHAT HOMES COST
BUYING IN TWICKENHAM
(Average prices)
One-bedroom flat £366,000
Two-bedroom flat £505,000
Two-bedroom house £620,000
Three-bedroom house £739,000
Four-bedroom house £1.11 million
Source: Rightmove
RENTING IN TWICKENHAM
(Average rates)
One-bedroom flat £1,252 a month
Two-bedroom flat £1,714 a month
Two-bedroom house £1,713 a month
Three-bedroom house £2,270
Four-bedroom house £3,236 a month
Source: Rightmove
King St faves: Anthony Cooper and his father, Paul, of P Cooper & Sons fruit & veg
FOR MORE, VISIT
homesandproperty.co.uk
O Use our School Checker to find
catchment areas and inspection
reports for local schools
O The best shops and restaurants in
and around Twickenham
O Local arts scene and the quality
of leisure and sports facilities
O All about Twickenham’s great,
family-friendly open spaces
What’s cookin’?: Rugby fans make for The Shack 68 BBQ Grill in London Road
THE PROPERTY SCENE IN TWICKENHAM
T
HE area is characterised
by large, detached
Victorian and Edwardian
villas, neat two- and threebedroom Victorian
cottages, Twenties and Thirties semidetached houses and converted and
purpose-built flats, also from around
the Thirties and onwards.
■ NEW-BUILD HOMES
Brewery Wharf is a St James
development of flats and houses
overlooking the River Crane next to
Twickenham station. All the flats
have sold but 28 four- and fivebedroom houses are launching, with
a new show house open over the
weekend of September 10-11.
Completion is due by summer next
year and prices start at £1.55 million.
Call 020 3002 9457.
Twickenham House in Heath
Road is a mixed-use development
with 21 one- and two-bedroom flats
that are almost move-in ready. Onebedroom flats start at £375,000 and
the two-bedroom flats are priced
TRANSPORT
THREE stations serve the area:
Twickenham, Strawberry Hill and St
Margarets. Fast trains to Waterloo
from Twickenham take 25 minutes;
from Strawberry Hill it’s 40 minutes
and it’s 35 minutes from St Margarets,
with stops at Clapham Junction for
Victoria, and Vauxhall for connections
to the Victoria line. St Margarets is in
Zone 4 and an annual travelcard to
Zone 1 is £1,860. Twickenham and
Strawberry Hill are in Zone 5 and an
annual travelcard costs £2,208.
from £450,000. Call 020 8847 0488.
Saltburn House on The Green is a
conversion of a late-Victorian
building into a one-bedroom flat and
four two-bedroom flats, almost
move-in ready. The one-bedroom flat
is £600,000 and the rest start at
£900,000. Through Hamptons
(01372 469279).
Fraser House in London Road is
an office-to-residential conversion
with nine flats. One-bedroom flats
start at £425,000 and two-bedroom
homes at £550,950. Through Dexters
(020 8744 0074).
In Richmond Road a former pub
has been converted and extended to
provide four flats. Prices of onebedroom flats start at £375,000 and
two-bedroom flats start at £500,000.
Call Snellers on 020 8892 5555.
■ AFFFORDABLE HOMES
Pretty mix: independent shops, cafés and restaurants flourish in Church Street
Thames Valley Housing has sharedownership flats at Brewery Wharf,
with one-bedroom homes from
£223,750 for a 50 per cent share of a
flat with a market value of £447,500.
Call 020 8012 6605.
Help to Buy is available at 351
Richmond Road, a bank conversion
offering eight one- and two-bedroom
flats, ready to move into. The one-
Groovy: Eel Pie Island drew Sixties
rock fans and now has artists’ studios
bedroom flats start at £535,000 and
the two-bedroom flats start from
£595,000. Through Featherstone
Leigh (020 8744 0595).
■ WHO RENTS HERE?
Alan Maynard, associate lettings
director at Featherstone Leigh, says
families rent locally for the good
schools, and young professionals go
for the flats close to the station for an
easy commute.
Most of the landlords he deals with
are local — there are few overseas
buyers. “Some are accidental
landlords, who at some point have
not been able to sell, but have
discovered renting out works for
them.” The yield is between three
and a half and four per cent.
Photographs: Daniel Lynch
34
Homes & Property | Ask the expert
WHAT’S
YOUR
PROBLEM?
+'$
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 a
legal director
in the private
wealth group of
Foot Anstey
(footanstey.com).
/2&666
Lawn law isn’t clear cut
A
( , 0+
)+!40
!%$
,3%%5
' 3 + 0 5 +
626 - -1-
IT APPEARS that you have restrictive
covenants on the title to your property.
A restrictive covenant is an agreement
between landowners where one party
restricts the use of its land for the benefit of
other land.
Covenants can be positive or negative, and
negative covenants run with the land, which
means they bind you if you are the original
buyer of the property, and also bind future
buyers.
Covenants for maintenance and repair are
usually positive and would not run with the
Q
I OWN a one-bedroom leasehold
flat in a converted Victorian house.
There are four flats in the house
and we have a shared loft with
shared access. None of the other flats uses
the loft, other than for the water tanks, and
I’ve been wondering, would it be possible
for me to buy the loft space above my flat
and extend into it? Though the flats are
leasehold, the residents run — and each has
a share in — the management company.
'0'+
626 -- Q
I LIVE on a small estate in
Cambridge that was built about 40
years ago. According to my deeds it
is only possible to use “such part of
the front garden as is laid down to grass by
the vendor as a lawn”, and all other parts of
the front and rear gardens must be kept in
good order and condition. As so many laws
have changed since then, would this still
apply?
$ +" 0 3 ! # ! % + % 0 ' +*' $
A
PRIOR written consent of the landlord
for alterations or additions to your flat is
likely to be required under the terms of
your lease. You will need building
regulations consent, and depending on the
extent of the conversion, you will also require
planning permission, along with listed building
consent if the building is listed. The value of
your flat is likely to increase, so your landlord
may require a premium. Consult a surveyor as
Fiona
McNulty
OUR LAWYER ANSWERS
YOUR QUESTIONS
land. Accordingly, if there is a covenant to keep
your garden tidy, this is unlikely to bind any
future buyers, though it will bind you, if you are
the original buyer. If your deeds restrict the use
of your land to lawn, that is a negative covenant
and is likely to bind you and future buyers.
Indemnity insurance for restrictive covenants
can be obtained. Furthermore, if you believe a
covenant is no longer relevant, then it can be
modified, or even removed if it is obsolete, but
this can be an expensive process. Restrictive
covenants can be a very complex area and it is
often not clear cut whether they are positive or
negative. If in doubt, seek legal advice.
More legal Q&As
Visit: homesandproperty.co.uk
to whether a loft conversion is physically
possible, and also ask him about the likelihood of
the necessary local authority consents being
granted, the market value of the loft space and
the increased value of your flat after conversion.
When applying to your landlord for consent,
provide plans, a valuation, any local authority
consents and a report from a structural engineer,
if appropriate. You will be responsible for your
landlord’s surveyor’s and legal fees — the leases
in the building will need to be varied and the
service charge will be recalculated.
Ask for the views of your fellow lessees/
shareholders on your proposal at an early stage
to save wasting time and money, in case the loft
space is not for sale. It may be easier to move.
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.
36
Homes & Property | Inside story
Buyer gets over
his Brexit jitters
MONDAY
The week starts promisingly with a call
from a buyer we last heard from on
June 24, the morning of the EU referendum result, when he pulled out of
the purchase of a large country house
in one of the best roads in the area.
Back then, he was somewhat freaked
out by the surprise Brexit result and
didn’t want to go through with the
purchase. Now though, he is resubmitting the exact same offer on the house,
saying that he might have made a mistake, and life moves on. It’s really
encouraging to see confidence returning to the market.
TUESDAY
In another very satisfying turn of
events, we exchange on one of our
longest-running sales. We have been
marketing a mixed-use building in the
heart of Sunningdale, with offices at
street level and homes above, for
many months.
A local businessman who manufactures sports kit has decided to take on
the premises and convert the space
fully into offices for his expanding
empire.
However, the deal has not been without its last-minute dramas. On the day
of the sale another buyer swooped in,
attempting to gazump the business-
Diary of
an estate
agent
THURSDAY
man but our client stood firm and
refused to accept the higher offer,
much to our relief.
I am visiting Sandringham Gate this
afternoon, a collection of eight
detached family houses by Shanly
Homes, just minutes from buzzing
Ascot High Street.
We are gearing up for the launch of
the second phase in a couple of weeks’
time, when we will be opening the
doors of Plot 5, Arlington House, to the
public. It will be dressed by an interior
designer and the garden will be fully
landscaped. We already have a handful
of people who are keen on this plot so
we are hoping for some good offers.
WEDNESDAY
Early autumn is a hugely busy time for
the new-build property market, with
the majority of developers choosing to
wait until the summer lull is over
before launching their projects. At
Strutt & Parker’s Sunningdale branch,
we are a specialised new homes and
land office, so it’s an exciting time of
year.
This morning we have a strategy
meeting with ultra high-end developer
Halebourne Group about the forthcoming launch for The Ridge, a prestigious
development of 10 super-size mansion
apartments just a stone’s throw from
exclusive Sunningdale Golf Club.
The scheme is very nearly complete
and we will be hosting a champagne
reception for prospective buyers on
September 10. With prices starting
from £2 million, the specification at The
Ridge is truly exceptional, including a
concierge, cinema rooms to two of the
flats and stunning roof terraces.
We are registering interest from the
international set and downsizers with
larger budgets who are looking for
somewhere they can lock up and
leave.
FRIDAY
Today I have the pleasure of showing
a Chinese buying agent around a
number of our new development
schemes. He is only interested in looking at luxury new build — definitely
nothing “second hand” — and his clients
are buying purely for investment,
whether that be small flats to rent out
or larger family homes.
It’s really interesting to see foreign
investment spreading out from the
capital into some of the most affluent
corners of Berkshire.
O Tony Walker is an associate at Strutt
& Parker in Sunningdale, Berkshire
(01344 623411).
4%6/0%2( 0-:-2+
032(32 0-*)78=0)
7XST JSV PYRGL EX E GEJq SR 'SGOO JSWXIVW 6SEH
,SQI JSV WYTTIV
6IPE\ EX LSQI JSV XLI EJXIVRSSR
)RNS] FVIEOJEWX MR ]SYV KEVHIR
8EOI E QSVRMRK WXVSPP EVSYRH 8VIRXX 'SYRXV] 4EVO
VOO
* * *'. ) ( ! !''" ( ! ',*""
+ ! &($//// "*!!* . ) !" . '*! ,
! ! !" !- , ,. "'!" " ' ""
! "" *"' )# *'" ' '! ! "'!" , *!!* "''"
'!. '" ' ", *" ", !'' ! ,,,'+*
% XVMT XS XLI ;IWX )RH
&SSO ER ETTSMRXQIRX XS ZMI[ XLI WLS[ LSQIW
/((( //( ($(#
""
!!*
:::%2/,1*%52.(3$5.&28.
38
Homes & Property | Letting on
She’ll leave me, but she won’t love me
O
UT of the blue, I received
an email from a tenant to
say that she was moving
out of her room at the
end of the week. Just like
that. No proper notice, no
explanation, just: “I’m off.”
She’s not the first of my tenants to
just get up and go. Most give me at
least a month’s notice but there is
always one who doesn’t realise that
the lease they have signed is a legally
binding contract.
I fired back an email telling her she
could leave whenever she liked but
she had signed a 12-month lease
which could only be broken with one
month’s notice. She would have to
pay her rent until the end of the
notice period, plus her share of the
council tax and utility bills.
Silly girl, if she had told me earlier
that she was planning to leave I
would have tried to re-let her room,
which would have saved her
hundreds of pounds. As she didn’t,
she will have to pay for a room that
will be empty for a month, plus
almost £150 in council tax and energy
bills.
“Fine, I’ll pay,” she replied. But
thankfully, just in case she doesn’t, I
have taken a six-week deposit.
I also gave myself a little pat on the
back for issuing her with a written
tenancy agreement. I don’t always
bother with formal tenancy
Victoria Whitlock reminds a tenant who
quits without giving proper notice that she’s
signed up — so she will have to pay up
The
accidental
landlord
agreements when letting individual
rooms, but landlords who don’t have
written tenancy agreements can
sometimes get stung for tenants’
unpaid bills.
Some London councils chase
landlords for their tenants’ unpaid
council tax unless they can produce a
valid tenancy agreement showing not
only who lived in the property and
when, but also that they were
responsible for the bills.
I’ve also heard of utility companies
trying to force landlords to clear
tenants’ debts, but as long as the
landlord has given them the tenant’s
details and meter readings both at
the start and the end of the tenancy,
they aren’t liable. A friend who found
out that her former tenant owed
hundreds of pounds in energy bills
was considering using the tenant’s
deposit to pay it off, but this isn’t
recommended.
The bill might have been sent in
error, that sort of thing happens all
the time, or her tenant might have
been disputing the amount. If my
friend had paid the bill, she might
have ended up having to refund her
tenant.
However, she was worried that if
the tenant had in fact left the
property with a large debt, it would
affect her own credit rating if she
eventually moves back into the house
herself.
I have looked into this scenario and
I have been assured that it’s a myth
that occupants of a property can be
affected by a former tenant’s debts.
That might once have been the case,
but these days, debts are assigned to
a person, not a property.
It is quite possible that the energy
company will bombard the new
occupant with letters addressed to
the former tenant — which, while it
would be irritating, would not be the
end of the world.
£519 a week: a fully modernised two-bedroom Victorian cottage with open-plan
living and a courtyard garden in quiet Sherland Road, Twickenham, is available
to rent through Snellers (020 8892 5678).
T
HE answer if this should
happen is for the landlord
simply to mark the envelopes “Return to Sender”
and pop them back in
the post.
And if the bailiffs come round to try
to recover the debt, showing them
some ID should send them on their
way. Hopefully my former tenant will
pay her rent and clear all of her bills
in full, but if she doesn’t, at least I
have got a deposit and a written
agreement which clears me of
liability.
O Victoria Whitlock lets four
properties in south London.
To contact Victoria with your ideas
and views, tweet @vicwhitlock
623+,67,&$7,21 (/(*$1&( $1' 67</( $7 5(*(1&< 3/$&(
7KH ODWHVW SKDVH RI OX[XU\ KRPHV ODXQFKLQJ 6DWXUGD\ WK 6HSWHPEHU
5HJHQF\ 3ODFH LV WKH ODWHVW FROOHFWLRQ RI WKUHH IRXU DQG ILYH EHGURRP IDPLO\ KRPHV VHW ZLWKLQ WKH SUHVWLJLRXV 5R\DO :HOOV 3DUN GHYHORSPHQW 7KH KRPHV
EHQHILW IURP D VXSHULRU VSHFLILFDWLRQ ZLWK SULYDWH SDUNLQJ DQG RXWGRRU VSDFH 5R\DO :HOOV 3DUN LV SHUIHFW IRU IDPLOLHV LQFOXGLQJ JUHHQ RSHQ VSDFHV DQG
D FKLOGUHQ·V SOD\ DUHD DV ZHOO DV WKH EUDQG QHZ VWDWHRIWKHDUW :HOOV )UHH 6FKRRO RSHQLQJ 6HSWHPEHU 6XSHUEO\ ORFDWHG LQ WKH KHDUW RI
7XQEULGJH :HOOV 5R\DO :HOOV 3DUN LV RQO\ ILYH PLQXWHV IURP WKH WUDLQ VWDWLRQ SURYLGLQJ UHJXODU VHUYLFHV LQWR /RQGRQ %ULGJH LQ MXVW PLQXWHV
3ULFHV IURP )RU IXUWKHU LQIRUPDWLRQ SOHDVH FDOO 6DOHV DQG 0DUNHWLQJ 6XLWH RSHQ GDLO\ DP WR SP 5R\DO :HOOV 3DUN &XOYHUGHQ 3DUN 5R\DO 7XQEULGJH :HOOV .HQW 71 47
ZZZUR\DOZHOOVSDUNFRXN
3URXG WR EH D PHPEHU RI WKH %HUNHOH\ *URXS RI FRPSDQLHV
-RXUQH\ WLPH LV DSSUR[LPDWH DQG PD\ QRW EH GLUHFW 6RXUFH ZZZQDWLRQDOUDLOFRXN &RPSXWHU JHQHUDWHG LPDJH GHSLFWV 5HJHQF\ 3ODFH DW 5R\DO :HOOV 3DUN DQG LV LQGLFDWLYH RQO\
3KRWRJUDSK\ IHDWXUHV ORFDO ZRRGODQG 3ULFH FRUUHFW DW WLPH RI JRLQJ WR SUHVV
42
Homes & Property | New homes
ARRESTING MAIDA VALE HOMES
MAIDA VALE and its pretty canalside
enclave, Little Venice, is a central
London gem. This spacious, leafy and
elegant residential district has wide
avenues of apartments and well-kept
mansion blocks, cream-coloured
terraces, plus a village florist, baker
and butchers.
The Church Commissioners, who
owned, planned, built, maintained
and laid down the rules of this
neighbourhood, set the tone. Until
the Eighties, nearly all the homes
were rented, but the steady progress
of leasehold reform has encouraged
more owner-occupation. When the
Met Police put Harrow Road “nick” up
for sale — where comedian Russell
Brand was held for stripping naked at
a Trafalgar Square demo in 2001;
charges were later dropped —
developers spotted a chance.
Renamed Westbourne Place, the
listed Edwardian building, below, has
been split into 25 flats with period
features, and two new blocks have
been built at the rear around a
communal courtyard garden. There
are 49 homes priced from £560,000.
Call Redrow on 020 3538 3791.
From £2,895,000: detached, spacious family houses at
Rotherfield Garth, on the edge of Henley on Thames
Bag a Henley family house
and a regatta picnic spot
HENLEY’S summer rowing
regatta is a social calendar
highlight. The blazers-andboaters crowd descend to
drink Pimm’s in the
colourful marquees, giving
the Oxfordshire Thamesside town an annual shot in
the arm. But for the rest of
the time, it remains settled
and prosperous with a
45-minute commute to
London on the Paddington
train.
Rotherfield Garth is a
scheme of Arts and Craftsstyle detached houses on
the edge of the town.
“You turn right for highly
rated schools, open
countryside and golf
courses, and left for the
high street and train
station,” says Richard
Page, director of developer
Spitfire Bespoke Homes,
which has come up with
the design for these family
houses with a grand
entrance hall and spacious
ground floors opening on
to the lush gardens.
There is a separate dining
room and lounge, a study,
comfortable bedrooms
with walk-in wardrobes
and en suite bathroom,
and a teenager’s den in the
attic. Each house has its
own driveway and double
garage.
They come at a posh
price — from £2,895,000.
Call 01491 844900.
Ready
for
your
next
move?
Start
your
search
By David Spittles
Smart moves
% $ # ! ! ! ! "
! ! ! ! ! #! $ "
!" ! %
"! !% ! ! !
%
$ " $ !!
!$" ! ! ! !
! $! ! !! !"
!
$ " ! !""!
!
%%%
" !%
%%%
! %
%%%
! $# %
%%%
$ #
"!" !
$ !! !% !# % ! ! ! !
43
New homes | Homes & Property
DANIEL LYNCH
Georgian with a
twist in Fulham
THE Georgians were the first to build
houses on the open fields along the
Thames at Fulham. Hurlingham
House, set in parkland, is the only
surviving mansion from this period,
but it dictates the tone of a
neighbourhood that is proud of its
Peterborough Estate, a Victorian
conservation area famous for its redbrick “lion houses” — so called
because, like some homes in Barnes,
left, they feature lion statues.
Hurlingham Walk, with 68
homes, slots into this streetscape
with a traditional housing model for
the mansion flat — with a designer
twist. The mid-rise blocks surround
landscaped courtyards and the
From £979,000:
flats set around
landscaped
courtyards, with
parking, at
Hurlingham
Walk, Fulham
homes enjoy full-height windows and
doors opening on to large balconies
with cast-iron balustrading. There is
porterage, 24-hour security and
gated underground parking, too.
Prices from £979,000. Call developer
St James on 020 8246 4199.
LINCOLN SQUARE SLOTS INTO HISTORIC WC2
A NEW-BUILD scheme of 202
homes in Holborn, Lincoln
Square sits between two
ancient institutions — the Royal
Courts of Justice and the
London School of Economics.
The architecture dovetails
neatly with surrounding
heritage buildings. Homes
range from studios to
penthouses and are set around
a landscaped courtyard
designed by Gustafson Porter,
the practice behind the Diana,
Princess of Wales memorial
From £900,000:
flats at Lincoln
Square, right
and far right, in
Holborn, range
from studios to
penthouses
fountain in Hyde Park. The
package includes spa,
swimming pool, gym, business
club and library, snooker room,
private cinema, concierge,
underground parking and
smart home technology. Prices
from £900,000.
Completion is due in 2018.
Call 020 7004 0910.
1(: 3+$6( 2) $3$570(176 /$81&+,1* 7+ 6(37(0%(5
:RRGODQG $YHQXH LV D VWXQQLQJ FROOHFWLRQ RI RQH DQG WZR EHGURRP DSDUWPHQWV WKH ODWHVW UHOHDVH RI KRPHV DW WKH DZDUGZLQQLQJ 5\HZRRG GHYHORSPHQW
7KH DSDUWPHQWV LQFOXGH D VW\OLVK VSHFLILFDWLRQ ZLWK D OLIW WR DOO IORRUV VHFXUH EDVHPHQW FDU SDUNLQJ DQG PDQ\ EHQHILWLQJ IURP HLWKHU D SULYDWH WHUUDFH
RU EDOFRQ\ 7KHUH LV DOVR D UHVLGHQWV· RQO\ J\P SXEOLF DPHQLW\ VSDFHV ZDWHU IHDWXUHV DQG FKLOGUHQ·V SOD\ DUHDV 'XQWRQ *UHHQ 6WDWLRQ LV RQO\ D VKRUW ZDON
DZD\ ZLWK H[FHOOHQW FRQQHFWLRQV LQWR /RQGRQ %ULGJH WDNLQJ MXVW RYHU PLQXWHV 7KH SHUIHFW ORFDWLRQ IRU WRZQ DQG FRXQWU\ OLYLQJ
3ULFHV IURP )RU IXUWKHU LQIRUPDWLRQ SOHDVH FDOO 6DOHV DQG 0DUNHWLQJ 6XLWH RSHQ GDLO\ DP ² SP 5\HZRRG 5\H /DQH 'XQWRQ *UHHQ 6HYHQRDNV .HQW 71 +'
ZZZU\HZRRGFRXN
3URXG WR EH D PHPEHU RI WKH %HUNHOH\ *URXS RI FRPSDQLHV
-RXUQH\ WLPH LV DSSUR[LPDWH DQG PD\ QRW EH GLUHFW6RXUFH ZZZQDWLRQDOUDLOFRXN 3ULFH FRUUHFW DW WLPH RI JRLQJ WR SUHVV &RPSXWHU JHQHUDWHG LPDJH GHSLFWV :RRGODQG $YHQXH DW 5\HZRRG DQG LV LQGLFDWLYH RQO\

31 August 2016 - Homes and Property

Transcription

Similar documents

HAPPEN

HOP placemat layout.indd

2015 IBACOS, Inc. - Housing Innovation Alliance

berewick master plan

berewick master plan - Steele Creek Residents Association

Foxridge Homes is the premier home builder within Qualico

Consultation launched on proposals for Pyestock site

Foxridge Homes is the premier home builder within Qualico

perry homes - MD Anderson Cancer Center

Our designs for the development in Cookridge