18 November 2015 - Homes and Property

Transcription

Homes&
Property
Wednesday 18 November 2015
Get smart
with your
phone
Page 13
AFFORDABLE TECHNO HUBS P8 BRILLIANT BRICKS P10 OUR HOME: SHADOW HOUSE P26 SPOTLIGHT ON PURLEY P32
London’s new city:
Olympicopolis
Page 6
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WEDNESDAY 18 NOVEMBER 2015 EVENING STANDARD
4
Homes & Property | News
ISABEL INFANTES
stop press:
Making a stand: comic Russell Brand backed mothers who
occupied empty flats on the Carpenters Estate in Newham
Lifechanger of the week
perfect business venture
could be the cat’s whiskers
Ghost estate
disgrace in
Newham
T
HE saga of a ghost
estate in London
where hundreds of
homes have lain
empty for almost a
decade — in a borough with
more than 16,000 on the
housing waiting list — could
be coming to an end.
After a failed attempt to
reinvent Carpenters Estate
in Stratford as a smart university campus, plus years
of delays blamed on the
recession, Newham council
is this week expected to
approve plans to revamp the
site, where just 54 households currently live among
700 boarded-up homes.
Local residents protested
against the situation, including a group of mothers who
occupied flats and were sup-
ported in their stand by
comedian Russell Brand.
The process of rehousing
tenants and buying out owners has been going on since
2005, after the council
decided to demolish the
estate. Regeneration plans
were on hold due to the recession and Newham has been
paying since for maintenance
of the estate — a location for
2011 film Attack the Block.
The council hopes to find
a developer to co-fund a
joint venture. It wants to
build 2,000 new homes on
the site, plus shops and
potentially a new school.
But Joe Alexander, of the
Greater Carpenters Neighbourhood Forum, said the
regeneration plans would
“destroy the community”.
Trophy home of the week stamp of
approval for stunning £9m new build
£8.95 million: things are so easy
when you’re rich. Take this yet-tobe-built house on the exclusive
St George’s Hill estate in Weybridge.
Planning permission has already
been granted and the architects are
ready to go with their detailed spec,
which you are free to adapt. But by
buying the plot first and paying a
£1.1 million: there’s more than
enough room to swing a cat in this
property — which is just as well,
given that it has been a successful
cattery for more than 30 years.
The house, in the village of
Keston in Kent, has a versatile
layout, with two to four reception
rooms, one with windows looking
out on to the garden, pictured.
It also has a sleek kitchen
leading to a conservatory and
three bedrooms upstairs.
A detached garage — used as a
storeroom — has a fully fitted
kitchen for preparing kitty
cuisine, while the cattery can
house 50 moggies. Should you
need staff living space, planning
consent is in place for an annexe.
Through Alan de Maid (01689
499706).
little land tax, and only then starting
the build, the new owner saves
£360,000 in stamp duty.
Stick with the present plan and you
get a 20ft-high reception area, five
bedroom suites, a private cinema, a
gym and an amazing swimming pool
and spa. Through John D Wood
(01932 485020).
London buy of the week spacious
and bright a mile from the common
By Faye
Greenslade
£499,950: this
Streatham Vale home,
in a well-kept modern
street, comes with
1,000 sq ft of living
space and a 50ft-long
lush green garden.
Inside is open-plan at
ground level, with
ample reception and
dining areas. It has
pale walls and wood
floors leading into a
white kitchen fitted
with stone worktops
and high-spec,
integrated appliances.
Upstairs, there are
three decent-size
bedrooms with an
en suite to the master
bedroom and a balcony
leading off the second
bedroom. Streatham
Common is a stroll
away. Through Foxtons
(020 8150 5400).
O Find Ruth Bloomfield’s full story at homesandproperty.co.uk
Facebook:
ESHomesAndProperty • Twitter:
Only the best will do
THE countdown has begun for
developers great and small to submit
their projects for the Evening
Standard New Homes Awards 2016.
The most coveted in the
housebuilding industry, our awards
let developers and architects
showcase homes and achieve
recognition from the buying public.
Judging is independent, decided by
a panel of property experts and
Evening Standard readers with
recent buying experience. Across
13 categories, the awards embrace
the spectrum, from first-time buyer
flats to one-off luxurious mansions;
city centre high-rise developments to
conversions in the countryside, and
from boutique apartment schemes to
large-scale regeneration projects.
Refurbishments and restorations
qualify, as well as new builds.
Housing associations are encouraged
to enter, and we look forward to
submissions for shared-ownership
and affordable housing initiatives.
360-degree view: The Penthouse in
Wapping, this year’s Grand Prix winner
Show off entries with high-quality
photography and clear descriptions.
Tell us about the architectural
ambitions and the construction
challenges that have been overcome.
Winners will be announced at a gala
luncheon at The Dorchester hotel in
Mayfair on May 20, and the closing
date for entries is Friday, February 12.
For more information, or for an
entry form, call 01568 708163 or
email [email protected].
Twitter: #nha2016
@HomesProperty • Pinterest:
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:
Jamie McCabe
Advertising: 020 3615 0266
Homes & Property, Northcliffe
House, 2 Derry Street, Kensington,
London W8 5TT.
@HomesProperty
Win a £900 range cooker
We have a Leisure Cookmaster to give away
STYLISH range cooker brand Leisure
is passionate about making
entertaining at home a simpler and
more enjoyable task. With a selection
of colours and sizes available — from
60cm to 110cm — there is a model to
suit any kitchen. The brand is offering
readers the chance to win one of its
most popular 100cm cookers, right,
worth £900.
Providing plenty of space to cook
up an entire feast on the seven-burner
hob — including a wok burner —
the Leisure Cookmaster CK100F232
also features two ovens, a separate
dedicated quick-heating grill and a
convenient storage compartment.
Offering the ideal centrepiece to any
kitchen, it is available in black, cream,
red or blue and in electric, gas or
dual fuel. The ultimate in low
maintenance, this model also has
easy-clean technology to burn off dirt
and grease, giving you more time to
concentrate on honing your culinary
skills rather than arduous cleaning.
TO ENTER
For a chance to win this popular Leisure Cookmaster model worth £900, visit
homesandproperty.co.uk/cooker before December 6. Terms and conditions apply.
5
EVENING STANDARD WEDNESDAY 18 NOVEMBER 2015
News | Homes & Property
homesandproperty.co.uk powered by
Van-tastic! Live in Bennett’s street
Shepherd arrived in 1974.
Bennett is played in the film
by Alex Jennings, seen left
with Dame Maggie Smith as
Shepherd. The tree-lined
street is in Primrose Hill
conservation area, and the
Grade II-listed house for
sale, right, is on the books
of Savills St John’s Wood
for £4.25 million.
The property has five
bedrooms — all en suite — a
kitchen, double reception
room and front and back
gardens, but — perhaps
fortunately — no driveway.
By Amira Hashish
Buy Michelangelo’s Tuscan home
Spy chief’s £15m house
Got some
gossip?
Tweet
@amiranews
Pretty Woman sells
her penthouse
O Find more
celebrity gossip
at homesand
property.co.uk/
gossip
É JULIA ROBERTS has sold her
home in Greenwich Village, New
York, after a bidding war.
The Hollywood star of Eat Pray
Love and Pretty Woman, above, put
the apartment on the market just a
few months ago for £2.9 million, but
it went for nearly £650,000 more
than the asking price.
Financier Nicolas de Croisset,
husband of Vogue special events
associate Phoebe de Croisset, was
determined to secure the deal and
outbid others who were interested.
The three-bedroom penthouse
features a roof terrace, below, with
spectacular views over the Big
Apple’s skyline.
ÉRALPH FIENNES, right,
back to the 11th century.
There are eight bedrooms
and the original
architecture stands strong.
On sale with Handsome
Properties International,
it is a glittering prize for an
art lover.
the influence behind
has a pretty swish
Ian Fleming’s character.
apartment for his role as
C and his team
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ÉMICHELANGELO, the
star of the Italian
Renaissance, whose
staggeringly beautiful
works include the statue of
David and the ceiling of the
Sistine Chapel, bought a
Tuscan home in 1549 that
remained in his family for
more than 300 years.
It has been restored by its
current owner and is now
for sale at £5.36 million.
The original deed held by
Michelangelo, in which he
was described as a “dear
sculptor and Florentine
citizen”, will be passed on
to the new owner.
Set in six acres above
rolling hills, the living
space is contained in three
buildings, including a
tower believed to date
GETTY
É THE film adaptation of
Alan Bennett’s play The
Lady in the Van has opened
in cinemas to rave reviews.
It tells the true story of
the author’s turbulent
friendship with homeless
eccentric Mary Shepherd,
who lived in her van on the
driveway at his London
home. He said she could
park temporarily but she
stayed until her death 15
years later.
Now a house is for sale in
Gloucester Crescent, where
Bennett lived when Miss
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6
Homes & Property | New homes
Stratford gains Zone 2 status as it launches an
£850 million cultural quarter with thousands
of new jobs and homes. By David Spittles
From £560,000: new apartments at Stratford Plaza, a
From £500,000: two-bedroom flats
high-quality development complete with a roof terrace, are at Stratford Riverside, a 27-storey
perfectly positioned close to Canary Wharf and the City
tower on the banks of the River Lea
The new world in Zone 2:
Olympicopolis
S
TRATFORD’S post-Olympics
progress will scale new heights
from January when the east
London district gets upgraded
from travel Zone 3 to Zone 2.
The aim of the reclassification is to
spur economic growth in the area and
give momentum to the new cultural
quarter, dubbed “Olympicopolis”,
where an £850 million mega project
will include a new Victoria & Albert
Museum, London College of Fashion
campuses and a 600-seat theatre and
choreography school for Sadler’s Wells.
America’s revered Smithsonian Institution of museums and research centres
has also set its sights on Stratford for a
London outpost.
More than 10,000 jobs will be created
in the area, boosting local businesses
and house prices. London Mayor Boris
Johnson says he wants to “squeeze out
every drop of potential” from the 2012
Olympics site.
“Moving Stratford into a new transport zone recognises the shifting economic map of London,” he says.
The Olympicopolis vision takes its
inspiration from history. Prince Albert,
husband and consort of Queen Victoria,
used the proceeds of the 1851 Great
Exhibition to create a focused 86-acre
area of museums and cultural venues
in South Kensington, still flourishing
today. Similarly, this new Stratford hub
— part-funded by the Treasury and the
sell-off of council land — will showcase
the arts, history, science, technology
and design. An architectural competition is under way and the goal is to start
building within three years. It will complement the growing number of commercial businesses relocating to the
500-acre Queen Elizabeth Olympic
Park. The former 2012 Games press and
broadcast centre is being turned into
Here East, a cluster of creative and
digital companies, while relocation of
Transport for London and the Financial Conduct Authority to Stratford’s
International Quarter is bringing 5,500
more jobs.
All three of Stratford’s train stations
are being re-zoned. These are: Stratford
International — which serves high-speed
commuter trains between Kent and St
Pancras, and could get Eurostar services
if the Mayor has his way; Stratford, and
Stratford High Street. Crossrail, opening
in 2018, will boost transport links with
two Tube lines and the Docklands Light
Railway, plus overground services.
Coming
soon…
A NEW CITY IN THE MAKING
Up to 10,000 homes are being built in
Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, while
high-rise apartments continue to
sprout up on the fringe. Fifty-acre Fish
Island — a former industrial tract separated from the park by canals, and
home to 600 artists’ studios — is set to
become a new neighbourhood, with
hundreds of homes.
A good way to see the awesome
changes taking place is to visit the roof
garden at Stratford Plaza, one of the
town centre’s new skyscrapers, from
where there are sweeping views of the
park and sporting arenas, and of Westfield Stratford City, with its 300 shops
Setting their
sights on
Stratford: from
the top, Sadler’s
Wells with a
new theatre;
campuses for
London College
of Fashion; the
Victoria & Albert
Museum, and
University
College London.
America’s
Smithsonian
Institution plans
to establish a
London outpost
in Stratford
From £430,000:
the 333 flats at
Glasshouse
Gardens
are in two
contemporary
tower blocks
7
New homes | Homes & Property
GRAHAM HUSSEY
Drinking it
all in: flats in
Glasshouse
Gardens will
have superb
views of the
new cultural
quarter. Call
020 3002
6787
and 50 bars and restaurants. You can
also take in the network of train tracks,
along with building sites and still-derelict land. Telford Homes has been
building in Stratford since 2005 and
has four projects on the go, with flats
from £750,000, with cheaper homes
on their way. Call 020 3538 9273.
Zone 2 status will cement the changes
by enticing more businesses to the area
and helping them to attract staff, who
will pay less to commute. Others will
choose to live in the area. Analysis by
property company CBRE shows that
the average price of a Zone 2 home is
£723,000, compared with £488,000
for a Zone 3 property.
Stratford prices are typically £500 to
£700 per square foot, up from £450 in
2012, putting the starting price of a
one-bedroom flat in a swish new development at about £350,000. The area
is at least 30 per cent cheaper than
nearby Canary Wharf, also Zone 2.
Manhattan Loft Gardens seeks to
raise the local price level and architectural standard. This shimmering 42storey skyscraper has 248 flats and
open-air sky gardens carved from the
building’s form. Harry Handelsman,
its developer, calls it a “thing of
beauty”. Prices start at £615,000. While
construction takes place, a marketing
suite with a show apartment is open at
Bankside, which Handelsman put on
the map 20 years ago with a scheme of
factory lofts. Call 020 7620 3803.
Coming in January is the second
phase of 850-home Chobham Manor,
one of five neighbourhoods being built
in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. This
phase will include family houses. Call
Taylor Wimpey on 020 3435 9269.
Stratford Riverside, a 27-storey
tower on the banks of the River Lea,
has two-bedroom flats from £500,000.
Call Weston Homes on 01279 873300.
Glasshouse Gardens has 333 flats in
two towers priced from £430,000. Call
020 3002 6787.
Hackney estate agent Currell has
opened a Discover East resource
centre that is worth visiting, showing
the regeneration projects in and around
Fish Island. Call 020 3826 4888.
Peabody’s Neptune Wharf will provide 578 homes. L&Q housing association is poised to unveil a scheme of
canalside homes in Stour Road, while
developer The H Group is making
From £615,000:
apartments at
Manhattan Loft
Gardens, left,
aim to raise local
price levels and
take the area
upmarket;
shoppers are
well catered for
with Stratford
Centre, above,
and Westfield
Stratford City at
Olympic Park
New community:
January will
herald the
second phase of
Chobham Manor,
the first of five
neighbourhoods
being built in
Queen Elizabeth
Olympic Park.
Call Taylor
Wimpey (020
3435 9269)
progress on four schemes, with up to
250 homes aimed at young professionals working in Shoreditch and the
City who would never choose to live in
the new-build villages in the Olympic
Park itself.
The area is not for the faint-hearted.
Despite being close to the park’s splendid meadows, Fish Island is corralled
by a semi-derelict waterfront, while the
15-minute walks to the nearest train
stations — Pudding Mill Lane, Bow
Road and Hackney Wick — are through
a gritty, formidable urban landscape.
Westfield’s smart shoppers are an
example of the area’s changing demographic. Before long, there will be a
legion of white-collar workers. At least
20,000 more jobs are coming to the
area in the next five years or so, which
will help to mop up all the new homes
being built. And the infrastructure is
good enough to cope with the extra
demand.
The regeneration agencies involved
hope to forge a genuinely mixed community of locals and people new to the
area — more affluent types as well as
first-time buyers, singles, couples and
families living side by side.
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8
Homes & Property | Affordable live/work
Priced out of Silicon
Roundabout, young
London techies are
moving to cheaper
live/work areas, says
Cherry Casey
bespoke university-style campus where
large and small companies can sit side
by side and learn from each other.” The
Innovation Centre, due for completion
next summer, is the hub within Here
East that’s dedicated to flexible co-working spaces and incubation services.
Official marketing starts in the new year,
with Poole promising the spaces will be
“very competitively priced”.
Magnet: Central Working Whitechapel
offers co-working space for start-up
ventures. The “coolest ideas in London
tech” are discussed daily in the café
STRATFORD: WHERE TO LIVE
W
ITH property prices
near Old Street and
City Road in east London increasing 43 per
cent since 2012, an oftrepeated complaint about Tech City,
set up in 2010 to support the emerging
cluster of technological businesses in
the area, is that it has become a victim
of its own success.
Start-ups businesses, particularly
those moving out of “incubator” stage,
are being priced out and forced to
move further afield, creating smatterings of tech hubs across London. Here,
we take a look at two of them and point
to more affordable property nearby for
young Londoners.
Finding homes for young techies
WHITECHAPEL: WORK
Minutes from the City, alongside Bethnal
Green and on the Tube, Whitechapel’s
affordability has made it home to one
of the newest tech clusters. Decent
office space can be had for about £35 a
square foot, says estate agent Michael
Pain, partner at Carter Jonas.
Arguably more important to start-ups
than cheap rent is a hub of like-minded
firms — collaboration is vital when trying to get off the ground. In Whitechapel
the “magnets” are Central Working and
Barclays Accelerator.
At The London Escalator building in
Mile End Road, Barclays Accelerator is
a programme for FinTech start-ups,
while Central Working Whitechapel
offers co-working space for start-ups
such as Kano, which makes computer
and coding kits. Kano chief executive
Alex Klein says: “We’ve been here
about a year and love it. There’s a café
in the entrance where some of the
coolest ideas in London tech are discussed on a day-to-day basis.”
WHITECHAPEL: WHERE TO LIVE
Buyer demand for Whitechapel homes
has soared 53 per cent in the past year,
and Crossrail’s arrival in 2018 looks set
to boost it further.
The area around Aldgate, so close to
the City, is dearest, but two-bedroom
period conversions can be found
around Whitechapel station for about
£500,000. Foxtons has one in Myrdle
Street, E1, for £595,000. Nearby Mount
View has similar attractive properties.
One- and two-bedroom ex-local
authority flats make up most of
Whitechapel’s stock and can be picked
up readily for £300,000-£400,000.
More affordability is found further east
towards Stepney Green. There is an exlocal authority studio flat for sale in
Tilman Street for £249,000 (easyproperty.com) and a three-bedroom renovation project is available in Ben Jonson
Road (Peach Properties) for £410,000.
Similar properties are available in
Cooper Close and Mile End Road.
Whitechapel Vision, the 15-year
regeneration project from Tower Hamlets, aims to deliver 3,500 new homes
in the area, so big-scale developments
are certainly in the pipeline, with planning being submitted for new builds
around Raven Row, Varden Street and
Cambridge Heath Road.
East Thames housing association also
has a canalside development, East One,
where two-bedroom homes are available to buy outright for £440,000, with
shared-ownership options available.
AVERAGE PRICES
Houses and flats in Whitechapel
One-bedroom flat
£577,437
Two-bedroom flat
£707,816
Two-bedroom house
£800,000
Three-bedroom house
£1.35 million
Four-bedroom house
£1.6 million
Source: rightmove.co.uk
STRATFORD: WORK
A huge park, enviable transport links,
East Village and, of course, Westfield
— it seems there is little that post-Olympics Stratford cannot boast about. And
now it’s a tech hub, too.
Competitive price points are a draw,
with Stratford being one of only three
London sub-markets offering refurbished office space for under £40 per
square foot, alongside Docklands and
East City Fringe, says Carter Jonas.
Neighbouring Hackney Wick and Fish
Island are already popular with startups but Stratford’s main tech business
magnet is Here East, with 1.2 million
square feet of commercial space
remodelled in the former London
Olympics Media Centre and holding
claim to the most advanced digital
infrastructure in Europe.
“Here East offers space in a form that
doesn’t exist anywhere else,” explains
chief executive Gavin Poole. “It’s a
The swathe of new developments in
Stratford means supply is high, but so
is demand, which has increased 60 per
cent over the past year.
The E20 district, or East Village,
which incorporates the Olympic Park,
is particularly sought after, and the new
Glasshouse Gardens development
dominates this area. Homes are still
available here, starting at £430,000 for
a one-bedroom apartment.
Telford Homes’ Stratford Plaza is
also here, where one-bedroom flats can
be rented for £1,950 per month.
The Triathlon Homes development
in E20 offers affordable housing. There
are no more units for sale, but onebedroom flats are available to rent for
£1,500 a month.
Keep an eye open for Prospect East,
a similar development due to launch in
January with one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments, plus four-bedroom
townhouses. Shared-ownership options
will be available.
There are a cluster of developments
near Pudding Mill Lane station, such
as the new-build Stratford Riverside,
with three -bedroom flats from
£680,000. Central House, the 15-yearold development also along the canal
is good for first-time buyers, with onebedroom homes available for about
£340,000.
Rental property around this area is
also more affordable, and The Lock
development currently has a one-bedroom flat for £1,275 per month.
By moving towards West Ham Park,
buyers will find the cheapest homes,
with one-bed, pre-owned flats from
£180,000.
AVERAGE PRICES
Houses and flats in Stratford
One-bedroom flat
£295,553
Two-bedroom flat
£394,924
Two-bedroom house
£411,573
Three-bedroom house
£466,662
Four-bedroom house
£555,476
Source: rightmove.co.uk
9
Finance | Homes & Property
How lenders’ fees
stack up
BOOKING FEE
MORTGAGE ACCOUNT FEE
ARRANGEMENT FEE
Application fee, generally
non-refundable, which may be
included in the arrangement fee.
£99 to £250
Sometimes known as a product or
completion fee.
£0 to £2,000+
For setting up, maintaining and
closing your mortgage account.
If charged, there shouldn’t also be
an exit fee.
£100 to £300
OWN BUILDINGS
INSURANCE FEE
EARLY REPAYMENT CHARGE
Sometimes charged if you sort out
your own buildings insurance, rather
than buying from lender.
£25
VALUATION FEE
Varies with property value, often
waived on remortgages.
£150 to £1,500
EXIT FEE
CHAPS FEE
ALAMY
Key add-ons: there can be a sting
in the tail for many borrowers, once
mortgage lenders’ fees are factored in
R
EMORTGAGING has surged as borrowers seek to take advantage of low fixed
rates that offer interest savings running
into thousands of pounds and protection against an eventual base rate rise.
Many lenders have two-year deals at under two
per cent for mortgages of up to 75 per cent of the
value of a property.
But borrowers searching for the best deal to
switch to should watch out for additional fees that
eat into the interest savings.
The mortgage deals with the lowest headline
rates often have high fees, which can make them
much less competitive overall.
Set-up fees of £2,000 or more on some loans
mean borrowers may be better off choosing a loan
with a higher interest rate but lower fees, say
experts.
For example, the Post Office offers an ultra-low
two-year fix at 1.15 per cent for mortgages of up
to 60 per cent of a property’s value. But for many
borrowers, a higher fixed rate of 1.59 per cent
from Chelsea Building Society could work out
substantially cheaper.
The Post Office charges a hefty arrangement
fee of £1,995 and borrowers also pay a valuation
fee of hundreds of pounds, while there are no
arrangement or valuation fees with the
Chelsea offer.
Even with its higher rate, the overall cost of the
Chelsea deal would be about £1,000 lower over
the two-year fixed-rate period for a £250,000
repayment loan, according to calculations by
financial website MoneySavingExpert.com.
Financial adviser Justin Modray, of Candid
Money, warns that lenders can use up-front fees
to make their mortgage rates look more attractive
than they really are. A high initial fee means they
can cut the headline interest rate without affecting their profit,” he says.
Ray Boulger, of independent mortgage and
remortgage adviser John Charcol, adds: “There’s
an element of taking advantage of borrowers’
naivety — lenders are disguising the real cost of
their deals.”
Most mortgages have arrangement fees, but their
size varies widely and can be as high as £2,800,
according to researchers Moneyfacts. The average
is more than £900 — three times the level of a decade ago. And although in many cases, the fee can
Lenders who lure you with
a low fixed rate can charge
fees that eat your ‘saving’,
warns Steve Lodge
be added to the loan, this means paying interest
on it. Where a lender charges a property valuation
fee, this can also be a significant cost, ranging up
to more than £1,000 for high-value homes.
Fees have a greater impact on the cost of smaller
and shorter-term loans. And they can add up for
borrowers who routinely switch when deals end.
“Borrowers choosing a two-year fixed rate will
have to remortgage again relatively soon, which
could see them paying out yet another hefty fee,”
says Moneyfacts’ Charlotte Nelson.
However, Boulger warns that borrowers who
are put off a low-rate offer just because of its high
fees could also end up worse off.
With larger or longer-term loans, the size of fees
can be relatively unimportant, he says.
Among five-year fixes, HSBC offers a cut-price
rate of 2.19 per cent which, even with a booking
fee of £499, plus hundreds of pounds of other
set-up costs, still works out cheaper than rivals
with no fees, according to MoneySavingExpert.
com.
The site has a free “mortgage best buys” tool,
which compares total loan costs, including
arrangement and other set-up fees. It includes
deals available through mortgage brokers, as well
as those only available direct from lenders.
A good mortgage broker will also be able to
find the right deal based on your circumstances.
Brokers will often have details about lenders’
criteria, which can help with applications — and
the process should be quicker.
However, it’s not just fees charged at the outset
of a mortgage that borrowers should consider.
David Hollingworth, of broker London & Country
Mortgages, says most fixed-rate mortgages have
early repayment charges during the fixed term.
These are generally a percentage of the loan
and can amount to thousands of pounds, making
it important to think about how long you should
tie yourself in for.
INTEREST RATES — THE REAL DEAL
Post Office
Chelsea Building Society
HSBC
Saffron Building Society
HSBC
For transferring mortgage funds to
your solicitor.
£25 to £50
Also known as a mortgage completion
or deeds release fee. For closing your
mortgage account.
£75 to £300
Sources: Money Advice Service; MoneySuperMarket.com
Cheap home loans
that are anything but
Lender
Applies if you come out of the fixedrate or discount period before it ends.
One to five per cent of loan
Mortgage rate
Set-up fees
1.15 per cent fixed for two years
1.59 per cent fixed for two years
0.98 per cent two-year discounted variable
1.49 per cent two-year discounted variable
2.19 per cent fixed for five years
£2,495
£0
£1,810
£685 (+ cashback of £800)
£810
Total
annual cost
£12,670
£12,130
£12,170
£11,930
£13,140
Based on a £250,000 remortgage on a £500,000 property. Set-up fees include arrangement/booking and valuation fees. Total
annual cost comprises fees, averaged over length of fixed/discount term, plus mortgage payments
Source: MoneySavingExpert.com, November 13, 2015
!
! ! ! ! ! ! WEDNESDAY 18 NOVEMBER 2015 EVENING STANDARD
10
Homes & Property | Architecture
the
awards
2015
London, built on clay,
is set to scoop awards
for its innovative use
of modern bricks, says
Philippa Stockley
Boxing clever: 3a Spencer Park is seen as London’s best new one-off brick home
W
HAT could be a more
appropriate building
material than brick for
a city built on clay?
Brick formed the building blocks of London for centuries, until
the arrival of steel and big glass made it
look dull by comparison.
Yet today, brick is back in favour, seen
as an antidote to ubiquitous glass towers, with London architects embracing
the material with enthusiasm. The best
of their recent work features in the 39th
annual Brick Awards, with winners
announced tonight.
London features strongly in the housing development category, where four
very different schemes are shortlisted.
Trafalgar Place in Elephant & Castle,
by de Rijke Marsh Morgan, is set on a
big triangular plot with lots of green
space. It has 235 new homes, each with
a balcony, garden or terrace, in blocks
of up to 10 storeys. The mix of brick,
from Ibstock and Michelmersh, creates
clever patterns across the façades.
Chester Balmore in Camden, by
Rick Mather Architects, is a beautiful
development of 53 council homes in a
soft, elegant, dove-grey Marziale brick
by Wienerberger — the biggest brick
company in the world. Mather has
made the blocks look really harmonious with neighbouring terraces.
In Whitechapel, Niall McLaughlin has
filled an empty Peabody housing site
with Darbishire Place, where each
Perfect fit:
Darbishire Place,
Whitechapel,
left, is made from
Marziale brick,
which helps to
blend the new
development of
13 family homes
with surrounding
buildings
Eye-catching refurb: Brooksby in N1 teams unusual white bricks and plenty of glass
flat has a deep balcony. Also made from
lovely Marziale brick, it has created
homes for 13 families.
In Tulse Hill, Groves Natcheva has
created Warren House — a striking
industrial-looking set of nine private
apartments next to the station.
The crisply retro building is clad in
distinctive glazed black-and-white
Ibstock brick, which has helped to
make it a local landmark.
Something extra:
in Clonbrock
Road, Hackney,
right, a cleverly
conceived
silver-white
brick extension
by Lipton Plant
appears to
create an
entirely
new building
A NEW-BUILD ONE-OFF
FABULOUS BRICK REFURBS
Just one London project has been
shortlisted in the one-off homes category. Big, bold and boxy 3a Spencer
Park in SW18, by MG Architects, uses
lots of glass as well as brick to create a
defiantly modern, light-filled house.
Like so many new projects, it makes
use of the pale bricks that are currently
so popular, this time a version called
Terca by Wienerberger.
The refurbishment category has three
terrific London homes shortlisted.
Clonbrock Road, Hackney, adds an
extension to a 1957 house so cleverly it
seems to create a whole new building.
Done by Lipton Plant on a tight budget,
it uses a distinctive silver-white Ibstock
brick to good effect.
House of Trace, by Tsuruta, in SE23
took an old brick extension and made
a new extension that incorporates the
shape of the old one, like a shadow.
Inside, the fresh new yellow Sheerwater bricks are left exposed — even in the
bedroom — which works very well.
Brooksby in N1, by Llowarch
Llowarch, makes the best of a boxy
back extension by using white glazed
bricks by Wienerberger, along with
plenty of glass. The project showcases
the value of using unusual bricks.
A STUNNING COLLECTION OF 1, 2, 3 & 4 BEDROOM APARTMENTS
& TOWNHOUSES ON THE EDGE OF KENNINGTON, SE11.
A development by
12
Homes & Property | Homes abroad
ALAMY
VALENCIA: new BA flights will take you to
Spain’s fiesta-mad, third-largest city, above.
This three-bedroom beachside penthouse
with two terraces, right, is £323,500
through Lucas Fox (lucasfox.com)
priced from £359,500
(pomaseiuno.it)
TORONTO: right, WestJet
flights start at £163 one way;
new flats are from £149,000
ALAMY
MILAN: from next month,
budget airline Ryanair flies
to the Italian fashion capital
from as little as £18 one
way. Modern apartments at
Poma Seiuno, above, are
Flights of fancy
Super-affordable airfares are bringing new holiday homes
well within Londoners’ budgets, reports Cathy Hawker
T
HIRTY years on from the arrival of
low-cost airfares to Europe, our
travel expectations have changed.
As well as the single long summer
holiday on a foreign beach, we now
add weekend breaks to anywhere and
everywhere, from Amsterdam to Madrid to
Dubrovnik. Cheaper flights and more routes
also broaden the choice of holiday home
destinations — here’s our pick of some of the
hottest.
from Heathrow to Salzburg, with prices from
£40 one way.
An hour from Salzburg, Saalbach-Hinterglemm
has just become Austria’s largest linked ski area
with 170 miles of slopes. Adler Residences in
upmarket Hinterglemm are 40 one- to fourbedroom fully furnished apartments attached
to the family-run Adler Hotel, priced from
£287,000 through Mark Warner Property
(markwarnerproperty.com).
NEW: VIBRANT VALENCIA
Fancy a budget-balanced trip to the great
outdoors? Low-cost carrier WestJet has
announced new routes from Gatwick to six
Canadian cities from May.
WestJet will fly daily to Toronto and to St
John’s, Newfoundland, with up to six flights a
week to Calgary, gateway to the Rockies,
Vancouver, Edmonton and Winnipeg. Single
fares start from £163, the lowest on offer across
the Atlantic on launch, says WestJet, and
include one piece of checked luggage.
Additional luggage and hot meals on board cost
extra (westjet.com).
Rather like London, Vancouver and Toronto
have experienced property prices spiralling
beyond the reach of local families, rising 11 per
cent in the 12 months to July this year. Yet at the
same time, the British pound buys more in
Canada, as falling oil prices contribute to the
Canadian dollar recently recording its heaviest
two-year fall on record.
Chestertons International is selling off-plan
one- to three-bedroom apartments in central
Toronto, priced from £149,000. Set in two
landmark modern buildings with rooftop pools
and gyms, these apartments appeal to investors
and to parents with children at Toronto
universities, says Stephanie Patterson of
Chestertons (chestertons.com).
NEW: CANADA FOR £163 EACH WAY
BA starts flights this month from
Gatwick to Valencia, Spain’s thirdlargest city. Costing from £43 one way, the
service will run three times a week in winter
and six times a week in summer (ba.com).
The mild Mediterranean climate, vibrant
culture mixed with international sporting
events and an enthusiastic love of fiestas are all
part of Valencia’s charm. Property prices
remain 40 per cent below their pre-recession
peaks, and modern seafront penthouses and
historic country villas are on offer. Estefanía
Roig of Lucas Fox (lucasfox.com) says: “A twobedroom apartment with sea views in Valencia
will cost between £135,000 and £176,000, while
a good-size villa 10 minutes from the centre is
between £137,000 and £216,000.”
NEW: SEE MORE OF ITALY
Brace yourself for that irritating Ryanair fanfare
because the budget airline has announced two
new routes from Stansted. From December, it
will fly to Milan, Italy’s financial and fashion
capital. From spring, it will fly three times a
week to Verona, the gateway to Lake Garda.
Prices from £18 one way (ryanair.com).
In Milan, 105 sleek one- to four-bedroom
apartments at Poma Seiuno, east of the centre,
are nearing completion. The modern homes,
many with roof gardens or balconies, will have
an in-house gym and — unusually for Milan — a
concierge and a rental management team.
Prices start from £359,500 (pomaseiuno.it).
NEW: SPEED TO THE SLOPES
Winter sports fans have even more options to
reach the slopes this winter. EasyJet is flying
from Luton to Innsbruck in Austria, ideal for
the Arlberg ski region and its super-smart
resorts of Lech and
St Anton. Pure International is selling Arlberg
Apartments in St Anton priced from £215,000
for one to five bedrooms, with guaranteed
rental returns of up to 5.19 per cent (pureintl.
com). Meanwhile, from next month to the end
of March, British Airways will fly twice weekly
AUSTRIA: new easyJet flights to Innsbruck bring
Arlberg Chalets, 20 minutes from Lech, within
easier reach. From £140,200 (pureintl.com)
13
Design| Homes & Property
◄ Amplicomms PowerTel 710
◄ DP 01 Punkt
Sufferers of impaired sight or hearing
loss will find this cordless phone a
blessing. The Amplicomms PowerTel
710 talks to you and can record up to 13
friends’ names to be announced when
they ring. Calls are loud and clear, too,
and there’s a 90-decibel ringer. It also
features large buttons to make dialling
easy and the display screen is a good
size. Hearing aid-compatible, it is
£99.99 or VAT-free at £83.33 for blind
and partially sighted customers, or for
someone buying on their behalf
(shop.rnib.org.uk).
Designed by Jasper Morrison and with
10 exclusive ringtones composed by
electronic musician Robin Rimbaud,
aka Scanner, this contemporary,
cordless digital phone is produced by
Swiss design-led technology company
Punkt. The DP 01 can sit horizontally
on its base or the whole thing can be
wall mounted. The design is simple and
modern, and comes in white, black or
red, left. Features include an answering
machine and a high-quality speaker.
Priced at £199 (selfridges.com).
By
Caramel Quin
Des
es
trend
tre
trend
re
end
ds
d
s
home phones
► Panasonic KX-PRW120
For a premium feel, give the cordless
digital Panasonic KX-PRW120 a try.
It connects, through wi-fi, to your
smartphone and takes a copy of your
contacts book. It can also make and
receive landline calls for free via an
app on your smartphone — Android
and iOS. Features include answering
machine, speakerphone and text
messaging. Priced at £79.99
(panasonic.com).
▲ BT Elements 1K
If you live in a house with thick stone
walls, have a super-long garden or have
struggled for years to get a decent
signal from other cordless phones, this
is the perfect digital home phone for
you. BT Elements 1K is rugged — being
both waterproof and dustproof — and
has a range of up to a kilometre,
making it ideal for a weekend home in
the sticks. Features include answering
machine, speakerphone and text
messaging. Priced at £79.99 with a
single handset, or £119.98 with a pair
of handsets (shop.bt.com).
SALES SUITE NOW OPEN
▲ Philips M8
The most stylish of the current bunch
by far, the cordless digital Philips M8
feels lovely in the hand and is perfect
for those BFF calls that last for hours.
It’s lightweight, feels slim and has
legible and tactile buttons for dialling.
The curved “banana” shape is quite
brilliantly ergonomic and looks good
sitting on a table. Features include
answering machine, speakerphone and
privacy modes — including one that
blocks late-night calls, apart from
selected friends and family. Priced at
£99.95 (johnlewis.com).
14
Homes & Property | Interiors
A
Spot on for home glamour: strewn with overblown flower heads that contrast
with leopard print, Roberto Cavalli’s lavish Orchidee design is shown here on
bed linen at £831.60 for the set. It’s machine washable, with a 300 thread count
pure
glam
Find giant blooms in reds and purples, animal
prints and precious metal shades of bronze,
silver and gold as fashion houses sashay their
way into homes, says Barbara Chandler
S EVER, über-chic Italian
brand Roberto Cavalli is
bang on trend in the fashion — and now interiors —
stakes with the “glam
luxe” look. Florence-born designer
Cavalli, whose style has become steadily more flamboyant over his long and
illustrious career, is now concentrating
on furniture, personally steering
each design from sketch to prototype,
then to manufacture by a bevy of
devoted craftspeople. The end result
is extremely opulent and absolutely
fabulous — as long as you love glitz and
animal prints.
“People now see interiors as an extension of fashion,” says Theo Mance,
exclusive dealer for Cavalli furniture
in London and whose new showroom,
Kings of Chelsea, opens tomorrow.
An art historian who trained at the
V&A and has a strong background
in antiques, Mance has been a buyer for Liberty, a consultant to Harrods
and has helped several other international brands set up shops in the
capital. He certainly knows his furniture, and believes that London has
become an international centre for
fashion and design.
■
“We are not simply selling a label,”
he explains. “Cavalli furniture
is an intrinsic part of the fashion
brand, not an add-on. The furniture
features the same exclusive prints at
the same time as, or even before, its
fashion launch.”
These prints are the stars of the show.
For example, a luscious, large-scale red
rose fabric is stretched across cupboard doors and sealed under a layer
of clear glitter resin. Handles are jewelled and fashioned from brass and
platinum. Cabinet interiors of shiny
lacquer or leopard print sport bronze
glass shelves. More red roses — in giant
single flower heads — are scattered over
huge sofas made for lounging at leisure.
For those of fainter heart, the roses also
come in grey. More restrained, but
equally dramatic, is an abstract pattern
of jagged shards in a kaleidoscopic
effect, again in grey or pink.
“Londoners are aspirational,” says
Mance, “and if they see quality and
exclusivity, they are prepared to pay.”
Sofas and headboards feature frames
of twisted leather, while chair backs
are pleated like a dress, with studding
as a “belt”. White leather for a cocktail
bar is quilted like a handbag, and table
Pick of the bunch: a Roberto Cavalli
three-seater Manhattan sofa,
£10,500, and a Golden Bridge side
table, from a set of three, £12,000,
from Kings of Chelsea in King’s Road
tops in clear bevelled glass reveal sculptural supports — chunky columns or
ribbon twists of nickel-plated metal.
London has already seen Cavalli
homeware, with printed bed linen,
snake-textured gold cutlery and towels
in a safari of animal prints, but these
latest pieces elevate the brand.
■
At Design Centre Chelsea Harbour,
fashion maestro Giorgio Armani
continues to celebrate his 40th
anniversary this year. He opened
homeware shop Armani Casa in New
Bond Street in 2006, but decamped to
Chelsea in 2011. Compared to Cavalli,
his style for furniture is restrained and
understated.
“This season it is the East that
enchants me,” he says, introducing
cabinets and tables in pared-down
shapes in stained dark timbers, with
flashes of crimson and jade. Sophisticated Venetian fabric house Rubelli —
also showcased at the Harbour — has
worked with Armani for 10 years, and
its latest collaboration takes up the
oriental theme, with interlacing patterns derived from Japanese armour
that seem almost etched into quilted
silks and wool.
Both Cavalli and Armani are exploiting
the glittering heritage of Venetian
Murano glass in Italy, where a master
glassmaker and his two assistants use
their skills to make Cavalli’s opulent
" ! Image-driven: it is not only fashion brands that are moving into luxury interiors. Mercedes-Benz has designed a cool
yet sumptuous look, inspired by its cars, for six new Kensington apartments. Visit frasershospitality.com to rent one
15
Interiors | Homes & Property
Pretty pleats: right, relax in comfort
in the Roberto Cavalli Sharpei chair,
which features leather upholstery
Raise a glass: Oscar de la Renta’s
mouth-blown glass decanter, below,
with tortoiseshell pattern, £246; wine
glasses £50 each. From amara.com
Opulent: below centre, silk Papillon
cushion by Roberto Cavalli, 40cm
square, £136 from amara.com.
Other colourways are available
Golden touch: Roberto Cavalli has
used his own ornate monogram,
below right, entwined with flowers,
for this napkin ring in gold-plated
brass — £122 from amara.com
chandeliers and Armani’s table lamps
in bronze with dove- grey glass
shades.
■
Glamour is a rite of passage in
Hollywood, Miami and Beverly
Hills, where labels such as Oscar de la
Renta, Diane von Furstenberg and
Ted Baker have moved seamlessly into
homeware. But Ralph Lauren is
unquestionably the king. His homeware brand offers a timeless layered
look, which mixes lacquer and vintage
leather with tweed, tartan, cashmere,
herringbone and animal prints. Browse
an inspirational set of room settings in
New Bond Street for a glamour fix.
In Mayfair, Russian-born Anna GraceDavidson has a showcase shop, Anna
Casa, offering more Italian glam-luxe
including Baxter, famous for fine
leather Italian craftsmanship married
with cutting-edge design.
Its particular protégés are design duo
Draga & Aurel, who both studied art in
Florence before turning to furniture.
One fabulous piece can upgrade a
room, so try the couch in white Mongolian sheepskin by Paola Navone,
Italian design doyenne.
CONTACTS
O Kings of Chelsea: King’s Road, SW10
(kofc.co.uk; 020 7751 4586)
O Armani Casa: Design Centre
Chelsea Harbour, SW10 (armanicasa.
com; 020 7368 7530)
O Ralph Lauren: New Bond Street,
W1 (ralphlaurenhome.com; 020
7535 4600)
O Anna Casa: Hay Hill, W1
(annacasa.net; 020 7629 0045)
Elegant simplicity: the Liquid Lunch dining table is by Draga & Aurel for Italian luxury brand Baxter. The base is walnutstained, and the top is decorated by hand with layered resins. From Anna Casa, Hay Hill, W1 (020 7629 0045; annacasa.net)
#&#
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Computer generated image of a living room at Drayton Place. *Prices correct at the time of going to print November 2015
20
Homes & Property | Reader promotion
Rustle up a magical kitchen makeover
RENOVATE your kitchen with
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Choose from a selection of more
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Elegant chair
is so versatile
IT’S time to start getting
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Currently £83.99 per
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To order, visit
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while stocks last.
Half-price
tractor stool
FOR a unique touch to any
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snap up the sturdy Tractor
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They feature adjustable
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Lie back on a lovely Jubbly bean bag
RELAX in comfort and feel
supported on The Jubbly triangular
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Priced from £130 and measuring
a generous 140cm x 170cm, this
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the triangular Jubbly ice lolly — a kids’
favourite in the Fifties and Sixties.
Readers can claim 15 per cent off
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PDES015 before December 15.
To order, visit poufdaddy.co.uk or
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Buy two gorgeous grey-green
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THE Vincent side table from
Within features a single drawer
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this pretty table with curvy
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Readers are offered £100 off
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call 020 7087 2900 and use code
BNVINCENT before December 2.
O Th
The companies
i listed
li d h
here are wholly
h ll iindependent
d
d
off the
h E
Evening
i S
Standard.
d d C
Care iis taken
k to establish
bli h that
h they
h are b
bona fide,
fid b
but we recommend
d that
h you carry out your own checks
h k prior
i to purchases
h
and
d use a credit
di card
d
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.
London Evening Standard
New Homes Awards For more information and to request an entry form email [email protected]
or call 01568 708 163. Closing date for entries: Friday 12th February 2016
#nha2016
22
Homes & Property | Shopping
Living in a material world
RICHARD NICHOLSON
W
Textile background: Polly Leonard lives and breathes
fabrics through her Selvedge magazine and shop in N6
!"'
'#
%(
.
# *
ALK down Archway
Road in north London
and you will find
Selvedge. This textile
shop is filled with
fabrics created by skilled weavers from
across the world, and each item has a
story to tell, from Scandinavian linen
dishcloths produced by Swedish company Växbo, which grows, spins and
weaves the flax, to Alpaca blankets and
cushions made by French designer
Thibault Van Der Straete. There are
also wool blankets by London designer
Eleanor Pritchard, who has them
woven at a small mill in Carmarthenshire in Wales.
Inside the shop, young assistants help
customers choose a fabric, quilt or
throw, while tucked round the back in
her office, owner Polly Leonard is going
through the proofs of Selvedge magazine, which has helped to put textiles
back on the fashion agenda.
Leonard is a champion of under-theradar designers and producers. If she
finds something that isn’t easily available in the UK, she will feature it in the
magazine, then sell it as part of her
online boutique.
Running an “upmarket haberdashery”
store means Leonard, who studied embroidery and weaving at Glasgow School
of Art before becoming a lecturer and
editor, has seen fascinating developments in textiles for interiors. In a world
of digital technology, she has spotted a
new yearning for authenticity.
“I’m noticing lots of crochet in interiors and in fashion, possibly because it’s
more flexible than knitting,” she says.
“You can create a garment without a
seam with crochet and, perhaps
because it’s a more immediate technique, you can learn it much more
quickly.”
She is particularly impressed by the
works of Dalston designer Naomi Paul
(naomipaul.co.uk), who recently exhibited big crocheted lampshades at interiors show Decorex.
A flashback to the Seventies are
macramé-style wall hangings. “They
are big on texture, so you can actually
see the path of the yarn through the
structure,” explains Leonard. “You see
it in weave and crochet, and you’re
getting images of it in print, too.”
There is also a huge interest in natural
dyes. “Whenever we do anything with
Fabrics queen and Selvedge editor Polly Leonard champions
skilled weavers from Wales to Nepal. By Liz Hoggard
Instore or online: Polly Leonard’s
treasure store of fabrics in Archway,
above; left, her magazine, Selvedge,
with Vivienne Westood on its cover,
give textile design a new boost
*! #! %' !#'% " '% ) '"'
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Light touch:
Naomi Paul, left,
has created a
range of crochet
lampshades,
including the
elegant Vex
shade, above.
Products are
made to order
(naomipaul.
co.uk)
indigo, it’s sold out instantly,” says
Leonard. She mentions new company
A Rum Fellow (arumfellow.com), which
is taking fabrics from artisans around
the world and reupholstering Fifties,
Sixties and Seventies furniture.
Leonard believes that textile stories
can be found in all cultures. “If you
look back in history, it was the invention of the sail that initiated global
trade,” she adds. “It was the invention
of loom technology that started the
Industrial Revolution.”
When she launched bi-monthly
magazine Selvedge in 2003 — offering
an overview of textiles across different
sectors — it revolutionised the way
materials are presented.
True to form, the name is inspired by
fabrics, with “selvedge” meaning the
edges of a piece of cloth as it comes
out of the loom, while the square format of the magazine is based on the
woven grid. It’s clear that Leonard eats,
breathes and sleeps textiles. She lives
near the shop with her 16-year-old son,
Phoenix, and daughter, Liberty, 13.
She also has the support of her husband, who funded the first-ever issue
of Selvedge.
Leonard insists her house is no show
home. But it is testament to her love of
the handmade. Her staircase carpet
from Roger Oates, which sells vibrant
flatweave 100 per cent wool runners,
is a pleasure to look at every day. Her
sofa is upholstered in fabric from Welsh
wool mill Melin Tregwynt, and rugs
throughout the house are by Stitch by
Stitch (stitchbystitch.eu) — a textile
design studio that works with artisans
from India and Nepal.
The team at the shop are now gearing
up for the Selvedge Christmas fair
next month, where you’ll find more
than 100 artisans and small businesses
selling vintage haberdashery, festive
decorations, homewares and antique
textiles.
Leonard originally launched Selvedge
to encourage “the fashion people to
talk to the interiors people and show
them how they could look at their
materials in different ways”. Today,
interior designers often ring the shop
asking where they can get a piece
upholstered.
Leonard’s strong design sensibilities
originated in Yorkshire, where she grew
up. She remembers the plain, bare
landscape of the moors. Even now her
colour palette is quite simple. “One day,
I’d like to have a shop where I just sell
red, white and blue things,” she says.
O Selvedge presents Artisan
Christmas: December 3-4, Chelsea
Old Town Hall, King’s Road, SW3.
Advance tickets £5 (£7.50 on the door)
from selvedge.org
O The Selvedge shop, 162 Archway
Road, N6 (020 8341 9721)
26
Homes & Property | Our home
homesandproperty.co.uk
Monochrome
style: black
bricks contrast
with white and
grey marble to
give this north
London home a
modern and
distinctive look
A BRILLIANT
LITTLE HOUSE
Young architects David and Sophie were so broke they had
to count every brick they bought, says Philippa Stockley
Y
Photographs:
Francesco
Guidicini,
Tom Gildon
and Keith Collie
OUNG and broke, awardwinning architects David
Liddicoat and Sophie Goldhill
had to count the number of
bricks they could afford
before they built their first home on a
derelict plot in a street at the back of
King’s Cross station.
“Sophie was the hod carrier — I just
walked around with a clipboard,” says
David, one half of the married architectural partnership, Liddicoat and
Goldhill, about building their first home,
a small and boxy black-brick house in
Camden.
At just 35, these rising stars have
worked hard to get where they are. When
they met in 2003 at the Royal College of
Art, doing an MA in architectural design,
they were penniless but determined to
complete the long training programme
and then find a plot to build on. Although
just friends at college, in 2005 Sophie
“roped David in” to build her parents’
conservatory. So began both partnership
and marriage.
Then, while they were working for big
architectural practices, Sophie inherited
£75,000, which lit the touchpaper to
finding a building plot. “We were obsessive,” says David, “but in reality it was
still so little money that we had to find
something no one else wanted.”
A keen cyclist, he scoured London,
looking over walls and checking the land
registry. “We drove around with a big
A-Z full of biro marks,” say Sophie. At
last, in a street behind King’s Cross station, they saw a dilapidated double
gateway and, peering over it, a rotting
single garage. They tracked down the
owner, and found that two planning
applications to build a house had been
rejected, because the planners considered the site too small. But that was a red
rag to Sophie and David, who made an
Small plot, big
plans: Sophie
and David in
their minimalist
kitchen, where a
large globe
pendant light
makes a style
statement above
the dining table
offer and bought the plot using all of
Sophie’s inheritance at the end of
2006.
Although Sophie was sitting her final
exams at the time, the couple spent
every available minute doing drawings
of what to build. “It was both exciting
and scary,” Sophie says candidly. “Everything we had was in this horrible little
plot with planning refusals on it.”
However, a neighbour offered them a
tiny extra piece of land at the back of the
plot for £20,000 — just enough to make
a difference. They came up with a plan
to build a semi-basement, plus an
upper floor, in a boxy, flat-roofed house
that was modest in height and sat well
in the space.
Their budget was so tight that the house
would be made entirely out of brick and
timber, but with unusual detailing in
marble and granite, to show the planners
that they intended to make it highquality and in keeping with the nearby
houses, with plenty of glass.
“The planners liked the fact that we
wanted to do something special — but
we had so little money that we calculated
the number of bricks,” says David. “We
worked out how we could complete the
build using just one truckload — 30,000
bricks — because we couldn’t afford two
BISQUE
Beautiful radiators for stylish interiors
Banish the winter blues
London showroom:
244 Belsize Road, London NW6 4BT
T: 020 7328 2225
www.bisque.co.uk
27
Our home | Homes & Property
powered by
Glass with class:
centre left, a
huge picture
window
illuminates the
exposed black
engineered
bricks in the
master bedroom
Industrial chic:
the ceilings are
exposed in all of
the rooms, with
bare light bulbs
hanging from
coloured flexes
in the kitchen
area, left
Welcome: shrubs
bring a pretty
sprinkling of
colour to the
entrance of the
house, right
Vivid contrast:
the stark white
concrete stairs,
right, work
strikingly well
against the black
brick walls
truckloads.” Once they got planning
permission, they started at the end of
2009. Then calamity struck: it was so
cold that the bricklayer couldn’t lay
bricks. The team restarted in April, and
got the whole job done by winter.
The house is fairly straightforward: a
double skin of black, glazed Dutch
bricks, with insulation inside. The lower
floor holds one big main room with a
fabulous picture window at the end and
another window on the side. Its ceiling
is of exposed, deep joists, that enhance
the sense of height. All the floors are
polished poured concrete with underfloor heating. Because the walls are
exposed brick, the electrics are surfacemounted for an industrial look, which
continues in the simple kitchen — made
on-site by the joiner — which has light
bulbs hanging down over the counter.
There’s a lavatory under the stairs, with
the washing machine tucked in a cupboard behind it. The main bathroom,
upstairs, has a small Japanese soak bath,
and a striking ribbed glass wall. Light
floods in from a wide band of glass that
spans the roof. It’s a lovely, bold touch.
More light comes from a big picture
window in the master bedroom.
To decorate the front of the house, the
couple used an exotically veined slab of
white-and-grey marble, which was split
and box-matched. It was a costly, bravura purchase, but every scrap was used
for lining the windows, a little caddy for
the loo roll, and even a chopping board.
And the artistic gesture adds tremendous luxe.
Having done much of the work themselves and fallen in love with their new
home, the couple, expecting their first
child, knew they would have to sell up
to create funds for their next step. But
building this brilliant little house had
taught them what you can do with ingenuity, guts and dedication — even when
the planners think you can’t.
WHAT IT COST
Plot (+ extra bit) in 2006-7: £95,000
Build costs (no fees for architects or
their labour): £210,000
Value now: £850,000-£930,000
GET THE LOOK
Architects (and part builders) Sophie
Goldhill and David Liddicoat at
liddicoatgoldhill.com
Black glazed “Eton” bricks from
Daas Baksteen at daasbaksteen.nl
Bricks laid by Frank Pagnello via
[email protected]
Franke steel sink in kitchen from
franke.com
All special glass bespoke from
structural glass specialists Firman
Glass at firmanglass.com
Roof made of glass reinforced
plastic (GRP) from flatroofsystems.
co.uk
Translucent wash on timber bespoke
stair by sadolin.co.uk
Poured concrete floors by concrete
specialist Lazenby at lazenby.co.uk
Light bulbs from Urban Cottage
Industries at urbancottageindustries.
com
White goods from duravit.co.uk
except for downstairs loo, which was
salvaged from a skip
28
Homes & Property | Outdoors
N
ATIONAL Tree Week, at
the end of this month, celebrates the start of the
winter tree-planting season. There is no better
time to plant a tree, but on your own
plot, you need to be creative.
Plant with a purpose. In London gardens where space is limited, a tree has
to make a major contribution. Consider, for example, a line of high-level
pleached hornbeams to screen out a
neighbour’s intrusive windows; an
Amelanchier lamarckii just beyond the
kitchen window to mark the seasons
with spring flowers, summer fruits and
autumn foliage; a group of silver-barked
birch trees to light up a shady corner, or
an ornamental cherry such as Prunus
serrula, with glossy red bark and a fine
show of blossom, to make magic in the
front garden come springtime.
SPIRIT OF THE MED
Instead of a climber that takes time to
cover, you might instantly transform a
wall with a series of vertical green columns. Pencil cypress trees summon
the spirit of the Mediterranean and,
provided you keep them in containers,
will take up little space, but have great
presence. They are also content to stay
in pots for years, as is a fig tree, another
Med habitué. It will bear most fruit
when planted against a warm, southfacing wall, or make a great focal point
in the centre of a sunny courtyard.
Don’t shy away from a fig just because
it loses its leaves in winter. That palebarked, curvy silhouette can look
equally as striking bare as when it is
clothed with giant-fingered leaves. And
there are the figs — as tasty as any in the
Med after a good summer.
YEAR-ROUND GREENERY
If you want an evergreen tree that will
block a view or simply provide yearround foliage, you might consider
strawberry tree Arbutus unedo. It is a
compact tree with reddish bark, scarlet
stems, shapely leaves and white, bellshaped flowers in autumn, at the same
time as the hanging, strawberry-like
round red fruits. It will grow happily in
a container, which restricts any tree’s
growth and so widens your choices.
The inventive landscape designer
Amir Schlezinger planted a windproof
Scots pine on a roof terrace and added
glamour to an urban courtyard with a
fat-trunked tree fern — an ideal choice
because tree ferns thrive in low levels
Stark silhouette: the white bark of a
multi-stemmed Himalayan birch
looks striking all through the year
One for the pot: a tree fern, content to stay in a container, adds a strong design element to a shady urban courtyard
Pattie
Barron
A tree
is not
just for
Christmas
Leafy lollipop: shrub Photinia Red Robin makes a stylish evergreen tree
Plant with purpose,
for privacy or simply
for beauty — support
National Tree Week
of light and, uniquely, need only a thin
layer of soil to do well.
My number one choice for a container tree would be the stunning Chinese red bud, Cercis chinensis
Avondale, which has clusters of deep
magenta flowers studding its bare
branches in spring before the heart-
shaped leaves emerge. For a stylish,
small evergreen tree that you can grow
in a pot or in the ground, think shrub
— because a tree is, after all, a shrub with
a clear, woody stem. Photinia Red Robin
with its scarlet young foliage, berrying
pyracantha and white-blossomed
Osmanthus burkwoodii are just a few
suggestions, along with bay and largeleaved Portuguese laurel Prunus lusitanica, that you can gradually clip
yourself to form a leafy parasol, or buy
ready mop-headed.
Grown as a tree, the everyday winterflowering shrub Viburnum tinus
becomes rather less humdrum, while a
multi-stemmed mahonia resembles an
exotic palm, even when it isn’t laden
with those extraordinary date-like
trusses of navy blue berries or fragrant
yellow flowers in the middle of winter.
It’s worth paying more for a show
stopper that will make a pivotal feature
and set the pace for the surrounding
planting. A hardy palm, Trachycarpus
fortunei dictates a green urban jungle,
with dramatic, sword-like foliage. An
olive tree calls for the lavender, santolina and iris of its homeland. A multistemmed, white-barked Himalayan
birch, Betula jacquemontii simply
needs a scattering of white crocuses
and shade-loving white martagon lilies
at its feet to convert a dark and dismal
corner of the garden into an enchanting woodland glade.
Photographs: Marianne Majerus
O For outdoor events this month, visit
homesandproperty.co.uk/events
O Garden queries? Email our RHS expert:
[email protected]
32
Homes & Property | Property searching
Spotlight Purley
This leafy suburb full of hidden gems is just a few minutes drive from
Croydon and its exciting £1.5bn regeneration, says Anthea Masey
A
T FIRST glance, Purley is
an unremarkable suburban
town on the southern edge
of London, where drivers
on a day trip to the coast
have the choice of taking the A23 to
Brighton or the A22 to Eastbourne. On
closer inspection, however, the leafy
streets of Purley — a few miles south of
Croydon and about 13 miles from
central London — contain a hidden gem,
in the shape of a pioneering garden
suburb developed in the early years of
the 20th century by an unassuming
estate agent called William Webb.
Well before the better-known Ebenezer Howard was developing his idea
of a garden suburb, Webb was hard at
work on his vision of creating an estate
with the focus on the garden.
In 1888, Webb bought 260 acres of
farmland south of Foxley Lane. Before
any building started, he set up a
nursery to grow the hedging plants,
trees, shrubs and flowers needed to
create an enormous garden. Only then
did he start selling building plots for
development.
Eventually, 225 plots were sold and
most of the houses were built between
1903 and 1925. In 1919, Webb presented
his ideas in the book Garden First in
Land Development, and in 1983 the
estate was awarded conservation area
status. His vision lives on in the names
of the roads and the restrictive covenants that have kept the Webb Estate
free from overdevelopment since.
Exclusive Rose Walk has wide rose
beds running down its length. Originally
planted with 6,000 roses in 400 varieties, it received an annual visit from
Queen Mary, the Queen’s grandmother,
while Silver Lane is lined with silver
birch trees and spring bulbs.
The home in Rose Walk of former
Crystal Palace Football Club owner, the
late Ron Noades, was used in the ITV
series Footballers’ Wives, and has just
been sold to the club’s winger Wilfried
Zaha for £2.5 million. Another famous
Webb Estate resident is Status Quo
rocker Francis Rossi, who has lived in
two houses there.
Many residents in Purley’s avenues
are up in arms at the proposed development of a long-derelict site in the town
centre. The island site in the middle of
the gyratory traffic system is owned by
the local Baptist church, which is proposing, in partnership with developer
Thornsett, to build a new church with
community and leisure facilities, a new
public square and more than 200
homes. Some of the homes will be in a
16-storey block, which campaigners
— including the local Conservative MP
Chris Philp — claim is not in keeping
with the area.
é
WESTFIELD’S ON THE WAY
Much more significant for Purley,
according to Toby Bassett of local estate
agent Walter & Mair — which specialises
in selling houses on the Webb Estate — is
the new £1.5 billion Westfield and Hammerson shopping, leisure and housing
development that aims to regenerate
the centre of nearby Croydon and promises to create 5,000 new jobs.
Bassett reckons the project, which
will replace the Whitgift and Centrale
shopping centres with a sparkling new
Westfield mall, 600 homes, a cinema,
Tuning up: mechanic Martin Jones
gets stuck in with motorcycle repairs
at AllBikes in Godstone Road
bowling alley, cafés and restaurants,
will be a game changer for the area.
“Croydon will become a much better
place to live and we will see people
buying a first home there, then moving
on to family houses in the surrounding
areas, such as Purley,” he adds.
Arty-crafty: Lisa Downham, owner of Get Fired! paint-it-yourself pottery studio; Purley High Street, centre; Manuela da Silva and Eduardo Moca of Las Fuentes tapas bar
WHAT THERE IS TO BUY
Purley has a mix of Victorian, Edwardian and Twenties and Thirties houses,
plus modern flats in the town centre.
The most expensive houses currently
for sale are on the Webb Estate. They
range in price from £1.75 million for a
five-bedroom house built in 2006 and
covering 5,000sq ft, to £3.5 million for
Amberhurst, a seven-bedroom house
with 6,817sq ft in Silver Lane.
Woodcote Park Estate, next to Webb
Estate and west of Smitham Bottom
Lane, also has large detached houses.
The most expensive property for sale
there is a five-bedroom detached house
on a corner plot in Verulam Avenue at
£1,425,000.
A lot of Purley’s streets are perched
on the hilly slopes of the North Downs.
The Riddlesdown area south of the
town centre has roads that follow the
contours of the hills, with steep pedestrian routes offering a shortcut to the
high street. A three-bedroom terrace
house in Downs Court Road, which
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33
Property searching | Homes & Property
Buzzing coffee bar: Luca Costa and Marina Perez happy at work in Station Approach
Court, on the site of the former Astoria
Cinema in High Street. More typical is
a two-bedroom apartment in classical
former Purley Town Hall, round the
corner in Brighton Road and on the
market for £300,000.
Up and coming: houses on sale for
£3.5 million can never be described as
affordable, but larger properties on the
Webb Estate sell for about £350 per
offers fine views over the valley from a
raised terrace, is for sale at £550,000.
Town centre flats range in price from
about £225,000 for a one-bedroom
home above commercial premises in
Russell Hill Road to £750,000 for a
four-bedroom penthouse at Astoria
square foot. This compares with as
much as £2,000 a square foot for
similar houses in Hampstead. Walter
& Mair’s Toby Bassett is right to call this
Purley estate a hidden gem.
SHOPS AND RESTAURANTS
Purley town centre is dominated by a
large branch of Tesco Extra. Elsewhere,
there is little to recommend and the
empty Baptist church site has been an
eyesore for years.
There is a branch of Laura Ashley
Home and a smattering of restaurants.
These include steakhouse Buenos Aires
in Russell Hill Road, which is next door
to Speroni — co-owned by Crystal
Palace goalkeeper Julián Speroni — that
serves a fusion of Spanish and Italian
food.
There is a branch of PizzaExpress in
Brighton Road, while Las Fuentes in
High Street is a popular tapas restaurant, and Dexter Burger is renowned
for its hamburgers. Croydon, a major
shopping hub, is only a couple of miles
from Purley — so just a short bus or car
journey away.
Travel: Purley is served by four train
stations — Purley, Purley Oaks,
Riddlesdown and Reedham. The first
three have services to Victoria and
London Bridge that take about half an
hour. Reedham has direct trains to
Victoria and London Bridge that take
about 45 minutes, although it can be
quicker to change trains at Purley. The
stations are all in Zone 6 and an annual
travelcard costs £2,344.
Council: Croydon is Labour controlled
and Band D council tax for this year is
£1,466.39.
Photographs: Daniel Lynch
STATS CHECK
WHAT HOMES COST
BUYING IN PURLEY
(Average prices)
One-bedroom flat £208,000
Two-bedroom flat £280,000
Two-bedroom house £353,000
Three-bedroom house £457,000
Four-bedroom house £660,000
Source: Rightmove
RENTING IN PURLEY
(Average rates)
One-bedroom flat £859 a month
Two-bedroom flat £1,163 a month
Two-bedroom house £1,150 a month
Three-bedroom house £1,625 a month
Four-bedroom house £2,245 a month
Source: Rightmove
FOR MORE, VISIT
homesandproperty.co.uk
O Use our School Checker to find
catchment areas and inspection
reports for schools in the area
O The lowdown on the local
rental scene
O All the latest new homes
developments
To find a home in Purley, visit rightmove.co.uk
For more about Purley, visit homesandproperty.co.uk/spotlightpurley
£825,000
£900,000
£750,000
£550,000
THIS four-bedroom family house
with a smart, modern kitchen in the
Hartley area is for sale through
Walter & Mair (020 8012 3772).
A MODERNISED five-bedroom period
house in West Purley that manages to
retain plenty of original character, is for
sale through Walter & Mair (as before).
NEAR good rail links, this five-bedroom
house in Purley Bury Close, CR8, has a
large garden and patio. Through Mark
Youll (020 8012 3924).
WITH valley views, a modernised
three-bedroom house in Downs Court
Road, CR8, for sale through Hamptons
International (01883 338514).
TEST YOUR
KNOWLEDGE
Why would it be a waste of time to go
metal detecting in this Purley street?
Find the answer at
homesandproperty.co.uk/spotlightpurley
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36
Homes & Property | Ask the expert
Can we make Dad leave us the house?
Q
Q
A
WHAT’S
YOUR
PROBLEM?
Fiona
McNulty
OUR LAWYER ANSWERS
YOUR QUESTIONS
MY PARENTS own a house
with no mortgage in their
joint names. If my father
passes away first, as
matters stand the whole house will
go to my mother and she will leave
it to me and my brother on her
death.
However, if my mother dies first,
then the whole house will go to
my father — and he will most
probably leave it, or half of it, to
his relatives in India.
My mother really wants the
house, or her half at least, to go to
us and knows that my father will
not leave it all to us on his death.
What can be done to make him
leave a share to us? One idea is for
me and my brother to have our
names put on the deeds, if our
parents agree. Can you make any
suggestions as to what we can do?
A
UNDER the law of succession
in England, your parents
have complete freedom to
dispose of their property as
they see fit. However, if the property
is held under a joint tenancy as you
believe, then the survivor will
automatically inherit, overriding the
provisions of any will.
If, instead, the joint tenancy is
severed and your parents each own a
50 per cent divided share under a
tenancy in common, they can each
dispose of their own share by will,
enabling your mother to leave her
share to her children if she dies first.
Your father will still be able to leave
his share of the property to other
family members, if he so wishes. You
may be able to challenge this if you
are dependent on him, but this
would necessitate an application to
court. Even if you own part of the
property as tenants in common with
your parents, you will not be able to
prevent your father from giving away
his share.
Do remember that a gift of a share
in the property to you may have tax
implications, so you should seek
tax advice.
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).
More legal
Q&As
Visit: homesand
property.co.uk
I RECENTLY inherited a property from my
grandmother. It is in a poor state of repair,
but several of her neighbours have shown
interest in it and one has made an offer,
which I’ve accepted — all without an estate agent.
However, my solicitor is now going on about an
Energy Performance Certificate and sneers that if I
had used an estate agent, I wouldn’t have to trouble
myself with this. What do I have to do to get one of
these certificates? Is it essential?
WHETHER you have an estate agent or not, you
must provide an Energy Performance Certificate
for the property. It is true that an estate agent
would have done this for you, but as a private
seller you can still organise it yourself.
The certificate must be issued by an energy assessor
who is accredited to produce them for the category of
building concerned.
It contains information about a property’s energy use
and typical energy costs, and includes recommendations
about how to reduce energy use and save money. It
provides an energy efficiency rating from A to G, with
G being the least efficient. The certificate will then be
valid for 10 years.
Your buyer’s solicitor will ask you to produce an
Energy Performance Certificate and indeed, you can be
fined if you do not produce one. Visit the Government
website epcregister.com to find a domestic energy
assessor.
There are some exemptions and for certain buildings
you do not need to provide an Energy Performance
Certificate — for instance, if your property is listed.
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.
38
Homes & Property | Inside story
If I only had a…
home cinema
MONDAY
After a Sunday spent clearing up
autumn leaves, dog walking and playing football in the garden with the kids,
I walk to the bathroom to get ready for
work today doing a fine impression of
the Tin Man from The Wizard of Oz.
The first challenge of the day will be
putting on my shoes to get to the
office.
The early morning sales meeting tells
me Christmas is approaching. Buyer
registration is down and there are
fewer viewings but, interestingly, the
ratio between viewings and offers is
much higher — proof that those in the
market are intent on buying.
TUESDAY
The highlight of today is a valuation in
one of the most prestigious roads in
Gerrards Cross.
With my shoes freshly polished, I head
off to a magnificent Georgian-style
house set over four floors. The client
takes delight in asking me to take a seat
in the media room so that I can experience the quality of the sound system. I
am thinking all I need now is the popcorn and I am set up for the afternoon.
The room is very atmospheric, with
the most comfortable theatre seats and
specially designed walls for soundproofing. As the opening scene to Gladiator
starts to play and the magnificent sound
Diary of
an estate
agent
kicks in, I come to appreciate the whole
set-up. I also reflect on how insignificant
my television is at home. Now I know
what I want for Christmas.
WEDNESDAY
I am viewing a new development of five
luxury apartments today. I enter the
show home and one push of a button
turns the place alive, with mood lighting and music springing into action.
After a 20-minute wait — and just as I
am settling in to watch Homes Under
the Hammer — both of my viewers pitch
up at the same time. Juggling my attention between the two, I leave one of the
couples busily taking in the lounge
while I lead the other to the study. It’s
all going swimmingly until little Johnny
decides to use one of the loos that isn’t
yet connected. “No problem,” I assure
his mum and dad, “I’ll sort it.”
Inwardly, I am groaning.
The afternoon definitely improves as
I am invited by one of my clients, who
has become a friend, to the Hunger
Games premiere in Leicester Square.
The walk up the red carpet rubbing
shoulders with the cast is an incredible
experience, even though nobody asks
for my autograph.
THURSDAY
The morning starts with a site meeting
at a development of townhouses due
to be launching in the new year.
Having had a late night, I completely
forget to pack my wellies and jacket.
The rain is absolutely tipping down and
the site can only be described as a
mudbath. I tiptoe to the safety of the
entrance, but the developer has other
plans. “To appreciate the property
fully, Simon, you need to see the other
floors,” he says. Looking around, I
can’t see the staircase, only a ladder
casually tied to some scaffolding taking
you up three floors. “You’ve got to be
kidding,” I mutter under my breath as
a burly builder holds my hand while I
negotiate the rungs — an image that will
stay with me for years to come.
FRIDAY
I am invited to value a house this morning for a couple sadly separating. As we
sit down to discuss the price, you can
cut the atmosphere with a knife. A
valuation of this kind is never a nice
experience, but is now a huge part of
our business. Trying to smooth the
atmosphere is exhausting. Emotionally
drained, I leave for the next valuation.
Ask Martin.
Ask free on 0800 302 9396 or visit martinco.com/askmartin
This has been booked by a solicitor
dealing with the beneficiary of a
relative or friend who has passed away.
I tend to wince when people say estate
agents act on the “three Ds” — debt,
death and divorce — but today seems
to prove the point.
The business day concludes with a
text from my wife to say she has booked
tickets for the new James Bond film. I
wonder whether this will be a good
opportunity to let her know about my
plans to convert our lounge into a
surround-sound media room…
O Simon Roberts is a partner at Strutt
& Parker in Gerrards Cross (01753
891188).
40
Homes & Property | Letting on
£500 a week: a spacious two-bedroom, two-bathroom first-floor apartment in a period property in
Dorncliffe Road, just off Fulham Road in SW6, is available to rent through Bellman (020 8012 6091)
I’m a landlord —
not Postman Pat
Victoria Whitlock’s new tenants ring in the middle
of the night trying to use her as their delivery service
S
HORTLY after an Aussie
couple moved into my rental
flat, I went on a business trip
to a different time zone,
stressing they should only
call me in an emergency.
Midway through my trip I was
woken in the middle of the night by
my mobile vibrating under the
pillow. My heart leapt to my throat
when I saw the tenant’s name on the
screen, thinking there must be a
serious problem at the flat.
There wasn’t. She had woken me at
2am to ask if I could go to my local
mail sorting office to collect her new
credit card, which for some reason
she had asked her bank to send to my
home address.
I was temporarily speechless. Why
was she getting her mail sent to my
home address? Did she really think it
was reasonable to use me as a delivery
service?
I wanted to yell: “How is this an
emergency, you idiot?” Instead,
I snapped that I was thousands of
miles away and, even if I was at
home, there was no way I would be
able to find a missing letter in the
sorting office.
“Couldn’t you just go and ask them
to look for it?” she said. She must
have thought Her Majesty’s Royal
Mail was run by Postman Pat. I told
her no, she would have to ask her
bank to cancel the card.
God knows why this tenant had
given her bank my home address. I
imagine that, as she’d just arrived
from Oz, she was feeling a bit topsyturvy. But it made me really
uncomfortable. I started to wonder if
there was a way for landlords to
avoid disclosing to their tenants
where they live.
Landlords are required under the
Landlord and Tenant Act to provide
The
accidental
landlord
tenants with an address in England
or Wales where they can serve notice,
for example if they want to terminate
their tenancy. If the tenant isn’t given
an address for their landlord, they
can legally withhold their rent.
However, landlords don’t have to
give their home address, it can be an
office from where they run their
business or an address for their
letting agent or solicitor. As I don’t
have an office, an agent or a solicitor,
I debated whether I could open a PO
Box, but the law on this isn’t clear.
It doesn’t state that landlords have
to provide a bricks-and-mortar
address, but it seems that a PO Box
might not be acceptable as tenants
couldn’t then physically serve notice
on a landlord.
A
LSO, if a tenant asks for the
landlord’s actual address,
the landlord must provide
it within 21 days. It’s a
criminal offence not to,
apparently. I am not sure why, it
doesn’t seem right, but they could find
out from the Land Registry anyway for
just £3.
So who knows what tenants might
send to my home next. Fingers
crossed, it’s a Christmas hamper.
O Victoria Whitlock lets four
properties in south London.
To contact Victoria with your ideas
and views, tweet @vicwhitlock
42
Homes & Property | New homes
Apartments to lure young
bankers into the suburbs
By David Spittles
Smart moves
Room to grow
in a new village
THE Jubilee line has one
big advantage over the
capital’s other Tube routes
— it cuts through the centre
of the city to Canary
Wharf, which is already a
major employment hub
that is set to expand during
the next decade.
This explains why so
many bankers live in
St John’s Wood — and why
developers are building
further down the line,
offering affordable homes
for young, Docklandsbound commuters.
Canons Park in Zone 5
happens to be the least-
used station on the Jubilee
line — a boon for anyone
living at nearby Stanmore
Place, a new scheme of 798
homes where an industrial
estate once stood.
The development is a
welcome arrival in the
style-starved suburbs of
north-west London,
offering award-winning
landscaped grounds plus a
gym and 24-hour concierge.
Royal Crescent, above,
the latest phase, has
two-bedroom apartments
priced from £457,500.
Call St Edward Homes on
020 8952 2853.
D
OWNHILL from the leafy
slopes of Blackheath,
there is no trace of the
former Ferrier council
estate. The asbestosridden concrete tower blocks and
houses have been bulldozed to make
way for Kidbrooke Village, right.
Residents can benefit from nearby
shops, cafés and restaurants, a
school, health centre, plus a new
transport interchange at Kidbrooke
station, offering a 15-minute
commute to London Bridge.
It is within a surprisingly green
setting, bordered by Sutcliffe Park
in Eltham Road, with a lake and
wetlands, while newly landscaped
areas across the 276-acre estate
include pedestrian routes and
cycleways.
Flats and townhouses with roof
terraces overlook this green expanse,
and now the result of the £1 billion
regeneration project is in full view
as home buyers look at this onceblighted district with fresh eyes.
Eventually, there will be 4,000
homes and a community of more
than 10,000 people living here.
Homes have smart, space-efficient,
low-energy interiors, while The
Square, the latest phase, has
apartments ranging up to 1,353 sq ft
in size, bigger than many new-build
properties. Prices from £345,000.
Three-bedroom houses cost
£765,000. Call 020 8150 5151.
43
New homes | Homes & Property
Make the River Café your local restaurant
THE River Café has helped to put a west London
backwater on the map. Turn off Fulham Palace
Road towards the Thames and you will discover an
orderly grid of roads between Bishop’s Park and a
once-unloved commercial zone with warehouses
and wharves — one of which is now occupied by
the renowned restaurant. It is run by Ruth Rogers,
wife of architect Richard Rogers, whose adjacent
headquarters will soon be redeveloped into a block
of 57 flats and work studios.
The Lanchesters, left, a resourceful remodelling
of a low-rise Eighties business estate, is part of
this neighbourhood. It provides well-designed,
spacious flats with large terraces for buyers who
cannot afford a home in one of the area’s swish
riverside developments. Prices start at £675,000.
Call Hamptons International on 020 7384 1001.
DESIGNED WITH CREATIVES IN MIND
ROBERT SONING likes to make an
entrance. Believing first impressions
count, the boss of design-led
developer Londonewcastle places
special importance on the foyer areas
and common parts of the apartment
schemes his company builds.
A lobby, he says, should set the tone
for the whole development, so he
commissions architects to come up
with original designs, while he
personally cherry-picks art and
furniture to introduce a bit of fun and
attract creative-sector buyers.
Graphics and signage are carefully
considered, even for the lobby
mailboxes. At a scheme of flats in
Clerkenwell, a piece by New Yorkbased video installation artist Marco
Brambilla transforms the experience
of taking the lift.
Queen’s Park Place, left, is a
scheme of 116 apartments attracting
buyers priced out of Notting Hill. It
has a dramatic double-height glassclad entrance lobby, with artwork and
a bespoke concierge desk. Interiors
have been designed by Elle Decor’s
Tamzin Greenhill. Prices start at
£535,000 and rise to £2,095,000
for a penthouse. Call estate agents
Aston Chase on 020 7724 4724.
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18 November 2015 - Homes and Property

Transcription

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