Style on a budget - Homes and Property

Transcription

Homes&
Property
Wednesday 13 August 2014
Bamboo
The wonder
wood
Page 13
NEW COASTAL HOMES P4 ESTATE COTTAGES P6 HOLIDAY HOMES: NICE P12 SPOTLIGHT ON CHELMSFORD P28
First-time buyer
Beata Heuman:
Page 20
London’s best property search website: homesandproperty.co.uk
SIMON BROWN
Style on a budget
2
WEDNESDAY 13 AUGUST 2014 EVENING STANDARD
Homes & Property Online
homesandproperty.co.uk with
This week: homesandproperty.co.uk
news: Bucks town gets its
trains back — 51 years late
Back on the map:
sleepy Winslow
could see house
prices steam
ahead with plans
to relaunch train
services to
London in 2019
that were lost
when the station
closed in 1968
LONDONERS searching for out-of-town homes in the
commuter-and-grammar school belt will welcome the
news that the old Buckinghamshire market town of
Winslow is to get back the train services to London it lost
in the Beeching cuts in 1968.
The East West Rail Developers Consortium forecasts that
Winslow is set to enjoy 20 per cent house price rises
above local market movements when the new services
launch in 2019.
Property
search
Trophy buy of the week
just the ticket for a Proms fan
£4.5 million: if you are a BBC Proms fan with plenty of
cash, this über-plush first-floor apartment at magnificent
Albert Court, SW7, is the ideal pied-à-terre for concert
nights — as it’s next door to the Royal Albert Hall. Your
musical friends will be pea-green with envy. The twobedroom lateral space, with 24-hour concierge, showcases
bespoke art and furniture pieces throughout, while the
lighting, video entry and state-of-the-art audio systems are
controlled from your tablet. Through Hamptons.
O Visit homesandproperty.co.uk/trophyken
London buy of the week great for
creative Crouch End get-togethers
O Read Ruth Bloomfield’s full story at homesandproperty.co.uk
hot homes: the cheapest
London rental areas revealed
Good-value
location:
Barking offers
some of the
most affordable
rents in London,
well below the
average for
the capital of
£1,461 a month
A NEW report reveals the average cost of renting in
London is £1,461 a month.
Discover the most affordable boroughs to live in, based
on private rental costs over a 12-month period throughout
the capital. The cheapest areas include Barking and
Dagenham (£864 a month), Bexley (£889 a month),
Croydon (£916 a month) and Havering (£919 a month).
£500,000: creative types love Crouch
End, N8, for its arts scene, organic
delis, gastropubs and boutiques, green
open spaces and landmark clock
tower, all of which are just moments
from this first-floor flat. You get wood
floors throughout, two airy bedrooms
with fitted wardrobes, plus a spacious
reception room that’s perfect for
£500,000: glorious Grade II-listed Moreton House awaits
a new lease of life in the historic port town of Bideford,
North Devon. The five-storey mansion covering a whopping
34,250sq ft sits in five acres of mature grounds. Its
cavernous, parquet-floored rooms were most recently used
as a boarding school, but the grand space could become a
plush country hotel — or even earn a decent crust as a
great British bake school. Through Jackson-Stops & Staff.
O Visit homesandproperty.co.uk/lifechangermore
ESHomesAndProperty • Twitter:
O Visit homesandproperty.co.uk/
buyoftheweekcrouch
Life changer use your loaf
— open a British bake school
O Visit homesandproperty.co.uk
Facebook:
dinner parties, with the ample dining
area set next to the smart, white
kitchen lit by a large window. Leafy
communal grounds, private parking
and a lift complete the picture. It’s for
sale through KFH.
Editor:
Janice
Morley
VISIT homesandproperty.co.uk/
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London W8 5TT.
By
Faye
Greenslade
@HomesProperty • Pinterest:
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3
EVENING STANDARD WEDNESDAY 13 AUGUST 2014
News Homes & Property
Cotswolds circus is
rolling out of town
É CIRCUS queen Nell Gifford, right, is
selling her home. The sister of pottery
designer Emma Bridgewater turned
her estate at Bourton-on-the-Water in
the Cotswolds into the home of
Giffords Circus in 2000 and rehearses
and designs her touring shows there.
The garden has accommodated the
“props” so far, including animals,
swords and wagons, but the success
of the 90-minute show means Nell
and husband Toti need more space.
The 14-acre estate with a twobedroom main house, barn, head
office, stables and workshop, is listed
with Butler Sherborn for £1.5 million
and could be an ideal live/work space
for creative types.
By Amira Hashish
Got some gossip? Tweet @amiranews
Soccer coach’s cash penalty
Is it on with a sole agent, Tamara?
É ROY KEANE,
inset, sacked in
2011 as manager
of Ipswich Town
Football Club,
has cut £550,000
off the price of
his Suffolk home,
right. On Fine &
Country’s books
at £2.95 million,
it comes with a
tennis court, a
swimming pool
and a children’s
tree house.
Views of the
Deben Estuary
create a tranquil
É JIMMY CHOO founder Tamara
Mellon is selling her New York
penthouse, right.
The British designer, above, has
put the duplex on the market for
£20.1 million after buying it for
£12.4 million in 2008.
As the queen of impossibly
glamorous sandals and stilettos, it
is only fitting that Mellon has
installed a grand dressing room
space in the five-bedroom pad,
which oozes style. With more than
7,200sq ft of interior space and
5,000sq ft of terraces that are
perfect for viewing the city skyline,
fashionistas are sure to fall head
over heels for this sumptuous home.
setting. Keane
bought the pile in
Woodbridge for
£2 million in 2010.
O See homesand
property.co.uk/roy
É EAMONN HOLMES and Ruth
Langsford are apparently struggling
to sell their Surrey mansion, above.
The celebrity couple, below, who copresent ITV1’s This Morning lifestyle
show, listed their Weybridge home
for £3,495,000 in October. However,
even after dropping the asking price
to £2.95 million, the six-bedroom
property hasn’t budged.
There are plenty of luxurious
features on offer including a master
bedroom with an en suite whirlpool
spa bath and his and hers basins.
The terrace with a hot tub is ideal
for unwinding, and there is a cinema
room for chillier nights.
Less than a 30-minute train journey
from London Waterloo, it is a good
option for commuters but seems to
be slipping through the net.
O Visit homesandproperty.co.uk/
eamonn
REX
STEVE SCHOFIELD
REX
O Visit homesandproperty.co.uk/giff
Eamonn hopes to
sell this morning. . .
2
4
Homes & Property New homes
From £525,000: flats at Quarterdeck in Southbourne,
Bournemouth, with Channel views. Call 01202 492518
SEA CHANGE
From £475,000: coastguard-style flats and houses at Gara
Rock, on the South West Coast Path between Salcombe
and Dartmouth. Through Marchand Petit
New technology and faster commuter routes are tempting
Londoners to the UK coast, where architects are designing
homes to suit sophisticated lifestyles, discovers David Spittles
L
£795,000: a five-bedroom apartment in Woolacombe,
Devon. Through Taylor Underwood. Call 03301 011544
From £1.8 million: houses at Nautica Reach, next to the
beach at Milford on Sea, Hampshire, Call 01202 492518
ONDONERS are moving to the
coast in increasing numbers,
prompting the new-build
market to respond with
schemes that appeal to thirtyand fortysomethings with urban
tastes.
These buyers are not interested in
period features, high running costs,
old-school technology and poor living
spaces for modern family life. These
are working families who are not prepared to give up the high salaries and
good job opportunities available in
London — which is why they are choosing locations near train stations or a
motorway that offer a quick connection
from the seaside to the capital.
This trend is proving a shot in the arm
for many coastal towns and is creating
new hotspots, such as Southbourne in
Dorset and Camber Sands in East Sussex, with attractive Blue Flag beaches
and opportunites for sports including
fashionable surfing and sand kiting.
Architects are flexing their muscles,
introducing ultra-modern glass houses,
lofts, penthouses with wraparound
terraces and hi-tech apartments with
underground parking and 24-hour
concierge.
Wealth rippling out of London is pushing up prices, of course. There are premiums to pay for waterfront homes in
particular. Research by estate agent
Knight Frank shows coastal properties
typically cost a whopping 56 per cent
more those just a few miles inland. A
new national planning policy framework puts a brake on a lot of coastal
development, so resourceful builders
are tracking down derelict sites, disused
hotels and land with obvious eyesores,
and regenerating them. From Norfolk
and Suffolk on the East Anglian coast,
around to yachtie Solent territory and
further west to Devon and Cornwall, the
coast is going designer-cool.
LONDON ON SEA
“The London look has certainly infiltrated seaside towns and villages,” says
George Long of estate agent Savills in
Poole, Dorset. “Increasingly, people
want sleek modern design, with lightfilled interiors, floor-to-ceiling windows and generous outside space.”
Nautica Reach, a scheme of four
houses adjoining the beach at Milford
on Sea, Hampshire, falls into this category. Rather than bedrooms at the top
of the houses, there is an open-plan
kitchen and living space, plus a terrace
to capitalise on the outstanding sea
views. Prices from £1.8 million. Call
01202 492518.
The Kent and Sussex seaside is popular because of the quick escape from
London. White Sand, close to the
golden dunes of Camber Sands and the
picturesque port of Rye in East Sussex,
is a development of cottage-type
houses, built in a mix of materials and
styles to resemble a traditional fishing
village, located between grasslands and
the beach. Prices from £264,995. Call
Ward Homes on 0844 4700 567.
Brighton remains a magnet for Londoners, though its youthful vitality is
not to everyone’s liking. Head out of
the centre along Marine Drive and you
soon arrive at Rottingdean, a former
faded retirement enclave that now
attracts style-conscious urbanites and
young families. Azure is a new clifftop
apartment scheme sitting between the
beach and the rolling Sussex Downs.
Prices from £650,000. Call estate agent
Mishon Mackay on 01273 829300.
One-off beachfront houses are also
popping up. A striking 4,045sq ft modern house with a garden and swimming
pool adjoining Shoreham Beach, along
the coast from Brighton, has been
launched with a price tag of £2 million.
Call Winkworth on 01273 772175.
“If you want direct and uninterrupted
views of the sea, but without a price
premium, try Southbourne, along the
coast from Bournemouth,” says Savills’
George Long. “It’s an emerging
hotspot.” Quarterdeck is an Art Decostyle apartment scheme in an unspoilt
clifftop setting with views across the
Channel to the Isle of Wight. Prices from
£525,000. Call 01202 492518.
DEVON DIVAS
England’s most popular second-home
district is South Hams, Devon, where
one in 10 homes is registered as a second
property. This area includes Salcombe,
at the Kingsbridge Estuary’s mouth.
Music diva Kate Bush is among the
2,000 residents in this year-round
resort with fantastic sailing, sandy
beaches, lively shops and restaurants.
Mew Stone East is a spectacular newbuild house perched on an elevated plot
with views over the estuary and National
From
Norfolk and
Suffolk to
yachtie
Solent
territory,
East Sussex,
Devon and
Cornwall,
the coast is
newly cool
5
New homes Homes & Property
£1.95 million: villas (above) with two years’ free spa membership (below) at
Estura, a scheme of 14 homes on the Salcombe estuary. Call 01548 844 473
Trust land. Price £2.75 million. Call
01392 423111. Gara Rock, on the South
West Coast Path between Salcombe and
Dartmouth, is a modest but well-located
development of coastguard-style houses
and flats, from £475,000. Call Marchand
Petit on 01548 844473.
Cornwall has been reinventing itself
in recent years. The region has always
enjoyed relatively good weather and
now it has smart beachside flats, a
trendy surf culture, foodie restaurants,
boutique hotels and celeb residents.
Better road links and cheap Ryanair
flights from London to Newquay have
made longer weekending possible.
Away from expensive locations such
as Rock, St Mawes and Constantine Bay,
Wow factor: The Cornish Beach
House, near Padstow, sleeps 10 (rent
through thewowhousecompany.co.uk)
a coastal village three miles from Padstow, prices are affordable for most
pockets. St Agnes, North Cornwall, is
worth investigating. The dramatic
coastline is maintained by the National
Trust, which has preserved scores of
old tin and copper mines. Until a century ago, mining rivalled fishing and
farming for jobs and wealth in the area.
After generations of decline the local
economy is recovering, with tourism
the new big business.
At Trevaunance Cove, part of a
Unesco World Heritage Site, 10 con-
temporary lodge-style, low-carbon
houses are packed with eco-friendly
features. For re-sales and to register for
future schemes, call Living Structures
on 08448 805709. Lodge-style homes
are being built in the grounds of The
Cornwall spa hotel close to the Eden
Project and Porthpean Beach. Prices
from £327,950. Call 01726 879451
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6
Homes & Property Estate cottages
T
HE humble labourers who
once lived in grace and
favour cottages on England’s great estates would
be astonished to learn that
their simple homes are now among the
rural property market’s most soughtafter residences, attracting, in some
cases, seven-figure price tags.
Their idyllic locations, rarity value,
the quality of their architecture — not
to mention the fact that many have
been neglected and thus represent a
A weekend home on a grand
country estate offers parkland,
peace and a slice of rural history,
says Ruth Bloomfield
£450,000: cottage in Aldsworth, Gloucestershire (homesandproperty.co.uk/chap). Local manor Lodge Park, above left, is now National Trust-owned
Forget the big house, enjoy the cottage
fantastic opportunity to add value — are
among the reasons why estate cottages
are hot property. The fact that you can
often roam in glorious private acres is
a big bonus.
Lizzy Barran, an associate at Strutt &
Parker and based in Norwich, says that
when a cottage comes on to the market
in an area where much of the property
is owned by a great estate, competition
can be fierce.
“If people want to live in a particular
area it might be their one chance to
own rather than rent,” she says.
PRETTINESS GUARANTEED
£575,000: a
semi-detached
cottage, below,
in Winterbourne
Monkton in
Wiltshire and
once part of the
Beaulieu Estate,
is for sale with
Carter Jonas
Mark Charter, who heads up the Oxford
office of Carter Jonas, believes the key
advantage of estate cottages is their
rural surrounds, often abutting acres of
estate farmland. This protects them
against development on their doorsteps
as most estates are not keen on selling
off large chunks of land to developers.
Paul Cressy, a director of Savills, leads
its rural department in the South-West.
He feels estate cottages are a great buy
because as a rule, grand landowners
did not want their estates to be blighted
by ugly hovels, so these homes enhance
the big house. “They built their big
houses, which were status symbols,
and wanted their estates to be very
picturesque. So the cottages tend to
have a lot of character, and some
decent architecture.”
However, cottages bought direct from
estates almost always need a lot of
work.
“They are generally dated,” agrees
Charter. “If they have been occupied
by staff or an old retainer, or tenanted
for years, then they will generally need
upgrading. They may not have central
heating and they may need new kitchens and bathrooms.”
On the plus side, says Barran, a doerupper is often exactly what buyers
want.
Buyers who take on a bit of a wreck
need to be on their toes, says Cressy,
because these properties almost always
come with complex covenants
attached. These may include perks —
such as the right to roam across the
estate’s parkland or moor a boat — but
they will almost certainly also include
clauses insisting that all major changes
to a property must be approved by the
estate.
When properties are in terraces there
will, more often than not, be clauses
which ban owners from changing their
windows, or even repainting their front
door a new colour, in order to maintain
the symmetry of the homes. “If you
hold the view that an Englishman’s
home is his castle, then that could be
a problem,” says Cressy.
If, however, you are prepared to live
with a little red tape — which will, after
all, stop your neighbours doing anything dreadful to their homes — there
are some stunning estate cottages currently up for sale, including a lovely
stone and thatch home in the village of
Lower Harlestone, Northampton. Not
only is it adorable, it is also pocket
£245,000: a twobedroom cottage
in Northampton,
once part of
Diana, Princess
of Wales’s family
estate. Through
Richard Greener
O homesand
property.co.uk/
harls
friendly, since it is on the market at
£245,000 with Richard Greener estate
agents. See richardgreener.co.uk.
Moreover, the two-bedroom property
was once part of the Spencer family’s
Althorp Estate, the childhood home of
Diana, Princess of Wales. The estate
still owns several properties in the
village, which it rents out.
The New Forest is prime second
home territory or, at a pinch, a commuter choice, and the Beaulieu Estate
provides a scattering of estate cottages
including an idyllic pair of thatched
homes, now converted into a single
four-bedroom, Grade II-listed property
in the much sought-after village of
Beaulieu.
A particular advantage of the property’s former ownership is that its
lovely garden backs on to farmland still
owned by the estate, and unlikely ever
to be marred by a wind farm. It is on
the market for £1.1 million with John D
Wood. See johndwood.co.uk.
ESTATE COTTAGE PREMIUM
Estates such as Beaulieu often own
property miles away, a perfect example
being a semi-detached cottage in
Winterbourne Monkton, nine miles
from the centre of Swindon, and so a
good choice for commuters. The fourbedroom property, a Beaulieu Estate
cast-off, is on the market for £575,000
with Carter Jonas.
Families will love its large, wraparound garden. It is thought that the
cottage was part of a major sell-off of
land and property undertaken by the
Beaulieu Estate in the Eighties, and the
current owner has lived there for 15
years. See carterjonas.co.uk.
Carter Jonas’s Mark Charter suspects
that cottages like these will be snapped
up, and they do tend to command a
small premium. “It is like buying a
little bit of English history and the
countryside at an affordable price.”
7
Price watch Homes & Property
What it costs to rent or buy in our boroughs
New Homes & Property
research shows you
what your money will
get, buying or renting
in London’s boroughs,
By Ruth Bloomfield
T
BARKING AND DAGENHAM
Rent: you get plenty of space for
your money in one of the capital’s
cheapest boroughs, including this
three-bedroom semi-detached house
in Barking, below — though the
commute into central London will
seem long. It’s £1,450 per calendar
RICHMOND UPON
THAMES
Rent: a two-bedroom flat
in this gated scheme,
above, in Hampton
Hill is £1,450 a
month (homes
andproperty.
co.uk/renthamp).
ALAMY
HE annual increase of
18.5 per cent in London
house prices brings the
average buying price to
£439,719, while average
monthly rent in the city is £1,461,
according to government figures.
We have compiled a chart showing
the type of homes you can expect to
get for these average prices in each of
the London boroughs.
The results show that if you can
afford the deposit, it appears that in
most areas, buyers can do better for
their money than renters.
We have selected three boroughs as
examples here, but you can find the
rest on our website. Visit homesand
property.co.uk/bestinclass
Historic elegance: 17th-century Church Street in Twickenham, Richmond, offers independent shops
station, great shops and
pubs. It’s £425,000 (homes
and property.co.uk/
buyrich).
Buy: this onebedroom flat,
right, is half a mile
from Richmond
GREENWICH
month. Visit homesandproperty.
co.uk/rentbarking
Rent: for New York
style on a budget,
a one-bedroom
Royal Arsenal
warehouse flat,
right, is £1,500 a
month (homes
andproperty.
co.uk/rentroyal).
Buy: this five-bedroom end-ofterrace house, below, in Barking,
has a good-size garden and off-street
parking. It’s £460,000 (homesand
property.co.uk/buybarking).
Buy: a onebedroom flat at
New Capital Quay,
right, Greenwich, is
£430,000 (homes
and property.
co.uk/buy
greenwich).
For best in class in all the London boroughs:
Maritime treasures: Greenwich boasts the Cutty Sark
Visit homesandproperty.co.uk/bestinclass
8
Homes & Property Affordable homes
W
ITH London tenants
spending 55 per cent
of their income after
tax on rent, according
to the HomeLet Rental
Index, it is no surprise that both politicians and surveyors are backing housing co-operatives as a way of providing
better-value homes.
These co-operatives offer members
homes at low rent in properties they
either build themselves or lease from
landlords. Members vote on how their
developments are run, they share ownership and help with property maintenance or other chores.
The Co-operatives UK campaign
group lists 224 London housing cooperatives on its website.
Jeremy Blackburn, head of policy at
the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, believes more brownfield sites
should be made available for co-ops to
build affordable homes. “Co-operative
homes have consistently been the most
popular and most economically managed form of tenure,” he says.
Co-operative housing should be recognised in property law, says Labour
MP Jonathan Reynolds. He wants the
need removed for property-owning coops to have cumbersome landlord and
tenant contracts for their members. “It
is now harder than ever for young
people to find a home of their own and
if we are to address this issue it is time
to look beyond the traditional options
of ownership or tenancy,” he says.
SOUTH BANK HOMES
COIN STREET
COMMUNITY BUILDERS
A London role model for co-ops is Coin
Street Community Builders. This social
enterprise and development trust
owns and manages 13 acres of Bankside
and the South Bank, including the Oxo
Tower and Gabriel’s Wharf. Since buying the land from the Greater London
Council in 1984 it has added amenities
such as the Bernie Spain Gardens
riverside park and built 215 homes,
making this London’s largest site of
purpose-built co-operative housing.
Coin Street also plans to build a swimming pool and leisure centre using
profits made from constructing homes
for sale in Doon Street. Its head of housing services, Brian Trainor, says the
balance of leisure, retail, residential
and work spaces has contributed to the
community’s success.
“We were using the term ‘sustainable
communities’ before almost anyone
else,” he says. In addition to social
£250 a month: Sanford Housing Co-operative homes and communal gardens in New Cross, with Sanford support officer Mark Langford, right, and ex-chairman Jim Noble
Join a co-op and cut your rent in half
Sky-high rents swallow most of salary after tax, but housing co-operatives offer great deals to
young Londoners willing to shoulder a few ownership responsibilities. By Richard Warren
housing, Julian Hall, spokesman for
Lambeth United Housing Co-operative,
says Coin Street and other co-ops “provide something else that is at a premium in society — the basis for a
thriving community of committed and
engaged members”.
Hall says co-ops that lease properties
can bring empty homes back into use,
but their members need better protection against eviction by landlords.
Lambeth council has evicted co-operative tenants from 120 homes it owns
so that it can sell them, and plans to
seize another 58 properties. The
Labour-run council promises to make
some of the 1,000 new social housing
units it plans to build over the next four
years available to housing co-operatives, but the eviction of existing tenants from homes some had lived in for
nearly 40 years, and had maintained
at their own expense, has shown that
co-ops using other organisations’ property are vulnerable.
TOP VALUE IN LEWISHAM
SANFORD HOUSING
CO-OPERATIVE
Co-ops that own their property enjoy
greater security. The Sanford Housing
Co-operative in New Cross owns the
homes its founders built on wasteland
in 1973, and its tenants can only be
London role
model for
housing co-ops:
left, homes with
a children’s
playground at a
Coin Street
Community
Builders project.
The social
enterprise and
development
trust owns and
manages 13 acres
of Bankside and
the South Bank,
where amenities
it has added
include Bernie
Spain Gardens,
right, a popular
riverside park
evicted for a serious breach of contract.
Living in flats or shared houses, Sanford’s 125 members pay £250 rent per
calendar month, inclusive of council
tax and bills — half the local going rate
for a private rental.
Member disputes are rare, says Mark
Langford, Sanford’s support officer,
and to prevent fall-outs, the co-operative has a three-stage selection process
of interviews and questionnaires for
potential members, so it can find likeminded people. “Sanford selects
people who demonstrate a good understanding of what co-ops are, and it is
important those people also show a
willingness to participate,” he says.
Sanford accepts membership applications directly, and most co-ops either
have waiting lists or take referrals from
council housing waiting lists.
Some co-ops, such as North Camden
Housing Co-operative, renovate existing buildings. It owns 106 Victorian-era
homes in and around Kentish Town.
Central and local government grants
are available for new housing co-operatives. Co-ops can bid for funds from
the £1.25 billion Mayor of London’s
affordable housing programmes, or
the £3 million Community Right to
Build scheme. Lenders including
Tridos Bank and Ecology Building
Society provide mortgages to co-ops.
12
Homes & Property Homes abroad
Nice
and easy
With ageless charm,
this elegant city on the
Med offers year-round
value for home buyers,
says Cathy Hawker
Breathtaking: view from La Chèvre
D’Or two Michelin-starred restaurant
Try this treasure
T
HE French city of Nice has
long held a special place in
British hearts. A favourite
holiday spot since the 18th
century, by the turn of the
20th century it was so loved by Queen
Victoria and her aristocracy that the
coastal boulevard, planted with
mimosa and palm trees, was named
the Promenade des Anglais.
Today Nice is the gateway to the Côte
d’Azur, a small and elegant city by the
sea with a population of only 350,000
but a mighty infrastructure. Nice airport, the second busiest in France, is
four miles from the city, linked by an
efficient transport network.
The Italian Riviera is an hour by road,
or by train passing through Menton and
Monaco — meaning you can start the
day with a croissant in Nice, lunch on
spaghetti alle vongole in Italy and
chance your hand at the Monte Carlo
casino on the way home.
Sitting on the gently curving Baie des
Anges — the Bay of Angels — Nice is
book-ended by glamorous Antibes and
Cap Ferrat, with a six-mile beachfront
lined with mansions and grand hotels.
To the east is the port, and the narrow
streets and faded pink-and-yellow flatfronted façades of the Old Town.
£1,984,000: an all-white, designer
three-bedroom apartment in a classic
villa beside the sea at Mont Boron.
Through Savills (020 7016 3740)
same things — sea views, some outside
space and a quiet location. Mont
Boron, a residential hillside immediately south-east of the city, is a popular
choice. Close to Elton John’s house, on
Route Forestière, Savills is selling an
all-white 1,940sq ft apartment in a
classic Belle Époque villa beside the
sea for £1,984,000.
The three-bedroom apartment has
great style. Its clean, cool, designer
look is seductive, and the fittings are
of the highest quality — a surprising
rarity in Nice, says Balkin.
Open-plan interiors feature pale
wood floors, full-height antique doors,
modern bathrooms, circular ceramic
radiators, and a sitting room that has
spectacular views from windows on
three sides looking out over Nice and
over to St Tropez and Corsica. Underground parking and a caretaker are
included in the £240 monthly service
charge.
A CITY FOR ALL SEASONS
“Nice is a lively, year-round city with
beautiful buildings, interesting culture
and museums, a long coastline and
good restaurants,” says Alex Balkin of
Savills. “It was part of Italy for a long
time and that’s reflected in the architecture and terracotta colours.”
The idea of a holiday apartment in
Nice appeals to buyers from many
countries, but most generally want the
FIT FOR A QUEEN — VICTORIA
Cimiez, north of the centre, is another
fashionable area with palaces built by
the Russian elite 100 years ago. The
imposing Hotel Excelsior there was
LOAFINGLY LOVELY FURNITURE
£992,000: a four-bedroom flat in The
Regina in Cimiez, a former hotel where
Queen Victoria stayed. Through Savills
home to Queen Victoria for a period of
several months. In 1937 it was renamed
The Regina and was divided into 100
apartments.
The Regina is now a national monument with a grand entrance, sweeping
marble staircases, and tennis courts
and a pool in the flower-filled, two-acre
communal grounds.
A four-bedroom apartment is for sale
on the fourth floor of the building
through Savills for £992,000, with high
ceilings and wrought-iron balconies
overlooking the park. Monthly service
charges are £350 and the apartment
would rent for £2,400 a month.
Good two-bedroom apartments on
the Promenade des Anglais start from
£555,000 but beware of road noise.
Ten minutes from the centre in a lowlevel complex with gardens and a pool,
Savills is selling a two-bedroom
700sq ft apartment with terrace and
distant sea views for £278,000.
O Savills: savills.com (020 7016 3740)
CHECK into La Chèvre d’Or — the Golden
Goat — to begin your house hunting.
Thirty minutes from Nice airport on the
road to Italy, this Relais & Chateaux
hotel has peacefully colonised the everso-pretty village of Èze.
Originally opened as a restaurant in
1953, it was regular visitor Walt Disney
who persuaded the owner to launch it
as a hotel. Today there are 24 luxurious
rooms and 13 suites spread around the
cobbled paths, and mixed in among
private village homes.
Walls of jasmine and bougainvillea and
wide bowls of hydrangeas and roses set
the tone, but it’s the views from the 10acre gardens and the four restaurants —
including the two Michelin-starred
Gourmet Restaurant — that mesmerise.
Far below, the Mediterranean shimmers
and the eagle-eyed can pick out the
homes of U2 musicians Bono and The
Edge in Èze-sur-Mer.
“Guests come to visit Monaco or
Antibes, to see the gardens around
Nice or visit the Chagall and Matisse
museums,” says the hospitable and
charming general manager Thierry
Naidu, a family man with international
experience in the hotel sector. “It is a
fabulous hideaway for you to enjoy
good food and recharge the batteries
on a beautiful stretch of the Med.”
O Prices at La Chèvre d’Or start from
£240 per room per night including tax.
For reservations call Relais & Châteaux
on 00800 2000 0002, or visit
relaischateaux.com
13
Design Homes & Property
A
SIAN architects have
dubbed bamboo “green
steel”, a testimony to the
material’s strength and
eco-credentials. It is used
in the Far East for avant-garde houses
and bridges, while in Britain we are
seeing a new wave of bamboo
products, from small bowls to
flooring and even staircases, which
exploit its strength, lightness and
flexibility.
Fully sustainable, bamboo is one of
the fastest-growing plants on the
planet and relatively inexpensive as a
raw material. It has a natural finish
that is more pale and interesting than
rich and grainy. However, new
technologies can apply bold coats of
colour. “Spun bamboo” is an artisan
technique, used by Habitat and
others, which creates a slightly
uneven surface texture that can be
finished in a glossy colour.
“It’s a great material to work with
and offers an alternative to the
machine-made perfection of spun
metals or wood,” says Habitat lighting
buyer Ros Humphries. Both Habitat
and Futon Company promise more
bamboo products for the autumn.
BAMBOO BIKES
Blackstar bikes are designed in
Holland and made in Ghana using
locally sourced bamboo. Priced £700.
Men’s and women’s designs available.
Visit dutchdesignonly.com
▼ The Habitat Popp green bamboo
table lamp, £35, stands 40cm high.
Available from habitat.co.uk
Wam ba
Wa
bamboo!
amb
mbo
oo!!
By Barbara Chandler
▲ This bamboo wardrobe folds almost
flat when not in use, for easy storage
and transport. Priced £54.95. Visit
futoncompany.co.uk
◄ Made from bamboo strips bent into
semicircles, this chair by Dutch design
duo Tejo Remy and René Veenhuizen
costs £2,226 at dutchdesignonly.com
EeStairs makes
staircases to
order using
bamboo as
the primary
material. The
hardwearing
nature of
bamboo makes
it a good
replacement
for steel and
concrete for
treads, risers
and strings.
Visit eestairs.
com
► Stacking bamboo
bowls lacquered
with coloured
polyurethane
are £30 for
large (28cm
diameter by
11cm high),
£12.50 for
small (15cm x
7.5cm) and £10
for mini
(11.5cm x
6.5cm). From
greentulip.
co.uk
# $ !$
.3
%,%, /- /22 &) "%% , *
,,% . )) % %%
* /- &( " % *
% &/+& &( " *
, () "&21 % ,* ,
0'&3)/'.0'01
19
Design Homes & Property
Eastern seaboard chic: Lexington
Company dinnerware ranges from £10
for mugs to £98 for a dinner plate set
T
HIS is the Hamptons season,
when the rich and famous
flock to their Gatsby-style
mansions along the south
shore of Long Island in New
York State. Singer Jennifer Lopez
recently hosted her birthday party
there, with the Kardashian sisters on
her star-studded guest list, while the
Clintons are holidaying this week close
to movie mogul Harvey Weinstein’s
£10 million retreat in Amagansett, one
of the hamlets and villages that make up
the Hamptons. The area has some of the
most expensive homes in America.
This is also the holiday haunt of
choice for New York owners and renters seeking seriously chic summer
style. Long Island has a look that’s all
its own — fresh, classy, but relaxed.
Kitting out a space with a
limited colour scheme is a bold move
but it works. Shades of red, white and
Clockwise from left: a Lexington room with Seaside (£49),
Trademark (£69) and Stonewashed (£35) cushions (lexington
company.com); American Freshman cushions (£18-£25.20),
throw (£49.50) and bedding (£54), all at amazon.co.uk; John
Lewis tableware (from £4.50 to £72) at johnlewis.com
The
he
e Hamptons
Ha
amp
mpt
pton
pto
ons look
look
Give your home that cool coastal chic, says Amira Hashish. From J-Lo and the Kardashians
to the Hollywood studio set, A-listers are decamping to their Long Island holiday mansions
Below: J-Lo and
her Hamptons
party home
Blue would make a statement. For a
more sumptuous, indoor take on the
look, Alma the leather specialist’s East
Coast-inspired Equestrian chair (£6,950,
alma1938.com) is made and upholstered
by hand in Whitechapel. Drape it with
a blue or beige-and-white striped Ola
throw from Adventino (£75, adventino.
co.uk) and swap the check rug for
Flock’s new natural Gaia rugs (£295 a
square metre, flock-living.com), made
with Kesav fibre. In the bedroom, team
GETTY
direct.com) merges the indoors and
outdoors while adding instant luxe to
a spacious terrace or conservatory.
Dress it with American Freshman cushions (£18-£25.20) and a throw (£49.50),
both from amazon.co.uk.
Kitsch fans may opt for the Harmony
wooden swing seat from Sitting Spiritually. Handmade to order in certified
pine and painted in any Farrow & Ball
colour, it costs from £1,259 (sittingspiritually.co.uk). Rectory Red or Pitch
SPLASH
blue are staples for a true slice of the
East Coast. Mix them with natural
materials, stripes and checks.
Kristina Lindhe, founder of homeware
and clothing brand Lexington Company, says: “In the Hamptons, beauty
is often simple and uncomplicated with
premium textures. I am from Sweden
but the Hamptons feels like home. In
the past, there were many Swedish
settlers on the East Coast of America,
so it is also no wonder that this look has
elements of Scandinavian design.”
Lexington Company interiors are
created with key destinations, landmarks and features in mind — white
picket fencing stretching along sandy
beaches; Cape Cod and Martha’s Vineyard. “New England is more than a
location, it is a lifestyle,” adds Lindhe.
“It stands for something positive — light,
fresh and natural.”
Scatter Lexington cushions (lexingtoncompany.com) such as Seaside
(£49), Trademark (£69) and Stonewashed (£35) on a two-seater New
England outdoor sofa (£699, okadirect.
com) for a nautical look that works well
in the hallway, living room or terrace.
Place Laura Ashley’s check linen cotton
and wool mix rug underneath (£100 at
lauraashley.com). An East Hampton
double sunbed from Oka (£1,365, oka-
Below: Alma’s
East Coastinspired
Equestrian chair
(£6,950,
alma1938.com)
and a Heart of
House Brixham
round glass rope
lantern from
Argos (£19.99,
argos.co.uk)
Vi-Spring’s brushed cotton linen Arc
headboard in Scarlet or Sky (from
£1,095, vispring.co.uk) with Ikea
bedlinen — red-and-white check Emmie
Ruta, and blue, white and grey Kustruta
are both £35 for a quilt cover and four
pillowcases (ikea.com).
Keep walls subtle and slick with Dulux
Desert Wind matt paint (£25.69 for
2.5 litres) from the Light and Space
range, with Pure Brilliant White in gloss
(£19.99 for 2.5 litres) for doors and skirting boards and in matt (£13.99 for
2.5 litres) for ceilings (dulux.co.uk).
These shades work well with Hayward
wood venetian blinds (from £92) or
pink roller blinds (£69), from Hillarys
(hillarys.co.uk).
MAKE IT MINIMALIST
Accessories must be kept to a minimum
for that uncluttered, stripped-back
aesthetic. Heart of House’s Brixham
round glass rope lantern (£19.99, argos.
co.uk) is a good budget lighting option.
An Eichholtz Anchor maritime table
lamp (£215), Delray tray (£109) or Nelson wine cooler (£200) from luxdeco.
com are smart additions. Also check
out tan leather door handles (from
£124.50, turnstyledesigns.com) for an
opulent touch.
Nod to the theme with a Westhampton Beach poster (£89.99) or splash out
on a Vogue July 1954 print (£599.99),
both from art.co.uk.
Keep to the coastal chic mood with
New England tableware from John
Lewis (johnlewis.com). From a striped
tablecloth (£28-£32) to a striking blue
tumbler (£4.50), the collection is ideal
for family dinners, barbecues or cocktail parties — all essential ingredients
for the sociable Hamptons lifestyle.
20
Homes & Property My home
Bright idea: mirrors are used to reflect light through the flat
homesandproperty
Finishing touch: an inexpensive Glendevon kitchen with Chloe Alberry brass handles
MINE BY DESIGN
Like all first-home owners,
Beata Heuman had little money
left over to do up her small flat —
but she had plenty of good ideas,
discovers Judith Wilson
Detail counts: interior designer Beata Heuman at her pretty flat
Photographs: Simon Brown
F
IRST-TIME buyer and interior
designer Beata Heuman has
done up her Earls Court flat on
a budget. The secret, she says,
lies in customising — from
artwork to furniture: “The process
doesn’t cost much more and your home
looks unique.”
Swedish-born Heuman spent eight years
working with Nicky Haslam at NH Design
and “learned everything on the job”. Now
she has a fledging interior design practice.
“My clients enjoy my open-minded
approach,” she says, listing two exciting
London projects and a Swedish villa as
ongoing work. “I like to create one-off
fabrics and wallpapers and get them
printed, so there’s always an original element.” As a showcase for her design flair,
her own home is full of creative ideas.
Her primary challenge was a difficult
layout. As a designer, she knew it was
important to invest in building work, so
the wall between the kitchen and a spare
bedroom was removed. “Now the openplan area feels fluid with a feeling of
space into the walk-through sitting room
— however tiny,” she says. She cleverly
compensated for the lack of cupboards
with concealed storage tucked within a
dropped ceiling, a utility cupboard
inside a structural column and tall bookshelves. “The investment in built-in
joinery was minimal,” she says.
The flat is small, so it was important to
use continuity with finishes. She
replaced mismatched flooring with engineered boards, and picked key upholstery and curtain fabrics in large-scale
prints, but in soft toning shades on
natural linens. “Less is more when it
comes to colour,” she adds. And while
the kitchen/dining room has wheat-grey
walls, a pretty shade that changes from
morning to evening, Farrow & Ball’s
Pavilion Gray in the sitting room gives a
sophisticated evening mood. “The bedroom ceiling is low, so Farrow & Ball’s
Lulworth Blue makes it seem higher,
while creating a focal point.”
Heuman loved the challenge of her tight
budget. “I identified areas where I could
spend and areas where I could save,” she
explains, adding that she does the same
for clients. She invested in quality fixed
surfaces — a marble kitchen worktop and
a stone bathroom floor — and chic soft
furnishings. “A good curtain-maker is
worth the investment, because curtains
add height and drama.” But she saved on
budget bathroom fittings and inexpensive
furniture — such as the mismatched dining chairs, bought in Portobello market
at £15 apiece — as well as doing most of
the artwork herself.
“Everything makes a difference in a
small space,” says Heuman, who advises:
“Look for special versions of everyday
things. If it has to stay on the work surface, I even decant green washing-up
liquid into a pretty glass bottle.”
O You can read the full version of this
article in the September issue of House
& Garden, out now.
Storage is key: when Heuman knocked down the
wall between the kitchen and the spare bedroom,
she created a slim utility cupboard behind the
supporting column. She designed the stool — which
hides more storage — in Shutter Stripe, from the
Nicky Haslam collection at Turnell & Gigon
y.co.uk with
21
My home Homes & Property
One-off: the L-shape sofa was custom-made to fit the Earls Court flat’s sitting room
Best-dressed bed: mixed textures and patterns, with a Mufti mirror as “headboard”
24
Homes & Property Outdoors
Make two
spaces
work
together
Cloistered Moorish gardens inspire
an outside space that is visible from
every room at a stunning modern
London home. By Pattie Barron
Above left:
owner Judy
Gibbons with her
dog, Charlie, in
the tranquil
garden she can
enjoy through
the year, whether
indoors or
outside
Left: separated
from the house
by a decked
walkway,
box-edged beds
are planted
en masse with
long-flowering
hydrangea
Annabelle
In the cloisters:
a west-facing
loggia, left, at
the far end of the
garden is clad
with grapevines
and makes the
perfect quiet
retreat
Right: designer
John Sallis
Chandler laid out
the garden in the
identical grid
pattern as that of
the house
Far right: the
glass pavilion,
attached to the
house at right
angles into the
garden, leads out
on to tree ferns
Photographs:
Clive Nichols
T
HE chief advantage of living
in a house with glass walls is
that you are able to enjoy
the garden for 365 days of
the year, so that garden had
better be worth looking at. The glorious
green space that connects so seamlessly with The Glasshouse, a stunning
modern building set among mature
trees in the heart of historic Petersham,
does not disappoint.
“I love the garden — it’s very peaceful
and tranquil. If the weather’s fine, we
have breakfast, lunch and supper out
on the terrace, but because of the enormous windows, you don’t need to
actually go out to feel you are eating
outside,” says Judy Gibbons, owner of
The Glasshouse, which was designed
eight years ago by architect Sir Terry
Farrell, and is part of a trio of iconic
glass homes he designed in this
secluded Richmond enclave.
“My last house was an 1854 Victorian
house and the garden there was very
different. Here, you are very connected
to the garden. In fact, you are surrounded by it.”
She hired local landscape architect
John Sallis Chandler, who designed the
garden at her previous Richmond Hill
home, to create an outside space worthy
of the award-winning house, in which
every room has sliding glass walls looking out on to it. A double-height glass
pavilion, the perfect space for entertaining, sits at right angles to the main building, within the garden.
To the right designer, the space is a
gift, and Sallis Chandler was clearly the
right designer. Unexpectedly, he looked
not to the future but to the cloistered
gardens of the past, where, like The
Glasshouse, all the rooms faced the
outside space, which is enclosed. Farrell
designed the three houses so that the
back wall of each provides a high, northfacing wall for the next, maximising on
space and providing privacy without
sacrificing light.
“Though the house is contemporary,
our approach to the design wasn’t,”
says Sallis Chandler. “It has echoes of
a more formal landscape, and is influenced by cloister designs of the Moorish gardens which had a circular route
around the perimeter, shaded niches
and areas in the sun, and calmness
from a restricted use of colour.”
The result is an open, rectangular
lawn surrounded by paved limestone
25
Outdoors Homes & Property
walkways and a large limestone terrace
for dining, between the lawn and pavilion. There is a strong, geometric structure of clipped, evergreen box, bay and
yew. Six low box walls set on either long
side of the lawn each hold a mass of
pale mint green Hydrangea Annabelle,
bringing seasonality to the garden, as
well as a white-stemmed Himalayan
birch that echoes the silver birches of
the surrounding rural landscape.
Against the far white wall, blocks of
clipped yew flank potted hardy palms,
and the wall itself is decorated with
fan-trained Morello cherries, chosen
for their ability to thrive in the shady
aspect.
A series of conical standard bay trees
creates an imposing avenue between
wall and lawn. In the tradition of the
ancient Moorish gardens, a simple
grapevine-clad cedarwood loggia
provides an intimate shelter at the
west-facing end of the garden, with
fan-trained figs making striking tracery
against the white wall behind.
A
HARDWOOD deck, set at
inter vals with potted
Mediterranean fan palms,
runs right along the length
of the house, effectively
blurring the boundaries of interior and
exterior. The real key, though, that has
made the garden in complete sync with
the house, is that Sallis Chandler took
the grid design of the building and
imposed it on the landscape outside, so
that each section and sightline, including the six equidistant white-stemmed
Above: Himalayan birch trees frame
the double-height pavilion in the
garden of The Glasshouse, Petersham
birches in the lawn, replicates the architectural framework of the interior.
Gibbons’s favourite place in the garden is the sunny loggia, sitting on the
Lutyens bench, among the fig trees.
From here, there is a sightline right
down the garden, beyond the terrace
and through the glass pavilion walls to
a more private space with a very different feeling. This is part of the garden,
where, at odds with the rest of the formal planting, nature is in control.
At its heart is a mossy, black-lined
pebble pool. On one side is a bank of
sculptural, stark white arum lilies; on
the other side, a carpet of jet-black
lilyturf grass. What makes this area
hugely atmospheric, however, are
primeval tree ferns growing at random
through platforms of shrubby honeysuckle, displaying striking lime-green
canopies that remain in full frond
through the year, thanks to the microclimate afforded by the native trees
beyond the garden. In the centre of the
pool, a bowl of perpetually bubbling
water, set precisely on the axis of the
two sightlines from reception room and
loggia, creates concentric ripples, and
represents, says Sallis Chandler, the
very source of the garden from which
everything within emanates.
O To commission John Sallis
Chandler, visit sallischandler.co.uk
(020 8549 5103)
28
Homes & Property Property searching
A
WARDED city status and
with its lovely parish
church, St Mary the
Virgin, now a cathedral,
the Essex town of
Chelmsford’s recognition in 2012 as a
major employment and commuter
destination appears to have put a
lasting spring in its step.
A £7 million revamp of the High
Street is in the pipeline. John Lewis is
set to open in 2016, in a new city
centre shopping area that will include
a public square overlooking the River
Can, while 3,600 new homes are
planned around Beaulieu Park on the
north-eastern edge of town, where
there will also be a new train station.
There are new city centre flats
around the existing Chelmsford
station, along the river and at the
Essex County Cricket Club ground,
while opposite the station the
redevelopment of the former Anglia
Ruskin University campus is opening
new walkways to the High Street.
Chelmsford sits north-east of
London close to the A12, the old
Roman road from London to
Colchester, and is roughly halfway —
35 miles — between the two.
WHAT THERE IS TO BUY
The city centre has mainly Victorian
and Edwardian homes of varying
sizes. A detached Victorian or
Edwardian house in the best areas
now easily tops £1 million, while a
semi-detached house will cost
between £650,000 and £750,000. In
the popular Moulsham area of the
city centre, smaller Victorian terrace
houses go for £300,000-£400,000.
Chelmsford has been expanding
since the Seventies, with new
settlements on the periphery such as
Chelmer Village, Chancellor Park and
Beaulieu Park. Houses in Beaulieu
Park, the most popular of these three
areas, can command £1 million.
There are period houses to be had
in Chelmsford’s surrounding villages
of Writtle, Danbury, Little Baddow
and Galleywood.
The most expensive house for sale
now in Chelmsford city itself is a
five-bedroom detached Victorian
property in Springfield Road, at
£1.4 million (see homesand
property.co.uk/chelspring). The
most expensive rural house has six
bedrooms and an indoor swimming
pool, in Sandford Mill Road on the
edge of Chelmsford near Chelmer
Village. It’s on the market for
£1,345,000 (homesandproperty.
co.uk/chelsand). The most
Firmly on the
commuter
map — and
lapping up the
buzz of Essex
city status
Spotlight
Chelmsford
Get the best of old and new, with a £7m retail
revamp, thousands of homes and Crossrail
set to join solid period houses and respected
grammar schools. By Anthea Masey
expensive modern house is in Seven
Ash Green, with five bedrooms, for
sale at £800,000 (homesand
property.co.uk/seven).
The most expensive house for sale in
Beaulieu Park is a four-bedroom
Georgian-style home in Beaulieu
Boulevard, at £575,000 (homesand
property.co.uk/beau), while a semidetached Victorian cottage in Hall
Street in Old Moulsham is £300,000
(homesandproperty.co.uk/moul).
The most expensive flat is a twobedroom penthouse in a modern
development overlooking the River
Chelmer in Bond Street, for sale for
£475,000 (homesandproperty.co.
uk/chelbond).
The area attracts: the two grammar
schools are a big draw — families are
increasingly looking for city centre
houses within walking distance of the
schools, the high street and the
station. House prices in the centre of
Chelmsford are only slightly above
the autumn 2007 peak, so families
moving in from Hackney, for
example, are getting a lot more for
their money in Chelmsford.
Staying power: some families make
one last move to the Suffolk or
Norfolk countryside once their
children have left for university.
Up and coming: the planned new
railway station at Boreham will
increase the attractiveness of
Beaulieu Park and the north-eastern
corner of Chelmsford. Nearby
Shenfield is also going to benefit from
the arrival of Crossrail, which from
2019 will give commuters easy access
to the West End with a 45-minute
journey to Tottenham Court Road.
SHOPS AND RESTAURANTS
Busy Chelmsford High Street has a
Debenhams and The Meadows and
High Chelmer shopping centres.
There is a Friday and Saturday
outdoor market along the High Street
and a covered market with more than
80 stalls. Lower and mid-market
brands predominate with branches
of Primark, New Look, River Island
and Topshop. The planned £7 million
upgrade of the shopping street is
much needed. It is looking tired, and
there has been little improvement
since it was pedestrianised in 1991.
The Co-operative retail movement
is still strong here, and Chelmsford
Star Co-op owns the Quadrant
department store. There are
independent shops off the main
street, in Baddow Road where the
Zagger boutiques cater for the labelconscious, and in Moulsham Street,
with its concentration of pubs and
The Farmshop and the Essex Cider
Shop catering for local foodies. New
London Road has Just Imagine, a
children’s bookshop and specialist
To find a home in Chelmsford, visit homesandproperty.co.uk/chelmsford
For more about Chelmsford, visit homesandproperty.co.uk/spotlightchelmsford
£270,000
£1,345,000
£800,000
£575,000
A WELL-PROPORTIONED three-bedroom family
home in the popular Springfield area with
excellent schools and transport links (Haart).
O Visit homesandproperty.co.uk/spring
AN EXTENDED six-bedroom Chelmer Village
cottage with indoor swimming pool, landscaped
gardens and a private fishing lake (Beresfords)
O homesandproperty.co.uk/chelmervillage
A DETACHED four-bedroom house in Cow Watering
Lane, just outside Writtle, with a large garden and
150-yard private driveway. Through Abbotts.
O See homesandproperty.co.uk/writ
A FAMILY home with four bedrooms and three
reception rooms in Beaulieu Boulevard,
Beaulieu Park. Through Beresfords.
O homesandproperty.co.uk/beaulieub
29
Property searching Homes & Property
CHECK THE STATS
■WHAT HOMES COST
BUYING IN CHELMSFORD
(Average prices)
One-bedroom flat £145,000
Two-bedroom flat £201,000
Two-bedroom house £253,000
Three-bedroom house £370,000
Four-bedroom house £532,000
Source: Zoopla
RENTING IN CHELMSFORD
(Average rates)
One-bedroom flat £648 a month
Two-bedroom flat £892 a month
Two-bedroom house £889 a month
Three-bedroom house £1,074 a month
Four-bedroom house £1,514 a month
Source: Zoopla
GO ONLINE FOR MORE
O The best schools
O The best shops and restaurants
O The latest housing developments
O How to understand the postcodes
O Smart maps to plot your property
search
O The lowdown on Chelmsford’s
rental scene
For all this and more, visit
homesand
property.co.uk/
spotlightchelmsford
HAVE YOUR SAY
CHELMSFORD
literacy resource and training centre,
plus a café, and a store for interior
accessories and jewellery.
In the High Street, a sign says Jamie
Oliver is coming home to Essex. The
celebrity chef is set to open a branch
of his Jamie’s Italian restaurant chain
in the autumn, near what will
become the new retail quarter
between Bond Street and the river,
with the new John Lewis in 2016.
The city centre restaurant scene is
dominated by chains such as Café
Rouge, Prezzo and Giraffe but
interesting gastropubs and
restaurants in local villages include
the Lion Inn at Boreham, the Blue
Strawberry Bistrot at Hatfield Peverel
TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE
and Grahams on the Green in Writtle.
There is much excitement about the
imminent arrival of an Albert Roux
restaurant in nearby Brentwood.
OPEN SPACE
There are lovely walks to be had
along the Rivers Can and Chelmer,
and the Chelmer and Blackwater
Navigation. The interconnected
Central Park, Bell Meadow and Blue
Pasture are popular town centre
riverside parks. The park at Hylands
House, a poplar wedding venue, was
designed by Humphry Repton and
has an adventure castle playground
and pleasure garden, with a café, gift
shop and artists’ studios at the
Stables Visitor Centre.
LEISURE AND THE ARTS
The Chelmsford City Theatres in
Fairfield Road has a theatre offering
drama, comedy and music, plus a
cinema. There is an Odeon multiplex
in The Meadows shopping centre.
The Victorian mansion and modern
extension in Oaklands Park houses
the Chelmsford Museum and Essex
Regiment Museum. Chelmsford Golf
Club is in Widford Road, and councilowned Riverside Ice & Leisure Centre
in Victoria Road has three swimming
pools and an ice rink.
WHAT does Chelmsford have in
common with this spot in North
Wales? Find the answer at homesand
property.co.uk/spotlightchelmsford
Travel: Chelmsford sits close to the
A12 between Colchester and London
with access to the M25. Trains into
Liverpool Street take 32-40 minutes
and an annual season ticket is £3,640.
Council: Chelmsford district council
is Tory controlled. Band D council
tax in the city is £1,488.06.
Exciting times:
clockwise from
main picture;
Chelmsford’s
shopping area is
getting a
£7 million
revamp; the
clock tower at
the former
Britvic soft
drinks factory
has been a local
landmark for 60
years and will be
preserved,
though the plant
closed in March;
historic Hylands
House wedding
venue, with
parklands by
Humphry
Repton; Bell
Meadow
riverside park;
Tanya Ware
serves a
customer at
Brownbread
artisan market
stall, which sells
locally baked
loaves and cakes
Exciting news: John Lewis is coming
@Nichola_Monroe best family space
in Chelmsford is Hylands Park —
children’s play area, acres of dogwalking space and a lovely café
@Nichola_Monroe exciting news for
Chelmsford — they’re building a
Waitrose and a large John Lewis
@johndwoodandco we would
recommend the Zagger fashion shops
in #chelmsford in Baddow Road
zagger.co.uk/zagger-stores/
@johndwoodandco ... and Olio
(olio-italian-chelmsford.co.uk) which
has consistently been #Chelmsford ‘s
best Italian restaurant.
@DannyUK best bar for nightlife —
@ctznbar, best pub is @fleecepub,
best local blog is (obviously)
DannyUK.com #Chelmsford
Photographs::
Graham
Hussey
NEXT WEEK: Barking. Do you
live there? Tell us what you
think @HomesProperty
30
Homes & Property Ask the expert
The serious saga of the damp house
Q
Q
A
Fiona
McNulty
WHAT’S
YOUR
PROBLEM?
OUR LAWYER ANSWERS
YOUR QUESTIONS
MY fiancé and I were
trying to buy a house but
had to pull out because
our survey revealed
significant damp issues and the
seller would not reduce the asking
price or contribute to the cost of
the work to sort out the problem.
We were about to exchange
contracts when we withdrew. Now,
not only have we had to pay for the
survey but our solicitor has billed
us. We thought legal fees were not
payable if we did not buy.
A
SOME solicitors do not
charge a fee if a purchase fails
to complete, although they
will charge for disbursements
incurred, such as search fees. You
need to check what you agreed with
your solicitor at the outset.
Once you told him you wished him
to act for you in connection with
your purchase, he would have sent
you a letter of engagement and
would have confirmed his terms of
business. You would have been asked
to sign and return a copy of the letter
of engagement to confirm your
instructions. Your solicitor should
have provided you with an estimate
of his fees and if he did not intend to
charge if the purchase did not
complete, he would have informed
you of that fact. Solicitors are under
a duty to keep their clients informed
and updated about costs, and
overcharging a client can amount to
professional misconduct.
You withdrew at the stage when you
were about to exchange contracts
and so your solicitor would have
carried out a large part of the legal
work by then. Accordingly, you may
very well be charged 70-80 per cent
of the fees you were quoted, as the
solicitor will charge you for the work
he did up to the date you withdrew.
Ask him to inform the seller’s
solicitor about any searches you have
had done which could be used by
another buyer, in the hope that you
may be able to recoup some of your
search costs.
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
partner in the
residential
property, farms
and estates team
at Withy King LLP
(withyking.co.uk).
More legal
Q&As
Visit: homesand
property.co.uk
MY WIFE and I were married 30 years. She left
me and I have since discovered that she was
having an affair for seven years with my best
friend. The divorce was a couple of years ago
and we went our separate ways. We had no children.
We did not use divorce lawyers and there was no
financial settlement or court order. I have done very
well financially recently as I have sold my business and
inherited money from my father. Can my ex-wife claim
anything from me? I’d be very upset if she could.
IN PRINCIPLE your wife can pursue claims for
income and capital unless she has since
remarried, in which case her entitlement is
automatically extinguished. Assuming she has not
remarried the chances are that her behaviour will not be
relevant, if and when the judge considers her application,
should she make one. This is because it is only in
exceptional circumstances that conduct is considered,
and hers is unlikely to be relevant.
One point that may be of importance is what is called
“post-separation accrual”. You may be able to argue
that any assets acquired long after you separated should
be ringfenced from any ultimate distribution — but
remember that the object of the exercise, so far as the
court is concerned, is to achieve a fair solution.
Obviously, you should not take any action that will stir
up a hornet’s nest but if your ex-wife approaches you in
any way about these matters, it is essential that you
obtain independent legal advice from an appropriately
accredited resolution specialist.
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.
32
Homes & Property Inside story
A house-hunting
fish, and a pigeon
that turns up its
beak at a £3m flat
MONDAY
With our Wapping office located
between the City and Canary Wharf,
about half of our buyers and sellers are
bankers. We are seeing a lot of French
ones at the moment, probably because
they are taxed so heavily back home.
One comes into the office today who is
typical of this type of buyer. He is not
really looking to set up a permanent
home in London, so he wants the aspirational two-bedroom flat with views
of Tower Bridge in the distance, for
about £1 million to £1.2 million.
Bankers , of course, can be aggressive
negotiators and we get them on both
sides of the deal, as buyer and seller,
and both want to maximise value.
Another drops in this afternoon and he
has a budget of £700,000. Properties at
this level are selling within a week.
His next move will probably be a family house in Blackheath or Islington.
Around here we retain families with
babies or toddlers, but after that they
are off looking for schools. It means,
Wharf. Their furniture won’t fit through
the doors, so they have had to hire a
boat to shift their stuff through the
loading bay doors.
THURSDAY
We complete today on a property
which the buyer, from the Far East, has
never viewed. He used to rent a studio
flat in the same building 17 years ago,
has done very well for himself in the
meantime, and wanted to buy there,
so he looked at the floorplan of this
apartment and bought it. It was a weird
one for us as we had no idea who he
was. We Googled him, but he had quite
a generic name so we ended up asking
the porter, who has worked at the
building for 20 years. Amazingly, he
remembered the man. We still haven’t
met the buyer ourselves.
Diary of
an estate
agent
FRIDAY
though, that August is a good month for
us as the local population doesn’t disappear during the school holidays.
TUESDAY
I fear one of our local celebrities, a wellknown TV presenter, will think I am
stalking him. He’s just walked past the
office with his dog, and I also saw him
at the weekend on the south coast, as
he owns a house near my beach hut.
He lives in Pier Head, a beautiful Georgian riverfront square that is one of
Wapping’s most sought-after addresses.
These used to be dockmasters’ houses,
so the square doesn’t look like most
people’s typical image of Wapping. The
houses sell for up to £3 million and we
have a two-bedroom flat under offer
there for £1.45 million. Riverfront warehouse conversions are also popular.
They are our easy-to-shift core market,
as demand always outstrips supply.
It’s all about views. Everyone wants
West Wapping for the views of Tower
Bridge. Within half a mile, values can
change from £1,750 per square foot and
more, to £850 further east.
WEDNESDAY
A lady who owns a house in Cinnamon
Street is selling after 23 years. She is
the only person who has ever lived in
the property. The thing is, she is leaving
her goldfish behind and has asked us
whether we can help to find a new
home for it. With the schools on holiday, I am stuck.
I also hear from a client who has just
bought a riverfront house at Olivers
I open up the £3.15 million show flat at
Tower View apartments, next to Tower
Bridge, to show to a prospective buyer,
and I have a stand-off with a pigeon.
The flat has been kitted out spectacularly and has perfect views of the
bridge. However, this pigeon is perched
on the balcony railing and threatens to
ruin the whole thing if he flies through
the open bi-fold doors and leaves his
mark on the exquisite sofas. I think he
senses my panic though, and flies away.
But while the pigeon doesn’t go for the
flat, neither does the buyer.
O Lee O’Neill is a partner and sales
manager at Cluttons in Wapping
(020 7488 4858).
34
Homes & Property Letting on
A
As landlords go,
I am a remote
control freak
£1,600
A MONTH
In Buckleigh
Road, Streatham
Common, SW16,
Kinleigh Folkard
& Hayward has
this very pleasant
two-bedroom
garden flat close
to the common
available to rent.
O Visit homes
andproperty.
co.uk/rentbuck
You can pay an agent to handle your distant
rental flat, but Victoria Whitlock prefers to
keep the cash and rely on her trusty mobile
The
accidental
landlord
reason why landlords pay agents to
manage their properties, but I have
found this is no guarantee work will
be carried out satisfactorily.
Managing agents have preferred
tradesmen to carry out any repairs,
which does save landlords a lot of
hassle, but they don’t necessarily
employ the most reliable people and
they don’t usually inspect any work
carried out. When a management
company took care of one of my
properties, an electrician who
replaced two light fittings left large
holes in the wall, one of the new lights
was loose and the other was wonky.
The tenant didn’t complain, she was
just happy they worked, so I didn’t
discover the botched job until long
after the electrician had been paid.
Rather than paying an agent an
annual fee to manage her rental, my
friend is thinking of using a pay-asyou-go property management
company, such as mycaretaker.co.uk
which offers landlords in south
London a subscription-free service
but charges a handling fee of £15 to
£30 for each small repair, and 10 per
cent of the cost of any jobs over £500.
Mycaretaker admits that it doesn’t
routinely inspect minor repairs,
relying instead on photos submitted
by tenants to show the job has been
done, but at least you only pay for
the service when you use it. Also, it
does promise to inspect any work
costing over £250. I can’t vouch for
this personally, as have never used
them.
FirstAssist (firstassist-rls.co.uk)
offers a similar service, but charges
landlords a £49.99 membership fee.
Alternatively, they can pay a £15-amonth subscription, which includes
an annual gas safety check and boiler
service plus an electrical safety PAT
check and, most importantly, an
annual property inspection. As my
friend is concerned about keeping
an eye on her tenants to make sure
they don’t turn her house into a
party pad, the latter option sounds
like the better one for her. However,
I still think it’s wise for landlords to
inspect rental properties themselves
at least every six months. After all, no
one cares about a property nearly as
much as its owner.
O Victoria Whitlock lets three
properties in south London. To
contact Victoria with your ideas
and views, tweet @vicwhitlock
Find many more homes to rent at
homesandproperty.co.uk/lettings
@ @
FRIEND is moving into
her new bloke’s house in
the country, but she
wants to hang on to her
place in London, just in
case she can’t get used to living more
than 10 minutes’ walk from the
nearest Starbucks.
She has decided to let her house,
but she isn’t sure how she is going to
manage the property when she will
be based an hour’s drive away. The
simplest option would be to hire a
letting agent to find tenants and
manage everything, but she would
have to give away at least 15 per cent
of her rental income in commission
and VAT, and she isn’t keen on that.
Instead she is thinking of saving a
few grand by finding tenants herself,
advertising the property via one of
the many online letting agents which
charge less than £100. However, her
dilemma is how to deal with repairs
and emergencies from a distance.
I managed three properties in
London while living in France and it
wasn’t difficult. As long as you’ve got
a mobile phone and a good internet
connection you can sort out most
problems remotely.
In 10 months I had only a few
maintenance issues to deal with,
including a blocked drain, a lock and
a broken washing machine, and I
managed to arrange all the repairs by
phone or by email. My tenants were
always happy to let in the workmen.
The tricky bit, I tell my friend, is
monitoring repairs to make sure they
are not botched. I suppose this is the
@
@
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@@@!%@"+.+(!&+)@"&)@* (&+ &+*@* @@(&$@&%"/@0;69
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? ? ? 36
Homes & Property New homes
Set sail for
home. . .
in the city
Doesn’t your family
deserve a super-room?
ST PETER’S SQUARE is one
of Hammersmith’s most
coveted addresses, with
grand, stucco-fronted
Regency houses alongside
an imposing domed church
from the same era and
listed public gardens.
Into this neighbourhood
has been slotted St Peter’s
Place, four handsome new
period-style townhouses,
each with a family “superroom” opening on to a
courtyard, plus five
bedrooms, a cinema room,
garden, terraces and two
underground parking
spaces. There’s up to
2,751sq ft of space in total.
Offers over £3 million.
Call Crest Nicholson on
020 3667 5113 for more
information.
£3 million-plus:
St Peter’s Place
townhouses,
left and top,
offer plenty of
family space
T
HE regeneration of
London’s waterways is
creating opportunities for
urban sailors. As well as
the Thames, there are
inland docks, lakes, canal basins and
reservoirs where building projects
are opening up access to the water
for recreational use.
Woodberry Park in Stoke
Newington is a redevelopment of a
Fifties council estate overlooking two
From £250,000: Woodberry Park homes,
right, Stoke Newington. Above, Hendon
Waterside, beside Welsh Harp Reservoir
Smart
Sma
art mo
mov
move
ove
ve
e
By David Spittles
giant reservoirs and the New River. In
Zone 2, it is an awesome, unexpected
setting where up to 5,500 new
homes, including glamorous highrise flats with spectacular views, are
being built alongside the open water.
A sailing club uses 42-acre West
Reservoir, while East Reservoir is a
vast nature reserve with a “trim trail”
for joggers. In addition, there is a
listed pumping station, a climbing
centre and a café.
Apartment blocks are linked by a
series of “linear parks”, there is a
new school and coming later is a
37
New homes Homes & Property
Be a man (or woman) from the
ministry in a Westminster flat
SURREY SERVICE: TO THE
CITY IN ONLY 40 MINUTES
retail hub, with an open street
market. Prices from £250,000. Call
Berkeley Homes on 020 8985 9918.
Hendon Waterside is being built
alongside 30-acre Welsh Harp
Reservoir, which has a boating club.
Wembley and Seahorse Sailing Clubs
are nearby, too. Barratt has launched
Lakeview apartments, priced from
£397,500. Call 0844 811 4334.
BEHIND Millbank, the
riverside strip best known
for Tate Britain, lies a
quiet, well-kept residential
district with a mix of
private, council and
charitable housing and a
growing number of new
apartment schemes.
The latter are often
redevelopments of former
ministry buildings, such as
Abell & Cleland House in
John Islip Street where
homes start at £1.81 million.
Call 020 7720 4000.
Vincent Square is the
neighbourhood’s best
address, with homes
overlooking 13 acres of
private playing fields
owned by Westminster
School. Douglas House,
left, moments from the
square, is an office-toresidential conversion with
10 stylish two- and threebedroom flats. Prices from
£1.53 million. Call
Hamptons International
on 020 7834 4771.
Great Minster House is
another redevelopment of
offices into luxury flats,
which are reached via a
grand entrance foyer.
Prices from £975,000. Call
0844 811 4321.
IT CAN be quicker getting to
work in London from a
home counties commuter
town or village than from a
Travel Zone 3 or 4 address.
Ashstead in Surrey is one
such spot, with 40-minute
trains to Waterloo and
Victoria, and an annual
season ticket costing not
much more than £2,000. It is
an archetypal village with
highly regarded schools, a
cricket club and plenty more
local amenities including, on
the doorstep, the RAC, an
offshoot of the St James’s
gentlemen’s club, with two
18-hole golf courses.
The Warren, left, a leafy
private enclave of homes on
big plots, is one of the best
addresses. Five substantial
new houses have been built
there, each of up to
7,704sq ft. Prices from
£3.8 million. Call Millgate
Homes on 0118 934 3344.
SOAR
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Style on a budget - Homes and Property

Transcription

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