Press, News and Views
The Telegraph, 15th December 2021
IN THE PRESS - THE TELEGRAPH, 15th DECEMBER 2021
What the super rich want from a new home - and it's not a penthouse view..
spear’s wealth management awards 2021 - 18th October 2021
We are delighted to have been named as a finalist in the 2021 Spears Wealth Management Awards in the Property Advisor of the Year category.
This recognition is testament to our dedication to providing the very best and honest advice to our clients, many of who we continue to work with on a repeat basis.
International Property Awards - 16th September 2021
We are incredibly proud to have been named as a winner in the “Best Single Real Estate Office, London” category of the United Kingdom Property Awards, part of The International Property Awards.
The United Kingdom Property Awards are judged by an independent panel of over 80 industry experts, chaired by Lord Caithness, Lord Best, and Lord Waverley, members of the House of Lords. Judging focuses on service, quality, innovation, design and originality and are sponsored by P & A Wood Rolls-Royce Motor Cars.
We are delighted that the United Kingdom Property Awards judges have recognised the level of service that we provide to our clients, along with our discretion and attention to detail, especially in conjunction with such a globally recognised brand as Rolls Royce.
Egerton Crescent, SW3
Chester Street, SW1
Time & Leisure - 23rd September 2021
Two of our instructions featred in the latest edition of Time & Leisure, in a feature focusing on South West London and Surrey.
The Penthouse, Petersham House, SW7
forbes - 23rd August 2021
Hugh Grant’s Former London Penthouse Hits Market For $12.3 Million.
Kensington Place, W8
IN THE PRESS - the telegraph, 5th august 2021
French and Spanish families are buying £15m London penthouses to ensure places at top state schools
With just a few weeks to go until the start of a new school year, many wealthy families are settling into homes that have ensured places in some of London’s most sought-after schools.
Egerton Crescent, SW3
MANSION GLOBAL - 14TH JULY 2021
Our Egerton Crescent instruction features as Mansion Global’s “Listing of the day”.
This Historic Kensington Home Is on One of London’s Most Expensive Streets.
This Grade II-listed house was built in the 1840s by renowned British architect and designer James Bonnin and George Basevi, but boasts a modern basement expansion rare for the neighborhood.
Chester Street, SW1
TATLER FEATURE - 11TH JUNE 2021
OUR CHESTER STREET INSTRUCTION HAS SOME INTERESTING HISTORY!
He was one of the most glamorous European aristocrats of the 1950s and 1960s, and counted the younger sister of Jackie Kennedy Onassis, Caroline 'Lee' Bouvier, as his second wife, so it's unsurprising that Prince Stanislaw Radziwill had equally good taste in property. Case in point, his London townhouse, which has come onto the market with Alexander Millett, is being sold for £13.25 million.
Egerton Crescent, SW3
IN THE PRESS - THE TIMES, 4TH JUNE 2021
Why London is still a safe haven for international buyers
There were 43 £5 million-plus sales during April 2021, the highest April figure since 2014. This brings the total for the first four months of the year to 142 sales at this level.
If this continues we could see more invested in central London this year than at the peak of the market in 2014 when £5.65 billion was spent by 512 buyers on homes worth £5 million or more.
IN THE PRESS - PRIME RESI, 26TH MAY 2021
PCL house market ‘renaissance’ as £5m-plus sales soar
The house market in Prime Central London has undergone a “renaissance” in 2021, with sales well up and the time taken to sell well down on pre-pandemic levels. This is according to longstanding boutique agency Alexander Millett, which has analysed £5m-plus sales across the capital’s most expensive postcodes between January and April. The data, sourced from LonRes, shows a 140% leap in house transactions above £5m compared with the same period in 2019; meanwhile, flat sales posted a 27% decline. High-end houses have also been selling faster: the average number of days spent on the market fell from 217 in the year to May 2020, to 186 days in the year to May 2021 – a 15% reduction.
While outdoor space and gardens have been “paramount” over the last year, the firm expects interest in flats will “surge” again once international travel restrictions are eased.
A sense of urgency has replaced the post-referendum paralysis in PCL, said Alexander Millett, founder of the firm: “Houses are very much in demand at the moment, with flats having fallen out of favour, largely thanks to the pandemic. Pre-pandemic, people were less pre-occupied about the outside space that came with their London home, largely due to the inconsistency of the English weather and the ability to go out for dinner whenever they wished. The last year has completely changed how we view our homes – an area in which to work, as well as outside space, has become an absolute must for many buyers. The concept of entertaining yourself or friends at home has become a key, if not the main, selling feature of a lot of homes we now deal with. As such, a property’s outdoor entertaining space and gardens have become paramount to the London housing market.
“We are seeing house buyers being more decisive, wary that someone else may swoop in if they deliberate for too long. However, it is worth noting that the speed of a sale is very much dependant on the accuracy of the asking price.
“This desire to buy is a very different sentiment from the Brexit malaise we saw after the 2016 referendum. Following the leave vote, the Prime Central London market suffered a type of paralysis due to the general negative sentiment. There was no urgency as in essence, buyers were reluctant to make decisions – the perception was that the market would decline or at least do nothing. We are pleased to see that the reverse is happening now. What is particularly interesting is that this activity has been generated by domestic demand or by people presettled in the UK.
“That said, there is a significant part of the usual Prime Central London market that has not travelled to the UK for over a year due to travel restrictions. As a firm, we estimate that this makes up another 50% of the buyer demographic. Once the travel restrictions lift, we expect to see a significant increase in activity in the London market, with interest in flats set to surge again.”
IN THE PRESS - THE MAIL ON SUNDAY, 16TH MAY 2021
Buyers struggling to secure dream homes as many properties are being sold even before they hit the market
Sellers go off-market for two reasons. One is to protect their privacy. Alexander Millett, founder of a Central London estate agency, says: 'Often, if sellers are high profile, they don't want pictures of their home all over the internet. And sometimes, sellers just don't want their neighbours virtually snooping around their house.'
The second reason is to test an 'ambitious' price to see if buyers bite. When a property is listed on the open market, property portals such as Rightmove give it a date stamp, registering when it came on the market and the original asking price.
If the property does not sell straightaway or the seller has to reduce the price, buyers can see this on the listing and it can undermine the seller's negotiating position.
But, when someone sells off-market, there is no record of the original asking price or how long it has been on the market. If it doesn't sell off-market, they can still go to the open market – with potential buyers none the wiser.
Agents say that the property market is currently so hot that homeowners who go off-market are more likely than ever to be successful. 'Lots of sellers are going off-market just to test the waters and then finding their property is snapped up immediately,' says Millett.
No.1 Palace Street by Northacre
IN THE PRESS - THE TELEGRAPH, 14TH MAY 2021
The super-rich will do anything to avoid neighbourly disputes - like buying the mansion next door.
“For someone very high profile or security-conscious such as an oligarch or pop star, buying the house or plot next door is the only way to guarantee privacy,” says Alexander Millett, founder of the prime London estate agency of the same name. “The ability to create an ‘island site’ is hard to find in London and commands a premium for this reason, but I have dealt with a number of celebrities or wealthy people who have bought small flats nearby, or those which share a party wall or slightly overlook their property, for staff or security to protect their privacy.”
Changing planning laws are making it harder, in some boroughs, for buyers to find or create the super-size homes they desire. Westminster has set a new maximum size of 200 sq m for new apartments. And Kensington & Chelsea is both anti-basement dig over multiple stories, and clamping down on projects that reduce the number of habitable units.
Developers are wise to this, though, and often employ a legal loophole, by creating a separate dwelling on site, such as a basement flat in a newly-developed house, with a separate entrance. “This part of the building is often used for staff, but having a separate title means the owner doesn’t contravene planning policy,” says Alexander Millett. There’s extra council tax to pay for the two units, “but this is a drop in the ocean to the owners of these mansions,” he adds, “and it means they can apply for more parking permits.”
For Sale - Egerton Crescent, SW3
For Sale - Hyde Park Gate, SW7
Market update - March 2021
Since our last market update in November 2020 there has been a lot of positive news to report in the Prime Central London property market, despite the general negative news in the press recently. Sales in the first two months of 2021 have exceeded 2020 levels, while prices were just 1% lower than they were a year ago, a miniscule drop given the turmoil the world has been through in the last year.
In our experience, this has been evident in helping couples and families move from large apartments into larger houses. The pandemic has changed the way people live and how they see themselves living, with houses simply offering more during a lockdown, in terms of privacy, the ability to create your own amenities and most importantly, a garden. For the last fifteen years or so the bulk of premium demand has been for lateral flats with hotel style facilities. Whilst London now offers some of the world’s best residential developments in that respect, they are expensive to maintain and most of their world class amenities have been closed, or at least significantly reduced, during the lockdowns. As a result, houses have had a renaissance, and demand for good quality freehold properties, particularly with good gardens, has surged.
Two new properties of ours that more than meet these requirements are Egerton Crescent and Hyde Park Gate, both now available for purchase. Please contact us for more information on each.
We have experienced first-hand this adjustment in the premium house market particularly on the rental side. This has been driven by domestic demand, from people already settled in London who have reassessed their housing needs. Since November 2020 we have let a house in Ilchester Place with a fantastic garden (asking £5,750 per week and despite building working going on next door) a house in Queens Gate Place (asking £18,000 per week), and a house in Ovington Square (asking for £8,950 per week), both beautifully refurbished with private swimming pools and their own gym.
This reaffirms our belief that houses are back in fashion and as summer approaches we are confident there will be more to come on both the sales and letting side of the market. When the UK opens its borders again and travel restrictions are lifted we expect to see a further surge in interest from overseas.
Peter Preedy - January 2021
I am delighted to announce that Peter Preedy has joined me in Cadogan Square, bringing with him a wealth of experience and knowledge in both estate agency and new homes consultancy and sales.
Having spent almost ten years at real estate giant JLL, Peter has come on board to bolster our sales ability in Kensington and Chelsea, but also to add another string to our bow in the form of advice on all things "new build".
A development consultant with 15 years experience in the industry, Peter's knowledge of the Prime Central London residential development market is extensive and he combines this with a level of professionalism that his clients value and respect.
From residential development consultancy for developers, to purchasing advice for potential buyers, we are now able to offer a comprehensive service in this sector of the market, alongside our existing and long-standing agency abilities.
If you are considering purchasing a property in a new development, and to discuss what options might be available to you, please do give Peter a call now on +44 (0) 7795 451712.
Let - Ennismore Gardens, SW7
Sold - Kensington Place, W8
Market update - november 2020
This quarter we have seen a surprising amount of activity in the Prime Central London Property Market since coming out of the government imposed lock down earlier in the year. We are pleased to report that we have first hand experience of strong activity which is being reported across the sector. What is interesting is that this is mainly due to domestic demand, coupled with Europeans already settled in the UK. Both the sales and letting markets have been busy, with the Super Prime Market (over £30,000,000 or £10,000 per week) being active and the market between £2,000,000 and £10,000,000 turning over well. With a reasonable amount of these transactions happening 'off market'.
There does, however, seem to be a gap in the sales market currently left by those buyers from countries unable to travel to the UK due to travel restrictions, this seems to be particularly evident in the segment of the market between £10,000,000 and £20,000,000. These buyers would normally contribute a significant amount to the Central London market. It is worth noting that currently Stamp Duty for non-UK residents is paid at the same rate on the purchase of UK property as is paid by UK resident buyers. However, Chancellor Rishi Sunak announced in the Budget on 11th March 2020, that SDLT for overseas buyers will include a Stamp Duty surcharge of 2% for purchases from 1st April 2021. Whilst the devaluation of sterling will no doubt make London property attractive to foreign buyers, the addition 2% may create a rush to beat the increase if travel restrictions allow.
There are further nuances and idiosyncrasies to the current market and conditions. If you would like further insight into the Prime Central London market please click on the link below to arrange a meeting or call. We pride ourselves on tailoring a service to each of our client's while maintaining the utmost discretion.
