Rantings of a London Buyer’s Agent

Am I unique among those with no say in the matter in thinking that neither Piccadilly Circus nor Regent Street is suitable for TK Maxx?  We are talking about St James afer all.  Just because some of the low-life have been moved on from the crime-ridden Trocadero centre on the north side of Piccadilly Circus is no excuse to lower the tone at the bottom of Regent Street. 

The Crown Estate must be applauded for this decision.  Look at how Marylebone High Street has flourished under the careful stewardship of the Howard De Walden estate.  By looking at the ethos and offering of potential tenants and avoiding offering space to the highest bidder the landlords have nurtured a village atmosphere with unique useful shops and restaurants which provide high quality service and have in turn ensured the survival of an area which looked to be in peril twenty years ago.  Chi chi boutiques nestle amongst divine local restaurants and while the chains have moved in, the De Walden estate has managed to retain enough small retailers to create a very different and welcome shopping experience than is enjoyed(?) on nearby Oxford Street.

The Crown Estate is absolutely right to refuse a lease to TK Maxx.  This is a fabulous part of London which should strive to hold it’s place as one of the top places to visit in the capital.  Since Lillywhites was bought out a few years ago, sadly it has ceased to be a centre of excellence for sporting goods.  Instead the famous store looks like any other mass sports shop, more readily at home on New Oxford Street or an out of town retail site, with it’s huge posters promoting 20% off or free tat if you deign to enter.  In my view they should be relegated to Tottenham Court Road or made to smarten up. 

In my capacity as a London Buyer’s Agent, I was approached by a couple who wanted to live near Piccadilly Circus during their two year stay in the UK.  We were retained while they were still abroad and they were delighted to hear that we had found a flat overlooking Eros.  When they arrived in the UK and we conducted our first tour, no sooner had we reached the bottom of Regent Street when they rapidly realised that maybe the quieter surrounding streets may be more conducive to family life.  They loved the gentleman’s retailers on Jermyn Street and remembered Regent Street as the home to Austin Reed and Aquascutum – in their mind, the larger Ladies and Gentleman’s department stores: in my mind a vision which should to some extent be retained.  Certainly there is a place for TK Maxx in central London – but Regent’s Street: I think not.  I wonder if they will fare better on Kensington High Street or the King’s Road?  Watch this space for the London Buyer’s Agent view of inappropriate commercial tenants in exclusive London estates.

Technorati Tags: London Buyer's Agent, Piccadilly Circus property, Regent Street property, St James's property, TK Maxx

Tags: London Buyer's Agent, Piccadilly Circus property, Regent Street property, St James's property, TK Maxx

Musings of a London Property Search Agent

After a rather depressing budget yesterday – this morning everyone has an opinion on whether or not the Chancellor is right to predict an end to the recession by the end of the year.  With the news that GDP is forecast to drop by 3.5% the Chancellor is essentially saying that the position at the end of 2009 could be so bad that the only way is up.  It’s hard to see how this will affect property prices.

Some pundits have already predicted an almighty bounce in 2010, with a similar Spring property market to that of 2007, when Property Search Agents had to get buyers in prior to properties being marketed to have a chance of securing them.

Given the preponderance of relatively high asking prices which we discussed on April 20th, see link below, I suspect that although there will inevitably be a flood of buyers to the market, as people realise they have waited too long, any bounce will very much depend on what has happened to pricing in the interim.  So those areas where asking prices are still relatively high or have jumped in comparison with 2007 and sales are going through, will fare much better than areas where there are many vendors keen to sell who have brought prices for the area down overall.  What will be interesting to see, is how fast prices in these areas jump back.  This London property search Agent will keep you informed.

http://www.manseandgarretproperty.com/property/market-news/asking-prices-up-33-in-kensington-and-chelsea

Technorati Tags: affect of recession on house prices, GDP, London property, London Property Search Agents, recession

Tags: affect of recession on house prices, GDP, London property, London Property Search Agents, recession

Rantings of a London Property Search Agent

Well it could have been a very different afternoon could it not? 

Stamp duty, REITS, empty rate relief and clarification on regulation for buy-to-lets: there is really no good news.  And what on earth are they doing pushing £80m into shared ownership schemes: pushing hard pressed first-time buyers into quarter/ half shares of over-priced one bedroom flats?  It’s a nonsense!  But don’t get me started on that little chestnut!  

Acknowledging that the housing sector is key to the recovery of the UK economy, Alistair Darling said: ‘the key to the health of our society is the long term supply of housing€™ so the government are supporting the construction industry to ensure more homes are built with £500million for stalled schemes and a further £100m to encourage local authorities to build green homes.

I’ve got mixed feelings about this to be honest, because mass-produced new-build is notoriously over-priced and frankly, unfortunately developers and investors caught in the headlights need to live with the consequences.   This is a long term fix, but has been widely criticised by the developers it is designed to help, for being unclear.  Given the fiasco of the mortgage support scheme, that is an entirely fair point.  Interestingly, although most banks closed their book to developers last year, self-builders are not struggling to get finance.  It this because their due diligence is not dependent on unsustainable sales figures?

I am most irritated about stamp duty.  Significant reductions  for property sub-£500K where 3% is payable would have assisted the market and injected a little confidence.  The extension of 0% stamp duty for transactions up to £175,000 for the rest of the year is certainly welcome, but so much more could have been done.  This is not going to help many buyers in London and therefore is pretty much irrelevant to the property market in the capital.

Technorati Tags: Business rate relief on empty properties, London property, London Property Search Agent, REITs, Stamp Duty, The budget

Tags: Business rate relief on empty properties, London property, London Property Search Agent, REITs, Stamp Duty, The budget