Musings of a London Buyers Agent

It’s a well-known fact that The Bishops Avenue in Hampstead is one of the most expensive and well-known residential streets in the UK.  Large detached houses on substantial plots of land with (mostly) quiet gardens means it appeals to many people.  Proximity to Hampstead Heath, the chi-chi boutiques of Hampstead village and good road transport links add to it’s appeal.  But perhaps it is the fact that so many of the beautiful 30s houses have been pulled down and replaced with  varying degrees of success, which really make it an attractive street in which to buy property these days.

Inevitably the replacements are several times the size of the originals and very much more grand, so now, it is not uncommon for buyers to purchase with the sole intention to rip down the existing monstrosity and start again, nor is it likely the planners will refuse permission.  Heck, there’s already several rather hideous blocks of flats there now.  Though why anyone would want to part with several million for an admittedly fabulous flat when you could buy a lovely detached in a classier road round the corner, beats me.  You can always pay for a house-sitter or security patrol, after all.

One of the problems The Bishops Avenue has, which neighbouring streets don’t have so much of an issue with, is that many of the houses are 2nd, 3rd or 8th homes and rarely lived in.  So although most people have retained the required security / maintenance people, not everyone does and some houses look decidedly scruffy.  Inevitably, this gets noticed and as The Telegraph reports today, Lakshmi Mittal et al now have a set of squatters as neighbours.

According to The Telegraph, the 3 men are describing themselves as ‘good squatters’.  Apparently the house is virtually derelict and they have plastered ceilings, reconnected the electrics and repaired two of the bathrooms, which doesn’t sound too bad.  I wonder what the neighbours think of the ‘occasional parties’ and barbecues on Sundays though?  The Royal families from Saudi Arabia and Brunei both have properties in the area but I can’t really see either of them popping round for a burger.

We’ve just completed a load of research for a Client who has just had an offer accepted on a new home and are about to do some more for another Client whose offer was accepted yesterday and we will find out exactly who lives next door.  So if you don’t want to find you’ve bought next door to squatters, Manse and Garret might just be the Buyers Agents for you.

Technorati Tags: Buyers Agent, Hampstead, London Buyer's Agents, Property in Hampstead, Squatters, The Bishops Avenue

Tags: Buyers Agent, Hampstead, London Buyer's Agents, Property in Hampstead, Squatters, The Bishops Avenue

Musings of a London Buyers Agent

Am I the only one to have noticed that across London the only ‘good’ flats which stay on the market for any length of time these days are ‘garden flats’, be that basement, sorry, ‘lower ground’ or ‘garden’ level, ground or upper ground floors?  Well maybe so, but if any readers are seeking outside space this summer and don’t mind or even relish the thought of living ‘below stairs’, then you should be negotiating very hard indeed!

At this time of year, estate agents talk up any outside space at all, or at least most of the good ones do.  That said, I recently showed some Clients a top floor flat with a fabulous balcony, conveniently off the open plan kitchen/lounge diner and big enough for a table and chairs for 2 – or 4 with a small table.  And when we arrived the doors were wide open.  After all, who is going to burgle you if you are 3 floors up?

A downside of the flat was it was built for the vertically challenged, possibly a little harsh, but with the existing configuration, a shower would be a struggle for anyone over 5’6.  But I digress. 

Most well-priced flats on the first floor or above are selling quickly.  It is only the burglary-sensitive ones which are lingering and a lingering flat essentially means a bargain – garden or not!  And there are loads of them, in every corner of London and Brighton at the moment.  So forget the estate agents guff and get bargaining, or leave it to the experts and hire a fabulous London Buyers Agent instead!

Technorati Tags: Brighton, Buyers Agent, garden flats, London Buyer's Agent, London garden flats

Tags: Brighton, Buyers Agent, garden flats, London Buyer's Agent, London garden flats

News from a London Buyers Agent

Last year everyone was talking about estate agents going down, this year we heard our own competitors, Garringtons went into administration and now it seems the Land Registry is also in trouble.  Property transactions have dropped by 43% year on year so the Land Registry workload has reduced leaving the government department with an ‘unsustainable reduction in fee income’.  If only Buyers Agents could put up prices when the going gets tough – but I digress.

Although all fees are increasing, the cost of registering properties is going up by approximately 30% so the registration cost for a property worth £1 million will increase from £420 to £550.  Charges for providing information has increased from £3 for the title plan or title deeds to £4 each, but I suspect that this will mostly hit professionals including solicitors and Buyers Agents such as us.   Although its annoying, the increase amounts to a small proportion of the total costs of moving house.  In the UK, costs amount to tens of thousands of pounds, including the survey, legal costs and stamp duty which is 4% of the property purchase for residential property worth over £500,000.  Lets just hope the Chancellor doesn’t follow the Land Registry’s lead!

The costs went up on Monday.

Technorati Tags: Buyers Agent, fees, Land Registry, London Buyer's Agents

Tags: Buyers Agent, fees, Land Registry, London Buyer's Agents