Musings of London Property Buyers Agents

Kensington Palace Gardens retains it’s position as the most expensive street in the UK and the fourth most expensive street in the World according to a report commissioned by Wealth Bulletin.  Kensington Palace Gardens is one of the most expensive streets in the world for a reason: it is also one of the most prestigious and a fabulous road to live in.

Situated behind Kensington Palace within a short stroll of Kensington High Street and a few minutes in the car from Mayfair, this residential road offers suburban seclusion in the middle of the city.  Substantial semi-detached and detached neo-Palladian villas and mansions with large gardens of around an acre each, characterise the quiet, extra-wide tree-lined street.  Security at each entrance controls vehicular access and the only noise to be heard is the chirping of birds and distant hum of traffic and happy voices from Kensington Gardens.

Originally the kitchen gardens for Kensington Palace,the land was sold off on a leasehold basis by the Crown Estate from 1841.  Leases were initially granted for 99 years and the intention was that new residents would pay in excess of £3,000 for their new homes – a substantial sum in Victorian England.  The Crown Estate continues to retain the freehold of all property and the road itself. 

Other London Property Buyers with homes in Kensington Palace Gardens include Jon Hunt the founder of Foxtons who reputedly bought his house in 2005 for £14 million and was reputedly offered £100 million for it 3 years later, which he turned down.  Lakshmi Mittal the steel magnate, the Saudi Royal Family, the Sultan of Brunei and several embassies and Ambassadors also have homes there, but mostly residents are very private billionaires, with good taste in property.  Not for them, the tasteless horrors on the Bishops Avenue.

In our capacity as Property Finders, we only act as London Property Buyers Agents for Clients looking in the UK, specifically in London and the Home Counties, however the full top ten most expensive addresses in the world according to Wealth Bulletin are as follows:

1. Avenue Princess Grace, Monaco
2. Chemin de Saint-Hospice, Cap Ferat
3. Fifth Avenue, New York
4. Kensington Palace Gardens, London
5. Avenue Montaigne, Paris
6. Via Surveta, Saint-Mortitz
7. Via Romazzino, Porto Cervo, Sardinia
8. Severn Road, The Peak, Hong Kong
9. Ostozhenka Street, Moscow
10. Wolseley Road, Point Piper, Australia

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Tags: Buying Prime London Property, Kensington Palace Gardens, London Property Buyers Agents, London property finders, Prime London Property

Musings of a London Property Search Agent

CPC Group owned by the Candy Brothers have pulled out of the redevelopment of the 13 acre Chelsea Barracks site, selling an option to buy the Candy’s stake to existing partner Qatari Diar, Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund, according to a story in The Gulf Times today.

Much was made of the purchase in January when the Candy Brothers and their partners purchased the site from the Ministry of Defence for £959 million ($1.5 billion) in January.   The Candys have been hit by the credit crunch, with news last week that they were selling out of a project in the US following a failure to convert bridging finance to long-term construction finance since the beginning of the credit crunch.

The Candys planned to develop the Chelsea Barracks site for high net worth individuals, followed the lines of their One Hyde Park development, where purchasers were rumoured to have paid in the region of £100 million for some of the best flats in the block.  Purchasers reputedly signed non-disclosure documents and most apartments were purchased using companies to reduce the tax burden so exact figures have for the most part remained out of the public domain.  Likewise, the latest deal struck with Qatari Diar was for an undisclosed sum.  This London Property Search Agent is monitoring developments so watch this space.

 http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=253547&version=1&template_id=57&parent_id=56

Technorati Tags: Candy & Candy, Candy Brothers, Chelsea Barracks, Chelsea Property, London Property Search Agent, Prime London Property, Qatari Diar

Tags: Candy & Candy, Candy Brothers, Chelsea Barracks, Chelsea Property, London Property Search Agent, Prime London Property, Qatari Diar