Capital Gains: London Property Hits A New High
Four developments that prove the British capital’s prime market is roaring post lockdown.
4 min
THE BROADWAY, WESTMINSTER
Views of Big Ben, Art Deco-revival design, vast, sun-drenched living spaces, boutiques and cafés minutes away from the front door — to say that there’s much that appeals about this six-tower development that epitomises is a tepid understatement.
Set on the former site of the Metropolitan Police headquarters, the development exudes the best in urban living. Executed with aplomb by developer Northacre and the project’s architects Squire and Partners, it comprises 258 luxury apartments (including 16 spectacular penthouse apartments) characterised by oak and marble fittings and floor-to-ceiling, diamond-shaped windows inspired by 1920s jewellery.
The residents-only lifestyle services and amenities are fit to elevated expectations — state-of-the-art games, screening and meeting rooms; beautifully tended podium gardens above the bustle of Westminster; a dedicated 24-hour concierge service which will service residents’ needs from housekeeping, laundry and flowers, to travel, tickets and recommendations.
A fully-equipped gym, personal training rooms and yoga/stretch rooms, steam room and 25-metre pool also inform the property.
From £1.75m; thebroadwaylondon.com
GARDEN VILLAS AT REGENT’S CRESCENT, MARYLEBONE
The ultimate lock-up-and-leave London bolthole for overseas buyers, as well as an ideal dwelling for professional city-folk, these nine Garden Villas mere moments from Regent’s Park blend Mews-style living with luxury amenities (think 24-hour concierge, underground valet parking and a private 12-seat cinema).
As well as space – 1,864sq ft for two bedroom efforts – owners have more than 9,000 sq ft of private residents’ amenities at their disposal, including a spa, 20-metre swimming pool, treatment room, gym, business suite and Pilates studio.
Inspired by the Regent’s Crescent’s architectural design, interiors are blessed with a combination of warm timbers, dark stone and rich metal accents, all bathed in plenty of light.
“A refreshing characteristic of the Garden Villas is the amount of natural light that flows through each property, with carefully angled roof lights and floor lights shooting daylight right through to the basement area, flooding the spaces with light,” states the mastermind behind the homes’ architectural design, Ian Law, a partner at PDP London. “London has previously been known for its quaint traditional mews houses, but these Garden Villas offer a refined take on a classic way of living in the capital, they satisfy the desire to live in an individual home by retaining proximity to private garden space and your own front door, creating a sense of freedom in a Prime Central London location.”
From £5,150,000; regentscrescent.com
80 HOLLAND PARK, KENSINGTON
Londoners are well-attuned to the joys of visiting the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea’s largest park – not least the orangery, the giant chess set, the war-ravaged ruins, the cricket pitch, the tennis courts, the Kyoto Garden, the Fukushima Memorial Garden, the squirrels and peacocks that call it home… look, we could be here a while such is the bountiful allure of this central space.
And now a lucky few can live on the cusp of Holland Park — in one of four 3,007 sq ft penthouses, the interiors of which are the work of Albion Nord. The design-studio-of-the-moment has blended light, fresh tones with richer earthy greens, burnt oranges and blues to reflect the hues of the park just to the residences’ south. The studio has also hand-picked statement artworks, sculptural items from artisan suppliers mixed with vintage pieces to echo the incredible tree-lined, ‘boulevard’ views of the famed suburb.
Located on the fourth floor, the development’s prime expression, The Penthouse, is filled with natural light and has sweeping views of West London. The property features three spacious bedrooms, two terraces and views onto the stunning neighbourhood and park. Bathed in light thanks to floor-to-ceiling glazing, the Penthouse offers high ceilings and underfloor heating throughout, and is fitted with rich joinery, Bulthaup kitchens and marble bathrooms.
All residents of 80 Holland Park – the latest residential scheme by visionary developer Christian Candy – have access to the development’s private communal garden, providing easy access to Holland Park, as well as a full-service offering that includes 24-hour concierge, secure parking, private cinema room with 98-inch screen, lounge and business suite with fibre-optic broadband for residents working from home.
There is also a boot and dog-wash room, a 17-metre pool and steam room, and a performance-driven gym fitted with state-of-the-art training equipment and best-in-class technology curated by Olympic triathlete Tim Weeks.
From £15,350,000; knightfrank.co.uk
NO. 1 PALACE STREET, ST JAMES’
Having The Queen as a neighbour is just one boastful aspect of this luxury development — one that stares down Central Park Tower, the Avenue Des Champs-Élysées and Dubai’s Burj Khalifa when it comes to ‘Most Prestigious Global Address’ status.
It’s again Northacre – the luxury developer behind acclaimed London projects such as The Lancasters, The Phillimores, Kings Chelsea and The Bromptons, as well as The Broadway – steering things at No.1, which, as the road name suggests, offers unique views across Buckingham Palace Gardens.
“The development is unique in the sense that it incorporates five architectural styles – Italian Renaissance, Beaux-Arts, French Renaissance, Queen Anne, and 21st-century Contemporary within an island site — which is very rare in developments across London,” explains Northacre CEO Niccolò Barattieri di San Pietro.
Indeed, the project’s interiors team scoured the planet in search of exceptional accoutrements and precious materials to reflect this eclectic quintet of styles —
Italian marble and brushed copper among the results of such curation efforts.
Residents who take up one of 72 dwellings found behind the five distinct facades – which range from one-five bedrooms, and from 679sq ft-5,343sq ft, and have ceiling heights ranging from 2.65m to 5m in the principal rooms – will find elegant fitted oak parquet flooring across living spaces and all bedrooms, with kitchens by Obumex inclusive of Calacatta Oro marble tops and splash backs alongside fully integrated appliances by Gaggenau and Miele.
Eco-friendly touches include LED lighting and adjustable controls, independent MEP control and a state-of-the-art rooftop rainwater harvesting system.
From £2.35m; numberonepalacestreet.com
This stylish family home combines a classic palette and finishes with a flexible floorplan
Just 55 minutes from Sydney, make this your creative getaway located in the majestic Hawkesbury region.
This may be contributing to continually rising weekly rents
2 min
There has been a substantial increase in the number of Australians earning high incomes who are renting their homes instead of owning them, and this may be another element contributing to higher market demand and continually rising rents, according to new research.
The portion of households with an annual income of $140,000 per year (in 2021 dollars), went from 8 percent of the private rental market in 1996 to 24 percent in 2021, according to research by the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute (AHURI). The AHURI study highlights that longer-term declines in the rate of home ownership in Australia are likely the cause of this trend.
The biggest challenge this creates is the flow-on effect on lower-income households because they may face stronger competition for a limited supply of rental stock, and they also have less capacity to cope with rising rents that look likely to keep going up due to the entrenched undersupply.
The 2024 ANZ CoreLogic Housing Affordability Report notes that weekly rents have been rising strongly since the pandemic and are currently re-accelerating. “Nationally, annual rent growth has lifted from a recent low of 8.1 percent year-on-year in October 2023, to 8.6 percent year-on-year in March 2024,” according to the report. “The re-acceleration was particularly evident in house rents, where annual growth bottomed out at 6.8 percent in the year to September, and rose to 8.4 percent in the year to March 2024.”
Rents are also rising in markets that have experienced recent declines. “In Hobart, rent values saw a downturn of -6 percent between March and October 2023. Since bottoming out in October, rents have now moved 5 percent higher to the end of March, and are just 1 percent off the record highs in March 2023. The Canberra rental market was the only other capital city to see a decline in rents in recent years, where rent values fell -3.8 percent between June 2022 and September 2023. Since then, Canberra rents have risen 3.5 percent, and are 1 percent from the record high.”
The Productivity Commission’s review of the National Housing and Homelessness Agreement points out that high-income earners also have more capacity to relocate to cheaper markets when rents rise, which creates more competition for lower-income households competing for homes in those same areas.
ANZ CoreLogic notes that rents in lower-cost markets have risen the most in recent years, so much so that the portion of earnings that lower-income households have to dedicate to rent has reached a record high 54.3 percent. For middle-income households, it’s 32.2 percent and for high-income households, it’s just 22.9 percent. ‘Housing stress’ has long been defined as requiring more than 30 percent of income to put a roof over your head.
While some high-income households may aspire to own their own homes, rising property values have made that a difficult and long process given the years it takes to save a deposit. ANZ CoreLogic data shows it now takes a median 10.1 years in the capital cities and 9.9 years in regional areas to save a 20 percent deposit to buy a property.
It also takes 48.3 percent of income in the cities and 47.1 percent in the regions to cover mortgage repayments at today’s home loan interest rates, which is far greater than the portion of income required to service rents at a median 30.4 percent in cities and 33.3 percent in the regions.
This stylish family home combines a classic palette and finishes with a flexible floorplan
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