We read the newspapers to find the latest news, views and gossip about flats…
It's a rich man’s world… flat prices reach unprecedented levels. Where will it end?
The Times
A recent piece in The Times reports on a new record price being reached when luxury apartments in Knightsbridge, developed by Candy & Candy, sold off-plan for a record £4,200 per square foot, turning the developments penthouses into Britain’s most expensive residential property.
The apartments have the exclusive address of One Hyde Park and the four huge penthouses at the top of the new scheme are valued at up to £84 million.
The Times explains this is a result of a “wall of money” that has been pouring into both London’s commercial and residential property markets during the past year.
thelondonpaper
More expensive flats were unveiled in this evening paper with news that Minerva, the developers, have submitted plans to transform the Thistle Hotel in Lancaster Gate over-looking Hyde Park into 80 super-flats.
According to the paper city bankers have made approaches to buy some of the smaller flats for between £3 million and £4 million.
The largest penthouse apartments will cover 8,000 square feet and the £26 million price tag for the flats is the highest ever per square foot in the Bayswater area.
Truth is stranger than fiction…
The Sun
The Sun reported recently that Eastenders friends Naomi, Garry and Minty plan to buy a flat and share the mortgage. The paper exclaims: trust the soaps to mirror a new trend!
It goes on to explain that friends are grouping together to buy property as this makes it financially more viable for struggling first time buyers.
Melanie Bien, of Savills Private Finance, was quoted in The Sun as saying: “the only way many first-time buyers can get on the property ladder is to pool their resources with mates for the mortgage and deposit.”
The Sun warns that it is important to set out beforehand what will happen to their share of the flat if one person wants to move out.
And the tallest building in the world is…
If all goes according to plan, Burj Dubai under construction in Dubai will soon become the tallest building in the world at just over 2,000 feet (or around 165 floors), beating the current titleholder, Toronto’s CN Tower (tallest building and freestanding structure) and Taipei 101 in Taiwan (tallest office building).
Burj Dubai will be the centerpiece of a mixed-use development that will include 30,000 homes, nine hotels, at least 19 residential towers, the Dubai Mall and the 12-hectare Burj Dubai Lake.
And finally… how to recycle your house!
Dorothy Sewart, 66, saved money when she sold her large family house to her daughter and bought a retirement apartment.
Mrs Sewart had been thinking about downsizing from her four-bedroom detached house to a more manageable property. So when her daughter Kathryn suggested a nearby McCarthy & Stone apartment she was happy to go ahead. She sold the family home to Kathryn and her husband to give them more space.
Dorothy’s method of selling her house had financial advantages, because although she still had to pay for a valuation, stamp duty and solicitor’s fees, she avoided estate agent fees.
Kathryn said: “We like to know that Mum has people around her. At Rowan Court there is a sense of community and someone to help if she needs it.”
Rowan Court is designed to offer security and independence. Each apartment is a self-contained and private home but residents can also use a central lounge with kitchen for social events as well as a laundry room and a landscaped garden. There is even a guest suite for friends and family to stay overnight.
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