Still prime time for luxury homes
ouse prices down across London” is the headline, yet prime properties in London are selling well. How can that be? The answer is in the word “prime”. In London, average property prices fell in value for the second consecutive month, by one per cent in August, bringing average annual growth to 2.6 per cent. As this is lower than the rate of inflation, it means prices declined in real terms. Yet the continued sales success of some new developments shows the underlying strength of the market in good locations.
Oakwell Grange, on Well Grove in Whetstone, north London is now 90 per cent sold. The development offers three-, four- and five-bedroom homes close to the high street, with its shops, restaurants, bars and cafés. Prices here start from £999,500.
One of the stickiest markets in recent years is super-prime locations such as The Bishops Avenue. Developer Harrison Varma is launching the second phase of the Buxmead apartments in this premier north London road. According to Harrison Varma’s figures, sales on The Bishops Avenue Holiday lifestyle: Phase two of Buxmead is now available through Savills, Aston Chase and Glentree Estates
have topped £250 million in the past 12 months, which means a revival for Billionaires’ Row.
In 2.5 acres of gated, landscaped grounds, Buxmead has 20 apartments with 16,000 sq ft of amenity space for residents’ use. Agents are Savills, Aston Chase and Glentree Estates.
Buxmead offers what Harrison Varma calls a “lifestyle” service, as if the residents were staying in a hotel — they
can enjoy a “white-glove”concierge, taking care of everything from laundry and post to booking restaurants, from catering and managing events to changing light bulbs.
For work, the on-site business centre has private offices, a lounge, a boardroom for larger meetings and secretarial services.
Leisure facilities at Buxmead include a 25m indoor swimming pool, spa with
Jacuzzi, steam, sauna, Technogym, beauty salon, residents’ lounge and bar with piano and 18-seat cinema room. There is a reception space for events up to 100 guests.
The landscaped gardens feature mature woodland and a water feature crafted by David Harber. The flats have floor-to-ceiling Schucco sliding windows and Juliet balconies.
Residents have private garages and EDITED BY CHARLIE JACOBY there are also plenty of spaces for visitors’ parking, as well as storage rooms. Duplexes feature their own express lift, taking residents from the garage to their apartments. The car lifts are large enough for a Hummer.
Trevor Abrahamsohn of Glentree Estates says: “The Bishops Avenue remains in demand and is one of the most exclusive addresses in London, despite market conditions. It has achieved £250 million in sales in the past 12 months (from September to September), £54 million of this being at Buxmead and three sales of houses at around £30 million.
“Sales have been a mixture of houses and apartments, mostly to international buyers from Asia, Russia, America, Iran and Azerbaijan, buying for a primary home. The lower pound is driving sales and people are aware that this is the best time to buy, as prices are up to 20 per cent lower than in 2014.”
Mark Pollack at Aston Chase says: “This is a perfect example of how exclusiveness and quality can prevail in a slower market. This pioneering development has been responsible for a fifth of the total sales at The Bishops Avenue in the last year and made it once again a notable global address.
A second-floor, three-bedroom apartment at Buxmead would cost £8.5 million.