£150,000 for the land beneath a block of flats
IT IS, essentially, no more than a compacted mass of mud, rocks and debris from down the ages.
But in a sign of just how febrile the London property market has become, a prospective developer has paid £150,000 for the ground beneath a block of flats in Bloomsbury.
There is speculation that with the demand for space and housing in the capital showing no signs of easing, a trend of buying land to build under properties could lead to residents truly “sitting on a gold mine”.
The 1,975sq ft plot beneath the 1930s Queens Court apartment block was bought by an unnamed woman for £30,000 more than the reserve. The offer of a solid, “unexcavated basement space” came up at auction with the freeholder’s con- sent to develop. Apartments in the block, close to Great Ormond Street Hospital, cost around £650,000; Bloomsbury homes cost on average £768,669, up 15.8per cent over the last year.
It is not clear how the new owner might obtain access to build and ultimately use any structure and there is as yet no planning permission.
But a new basement-only home might be attractive in a city where owners in wealthy districts such as Westminster and Kensington have built controversial “iceberg” basements.
Last month Peter Simon, owner of the Monsoon and Accessorize chains, became the latest to fall out with neighbours over plans for a huge extension. He won permission to knock five houses into one to build a palatial family home in Chelsea. He plans an underground swim- ming pool, gym, wine cellar and two flats, costing more than £1 million to build.
Chris Coleman Smith, head of Savills auctions, who sold the Bloomsbury plot, said: “With a shortage of space in London it makes sense. This unexcavated basement sparked the imagination of bidders, attracted to its scope for potential development and location.”
Mr Coleman Smith thought it was the first time land under a property had been sold in this way. He said: “This type of purchase might become more popular. It could be dug out into a residential property or offices. There are all sort of uses it could be put to, though admittedly it would be lacking in much natural light.
“Even if the buyer chooses to do nothing with the land, there is still good potential for further capital growth.”
Other property experts pointed out one crucial difference between mega-basements and the ground under the Bloomsbury apartments.
With no access to the flats above, any building below would lack all but the bare minimum of natural light – making it more of a burrow than a family home.
Henry Pryor, a property consultant, said the deal was “symbolic of the current madness of the London property market”. He added: “It would be very difficult to get any decent amount of natural daylight. The owner would have no access to the property above. What you’ve got in reality is a potential warren below ground.
“I suppose if they can’t get residential development permission they could turn it into an underground car park or a safety deposit box.”
London councils have begun to clamp down on mega-basements, after complaints about construction disturbance. Kensington and Chelsea said some of its policies had changed since Mr Simon’s plan was approved.
As a general rule the landowner – or freeholder of a property – owns the ground below the surface and can dig to form an underground room. Certain minerals, however, belong to the state. Gold and silver belong to the Crown, which is also entitled to oil, petroleum, coal, and natural gas deposits.