Central London’s residential market has long been the focus of international interest. Headlines have highlighted the significant numbers of Russian, Middle Eastern and Chinese buyers, but a new influx of buyers and investors from Africa is now demanding attention.

Harrods Estates’ prime central London office in Mayfair has reported a 400 per cent increase in sales to African buyers in the year to March 2015, compared with the previous 12 months.

“The majority are looking to spend between £2.5m and £6.5m on a two-or –three bedroom apartment, where they can stay when visiting London on business or for pleasure.” says Shirley Humphrey, director at the agency.

“Absolutely numbers are still relatively small but the growth has been quite spectacular and is continuing, exceeding the growth from any other region in the world. African buyers are mostly working in the oil sector. We recently sold two apartments to two men visiting oil firms in Aberdeen. They enjoyed their stopover in London and decided to buy an apartment each,” she says.

The growth in interest from African buyers is also being seen in the higher reaches of London’s residential market. Diles Hannah, senior vice president in London for Christie’s Real Estate, says he has seen a 12 per cent rise in Africans buying in the £10m-plus category over the past year, mostly in Mayfair, Lancaster Gate, Knightsbridge and the City. The buyers are mainly from Ghana, Nigeria and South Africa and are high net worth business owners in oil, finance, minerals and textiles,” he says.

Beauchamp Estates says that, in the three years to late 2014, African buyers spent more than £600m on property it sold in central London. The majority of these buyers spend £15m to £25m each on a home and are from Nigeria, Ghana, Congo, Gabon, Cameroon and Senegal.

“Nigerians in particular, have been longstanding purchasers, in the 1980s and 1990s, typically in North London- Hampstead, St John’s Wood and Primrose Hill. Now enhanced wealth has enabled them to move into Mayfair, Belgravia and Knightsbridge, joined by purchasers from other West African states,” says Gary Hersham. He adds that Africans are also beginning to have an impact on the prime lettings sector.

“They tend to rent a luxury apartment in Mayfair, Belgravia or Knightsbridge for £2,500 to £5,000 per week or on a short let for £10,000 to £15,000 per week [and] stay in London for anything from six weeks up to three months, “says Hersham of his clients.

The reasons for African interest include the stability of the UK’s economy and political institutions. A 2013 report from property consultancy Savills contrasted London’s residential sector with African markets, which “can be volatile with political unrest of a sometimes extreme nature” and can also suffer from “corruption, lack of regulation and a lack of transparency.

In addition, some African nations have longstanding Commonwealth connections with the UK, while a large number of opinion- formers have personal links. “Many wealthy Nigerians were UK-educated and send children to school here, for example,” says Camilla Dell, of Black Brick, a London buying agency, which- since 2007- has seen 44 per cent of its clients come from Africa.

Of those from Nigeria- by far the largest group- 58 per cent have bought homes to live in and 42 per cent bought property as investments. Dell’s clients have shown a preference for recently modernised properties or new builds similar in design to those in Africa’s more exclusive compound developments. They also demand privacy, with facilities such as a 24hour concierge and extensive security.

Private estates, with large, modern houses and easy access to both central London and Heathrow and Gatwick airports have proven especially popular. “St George’s Hill in Surrey is a hotspot for this type of purchase,” says Alex Newall, of Hanover Private Office, an estate agent catering for buyers at the high-end of the market.

However, there are signs that this enthusiasm for British property has taken a knock in recent months as certain domestic issues have had the effect of reducing some Africans’ purchasing power. Nigeria’s economy, in particular has been hit by a fall in international oil prices from $100 barrel to about $60. In addition, some African countries, notably Ghana and Nigeria, have seen their currency weaken against sterling, making London purchases dearer.

Roarie Scarisbrick, of Property Vision, a buying agency that makes regular trips to Africa to meet clients interested in London’s real estate, admits “it’s gone pretty quiet” recently because of these oil and currency issues. “But the Africans will be back,” he says.

Harrods’ Shirley Humphrey is similarly optimistic. “There’s a lull in the market now, because, like every other nationality, African buyers are waiting to see what happens,” she says. “They are a growing force and when the market returns, so will they.”

Estate agents began to exchange on property worth millions of pounds as uncertainty over the election lifted.

Buyers who had held off purchasing homes because of Labour a Liberal Democrat proposals for a mansion tax began calling agents early yesterday to confirm their commitment.

Many international buyers had also been preparing to pull out and leave the country as a result of Ed Milliband’s pledge to end “non-dom” status.

Some had agreed to pay more for their property in the event of a Tory victory and have now abandoned discounts discussed previously because of potential mansion tax bills.

“The black clouds have lifted. I have £50 million worth of business poised to go through in the next couple of days,” said Trevor Abrahamson, head of Glentree International, a high-end London agent. Seven of the non-doms the agency was dealing with had been preparing to leave, Mr Abrahamson said. “They were packing their bags but now they will stay.”

Other agents had similar reports. “One of our agents received a text from a buyer at 7am this morning saying that he wanted to proceed with an offer on a £5 million house,” a spokesman for Hamptons International said.

Contracts for several properties just below or just above the £2million threshold were exchanged by agencies including Black Brick and WA Ellis.

“We’re hoping several exchanges we have been waiting on will go through today,” says Andrew Langton of Aysleford International

Whitehall’s postwar office blocks are being converted into housing, as the area benefits from the redevelopment of Victoria.

Over the past four decades, everyone from rock stars to rioters has faced justice at the dock of Westminster Magistrates Court. In 2009, Amy Winehouse appeared trailing paparazzi to deny assaulting a woman at a charity ball. A year later it was the turn of WikiLeaks co-founder Julian Assange, who was there to fight extradition proceedings.

Today the court is no more. The nondescript building, closed as part of a Ministry of Justice rationalisation programme, has been demolished and replaced by 129 flats by Barratt London. The first residents are due to move into The Courthouse this summer; prices range from £665,000 to £6.5m. The scheme is just one of a number of high-end developments changing perceptions of Westminster.

Not long ago this wedge-shaped slice of riverside real estate, bounded by Victoria Street and Vauxhall Bridge Road, was seen as the home of Parliament, not even a residential option. Now it is being tipped as one of the rising stars of central London’s property market.

Westminster is benefiting from the £2bn redevelopment of neighbouring Victoria and a ripple effect from prime central London. Developers are converting moribund office buildings – often formerly owned or occupied by government departments – into lateral homes in the shadow, etaphorically at least, of Big Ben. Prices are rising accordingly.

Research by Savills shows average house prices in Westminster stand at £933,207, up 27 per cent since 2008. According to Richard Osborne-Young of Jones Lang LaSalle, the value of new-build homes is even higher. He estimates that two or three years ago flats typically sold at about £1,000 per sq ft and, though there is still “plenty of second-hand property” available at around this price, new developments are pushing towards £1,500 to £2,000 per sq ft. “Westminster is catching up with prime central London,” he says.

Buying agent Camilla Dell, of Black Brick, feels that Westminster is gaining traction with “savvy” buyers. “The interest is from, perhaps, a more sophisticated buyer who is not transfixed by living in Mayfair or Knightsbridge,” she says.

As well as value for money, Westminster also has better public transport links and a more central location than many top areas. These good links are fortunate because Westminster “is not as pretty as Belgravia and Chelsea”, according to Osborne-Young. And it lacks both an established high street and a good range of cafés and restaurants.

The most famous restaurant in the area is the Cinnamon Club. Thanks to its proximity to parliament, bills from this Indian restaurant featured regularly in the MPs’ expenses scandal. Victoria Street, with its chain stores but lack of independent retailers, is the closest shopping street.

Westminster is also home to the Palace of Westminster, Westminster Abbey and Westminster Cathedral, which means that tourists are thick on the ground. Traffic is heavy, too.

Building sites are scarce in prime central London and so developers are looking to adjacent areas. Westminster, with its rich trove of grim postwar office buildings, is ripe for redevelopment, especially since the Government Property Unit was set up in 2010 to rationalise the government’s property holdings amid concerns about waste and inefficiency in the management of its estate.

Taylor Wimpey, for example, is in the process of replacing a 1960s structure, once occupied by the Department for Communities and Local Government, with a development of 24 flats named 73 Great Peter Street. The scheme, due to complete next spring, is on the market with Jones Lang LaSalle, priced from £999,999 for a 625 sq ft, one-bedroom flat to £4.15m for a 2,000 sq ft penthouse.

Last year Taylor Wimpey also acquired an office site on Chadwick Street and this year bought Ashley House on Monk Street. Both are earmarked for housing. Lisa Ronson, of Ronson Capital Partners, is another Westminster convert. She has recently overseen the opening of the show suite at Riverwalk, where 116 homes have been built on the site of a block which once housed the Government Office for London. About half have been sold since last spring. Two-bedroom flats are available at £1.8m and four-bedroom properties at £12m. Buyers have been willing to pay up to £2,800 per sq ft to live at Riverwalk and, while the specification is high, Ronson says the development’s unique selling point is its Thames views.

“Previously, Westminster was something of a hidden gem,” says Susannah Odgers of Hathaways estate agents. “However, as Victoria has moved into the residential spotlight, so has Westminster.”

Yet houses are scarce. A five-storey period townhouse on Wilfred Street, built in 1920 and recently renovated, is priced at £2.5m. Meanwhile, Abell & Cleland, a 275-unit development by Berkeley Homes, is due for completion in 2016. Homes have views over the Thames and the South Bank. Prices start from £1.81m for a two-bedroom flat (1,094 sq ft), ranging up to £7.95m for a four-bedroom penthouse.

Local agents say the value of property in much of the area has risen up to 20 per cent over the past year by Graham Norwood

The hypothetical “man on the Clapham omnibus” is still cited as the rational English Everyman, typical in terms of attitude and income. Yet should he want to buy a house in Clapham today he will, atypically, have to be among the wealthiest in Britain.

Estate agents say the value of property in much of this southwest London district has risen up to 20 per cent in the past year. As a result, large family houses can be priced at more than £4m and apartments up to £1m, while prime property rents approach £1,000 per week. Demand for property is up to 35 per cent higher than a year ago, according to local agents. Walk through Clapham’s leafy streets and it is easy to understand why.

Many of the smaller houses are three-bedroom terraces with some semi-detached and detached Victorian and Edwardian villas of up to seven bedrooms. Most houses have gardens, some substantial, making this one of London’s most family-friendly areas, especially as most homes are a stroll from the triangular 220-acre Clapham Common. And parts of Clapham have a village-like atmosphere thanks to the large number of street cafés and independent shops.

The area is well served by public transport, with an overground rail service and four underground stations, all with frequent trains. It takes 20 minutes to reach London’s West End and 30 minutes to the City. Car journeys towards north and central London are likely to take longer but Gatwick airport is only 26 miles (or 50 minutes’ drive) to the south.

David Kirkup, of local estate agency Aspire, says Clapham’s high-end housing market is mainly located in two areas. In the pretty and well-preserved Old Town to the north of the common “larger houses in Macaulay Road and The Chase range from £3m to £6m,” he says. Savills is marketing a 4,300 sq ft Victorian terraced house with five bedrooms and a 97ft garden on The Chase for £3.75m. Nearby, rival agency Cluttons is selling an extensively refurbished five-bedroom house called The Old Printworks for £3.25m. The property comes with a small two-bedroom gatehouse in its grounds.

The second, less expensive, area is east of the common and is known as Abbeville Village. “Abbeville Road and Northcote Road are particularly popular because of their villagey feel and their proximity to schools,” says Kirkup. Aspire is selling a six-bedroom terraced house here with 2,500 sq ft of living space for £1.89m, while nearby a 1,200 sq ft, three-bedroom apartment is on sale with Kinleigh Folkard & Hayward for £795,000.

The area’s highest price growth has taken place in Abbeville Village. Although values fell 25 per cent from 2007 to 2012, demand has returned. Kirkup says small houses that sold for £1.2m in the winter of 2012 are now valued at £1.5m, with the most sought-after attracting multiple bids, “in some cases £100,000 over the asking price within 24 hours of marketing”.

In early 2013 there was significantly less competition for high-value houses because buyers were reluctant to pay higher stamp duty. “The £2m-plus market has been fairly static, although this has changed in the last few weeks. The previous two years have seen large increases in this price band so the rest of the market is catching up,” says Caspar Harvard-Walls of buying agency Black Brick.

Despite these premium prices – the highest in inner south London and well above some neighbouring areas such as Brixton, Balham and Streatham – Clapham is seen as low-cost by some buyers. Rampton Baseley, another local estate agency, says 45 per cent of its buyers are from prime central London, particularly Kensington and Chelsea. By contrast, just two years ago 80 per cent of purchasers already lived in Clapham.

“Buyers are a mix of those priced-out of central London wanting to get better pounds-per-sq-ft, first-time buyers who’ve been renting in the area, and down-sizers captured by Clapham’s immense staying power,” says Andrew Snell of Hamptons International. He says the area’s strength is its self-sufficiency, thanks to the availability of quality restaurants, art-house cinemas, music venues and high-end supermarkets.

The housing market is being bolstered by increasing numbers of international buyers. “The French community in particular is attracted to a new Lycée [a bilingual primary school, known locally as Wix’s]. Clapham has far more affordable housing than South Kensington where the other Lycée is located,” says Harvard-Walls

“There’s also been a lot of new-build in and around Clapham, attracting foreign buyers who feel they’re getting more value than in prime central London,” says another Black Brick representative, Camilla Dell. Saudi and Chinese investors, for example, have bought several units in the 136-apartment Library Building project.

Many such buyers are drawn by Clapham’s significant private rented sector, especially homes close to Clapham North Tube station. Although rents have changed little over the past year, “two-bedroom apartments are let to professionals for up to £550 per week, three beds up to £700 and house rentals are £900 upwards,” says Aspire’s Kirkup.

Clapham has come a long way from the bland anonymity of the early 20th century when the man on the omnibus phrase was first used. Buses still run there, of course, but these days Clapham residents are just as likely to travel in their 4x4s.

The residential lustre of London’s grandest quarter is once again gleaming, says Lisa Freedman, sparked by a £500m investment from the Crown Estate and myriad redevelopments that are stealing Mayfair’s limelight

When Prince William was invited to join the Turf Club, the renowned gentlemen’s club in London’s St James’s, its members were not exactly delighted. The second in line to the throne was, of course, a welcome addition to its hushed salons, but the club, like the area in which it sits, prizes itself on discretion. The potential for paparazzi at its gates was not considered desirable.

“St James’s is still a bit of a secret,” says entrepreneur Peter de Savary, whose wife Lana is one of a rarefied list of “developer-designers” currently paying close attention to its elegant streets. “It feels very English, and is one of the few areas left in London where you can still find some very special properties.”

St James’s is, in fact, the capital’s grandest quarter. Here, for more than three centuries, those with a country estate or a seat in Parliament, have found a home away from home in London’s “clubland”. At the Turf (with more than its fair share of dukes), or White’s (with its powerful supply of Tories), at The Athenaeum (where Trollope wrote his Barchester novels), or the Reform (where Burgess plotted with Maclean), governments were formed and fell, idle hours were pleasantly passed and the wastrel sons of Britain’s noblest houses gambled away the family fortunes.

Framed by Pall Mall, Piccadilly, Green Park and Haymarket, the area is also home to Fortnum’s and The Ritz, to royal warrant outfitters such as Turnbull & Asser, John Lobb and Lock & Co, and to a distinguished array of vintners, barbers, cigar shops and galleries – all of which provide the daily necessities for the English gentleman. As far as residential property is concerned, until recently, St James’s has remained something of a backwater, offering little in the type of deluxe development that has defined the market in Knightsbridge, Belgravia and Mayfair. Now, there has been a decisive shift in mood.

“St James’s came onto the radar about 18 months ago, when developers began to realise it was seriously undervalued,” says property-search agent Camilla Dell, managing partner and founder of Black Brick. “Today, the word is definitely getting out.”

Although the borough of Kensington and Chelsea is graced by royal patronage, St James’s can lay far greater claim to a regal association. The brainchild of one of Charles II’s Lord Chamberlains, Henry Jermyn, 1st Earl of St Albans, it began in the mid-17th century as a scheme for three or four large mansions along the lines of Paris’s hôtels particuliers. But the devastating effects of the Great Fire of London led to a rush on land west of the City, and St Albans upped the number of plots to 22, selling off some to his fellow noblemen, among them Lord Arlington and Lord Halifax, and others to developers. In so doing, he became “the Father of the West End”.

St James’s link with royalty remains strong. Not only is it within a 10-minute stroll of Buckingham Palace, but a key landlord here is the Crown Estate, whose revenue is paid back into the Treasury each year for the benefit of the public finances. The Crown’s decision to embark on a £500m investment programme to develop its £2.2bn holding of residential and commercial property, and improve public areas within St James’s, may have been the catalyst for much of the renewed interest.

“As a major landholder in St James’s, the Crown Estate is able to take a long-term approach,” says James Cooksey, who heads up the portfolio. “Our aim is not to change St James’s, but to refine it.”

The Crown is currently involved in seven major mixed-use developments, which will ultimately add a further 62,000sq ft of living space. Of these, the first to be completed, St James’s Gateway, fronting Piccadilly and Jermyn Street, was completed earlier this year. Designed by award-winning architect Eric Parry, the residential component, at One Eagle Place, sold promptly, with only two apartments remaining for sale, one of which is a two-bedroom, fourth-floor flat – still on the market with Strutt & Parker and WA Ellis, at £4.15m.

Elsewhere in St James’s, 3 Carlton Gardens – bought last month for £65.5m by Michael Spink (developer of Britain’s most expensive house), working with the private equity group Evans Randall – is undoubtedly the most impressive.

Carlton Gardens terminates the western end of Carlton House Terrace, the stucco-fronted palatial stretch fronting the Mall designed by Regency maestro John Nash, whose other works include Regent’s Park and the remodelling of Buckingham House into the palace. The terrace has been home to three prime ministers (Grey, Palmerston and Gladstone) and a host of other political celebrities: No 3 was the wartime residence of Charles de Gaulle.

In the mid-20th century, there was talk of pulling the terrace down, as it was thought there was little demand for London houses of this imposing scale. Now, of course, the appetite for magnificence has returned and, no doubt, the refurbished No 3 – which, as well as having commanding views over St James’s Park, will have a series of nobly proportioned reception rooms, six bedroom suites, a spa, underground parking facilities and a private garden – should have very little difficulty finding an appropriate purchaser.

“This won’t just be an elegant town house,” says Mark Dorman, head of London residential development at Strutt & Parker. “It’s grand on an epic scale.”

A significant proportion of the current wave of development has been made possible by the transfer of former office space to home use, and the Walpole – five individually designed apartments created from a Georgian town house in Arlington Street – have benefited from this new freedom. Once the home of Britain’s first prime minister, Robert Walpole, the building, which faces onto The Ritz, set a new high for price per square foot in both Mayfair and St James’s, according to Joe Burns, MD of Oliver Burns, the architectural, interior design and development practice responsible for the building. “Mayfair has been more in the limelight in the past few years,” he adds, “but St James’s offers our investors greater opportunity for growth.”

For international buyers at the top end of the market, the Walpole clearly fulfilled an unmet demand. “If a very wealthy buyer turns up in London at a moment’s notice and wants to see a super-prime development, there’s often little to show them,” says Simon Barry, head of new development at Harrods Estates, which is currently letting an apartment in the Walpole for £6,500 a week. “Last year, the Walpole was the only development in Mayfair and St James’s that met their criteria.”

What the Walpole proves beyond doubt is the demand among both British and international buyers for large, lateral spaces luxuriously converted to the highest standards. St James’s House, at 88 St James’s Street, will be a further addition to the ranks of offices converted to residential space. The former offices of the Alliance Assurance Company, it was bought last year by the Carlyle Group and will soon provide apartments – ranging from 1,000 to 10,000sq ft – behind its classical façade. These will be accompanied by the crucial draws of on-site parking, a purpose-built spa and concierge services. Prices, on its completion in 2015, will start from £20m through Strutt & Parker and Christie’s International Real Estate.

“For international buyers, the royal connection and the level of security are obvious attractions,” says Mark Dorman, who is selling the apartments jointly with Christie’s IRE. “This will be one of the closest private residential developments in London to Buckingham Palace and will have the Household Cavalry, Life Guards and Blues and Royals marching past the doorstep. What could be more reassuring than that?”

You can generally tell a neighbourhood is on its way to the pinnacle by the presence of the Candy brothers, who have set a world standard with their work at One Hyde Park. In St James’s, they have taken rooms over the fashionable Wolseley restaurant and transformed them into the sort of sophisticated, indulgent living space appreciated by their extremely wealthy clientele.

“St James’s is the younger and more discreet cousin of Mayfair,” says Nick Candy, CEO of Candy & Candy, “and it’s experiencing a resurgence as one of the most exclusive residential areas in central London.” The five‑bedroom duplex Penthouse, which has a main reception room with a total area of 1,237sq ft and panoramic views of the Houses of Parliament and the London Eye, is on the market, through Knight Frank, at £42m. On Arlington Street, it has its own accommodation for staff, but one of the important factors for international buyers, many of whom are often only temporarily in residence, is having help conveniently to hand. Buyers at Lana de Savary’s development, 46 St James’s Place (for sale through Savills and Knight Frank from £3.5m), are being offered an inclusive concierge service for the first year with Quintessentially, while residents of the Walpole can apply to join The Ritz Club, for use of its services.

Increasingly, however, those who come to London in short bursts aren’t here to lounge about at home, and the Crown, which in its 20-year, £1bn regeneration programme of Regent Street (begun in 2002) has built up a considerable reputation for importing big-name brands, is doing much the same in St James’s. One of its recent coups is the addition of Michelin-starred chef Angela Hartnett, whose new restaurant, Café Murano, opened at 33 St James’s Street in November, on the former site of Gordon Ramsay’s Pétrus, where she used to work. “It’s thrilling to open a restaurant where I trained at the beginning of my career,” she enthuses. Appropriately understated and classic, it will certainly be a cut above typical London club food.

“St James’s has been like Mayfair was 10 years ago,” says Mark Dorman. “You would come here at weekends and it would be dead. Now it’s becoming a really exciting place to be.” And, of course, to live.

The collapse of Lehman Brothers, five years ago this weekend, had an immediate impact on a UK property market already reeling from the failure of Northern Rock a year earlier.

By Tanya Powley

The longer-term impact has varied greatly by region, with many areas remaining stagnant, but with prime central London (PCL) recovering quickly. Even there, though, agents say that market dynamics have shifted, with many more foreign buyers and more cash transactions.

According to research from Dataloft and WA Ellis, the high-end London estate agent, sales transactions in England and Wales fell by 33 per cent in the 12 months following the collapse of the US investment bank, with gross lending plummeting by 48 per cent. Even central London didn’t escape, with average prices falling 17 per cent in nine months to £890 per sq foot.

The housing market was already in a fragile state in the lead-up to Lehman Brothers’ troubles, having been hit hard by the Northern Rock crisis in September 2007, and growing warnings of a US housing crash (house prices there peaked in late 2006).

Total housing transaction volumes dropped 22 per cent in September 2007 compared to the previous month, while mortgage lending fell by 20 per cent over the next 12 months, compared to the same period a year ago. Over the same period, prime central London housing saw sale activity drop by 43 per cent.

Camilla Dell of Black Brick, a buying agent, said: “When the financial crisis hit, market conditions changed almost overnight. It wasn’t just the collapse of Lehman but also other significant events at the same time, such as the Madoff scandal and collapse of AIG Insurance.” However, in the year from September 2008, sale activity started to pick up – by September 2009, PCL volumes were 5 per cent higher than the preceding year. In price terms, the bottom of the market was reached in early 2009. The global economic downturn and a falling pound saw anxious overseas investors snap up trophy homes in London at what for them were bargain prices. “With sterling weakened, prices fell and property vultures came to the forefront,” said Ms Dell.

As a result, average central London prices have risen almost 60 per cent since the bottom in March 2009 and are now 40 per cent above their previous peak. As much as £21bn has been spent on expensive central London properties since the collapse of Lehman. “While it appeared as though the market was going into free fall at the end of 2008, the impact of the weak pound against the euro and the dollar, coupled with a 17 per cent fall in PCL prices, helped to fuel the recovery,” said Richard Barber, partner and head of sales at WA Ellis.

Cash buyers also began to dominate the high end of the property market. In the second quarter of 2007, cash buyers in Kensington and Chelsea accounted for just 30 per cent of purchases. However, in the second quarter of this year the proportion was more than half.

Transaction volumes were hit last year after the government announced plans to increase stamp duty to 7 per cent for properties worth over £2m, and to 15 per cent for £2m-plus properties bought through a corporate structure. In the year following the increase, sales of properties between £2m and £3m fell by 19 per cent, while transactions between £1m and £2m rose by 6.4 per cent. The recurring threat of a “mansion tax” also played on buyers’ minds. Mr Barber said he has seen more evidence of wealth disbursement, with larger houses being sold to provide purchasing power for children and grandchildren as fears of mansion tax and capital gains tax on principal homes continue.

Demand is growing for high-end homes built or adapted to meet the religious needs of their owners. By Graham Norwood.

Properties designed to point ‘the right way’

Vastu Shastra is not an organised religion but is popular with Hindu’s in particular and can take on near-spiritual status. Vastu, like Chinese feng shui, is based on directional alignments. It requires, for example, master bedrooms to “point” southwest, entrances to point north or east, and insists that a property’s footprint be square or rectangular.

“Today’s business community considers Vastu an alternative energy. The environment is polluted by electro-stress due to Wi-Fi, mobiles, computers. This can be easily nullified by Vastu,” says Nitien Parmar, a Mumbai-based Vastu consultant who has advised Indian developers and buyers in London, the US, UAE, Sri Lanka and China.

Propertyfeast.com, an online estate agency in Mumbai, India, is selling a five-bedroom villa in North Goa for £1.55m. In its details it describes the property as “Vastu-compliant” – a description commonly found in real estate details in India these days. But Vastu’s stringent rules are hard to meet in other cultures.

“Its requirements make 99 per cent of London properties inappropriate,” says Camilla Dell of Black Brick, a buying agency that specialises in advising foreign clients purchasing in the UK. She has had six Vastu- believing Indian clients in the past year.

“One wanted an apartment in North London with a porter, parking & Vastu-compliance. It was impossible to find. In the end, he bought two adjoining flats, knocked through and gutted the inside bringing in a Vastu consultant to reconfigure the entire property,” says Dell.

London’s historic St James’s quarter is ripe for investment, reports Lucy Warwick-Ching

Few people can boast having a view of a royal palace from their bedroom window. But whoever buys the master suite of the Grade II listed development at 88 St James’s Street can claim just that.

Overlooking the gates to St James’s Palace, the master suite will offer its owners the chance to watch the “changing of the guard” and catch an occasional glimpse of Her Majesty.

The super prime apartments, developed by Caraeno and the Carlyle Group are due to come on to the market in 2015, will include on-site parking, a spa and five-star concierge services. It is one of the few high-end developments springing up in St James’s in response to growing interest from wealthy UK buyers and the international market.

At the heart of London’s clubland, St James’s has traditionally been defined by its four corners- Trafalgar Square, Piccadilly Circus, Green Park and Buckingham Palace. But this month it will take centre stage with celebrations for the 60^th anniversary of the Queen’s coronation.

“The coronation celebrations are attracting people to the area,” says Richard Dalton, director in Savills Sloane Street office. “St James’s heritage is linked with the Royal Family and the area is quintessentially English- with its parks and elegant buildings. This appeal’s to a lot of potential buyers from around the world.”

St James’s Palace has been a royal residence since its completion in the 1530s and it remains the sovereign’s official residence, although Buckingham Palace has served this purpose since Queen Victoria came to the throne. Many of the established shops around St James’s are distinctly British, from Fortnum & Mason to the cheesemonger Paxton and Whitfield and barber and perfumer Geo. F. Trumper.

Charles McDowell, a prime London property consultant who buys and sells properties valued at more than £5m says St James’s was traditionally seen as being on the fringes of prime central London, but agrees that it is now becoming a destination in its own right.

This is partly because prices are cheaper than surrounding areas. “In most cases, properties are under £2,000 per Sq Ft which is rather unreasonable in comparison to neighbouring areas of Belgravia and Mayfair” he says. McDowell adds that while traditional prime addresses are still sought after, streets on the periphery of St James’s like Victoria Street, are under-going huge changes that in time will change buyer perceptions, making it appear more attractive and an emerging hotspot for investment over the next few years.

“The Queen Anne-style of architecture is charming and is usually favoured by Middle Eastern buyers, in particular the Qataris who have bought up swaths of Queen Anne’s Gate. In terms of stock, buyers can take their pick of apartments or large houses” said McDowell.

Others also believe the area is ripe for investment. “In Line with the other station hubs of London, the ST James’s Park area was left behind by its surrounding neighbours in terms of residential pricing,” said Caspar Harvard- Walls, partner at Black Brick, buying agents.

“This is partly due to the commercial developments that left some of the remaining period stock marooned and lacking a real centre with the relevant infrastructure or residential village- type atmosphere. “Excellent communication links added to low prices will prove very attractive to some; however we feel that it will be an investor-driven market rather than owner-occupier one. Those buyers in search of a home will probably still head for Pimlico, where an established village feel and residential community already exists.”

Prices could start to rise with the Crown Estate- which owns almost all the freehold for Regent Street- which owns almost all the freehold for Regent Street and 50 per cent of the building in St James’s- set to spend £500m redeveloping this conservation area.

One of its redevelopments, St James’s gateway, includes 11 residential apartments at 15 Jermyn Street and five apartments at 20 Jermyn Street. As part of the redevelopment, a section of the original Portland façade has been retained, while the modern elements have been designed by Eric Parry Architects.

WA Ellis and Strutt & Parker are marketing the properties, and prices at 20 Jermyn Street start from the £1.6m for a one-bedroom apartment and from £3.95m for the two to three bedroom units.

“What’s interesting about St James’s is that you have a dominant landlord- The Crown Estate- and they are investing in the area,” says Justin Gaze, head of residential development at Knight Frank. “What we can see from the experience in other areas is that this kind of investment tends to benefit the area greatly.”

Other new developments in the area include The Penthouse, a refurbished apartment with porter, direct left access and roof terrace offering panoramic views over St James’s Park and the CENTRAL London skyline. It is being marketed by Savills at £32.5m.

Meanwhile, Knight Frank is offering a one-bedroom apartment on St James’s Street for £800,000 and Whitehall Court, a three-bedroom Victorian property for £6.75m.

Rachel Thompson, associate in The Buying Solution’s London team, says St James’s has traditionally been the domain of the archetypal Englishman mainly using flats as his London pied-a-terre during the week.

“In many way, it still has this feel, but each year there is an increased demand from the international buyer,” she says “What many wealthy individuals like about St James’s is not only the history, but that it is extremely discreet. The residential buildings tend to be down backwaters that many wouldn’t even know existed or have any reason to go in the first place.”

As high-end properties are increasingly sold off-market by vendors who guard their privacy…

… discreet professionals specialise in finding hidden gems – and keeping the peace

By Tanya Powley

It is a well rehearsed fact that, since the downturn, the rich are getting richer. According to a recent report by Merrill Lynch and Capgemini, the number of millionaires across the globe grew by 8.3 per cent to 10.9m in 2010. The total wealth of these individuals rose to $42,700bn, up from $40,700bn in 2007. Which makes high-end, prime-location property more attractive than ever as a secure investment.

However, buying prime property is fraught with problems from “silent listings” – property which is never advertised – to vendors reluctant to sell to anyone who appears wealthier than themselves.
Enter the high-end buying agent: property professionals who have the well-honed skills to secure a home despite the secrecy and jealousy.

“I often say a good alternative career for what we do would be a diplomat. We have to massage egos left, right and centre,” explains Jeremy Davidson, a property consultant who specialises in properties that cost £10m or more in the most exclusive neighbourhoods in London.

He notes that it can be common for vendors at the upper echelons of the housing market to become jealous if they think the person buying the house is richer than them. Tensions around these issues can scupper a sale.
“It wouldn’t happen if they were selling their business but, because it’s their home, people often lose their sense of rationale,” says Davidson.

This is where a buying agent’s negotiating skills come into play, in order to smooth the path of a sale and keep both parties happy. “It can sometimes be a game of male egos and it’s our job to make sure everything stays on an even keel,” he explains.

Increasingly the main appeal of buying agents is their ability to access silent listings. In other words, the best agents are those with inside knowledge, who know where to find properties that are never going to be seen in an estate agent’s window or on the pages of a glossy magazine.

The reasons behind such discretion are usually to do with confidentiality, privacy or security – as well as a belief held by many wealthy owners that it is vulgar to advertise their home.

Buying agents can be found in most of the world’s prime property markets. However, they are more familiar in some regions than in others. Sales of multimillion dollar homes in Australia, for instance, are nearly always silent listings, says Tracey Finnegan of Premium Property Finders, a Sydney-based buying agent who has worked with clients from all over the world.

“People who own multimillion dollar properties often don’t want to list their property on the market as they don’t want just anyone coming around their house or looking at their photos online,” says Finnegan.
“Also, some agents want to see the colour of the money and it is my job to convince the agent or vendor that they are serious buyers and have finance in place,” she says. This often involves the buying agent providing the seller with a net asset value statement from the prospective buyer in order to have a look around the house.

Michelle O’Brien, 40, is chief executive of her own mining company and used Finnegan to find a home in Point Piper, an exclusive suburb overlooking Sydney harbour. Her property was a silent listing and Finnegan negotiated the price down from $9m to $7.5m.
“We would never have found this property without Tracey as it was a silent listing,” says O’Brien. “Tracey does all the hard work and negotiation for us,” she says.

Private deals are becoming even more popular in London as well-known millionaires seek to avoid the spotlight of an open market transaction. The Buying Solution, one of the UK’s largest buying agencies, has purchased around £150m worth of property that was not publicly for sale since the start of the year – representing almost half of the firm’s purchases so far in 2011.

Camilla Dell, managing director of Black Brick Property Solutions, says many rich sellers do not wish the general public to know about a sale, especially if they are well-known, because it may attract window shoppers.

By selling off-market, a vendor can ensure that only known buyers, who have been vetted beforehand, are allowed access to the property.

This can sometimes involve not showing the property to buyers of a certain nationality in order to make sure the seller is not recognised. Dell is currently working with a house that she cannot show to potential buyers from the same country as her client.

However, buying an off-market property does not always mean individuals are getting the best deal. Agents admit that buyers have become “obsessed” with only viewing off-market properties, believing that they are always better than others.

Off-market properties can end up more expensive if a vendor is unwilling to move from a set price that has not been tested on the open market. Many vendors also keep their home off the market so that it seems more exclusive and to hide how long it has been up for sale. It is the buying agent’s job to secure the best price for their client.

“I’m absolutely ruthless about only short listing the best quality properties at their right price and I will probably only include 10 per cent of all the properties I see,” says Barbara Wood of The Property Finders, a buying agent that specialises in upmarket homes in Spain, Italy and the UK.

The services of a property consultant can be particularly helpful when buying overseas. Many buyers lack the understanding of local law, traditions and language skills needed to negotiate overseas property.

Stuart Baldock of Property Vision France has worked with a wide range of nationalities including buyers from Jamaica, UAE, Russia, India and the US. He says international buyers need advice about fashionable second home destinations such as the Côte d’Azur: “The prices typically advertised are very optimistic so you really need somebody who knows the market.”

Paul Belcher of Ultissimo, a buying agent for Lake Como, says the Italian market can be a complex one for non-residents. “To conclude a transaction … probably takes more time than most clients actually have,” he says.

This was the case for Stuart Kingham, a Hong Kong-based computer programmer, who bought a second home in Lake Como through Ultissimo. “Before we found Ultissimo we were at a little bit of a dead end … We had spent years trawling the internet and going through estate agencies,” he says. In the end, he purchased a renovated silk factory without ever visiting the property. “Ultissimo helped us with arranging the mortgage, lawyers, bank accounts, everything,” says Kingham.

Buying agents stress that it’s not just about finding a property for a client. For those who want the full service, agents will be able to provide advice on installing the latest green technology or on an interior design service.

This all comes at a cost. Buying agents across the globe will typically charge a one-off retainer flat fee and then a success fee of between 2 and 3 per cent of the property price.

It can also take a long time to find a client’s dream home. Baldock says he recently bought a multimillion pound home in France for a client within three months, while it took three years to find another client’s perfect house.

Similarly, Byron Rose of Rose & Jones, an Australian buying agency, was engaged to secure the waterfront property of a client’s neighbour. “The deal took over 12 months to complete but the client now has over 3,000 sq m of harbour front property,” says Rose.