Where do you stand on hot tubs? Do you try desperately to banish all thoughts of Hugh Hefner as you suppress an embarrassed British snigger at the sight of one? Are you Scandinavian at heart and think how bracing it would be to streak across the terrace on a snowy winter’s morning and jump into the bubbles? Or is there a touch of the SoCal about you and the mere glimpse of a hot tub sees you planning your “bellini and bikini” parties. If so, you’ll be wanting the Luxema 800, the deluxe $26,000 split-level variety that includes a built-in bar, TV and sound system.

Whatever your view on hot tubs, one thing seems certain – the London skyline will soon be peppered with the jet-set waving to one another from their steamy, bubbling rooftop pools as top-end developers include them as must-have accessory for residents of the capital’s multi-million pound penthouses.

Paddington Basin may not match Miami for dreamy waterfront views, but buyers of the duplex penthouses at 3 Merchant Square – priced from £3.4m (020 7993 7393) – can gaze across W2’s canals from the hot tub on their huge decked terrace. The view is more bucolic – you could even watch the Oxford v Cambridge boat race glide by – from the four penthouses at Queen’s Wharf next to Hammersmith Bridge. “The hot tub is a great piece of added luxury. They bring that element of prestige,” says Alex Greaves, CBRE’s associate director of residential development, who is marketing the penthouses from £4.75m (0207 205 2973).

Other high-end London developments with rooftop tubs are 127 Shoreditch, whose £4.75m penthouse (020 7101 2020, hattonrealestate.co.uk) has one on its wraparound terrace. Definitely one for those who want to be seen.

Buyers of the £8.5m Triplex Penthouse or the £8m Ophelia Penthouse at One Tower Bridge (020 7871 0011) can luxuriate in theirs while soaking up the postcard views. “We wanted to create a usable yet luxurious outdoor space which feels like a private members club and hot tubs make the ultimate viewing platform all year round,” comments Jacob Sullivan, Berkeley Homes (South East London) head of sales. “They are certainly the most relaxing way to enjoy panoramic views of the London skyline.”

We British are clearly learning to love a hot tub. Holiday Lettings report that they are one of the most asked-for features in luxury UK holiday homes, with searches for hot tubs in country houses or “swanky flats” rising by 250 per cent in December 2014 compared with a year before.

“They are definitely a tick box for the international super rich and some houses have two – one inside next to the swimming pool as a built-in spa, and one outside as a “feature” area,” comments Alex Newall from property advisors Hanover Private Office. There’s something quite sexy and decadent (not to mention exhibitionist, given the probable proximity of your neighbours) about having a hot tub in the city – wallowing in your warm water high above the masses trampling the pavements below.

In semi-rural surroundings such as on Surrey’s Wentworth Estate, where Vilebrequin-toting owners are very partial to these millionaires’ pleasure troughs, it’s all about soaking up the peaceful views across golfing greens and countryside. “We recently acquired a £10m property there for a high profile client which has a sliding glass roof and stairs leading up to a private terrace with a hot tub, wet bar and modern shower,” says Newall. “There’s no escaping it – we’re embracing the American lifestyle.”

Other agents remain unconvinced that we can ever do hot tub culture with aplomb. “They are expensive to maintain, unattractive and frankly still have a bit of a seedy image,” says Robert Bailey, a central London buying agent. “Developers put them in thinking it will entice buyers, but within a few years they are covered in dust and debris, never having been used.”

Jo Eccles, head of Sourcing Property is similarly scathing. “They’re a gimmick that doesn’t get used”, she says, while Camilla Dell, MD of Black Brick buying agency, thinks “they are out of fashion. People prefer to bathe in the privacy of an indoor spa – though they do work well in the country”.

Perhaps they might be converts if they saw the “hot tug” – the world’s first wood-fired hot tub that is half Jacuzzi, half motorised dinghy. Ideal for those whose property comes with a mooring. You can’t help thinking that pootling around on the water in a receptacle that is full of water can only lead to a sinking sensation. But the Dutch love them and it can only be a matter of time before they start to appear in St Katherine’s Dock or Chelsea Harbour.

 

 

Not since the days of Roy Jenkins and the permissive society has a government minister struck such a cavalier note. That was until last March, when pensions minister Steve Webb announced: “If people want to buy a Lamborghini… that is their choice.”

Mr Webb was speaking in the context of the Government’s ongoing pensions reforms, which were being driven forward at breakneck speed by the Chancellor of the Exchequer. From next year, people will be able not only to release up to 25 per cent of their pension pots tax-free, but to access those pots almost as easily as they can access their bank accounts.

It is goodbye to that safe-but-dull annuity, and hello Lamborghini, fine wine and holidays in the Caribbean. Until the cash runs out, of course.

Could it also be hello second, third and fourth homes? Anyone can see that, with interest rates at their current level, money in the bank is going to grow so slowly that it might as well be kept under a blanket. Property prices, by contrast, have soared, far outstripping inflation.

All that might change, of course. But anyone who has been tempted to release capital from their pension pots, and wants to put the money to good use, not just blow it on extravagances, would be mad not to include property in their long-term financial calculations.

We have all endured those tedious dinner parties where Plonker A boasts about how he did up a flat in Walthamstow and made £300,000 profit in six weeks, and Plonker B says that’s nothing, he made a cool million on his buy-to-let in Barcelona. Well, if you cannot beat the plonkers, why not join them?

This 20-step guide to becoming a property millionaire is hardly foolproof or risk-free, but it incorporates practical tips from the experts.

1. Target flats rather than houses

Most observers agree that investors who put money into flats tend to generate a good return. “Generally speaking, flats make better buy-to-let investments than houses, and if your budget will stretch to a two-bedroom, two-bathroom flat, we would always advise that,” says Camilla Dell of Black Brick.

The second bathroom might sound unnecessary, but the more flexible your buy-to-let property is, the better.

2. Be patient

It’s important to assess all the pros and cons of an investment before jumping in. “Remember that property is a long-term game, and if you want to make money from it, never put yourself in a position where you are forced to sell,” explains Rupert Collingwood of the London Management Company.

How many buy-to-let investors commit precipitately to a purchase after listening to the sales pitch from a developer? They should talk to local lettings agents before taking the plunge.

3. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket

As with stocks and shares, a diverse property portfolio is much more likely to weather financial turbulence than one relying on a single, bold gamble. The potential return on that beach development in Albania may look mouth-watering, but if the Balkans lets you down, it is nice to have a student buy-to-let in Bristol to fall back on.

4. Always look for ways to add value

“One of the best ways to make money out of a property is to add value to it,” says Dan Channer of Finders Keepers in Oxfordshire. “Even seemingly unglamorous purchases can prove lucrative. For instance, consider a maisonette above a shop with potential for a loft conversion.”

5. Become tax-efficient

You will never become a property millionaire if you pay the taxman more than you absolutely have to. “There are many ways to keep your tax bill down, and you should take full advantage of them if you want to achieve maximum capital growth,” says David Hannah of Cornerstone Tax.

“If you are married, ensure any rental income from your property portfolio is divided between you and your spouse in the most tax-efficient way. You should also maximise savings from tax-deductible items, such as furnishings.”

6. Exploit local knowledge

It sounds obvious, but when buying a property, it’s not going to be easy to spot a bargain thousands of miles away. The sort of property that is so reasonably priced it can hardly fail to appreciate in value is going to be much easier to spot in your own backyard. In addition, you will have all the vital information about schools, transport and so on at your fingertips. You will also find keeping tabs on tenants so much easier than from another town.

7. Start at home

Are you nearing retirement age and living in a tired and dilapidated family house that is far too big for you? Then consider breaking it up into two or three flats. You can keep the ground-floor flat for yourself and use the others as the first building blocks in your property portfolio, advises Luke Walsby of Hamptons International. It makes obvious financial sense to release some equity from your biggest asset, and you will be on the spot to oversee the newly created flats.

8. Find professional partners you can trust

Unless you are a financial wizard with a law degree and advanced DIY skills, you are going to need professional help in building your property portfolio. “Pick the right partners, people you can trust, with expertise in their chosen field,” says Phillip Button, managing director at property investment specialists Brookes & Co. Finding dependable builders, lawyers and accountants is not just key to maximising your profits, but will offer you peace of mind during a complex process.

9. Is there cash in your attic?

If you are thinking of selling your main home to raise capital and kick-start your portfolio, consider making value-adding improvements first. A loft conversion or extension – assuming you have not employed a cowboy builder – can add 20 per cent to the value of a property, according to a recent Zoopla survey.

10. Take advantage of low mortgage rates

“Turning an initial investment of £200,000 into a £1 million portfolio is certainly achievable if you do your homework,” says Graham Davidson of Sequre Property Investment. “One possible strategy might be to buy eight properties costing £100,000 each, using a 75 per cent buy-to-let mortgage, and putting down a £25,000 deposit on each. “Invest intelligently in vibrant, up-and-coming cities such as Manchester and Liverpool, and you would soon be in a position to purchase four or five more similar properties.”

11. Don’t turn your nose up at unfashionable suburbs

“For anyone nearing retirement, I would strongly suggest buy-to-lets in suburban London,” explains Marc von Grundheer of Benham & Reeves Residential Lettings.

“I have just bought a one-bedroom flat in Tooting for £320,000, opposite St George’s hospital, and am expecting to get a rental yield of 5 per cent. You would be hard pressed to achieve that in central London at the moment.”

12. Think Waitrose

Even if you prefer shopping in Tesco or Sainsbury’s, you should keep an eagle eye on what Waitrose is doing. If there is a new Waitrose scheduled to open in Hampton-in-the-Puddle, then a better class of resident in the area – and a subsequent hike in house prices – can be confidently predicted.

13. Look for young professionals as tenants

“If you are pursuing a high-income investment strategy as a means of building a £1 million portfolio, the best tactic is to invest in premium-quality, low-cost shared accommodation for working professionals,” says Steve Bolton of Platinum Property Partners.

With the right tenants, converting a single-occupancy property into one in multiple occupation will lead to significant capital gains, covering the refurbishment costs with plenty to spare.

14. Don’t trust estate agents’ estimates of rental yields

Novice buy-to-letters are at the mercy of estate agents promising unrealistic rental yields. So don’t trust the agents, do your research and get genuinely independent advice, says Camilla Dell of Black Brick. Average rental yields in central London are a modest 2.83 per cent, and if you only have around £200,000 to invest in a buy-to-let apartment, you may do better in “outer prime” areas, such as Fulham and the City.

15. Vive la France!

The French property market is in the doldrums and, with the pound so strong and the euro so weak, there will never be a better time to buy that dilapidated farmhouse in the Dordogne for a song. Do it up, turn it into a stylish holiday home, with all mod cons and swimming pool, and wait for the optimum time to sell. You could double your money in five years – and have some slap-up French meals along the way.

16. Check out property investment funds

“There’s nothing better than lying by a swimming pool and watching the pool go up in value,” says David Rogers of Rocksure Investments.

Rocksure specialises in schemes where, for an outlay of just over £200,000, you can purchase a share of a luxury villa in the sun – or, for that matter, a Chelsea apartment, a blue-chip investment if ever there was one – and have personal use of it for a certain number of days a year. Capital growth tends to be modest but reliable.

17. Could Jersey be a cash cow?

In a recent report highlighting islands where property prices have remained resilient during the global economic crisis – and which offer outstanding long-term investment potential – the Channel Islands came close to the top, along with the likes of the Bahamas and the British Virgin Islands.

“The next 10 years will see a growing appetite for island real estate development,” predicts Yolanda Barnes, the director of Savills World Research.

18. Become a trainspotter

When you analyse why house prices have grown faster in some areas than others, you will often find that the single most important factor is improved rail links, slashing commute times.

But it is no good waiting until that new station has been built before sinking money in an area. You need to stay ahead of the game, study long-term transport plans and pinpoint areas that will get the benefit of improving rail links in five years’ time.

19. Follow trends in planning approvals

Keep an eye out for approved local planning applications, urges Natalie Hall of Fyfe Mcdade. They can be found on local authorities’ websites and often give an early indication of areas with good long-term investment potential.

Where planning permission has been granted for major housing schemes, there is often a noticeable ripple effect years before the developments have actually been built.

20. Remember the growth potential in gardens

Even if you are investing in a city apartment, remember how much people value fresh air.

“Our research suggests that London properties with some kind of outdoor space, such as a small patio, are worth 20 per cent more than properties without such a space,” says Nick Barnes, head of research at Chestertons.

As for your own outdoor space, worry not. If all your buy-to-lets perform according to plan, you’ll be able to afford as much of that as you want.

 

 

 

In the game of snakes and ladders that is the London property market, there is nothing quite as satisfying as being the first person to identify a hot spot. “People buying in central London have become far less postcode-snobbish than they used to be. And they are prepared to look at areas they might once have overlooked, so long as the price is right,” explains Tom Bill, the head of London residential research at Knight Frank. Substantial and continuing changes in the city’s transport infrastructure have also played a pivotal role.

So where should the canny buyer invest? Some areas, such as around the soon-to-be-renovated Battersea Power Station, have obvious investment potential. But the developers know that, so property prices already reflect the expected gains. Other up-and-coming corners of the capital have improved under the radar, so to speak, and may be better long-term bets

Here are 20 capital hot spots where snapping up property in 2014 could just be the best decision you have ever made.

1. Bayswater/ Queensway

Bayswater is “the last piece of the jigsaw around Hyde Park,” says Tom Bill. Prices on the north side of the park have never matched those in Kensington, Mayfair or Knightsbridge, but wealthy overseas investors are starting to buy properties around Queensway. Look out for tired terraces and once-cheap hotels which, with a bit of TLC, could be converted into ultra-cool residences in a prime location.

2. Dalston/ Kingsland

To the old mantra “Location, location, location”, there needs to be added a new one: “Trains, trains, trains”. House prices in Dalston/ Kingsland are up 31 per cent in the past 12 months, according to Hamptons. It’s the area’s proximity to the North London Line – part of ongoing improvements to London Overground – which is believed to be responsible. Equally sharp price rises have been observed near other London Overground stations, such as Brockley and Brondesbury Park.

3. Whitechapel

Could Whitechapel be about to finally shake off the reputational damage caused by Jack the Ripper? Yes, says Lochie Rankin of Lichfields, who calls Whitechapel “the most interesting developing market in east London”. Although prices in the area are tipped to rise by around 25 per cent before Crossrail is completed in 2018, developers have only recently seen Whitechapel’s huge potential. Expect a rash of New York loft-style properties in the next few years.

4. Peckham

The Trotters would probably be appalled, but there is hardly a plonker to be seen in Peckham now – the area is being gentrified so quickly. “When prices shot up in more salubrious parts of London, Peckham was left behind, despite its proximity to the City and fantastic Victorian architecture,” says Gareth James Mozley of GJM. It is making up for lost time now, with prices more than doubling in five years.

5. Holborn/ Aldwych

Holborn used to be viewed more as a corridor between the West End and the City than as a desirable address. Not any more. Cool city apartments or town houses on immaculate residential streets such as Doughty Street cost significantly less than they would in more fashionable parts of central London. You can be confident of showing a healthy profit in the long term.

6. Clerkenwell

“Clerkenwell has seen positive changes in recent years, and I believe the scale of this regeneration will accelerate over the next five to 10 years,” says Camilla Dell of Black Brick. Current property prices in this likeable enclave, popular with creative types, range from £1,000 to £1,400 per sq ft, but experts see no reason why they should not rise to Soho levels of £2,000 per sq ft. Farringdon will be a major beneficiary of the Crossrail project, while the major new development on the Old Street roundabout, known as the White Collar Factory, should be complete in 2016.

7. Nine Elms, Battersea

London property experts are unanimous that, with the regeneration of Battersea Power Station, the US Embassy moving south of the river and the planned Northern Line extension, this area has a bright future. So much smart money has already been pumped into the area that it may be too late to get on the bandwagon, but it is certainly a bandwagon worth careful consideration.

8. Streatham

“This area is a brilliant option for those who can’t afford the more established surrounding areas, such as Balham,” says Robin Chatwin of Savills. “We have seen prices grow by nearly 20 per cent over the past 12 months, but the area still looks amazing value.” The new Streatham Park is helping put the area on the map, while there are excellent transport links to Victoria, as well as some well-regarded schools.

9. Stoke Newington

“Stoke Newington is what Shoreditch was five or six years ago, with a lot of young professionals moving into the area and creating a real buzz,” says Robert Fraser, director of Fraser & Co. Like neighbouring Newington Green, this multicultural pocket of the borough of Hackney is being rapidly gentrified without becoming in any way genteel. It looks an excellent long-term bet.

10. Southwark

t is hard to envisage a day when Thames-side properties fail to attract a premium, and it is mainly developments south of the river which are setting the pace. The latest one, due for completion in 2016, is the Music Box. These 40 modern apartments are perched on top of the London Centre of Contemporary Music in Southwark, which is fast becoming the epicentre of South Bank cool.

11. Bow

No East End Cockney used to be worth his salt unless he had been born within the sound of Bow bells. Not many of Bow’s current residents would pass the Cockney test, but the area’s rich history, and lively ambience, continue to make it attractive. “Bow is proving particularly popular with City types who cannot afford to live in Canary Wharf, but view it as an excellent alternative,” says Robert Fraser, director of Fraser & Co.

12. West Drayton

Another area likely to benefit when Crossrail is completed in 2018, when Bond Street will be just 23 minutes away. “Over the past couple of years, we have seen a huge increase in the number of investors keen to purchase property in the area. They are confident that their investment will achieve a substantial rise in capital value once the Crossrail station opens,” explains Nicholas Jordan, director of the Cameron group. Drayton Garden Village will provide nearly 800 new homes, while Drayton Wharf, on the Grand Union Canal, will offer stylish apartments at affordable prices, starting at £200,000.

13. Brixton/ Kennington

“Thanks to re-rating, the search for property hot spots in London is starting to move outwards, and Brixton and Kennington are among the areas benefiting,” says Ed Mead of Douglas & Gordon. “Brixton is defying convention and is now the area where young people want to live for all right reasons, while the Oval is firmly in the sights of the Bank of Mum and Dad.”

14. Earls Court

Known as Kangaroo Valley in the Seventies, Earl’s Court has never quite overcome a down-at-heel image. But all that could be about to change, says Richard Barber of W A Ellis: “The redevelopment of the Earl’s Court Exhibition Centre and Seagrave Road will have a massive effect. The development will comprise four urban villages and a new primary school, and we will undoubtedly see house price increases off the back of it.”

15. Wapping

“The past 12 months have been fantastic for Wapping, with price growth of 24 per cent compared with seven per cent for Chelsea and Knightsbridge,” says Lauren Ireland of Savills. Wapping is simultaneously steeped in history and thoroughly modern, packed with the kind of riverside warehouse conversions that seem sure to gain in popularity.

16. Victoria

“Victoria has long been seen as a poor relation of neighbouring Belgravia. It’s often called up-and-coming, but has never really arrived,” says Rachel Thompson of the Buying Solution. But better times could be just around the corner, with the £2bn regeneration of Victoria Coach Station and Victoria Street. Ultra-modern glass buildings are slowly replacing the austere architecture of “old” Victoria – often a telltale sign of an area where confidence is booming.

17. Tottenham Court Road

“Historically, this end of Oxford Street has been considered unattractive. But I have no doubt that this perception will change considerably, particularly if the Centre Point building gets redeveloped into high-end residential units,” says Camilla Dell of Black Brick. The Tube station is being completely redeveloped and, with the travel time to Canary Wharf set to be halved, the area can only go from strength to strength.

18. Honor Oak

No sector of the capital has benefited more from improvements in the capital’s infrastructure than the south-east. Honor Oak, in the borough of Lewisham, perfectly illustrates the knock-on effect of good rail links. The area has never had the cachet of Dulwich, but it is catching up fast. With direct trains to London Bridge likely from 2018, courtesy of the Thameslink Project, those competitively priced three-bedroom Victorian terraces at around the £500,000 mark are starting to look like real bargains.

19. Mayfair

Anyone who has ever played Monopoly will have clocked Mayfair as London’s most pukka address, so it may seem odd to call such a bastion of conservatism up-and-coming. But perhaps that way of thinking is out of date, says Tom Bill of Knight Frank. “Mayfair used to be dominated by offices, but we have recently seen a big growth in the residential market, which is likely to bear fruit long term.”

20. Elephant & Castle

Elephant and Castle used to be the kind of scruffy London enclave you drove through without stopping: it was far from easy on the eye and the road layout was a mess. But better times have come to the area, with a significant programme of regeneration (the picture shows Elephant and Castle’s dilapidated Heygate Estate as it is planned to be – an eco-friendly, mixed-use retail space)) . It is also in travel zone one, which is a plus, and property prices remain remarkably reasonable for somewhere so central. It’s not far from the Old Kent Road, which along with Whitechapel, is the last area on the Monopoly board where you can still hope to find a bargain.

 

The big name architect and interior designer are on board, the original artwork and bespoke chandeliers are in production and the private residents’ lounge is taking shape…what else does a luxury developer need to think of these days? Ah yes, the smell! What is this development going to smell like?

While luxury new-builds sell themselves as being a feast for the eyes (those views! That £150,000 kitchen!), ears (think soporific background music to lull you into thinking you’re already at home) and touch (throws to envelop yourself in, rugs to melt into), appealing to the sense of smell has usually been limited to the reliable old waft of freshly baked bread and just-brewed coffee.

But developers are starting to get more sophisticated in their indulgence of the olfactory. They are realising that creating a “proprietary fragrance” is all part of the process of enticing buyers. The team behind One Thousand Museum, Zaha Hadid’s futuristic bottle-opener of a building on Miami’s Biscayne Boulevard, has commissioned the bespoke New York-based perfume factory 12.29 in their first residential project. Their task? To come up with a scent that matches Hadid’s architectural vision.

The resulting beach-breeze aroma that will be diffused around the huge reception area is “the aesthetic message of One Thousand Museum”, according to its marketers. The gym has its own smell too – no, not sweat, but a motivating citrus with dark wood, while the rooftop aquatic centre will emit a smell called “warm skin” – a coconut and orange flower combination that’s “reflective of an ocean breeze”.

The main purpose behind it all is branding. As 12.29’s founder, Samantha Goldworm – who has invented scents for Lady Gaga, trendy hotels such as the Quin in Manhattan and Miami’s glamorous Art Basel event – puts it: “we took the developers through the process that translates their brand identity into a scent”.

But there’s also a more romantic motivation, that smell is “the most powerful link to emotion and memory”, says Goldworm. As Samantha’s twin sister and 12.29 co-founder Dawn explains: “when you scent a space, you’re changing the way people feel about it”.

In New York, INSTRATA Lifestyle Residences – a portfolio of luxury residential buildings throughout the city – also have a custom scent. It’s called Golden Bamboo byScentAir and its top notes of satsuma and lime blended with a base of apple and bamboo emit a scent reminiscent of a massage or meditation session, according to Rob Neiffer, Director of Invesco Real Estate.  “The use of a distinctive scent is a relatively new concept for residential real estate but growing in popularity. If the right scent is selected, it can help to reinforce a luxury feeling and experience when entering the building,” Neiffer adds.

For luxury British developers Millgate, white tea and fig is the signature scent that infuses its projects, including six-bed mansions in Holland Place, Sunninghill that cost from £4.25m. The idea, says sales director Jonathan Cranley, is “to create a soothing, luxurious environment. We believe that scent is a powerful way to connect on emotional and memorable levels with our customers, forging a greater association when a buyer first walks in”.

The leading candlemaker Rachel Vosper has been drafted into One Tower Bridge, Berkeley Homes’s new development of luxury apartments beside the iconic London landmark, to give each of the three show flats a distinctive smell.

For the “Tom Ford Suite” show apartment, designed by Honky, Vosper chose an oriental spice blend to complement the river and park-side location, while the Casa Forma-designed apartment lent itself to a fresh, minty smell. “Bringing an apartment to life doesn’t just involve scents but an acute attention to detail to make it feel simultaneously lived in and like a blank canvas,” says development manager Doug Acton.

Given the effort and expense that goes into creating bespoke scents for properties, it all seems a bit of a shame that the most effective smells are those we scarcely notice. But it’s far preferable to send a subconscious message of luxury than to thrust an aroma, quite literally, right up our noses.

In one £55m London apartment that Camilla Dell from Black Brick buying agency came across, the smells were carefully choreographed to suggest sheer decadence. “The men’s walk-in wardrobe and bathroom had a very masculine smell and empty shopping bags from Hermès and Loro Piana scattered around, whereas the woman’s walk-in dressing room and bathroom had a floral, feminine scent and was dressed with Chanel and jewellery. It all combined to create the feel of a family living there with the best of the best,” says Dell.

We choose perfumes to suit our personalities. Why not use scents as a subtle way to announce the personality of properties too? That must be what they call paying through the nose.

There was a brilliant Matt cartoon in the Telegraph last week. A shark is slumped in an armchair, watching humans on television as they run around outside an estate agents. “At the first sniff of a housing boom,” reads the caption, “the humans go into a buying frenzy…”Those in the market for a new home might not see the funny side. London is certainly in the grip of a boom.

Average prices in the capital rose more than 10 per cent in the past year, according to Halifax. The figure was even higher in some areas. New developments are selling off-plan faster than you can say “foreign investor”. But behind the frenzy the simple truth is that London prices are high because people want to live there. Jobs, transport infrastructure, culture: the capital is a buzzing metropolis. A seemingly endless supply of skilled, upwardly mobile people flows there from all over the world.

If you are set on London life, where should you look for value? Mayfair, Kensington and Knightsbridge have been expensive almost forever. Notting Hill, Primrose Hill and Marylebone are not far behind. More recently, prices in Hackney have rocketed. But as locations ascend to become prime and super-prime, others also begin to rise. Savills expects prices in London to rise 8.5 per cent this year, and by 24.4 per cent over the next five.“The three ways we separate new areas are whether they’re novel, new or next door,” explains Sophie Chick from Savills. Novel could be an unfashionable place that has become cool again, and new where there’s lots of development. “Next door is traditionally a good indicator. This is where an area comes up because it is next door to an existing spot. Often it will have similar stock and amenities.”So where should the canny investor place their bets?

Nobody would argue that Wandsworth or Maida Vale or Bloomsbury are “undiscovered”. But well-established hot spots can contain pockets of good value, or less salubrious streets nearby. Using research from Knight Frank and Savills, here are 20 suggestions for first-time buyers, families trading up and those who are new to the capital.

1. Canonbury

Tucked behind Upper Street, north of the Regent’s Canal, the Newington Green side of Canonbury has sometimes been overlooked, compared with nearby Barnsbury and Highbury. A reopened overground station has revitalised this area, which has plenty of period terraces, easy transport connections and a relaxed atmosphere. “This is a classic ‘next door’ type of area,” says Chick, “and is ‘novel’.” Prices have risen by more than half since 2007, reflecting the desire for all things Islington.

2. Finsbury Park

N4 has traditionally been the slightly less-smart end of Islington, compared with Highbury or Angel. Although it is farther out, Finsbury Park is on the Victoria Line, has easy access to the City on the mainline, and has plenty of shops and restaurants. There’s a new theatre and smart new accommodation popping up all the time. Average prices are around 30 per cent lower than in Islington as a whole.

3. Marylebone

It’s hardly an undiscovered find, but Marylebone is becoming the latest kid on the super-prime block. Where it was once the poor northern relation of Mayfair, it is quickly catching up. “Marylebone has always been an excellent location, but, during the past 15 years, the two major local estates, Howard de Walden and Portman, have paid attention to significant regeneration and gentrification says Christian Lock Neckrews of Knight Frank. “The area also benefited from the recession, with developers able to pick up commercial buildings for 50-70 per cent less than residential. This has led to first-class prime properties.”There are great shops and restaurants on the high street.

4. Bayswater

It’s all relative, but Bayswater has historically been a bit more run-down than its Hyde Park neighbours. But that is changing. “This is a fascinating part of London, brimming with character,” says Sam Allport, of Mountgrange Heritage. “The plans to renovate the Whiteley site on Queensway are having a positive effect. “Coupled with the fact that prices here remain up to 20 per cent lower than in neighbouring Notting Hill and Marylebone means a variety of buyers are drawn to the area.”

5. City Road

Angel has long been yuppie central, while Shoreditch and Old Street have emerged as the centres of Britain’s tech scene. But the road that links them had little to recommend it bar the Victoria Miro museum.“Old Street has morphed from a commercial entity with more of an industrial feel into an increasingly vibrant and well-located hub,” says Matt Cobb of Hatton Real Estate.

6. Earls Court

No longer the dog-eared paperback next to Kensington’s gleaming coffee-table tome, Earls Court is undergoing serious redevelopment. The 77-acre site of the exhibition centre is being turned into mart shops, 7,500 new homes and other leisure facilities. It is increasingly popular with families and professionals. Prices have risen more than 70 per cent since 2007.“With the development of the Earls Court Exhibition Centre, the surrounding areas are going to improve hugely over time,” explains Will Watson of Middleton Advisors.

7. White City

The BBC might have upped to Salford, but the Westfield Centre has brought shopping and jobs. Still, White City is firmly in the “new” category.“Five years ago, people wouldn’t have considered it,” adds Chick. “But Soho House has just announced it is opening there.” With good access to the rest of rest London, White City should be a reliable bet.

8. Stratford

There was a fear that after the Olympics, Stratford might struggle to live up to its post-Games plan. But after a brief plateau, the area is picking up again, with an increasingly settled community of young families and professionals. It has brilliant train and Tube access to central London, and, between the Olympic swimming pool and velodrome, plenty of sports facilities.

9. Honor Oak Park

Here is another part of south London that has been opened up by the revamped London Overground route. Honor Oak Park is leafy, and you get more for your money than in equivalent areas in north London. “Honor Oak Park is just inside Zone 3, with a great overground line,” says Oliver Knight of Knight Frank. “The area looks set to become a hot spot for families looking for more space, great schools and more for their money than areas such as Islington.”

10. Woolwich

Sometimes called the Shoreditch of the South, Woolwich is an attractive option for those who cannot afford nearby Greenwich. “Activity in the Woolwich property market has significantly increased over the past few years, with hundreds of new homes being built,” explains Mo Clarke of L&Q housing association. “But prices remain considerably lower than the rest of inner London. Now is a great time to get on the ladder here.” The addition of Crossrail to the DLR links will further open the area

11. St Margarets

St Margarets is on the up, with buyers drawn to the value it offers compared with Richmond and Twickenham nearby. “In the past year alone, property prices have increased by 10 per cent in the area,” says Jeff Spencer of Featherstone Leigh. “With the current economy, I would expect them to continue to rise.” According to Savills, prices have risen 23 per cent since 2007.

12. Acton

Increasingly, Acton is shaking off its reputation as Ealing’s poor cousin. It has plenty of shops, bars and restaurants, as well as good schools. “Property in Acton has historically traded at a discount to its affluent neighbouring districts of Ealing and Chiswick,” explains Mark Wilkinson from Knight Frank. “But the opening of Crossrail will reduce the price difference, and ensure good capital growth relative to the rest of London.”

13. Maida Vale

“Surprisingly, values here remain well below that of neighbouring St John’s Wood,” says Camilla Dell from buying agent Black Brick.“We feel Maida Vale still represents good value for investors, where you can still buy for less than £1,000 per sq foot.” There are pretty shops on Clifton Road, while Lord’s Cricket Ground and the canals of Little Venice are a short walk in either direction.

14. Bloomsbury

Between UCL, the Bloomsbury Group and the British Museum, this area has long been a haven for literary and artistic types. Prices are already high, but there is a consensus that the area is catching up with Marylebone, to the West, in the prime London stakes. “Prices have risen steadily since 2009 in Bloomsbury,” says Adrian Philpott of Winkworth. “Achieved prices have risen between 10 per cent and 15 per cent in the last 12 months. It is expected that the arrival of Crossrail in 2017 at Tottenham Court Road and Farringdon will keep interest in the area high.”

15. Ravenscourt Park

Sandwiched between Chiswick, Shepherd’s Bush and Hammersmith, Ravenscourt Park benefits from the “next door” phenomenon. “Housing stock in Ravenscourt Park is typically made up of three- to six-bedroom Edwardian properties,” says Christopher Bramwell from Savills. “This attracts buyers from Notting Hill, Kensington and Holland Park who are looking for more for their money, greater outdoor space and closer proximity to schools.”

16. Camberwell

With a villagey feel, art school and a good mix of housing stock, Camberwell has always had the fundamentals in place. But thanks to improved rail connections to the West End and the City, prices are picking up.

17. South Highgate

Between Belsize Park, Highgate and Dartmouth Park, this area has not traditionally been considered a separate market. But, says Chick, it is benefiting from a “classic next-door effect. There are lovely houses, but they aren’t quite as popular as Hampstead or Bishops Avenue yet.” Prices have risen 57 per cent since 2007.

18. Croydon

Once synonymous with unfashionable London, Croydon is undergoing a renaissance, with more than a billion pounds of investment planned, including a revamped high street and a Westfield shopping centre. The new Overground link has cut travel times to the centre of London and increased capacity.

19. Streatham

“People who can’t afford Clapham any more are taking a punt on Streatham,” adds Chick, who affords it “new” and “novel” status. “There is lots going on, with development schemes and a revamped high street.” Prices have risen 25 per cent since 2007, but with average sold values at £375,481, the area is still affordable compared with many boroughs, particularly north of the river.

20. Wandsworth

Wandsworth is hardly a new kid on the property block. But even with increasingly high prices, it keeps attracting buyers. They are drawn by schools, gardens and a leafy feel. “Wandsworth and Clapham are two real hot spots if you’re looking for great capital growth and overall returns,” says Sam Sproston of Knight Frank. Growth here, partly fuelled by the huge investment in Battersea to the north, has outstripped even the rest of the capital, at nearly 20 per cent in the past year. Proof that, as long as people continue to want to live in London, areas will keep rising.

 

Meet the Moore family. Gary and Celia have two children, Maddie, 10, and Ethan, nine, and both of them work in television as many hours as they can to maintain their lifestyle and meet the mortgage repayments. To help them do this they have a fifth member of the family, their au pair Nely Arroyo from Spain. To accommodate her they have completely changed their house around.

Nely is their sixth au pair. In previous years they all squeezed in, and the au pair had a small bedroom. Then Gary and Celia decided to convert the loft. “We moved up there,” says Celia. “Our son moved into our room and goes in with his sister when we need a guest room. His old room is my office. Then we knocked the two small bedrooms together to make a good room for the au pair. It is worth it because, though we have no more bedrooms, we have a better house.” Houses in their road in Esher sell for £800,000 to £1.3 million, but when they tried to sell two years ago the market was in the doldrums and they realised they couldn’t afford the extra space without moving farther afield.

So great is the need for au pairs, domestic help and childcare for dual middle-class income couples that canny developers are now building “au pair suites” into their new homes. Berkeley Homes is finishing a clutch of houses in Wimbledon village, where a flatlet consisting of a large room with its own bathroom and lavatory is tucked into the lower ground floor. “Developers now recognise this as a key requirement for family houses in London commuter suburbs,” says Clive Moon, of Savills in Wimbledon.

Along the wealth corridors out of London into Surrey, Berkshire and Buckinghamshire, where buyers with young families migrate, the need for live-in home-help space is changing the market. “The majority of families in Wimbledon village now have a live-in housekeeper, au pair or nanny to assist with daily household chores or provide childcare support,” says Clive.

In Chiswick, west London, the developer Crest Nicholson is constantly adapting its floor plans to meet the changing demands of the London buyer. At St Peters Place, five-bedroom houses have been built in faux Regency style, tailored to families with a nanny or au pair. Houses start selling in the early summer and you need £3 million to buy.

“Significantly, at this price point we have included a self-contained apartment on the third floor, which has been designed to accommodate au pairs,” says Julia Reynolds, sales and marketing director. “The space is equipped with a built-in wet room, studio kitchen and capacious storage.” This inner sanctum also has double doors on to a private roof terrace. “As more London families recruit live-in childcare, this provides privacy from the rest of the household.”

The cost of employing a full-time nanny has become prohibitive for many. A recent survey by Mumsnet revealed that 38 per cent of working mothers had thought of leaving their jobs because of the high cost of childcare. Mothers on the website say rates of pay for nannies in London are around £22,000 to £27,000 a year, or even higher. By comparison an au pair, who is not a qualified child-carer, will live in as a member of the family and work perhaps 25 hours per week for £70 to £100, do a bit of babysitting and light housework, in return for two free days a week and time to go to language school.

“One partner needs to be earning £65,000 to £70,000 per year to be able to afford the nanny, so this is where the au pair comes in,” says Caspar Harvard-Walls of housefinders Black Brick, who helps buyers with budgets of £500,000 to £10 million or more to find houses in London and the Home Counties. But having an au pair means you need an extra room or must sacrifice an existing room, which he says people are prepared to do. In the middle-priced streets of Clapham or Wandsworth, or in the squares of Islington or Camden, Caspar believes most houses will have an au pair living on the top floor. “If one partner stays at home but the children go to two different schools, which is often the case, then the au pair can give them a chance to manage their lives,” he says.

Recent research by Savills on price extremes shows that the value of a room in London’s best addresses is around £262,000. In the North East of England it is £39,000, and at the bottom of the market £15,000. “The important thing,” says Caspar, “is that the buying and selling transaction now costs so much that people need to think whether a house will meet their needs in a few years’ time. A lower ground floor room might be good as an au pair suite now, but could be used as a teenage room later when the children are older. People need flexibility.”

A survey last year shone light on the new Upstairs, Downstairs of the 21st century, showing that there were more servants in Mayfair than there were 200 years ago. Wetherell estate agents found that 90 per cent of the 4,500 home owners in Mayfair had domestic help of some kind, as did 80 per cent of flat owners. Help included live-in servants, visiting daily cleaners and the occasional Mary Poppins who had blown in on the East Wind, as well as au pairs.

by Zoe Dare Hall. Thoughts of the coming year in the central London property market inspire a curious cocktail of optimism and fear for agents. The market is “on fire”, as Howard Elston, director of Aylesford International, puts it. Foreign buyers will continue to dominate the picture and new areas are becoming magnets for international wealth – Battersea’s vast Nine Elms regeneration area, for example, Marylebone, whose new boutique developments are breaking previous price ceilings and Mayfair, no longer Belgravia’s poor cousin.

But prime London’s market sizzles beneath an ominous shadow: the threatened Mansion Tax. Until the May 2015 election, no one can know exactly what the tax – Labour’s proposed 1 per cent annual levy on homes worth £2m or more – will mean for property values. But Trevor Abrahmsohn, director of Glentree Estates, who sells some of London’s most expensive mansions in Hampstead’s The Bishop’s Avenue, sees it in dramatic terms. “It will drive a coach and horses through the finely balanced dynamics of the residential property market, the like of which has not been seen since the Second World War.”

“Many owners of high value homes aren’t prepared to wait and take the risk, so they’re downsizing in anticipation. That’s a trend that’s likely to continue next year, with more renters likely to target the top end of the London property market as a result, says Camilla Dell, partner at Black Brick buying agency. “But non-doms will continue to flood in, despite a new capital gains tax on profits from April 2015,” she adds of the new announcement that overseas investors in UK property will have to pay tax on any profits.

Among those non doms, Chinese buyers will come to the fore in London next year, says Rachel Thompson, a partner in The Buying Solution, branching out from the new-build riverfront developments that have typically attracted them to more traditional period properties, while Middle Eastern buyers will increasingly diversify to the commercial sector.

For those with aspirations of digging deep in Kensington & Chelsea or Westminster, 2014 will be the year to do it before their local councils – who are already clamping down on mega-basement conversions – put a stop to the practice entirely.

As for areas on the up, the South Bank is “the most exciting contemporary urban quarter” and firmly on the prime central London map now, according to Savills, who predict 25 per cent growth over the next five years. New projects include South Bank Tower, an overhaul of the 1970s King’s Reach Tower, where 173 flats will launch in Spring from £650,000 through Savills and CBRE.

The South Bank’s competition will come from The Strand, soon to be rebranded “North Bank” and to become a “world class destination”, according to Ben Babington from Jackson-Stops & Staff, who are marketing the new 353 The Strand development, with apartments costing from £2.35m. Neighbouring Covent Garden and the “city fringe” are also part of the WC2 overhaul and will see buyers migrate from the likes of Mayfair.

Overseas, residency will be the buzzword in 2014. Following in Portugal’s footsteps, Spain recently launched its “golden visa” scheme, offering residency to non-EU nationals in return for at least €500,000 in Spanish property. Malta has introduced a new Global Residence Programme for non-EU nationals and similar incentives are taking off in the Caribbean, where the success of St Kitts’ citizenship programme has driven Antigua and Grenada to launch similar schemes. Barbados is also making it easier for buyers to invest by relaxing the amount of time they can stay without needing to renew their visas.

Spain will be hoping for some light at the end of the tunnel, now that it’s officially out of recession. Bill Gates has shown a vote of confidence by investing in the Spanish construction industry FCC and Ibiza’s property market is set to continue to fly next year, with British buyers back in force. “But don’t expect any bargains,” says Alex Vaughan from Lucas Fox. “For that, head to Barcelona, the Costa Brava or Marbella, whose markets have seen big price drops but are now recovering.”

Italy – whose luxury property market saw prices fall by up to 20 per cent this year, according to Linda Travella from Casa Travella estate agency – is hoping to tempt investors by reducing buying costs from January (you’ll save around €12,000 on a €1m home) and Tuscany will be the place for Italian bargains, says Paul Belcher from Ultissimo. “The large supply of luxury properties, some at distressed prices, will put the brakes on price rises for at least another year,” he says.

So, mixed fortunes await in London and incentives galore are on offer in weaker markets abroad. Where will you invest?

Fierce competition for property has brought back a much-loathed spectre of boomtime, and not just in London by Ed Cumming

You have endured the estate agents’ pointy shoes and tiny cars, and at last found a home you can imagine settling in. You’ve worked out the finances. Taking a deep breath, you’ve made an offer, perhaps haggled a bit over the price, and had the offer accepted. There have been months of stress, but you are finally set to exchange. Mentally, you are already in the removal van and plotting a trip to Ikea, when the call comes. Someone has made a higher offer. All that hard work is undone in an instant.

Being gazumped is probably the most infuriating thing that can happen to a house-hunter. It was a tell-tale feature of the booms in the Nineties and Noughties, but since the financial crisis of 2008 it has been much less common. Vendors have struggled to find any bidders for their property, let alone more than one.

Yet parts of the market, particularly in central London, are now steaming ahead. According to Rightmove, prices in the capital increased by one per cent in October. The average asking price went up to £544,232. Analyst Hometrack estimates that in the same period there was a two per cent increase in the number of buyers registered with agents, while the number of properties on the market fell 1.6 per cent. Buyers are paying 95.2 per cent of the asking price, nearly back to the 2007 peak of 95.7 per cent.

The Government’s Help to Buy scheme, which guarantees mortgages for first-time and new-build buyers up to £600,000, is only fanning the flames. Since the scheme launched last month, it has already boosted demand.

As a consequence of all this, competitive bidding on properties big and small has become a common occurrence once more. Returning with it has been its ugly sister, the gazump.

“Gazumping is well and truly back, and with force,” says Caspar Harvard-Walls of buying agency Black Brick. “The last time we experienced a market like this was in the heady days of 2007. Back then, fierce competition was mainly confined to Knightsbridge and Belgravia. Now it is happening much further outside the traditional core prime central market. This is partly because buyers have been priced out of super prime and are looking further afield. But also there is a constant lack of supply of sensibly priced, well-located properties that aren’t in some ways compromised.”

One factor is the influx of foreign money to the capital. Favourable tax laws, combined with the capital’s evergreen attractions, mean that overseas buyers are prepared to pay a premium – and act fast – to secure a piece of the action.

“Two weeks ago, we had an apartment in Portland Place that was under offer to a local British buyer,” says Simon Deen of Aston Chase. “They were gazumped by a Chinese buyer, who exchanged contracts within 72 hours of seeing the apartment, and 48 hours from when her solicitor received papers. She was buying the flat for her daughter, who will be studying in London.”

To those in the heat of things, the new intensity of the market can be challenging. Lea Karasavvas, a London-based mortgage broker, was gazumped three times in 48 hours last week, on properties that proved the situation has spread beyond central London. In Clapham and Earlsfield, in south-west London, offers on two-bedroom flats around the £550,000 mark were beaten by offers £30,000 and £40,000 higher than the asking prices. In Guildford, meanwhile, a four-bedroom house was beaten by an offer £20,000 higher.

“What’s unusual is that these clients could hardly be better prepared,” Lea says. “They have done everything you are supposed to do: they’re chain-free, with decisions-in-principle for mortgages and all their documents are ready to go. But still they are getting gazumped. It’s a sign of an overheated market: in some ways it’s a good thing, of course, but it is very frustrating for the people involved. They are doing everything right; they’re just being pipped by the aggression of the market.”

In certain parts of the countryside, too, gazumping is making a comeback. According to agents, the market there is behaving even more oddly than in town.

“I have seen a marked increase in gazumping this year at the top end of the country house market,” says Edward Heaton of Heaton & Partners. “What has been unusual is that houses which have sat for several months suddenly find themselves with two or three prospective buyers. It often begs the question why the buyers didn’t get on and try to secure the house earlier, rather than waiting until someone else makes a bid. It’s almost as if they need the reassurance that someone else likes the house. Inevitably this leads to one or more parties being disappointed.”

Estate agents usually work for the vendor, of course, not the buyer. Gazumping might not be polite, but if it gets a higher price for the property on sale – and a bigger fee for the agent – they will not be complaining.

“The property conveyancing system in this country allows a period of time for the buyer to carry out his due diligence before exchanging,” explains Howard Elston of Aylesford International. “If you want to minimise the chances of being gazumped, get ‘your ducks in a row’ before you make an offer. Speed is what every vendor wants to see to be convinced that you are serious. Consider offering a non-refundable deposit to get a lockout agreement. The ‘gentlemen’s agreement’ is a thing of the past. In London, the values have reached such dizzy heights; the more time you give a vendor the more you face the possibility of losing the property.”

If it all sounds a bit ruthless, then it is the new reality in London and parts of the South East. If you want to guarantee not being gazumped, perhaps your only option is to head to the North or parts of Scotland, where the market has yet to bounce back in the same way. But if you are joining the masses squabbling for a tiny number of properties in the most desirable areas, different rules apply. Be fast, be prepared, and hope for the best.

Thinking of moving?

Have all your finance ready before you offer. Cash trumps all, but mortgage agreements in place can help speed things along.

Chain-free deals can move much faster than properties in a chain.

Exchange as fast as possible. Make sure your solicitors know that you are keen to close.

Be direct with the agent. Clear communication adds credibility to your offer.

Say that your offer is conditional on an exclusive basis, depending on the property being withdrawn from the market as soon as your offer has been accepted.

Consider a formal lockout agreement. This is legally binding and designed to protect both parties, but can take a while to draw up.

Offer a non-refundable deposit to the vendor, guaranteeing the sale unless the buyer pulls out for different reasons.

 

Fashion shoots, hired Bentleys, new kitchens… There are no half measures when it’s time to sell, says Zoe Dare Hall

Some may consider its money to burn, but Cire Trudon candles that cost up to £700 a pop are merely the finishing touch for interior designer Nicola Fontanella, who completed the £1million redesign of a Regent’s Park mansion, now on sale for £42million.

Fontanella, founder of Argent Design, commissions almost every piece bespoke for her clients. On the stairs of Lethbridge House on Cornwall Terrace, for example, as well as an original Lowry seascape, there’s an £80,000 hand-cut Venetian crystal chandelier. Known for her Hollywood staircases, she has chosen a design in white onyx with illuminated Lalique panels for the house, and she is keen on exotic skins, stingray decorates everything from desktops to drawers. The walls are coated in cashmere wallpaper and wood pilasters are wrapped in lacquered goatskin, hand-dyed by craftsmen in Columbia. “The minute you enter the driveway to a property, every detail has been designed for a purpose. I can go to four countries for one piece of furniture,’ says Fontanella, whose clients include Madonna.

Vendors and developers will go to extraordinary lengths to sell a luxury lifestyle through soft furnishings and designer accessories. ‘You stock the fridge with goodies from Fortnum & Mason, hire a Bentley for the driveway and say “look how we live”, says Mark Crampton from buying agent Middleton Advisors, who sees plenty such ploys in his North Surrey patch, including St George’s Hill and Virginia Water.

Selling a lifestyle

Styling doesn’t necessarily stop at the property, either. Sometimes it involves providing a new whole identity for the owner, too, as Lucy Powel’s from Brahm Interiors discovered. “The day after buying a London house from a developer, one overseas client asked for all the soft furnishings to be reinstalled as the place didn’t feel the same without them. He also asked us to buy his clothes (he gave us his sizes) and CD collection and tells him where to eat and which members’ clubs to join. We created the ultimate style profile for him,’ says Powles.

‘Every brand that goes into the property is crucial to forming the profile of this inspirational life. We’ve worked with clients who hire everything from Steinways to beautiful women for the photo shoot. Vendors wish potential purchasers to walk around thinking, “I want to be the guy who lives here.”

Spending tens of thousands dressing a home to sell it may seem a pointless expense, especially when the new owner starts from scratch when they move in, but it is common practice. James Wyatt of Barton Wyatt estate agents recalls the buyer of a mansion on the Wentworth Estate in Surrey. “The owners could not sell for £3.75million, so spent £1.5million on remodelling the property. It sold for £6millionto a local couple who promptly ripped everything out, including the new £100,000 kitchen.”

But a certain level of styling is considered essential to set one multimillion-pound property apart from another. That means Chloe clothing and Louboutin shoes in the wardrobes (luxury brands loan items for the right calibre of project) and other hints of grandeur such as stationary embossed with the address, using a logo that is echoed in the frieze of the coving and monogrammed towels.

Daniel Kostiuc, who runs the interior design house Intarya, was called in to transform a small tired Kensington mews house specifically to sell. “The owner spent more than £100,000 on removing walls and converting the basement and we used a lot of glass, mirrors and slim line furniture to make it look bigger than its 1,000 Sq Ft. It sold instantly for double the amount the owner had paid for it a year before,” says Kostiuc, whose signature style includes £2,000 embroidered cushions, silk damask on the walls and hand-painted murals.

One Chelsea owner had a similar windfall when he called in the architect Hugo Tugman to make his ground/ basement-floor flat appear more inviting. “We removed some of the floor, turning the basement into a funky, double-height space and the flat sold instantly for £3million – twice what he had paid before the project,” says Tugman.

He adds, “Viewing is an emotional process- most people react to what’s in front of them, rather than being able to see what the property could look like.”

The owners of a house in Belgravia were hoping for that knee-jerk reaction to their eye for design, having spent £150,000 on dressing and refurbishing their property. This work added approximately £1million to its value, according to Simon Godson, partner at WA Ellis, which marketed the house for £7.25million.

Room Service

Added value may not always be quantifiable, but styling can make the difference between selling or not. Russell & Cheryl Agius, both actuaries in their early forties, built The Glade, a neo Georgian six bedroom mansion in Kingswood, Surrey, less than five years ago. When they decided to sell it – for £2million – they spent 10 per cent of the build costs on refurnishing the house, so that it was in line with brand-new properties on the market. “It’s no use building a Rolls Royce then dressing it in cheap seat covers,” says Russell, who sourced “classic meets contemporary” furniture from Italy and shipped it over.

Although some homes can be styled with a specific client in mind – for example, a £10million apartment in an Italianate Holland Park mansion might have a dark palette and marble features throughout to attract Middle Eastern or Russian buyers – high end show-home dressing can nonetheless start to look a bit formulaic. That’s why interior designer Louisa Grey travels the world to source one off objects that will inject personality into a client’s home.

“House styling has made the same transition as Victoria Beckham. It’s more about being refined and natural than flash and showy these days” says Grey, who adds that a Moroccan wedding blanket or Larusi rug, specially made for the house, are ideal statement pieces.

She is about to put her talents to the test as she prepares to sell her own three storey Islington House. Every room has been repainted, uplifting aromatherapy oils are dotted around and in, the bathroom, Pantene products have been replaced with Aesop toiletries and hammam towels – with her partner under strict instructions not to use anything. “The last thing buyers want to see is towels that have been used in the morning,” says Grey.

A vital consideration is that prospective buyers know where the dressing ends and your real life begins. “One African client bought a flat in Marylebone and negotiated the price on everything in it, including the owner’s laptop,” says Camilla Dell of buying agency Black Brick.

Would you buy a house on Friday 13?

Superstitions can be a deciding factor when hunting for the perfect home. Here, estate agents reveal some of the most unusual superstitious behavior they’ve seen.

Ben Everest, partner at LDG: “The number eight is considered lucky in Chinese culture, so we see a lot of offers incorporating that figure, e.g. one property on the market for £595,000 went under offer at £5,888,888.”

Jo Eccles, director of Sourcing Property: “We have a surprising number of buyers who won’t exchange or complete on Friday 13 due to superstition.

“We also once had a client who wouldn’t buy property with certain door numbers – to the point where she wouldn’t even view a property which had the wrong door number, even if it was perfect. In the end, we settled with a compromise where the residents in the Mayfair block she bought gave permission for her to remove the flat number from her door, and also from the letterbox in the communal hallway.”

Camilla Dell, director of Black Brick: “Asian buyers, particularly the Chinese, are superstitious about numbers which greatly impacts on a property search. The majority of these buyers won’t purchase anything with the numbers 4, 17, 19, and 53. However, properties numbered 1, 2, 6, 8, and 68 are deemed lucky, and are therefore desirable. Believe it or not, these things can significantly influence the search and what property we end up securing for our clients.”

Julia Price, sales and marketing director at Pentland Homes: “A couple who have recently moved into a property at our development in Kent have purchased over 20 homes, and say they have only had good experiences living in even numbered properties, compared to their experiences in odd ones.”

Camilla Dell, director of Black Brick: “Vastu Shastra is an ancient doctrine that bases its designs on directional alignments, and is hugely important to our Indian client base. The vast majority of London properties do not comply with Vastu, making finding the right property almost an impossible task. Many of our Indian clients will therefore buy off plan, so they can influence the positioning of certain rooms to ensure they face in the right direction.”

Richard Barber, partner at W.A.Ellis: “Historically, feng shui has played a matter of importance for Chinese buyers. They much prefer waterside properties as this indicates positive feng shui and creates a feeling of harmony and nourishment within the property.”