As London prices appear to spiral ever higher, there is one corner of the market that appears to attract a never ending list of enquiries from serious purchasers. The map of London has changed and, whereas years ago those searching for an exclusive appartment or house would concentrate on the firm favourites of prime Belgravia or Knightsbridge, today’s buyer seeks a more eclectic style of living. This was brought home to us in 2006 / 2007 when, as the instructed agents selling the Manresa Road development, we were taken aback by the market reaction to this low density development of fourteen individaul duplex, triplex and penthouse flats and one building plot. They all had volume and in most cases extremely good lateral space; all were built to ‘shell and core’ leaving the purchaser to fit out the property to their own specification. The whole development sold remarkably quickly at very high prices bringing a new caché to an area of Chelsea that a few years before would have been regarded as ‘beyond the Pale’ by the majority of buyers.
There has always been an appeal in a new product ; the new model of car or the mobile phone, or now the i-Pad. It follows that the more progressive buyer will be looking for a similar product in the property world. Again Aylesford is handling such a product with a new development sold off plan at Henry Moore Court, the old Chelsea College of Art site almost opposite Manresa Road, lying between Chelsea Square and the King’s Road. This again is mainstream SW3 and, although there are still buyers hunting further east around the perenially popular white canyons of stucco fronted Belgravia, SW3 has continued its rise to stardom.
Henry Moore Court will again produce a low density development of fifteen flats and two houses but, unlike Manresa Road, will be completely finished by the developer to a superb specification. What’s all the fuss about ? Well it’s about a different product , the feel and luxury of a totally new package, something that nobody else has or are likely to obtain; it’s about a new location that has become as popular as the more established addresses, together with the appeal of private secure parking, the proximity of ‘Old Chelsea’ and the King’s Road plus all the other factors that will make this a lifestyle choice for the chosen few.
Such low density development sites are few and far between in this part of London. They seldom become available and increasingly so only when a former public building is relocated or amalgamated in the never ending process of Government and Local Authority cost cutting. Do look at that rather austere red brick Victorian school or Public Library with a new eye - it may be heading for the same fate!
