Archive for May, 2010
The Junior Apprentice house valued at £3.1m
For those of you who haven’t watched or heard of the BBC One programme Junior Apprentice (Wednesday nights), essentially it’s the same format as its older brother (The Apprentice), where two teams compete in different challenges and one member of the losing team ends up on the receiving end of Siralun’s “You’re fired!”. However the twist is, in this edition the subjects are 16-17 years old. Think of it as a (scary) glimpse into the future of business leaders!
Unlike the adult version, there is less at stake. Instead of a £100k salary, these budding (three have been fired so far) entrepreneurs will win £25k to put towards starting a business with Siralan as mentor, who interestingly shows a far softer side and raises a few smiles from time to time!
Anyhow, here is a little more on the format of the show…we’re more interested in the property the 16-17 years olds get to inhabit!
The house they stayed at during filming was 38 Highbury Place, Islington, London and here is its home on Zoopla.co.uk.
So, what do we know about the house and area?
Well, we value it at £3,111,567 and it’s clearly been recently gutted and modernised, judging by the Google Streetview photo and the shiny interior we see on the show. There are a number of sold prices ranging from £290k for Flat 3, 1 Highbury Place which was sold on 15th Jan 2009 to £3,686,000 for 17 Highbury Place sold on 24th Aug 2007 (all this info is on Zoopla.co.uk).
Number 38 is part of a terrace designed by James Spiller, which was built in 1774-75. The freeholder made a covenant to ensure the land facing the terrace (Highbury Fields) could never be built on.
We also believe that No.22 Highbury Place was the home to Charles, the character played by Hugh Grant in Four Weddings and a Funeral (thankyou Wikipedia).
If you know anything about the property or area, please let us know below.
In terms of current values…
The average home value for Highbury Place is £983,915. Average values for N5 (£498,309) have risen by 5.7% over the last 12 months (£26,867) and in the last 12 months the average house price paid in N5 was £457,446 with the number of property sales at 235 over the last year.
Here’s the market overview for N5 from Zoopla.co.uk.
Source: Zoopla.co.uk
Property to rent on Highbury Place
Property for sale near Highbury Place
Please feel free to share and use these figures; all we ask is that you credit the source as the Zoopla.co.uk and link to Zoopla.co.uk.
HIPS SUSPENDED WITH IMMEDIATE EFFECT
Following on from the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats releasing their ‘Coalition Agreement’ document on 12th May which confirmed, under the Environment section (pt 6), that “Home Information Packs (HIPs) are to be scrapped and Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) retained” mass confusion set in and home owners, agents, Lawyers and HIP providers each reacted in their own way – some of the comments can be read here.
The main points for debate surrounded the absence of any time scale, resulting unemployment and the legal issues facing home owners and estate agents.
Well, the Government has acted pretty quickly (eight days) and fulfilled their manifesto and confirmed today that HIPS have been suspended. This was announced at a press conference held at Bullman Booth estate agents in Battersea, London.
Full press release on Communities and Local Government website.
This should now banish any second thoughts or delays from home owners who were waiting in the wings to sell their property.
CLG Secretary of State Eric Pickles said:
“HIPs are history. This action will encourage sellers back into the market and help the market as a whole, and the economy recover.”
Housing minister Grant Shapps said:
“This is a great example of how this new Government is getting straight down to work by cutting away pointless red-tape that is strangling the market. Rather than shelling out hundreds of pounds for nothing in return we’re stripping away bureaucracy and letting home owners sell their properties.
“But we’re also showing our commitment to a greener housing market by keeping Energy Performance Certificates and making them more relevant in helping buyers make informed decisions on the energy costs of their new home.”
Here’s our comment on the situation from our Commercial Director, Nick Leeming. Do let us know your thoughts on the situation using the comment box below.
“There were serious concerns that a delay in the scrapping of HIPs would harm the housing market by deterring would-be sellers from putting their homes on the market. But the government has responded quickly and the imminent suspension of HIPs will banish any second thoughts from homeowners. The writing was always on the wall for HIPs. The packs did not contain all the key information buyers and solicitors would need and sellers were always reluctant to incur additional costs – particularly during the economic downturn when there was no guarantee of a sale completing. The inevitable job losses are unquestionably a bitter blow for those who paid considerable amounts to train as home inspectors. The hope is that the demise of HIPs will boost the housing market recovery and, in turn, create further employment in the sector.”
Please feel free to use Nick’s comment above; all we ask is that you credit the source as Nick Leeming, Commercial Director, Zoopla.co.uk and link to Zoopla.co.uk.
Zoopla.co.uk Property Rich List 2010
The Zoopla.co.uk Property Rich List 2010 lifts the lid on the most exclusive places in the country to live. The past 12 months has seen house prices in the leading areas of the country rebound at a far faster rate than the average, contributing to a widening of the North-South divide.
Here are some of the key findings:
• W8 named UK’s most expensive postcode – average house prices of £1.5m up 9.4% (£134,000) in last 12 mnths
• Most Expensive Street – Kensington Palace Gardens, home to country’s richest Billionaires.
• 1,414 streets in London with average property prices over £1 million
• London unsurprisingly most expensive area, NE Lincolnshire least expensive
Once again, topping the list of the Most Expensive Streets in the country is Kensington Palace Gardens, where the average property will set you back a cool £18 million. Also known as Billionaires Row, this exclusive gated street is home to royals from Saudi and Brunei and billionaires from Russia and India, including Britain’s richest man, steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal.
As expected, London dominates the rankings as property prices in the capital have rebounded sharply over the past year and are now well up from the 2008 lows. Virginia Water in Surrey, where the average property is now worth £920,000, is the only area outside London to make the Top 10 Most Expensive Postcodes.
Where’s your nearest Millionaires Row?
Find out here
In addition to W8 (Kensington), only four other areas in the country can lay claim to being Million Pound Postcodes – SW7 (Knightsbridge) and SW3 (Chelsea) where average house prices are just under £1.3 million, W11 (Notting Hill) where buying the average property will leave you with a few quid change from £1.2 million and SW10 (West Brompton) where the average pad will cost you just over £1million.
The number of Golden Streets in London now stands at 1,414. Outside the capital, the places with the highest number of Golden Streets are Guildford (47), Richmond (44) and Leatherhead (40).
Outside London, topping the list of Most Expensive Areas to live are Windsor & Maidenhead where average property prices are now £393,000 followed by South Gloucestershire (£367,000) and Surrey (£348,000). At the other end of the scale, North East Lincolnshire and Hartlepool lead the list of Britain’s Least Expensive Areas with average house prices of under £120,000.
Top Ten Most Expensive Postcodes
| Rank | Postcode | Avg. Value May 2010 | 12 Month Change (£) | 12 Month Change (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | W8 (Kensington) | £1,553,770 | £133,601 | 9.41% |
| 2 | SW3 (Chelsea) | £1,292,193 | £132,578 | 11.43% |
| 3 | SW7 (Knightsbridge) | £1,285,834 | £123,301 | 10.61% |
| 4 | W11 (Notting Hill) | £1,093,591 | £95,851 | 9.61% |
| 5 | SW10 (West Brompton) | £1,019,443 | £83,323 | 8.90% |
| 6 | GU25 (Virginia Water) | £920,138 | £74,457 | 8.80% |
| 7 | SW13 (Barnes) | £893,884 | £77,884 | 9.55% |
| 8 | NW3 (Hampstead) | £881,392 | £67,235 | 8.26% |
| 9 | NW8 (St John’s Wood) | £831,362 | £55,072 | 7.09% |
| 10 | SW5 (Earl’s Court) | £782,518 | £76,497 | 10.84% |
*Source: Zoopla.co.uk
Full Property Rich List Rankings
Please feel free to share and use these figures; all we ask is that you credit the source as the Zoopla.co.uk Property Rich List 2010 and if possible link to Zoopla.co.uk/richlist
Jamie Oliver’s old pukka pad is for sale
Image taken from Jamieoliver.com
Fancy yourself as a bit of a chef? Got a spare £1,195,000?
Well the Naked Chef’s (aka Jamie Oliver) old pad is for sale. Remember when he first graced our TV’s in ’98/’99? Well this is where the Naked Chef series was filmed.
It’s a stunning architect-designed three bedroomed house and offers a truly unique living and entertaining space.
Set over four floors (with roof terrace) and is placed in a sought-after location behind the hustle and bustle found on Upper Street.
The property has underfloor heating throughout, a large reception room, kitchen/dining room with gorgeous spiral staircase (the one he used to slide down!) and three sumptuous bedrooms (one with en suite).
Swan Yard is ideally placed for the excellent selection of shops, boutiques, restaurants and bars on fashionable Upper Street, with the stunning green open spaces of Highbury Fields close at hand. Transport links include Highbury & Islington Station (National Rail and Victoria Line) supplying a superb quick journey into central London and the West End.
View the property for sale on Zoopla.co.uk
Properties for sale on Zoopla.co.uk
CONFIRMATION: Grant Shapps Housing Minister
Grant Shapps, the Conservatives’ former shadow housing minister, has confirmed, via his twitter page last night, that he has been appointed Minister of State for Housing.
It is understood that the role no longer has Cabinet status and therefore, unlike his Labour predecessor, he will not attend Cabinet meetings.
Is this, coupled with the time it took to make the appointment, an indication as to where housing is on the list of priorities?
Let us know your thoughts below.
A full guide to Cabinet members can be found here.
About Grant Shapps
Previous positions held
MP for Welwyn Hatfield, May 2005 –
Vice-Chairman of Conservative Party Campaigning, Dec 2005 -
Shadow Minister for Housing, June 2007 – May 2010
Proudest political achievement
Founding the Conservative Homelessness Foundation
Interests outside of politics
Aviation (holds a pilot’s licence)
Family life
Married to Belinda
Three children: Hadley and twins, Noa and Tabytha
Information taken from the Conservatives website
