Knightsbridge Flats & Houses For Sale & Rent

Thirty Cities get Half of Global Property Dollars

noreply@blogger.com (London Estate Agents) — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 10:49:00 +0000

More than half the recent global investment in commercial real estate found a home in just 30 cities with a quarter spent in London, Tokyo, New York, Hong Kong and Paris, according to real estate services company Jones Lang LaSalle, reports Reuters.

In a report released on Wednesday, it said it expects major cities in emerging markets to increasingly become viable contenders for real estate investment dollars, expanding its list of 30 "alpha" cities over the decade.

By 2020, the list likely will broaden to the top 50 with investment spreading to such cities as Mexico City, Delhi, Guangzhou, Houston and Istanbul, Jones Lang LaSalle said.

Those cities were attracting global corporations, who are most often tenants, it said. Yet, as the quality of the buildings there improve and the real estate markets become more transparent, and the buying and selling becomes easier, these markets become safer for investment.

The study included investments in shopping centers, malls, office buildings, warehouse and distribution centers, and hotels. The report does not include apartment buildings.

Within 10 years, the bulk of commercial real estate investment will be in assets located in 300 cities where technology enables large global companies to operate in more cities, Jones Lang LaSalle said. Those include secondary and tertiary cities in China as well as those in more mature economies such as Austin, Texas.

Even with that expansion, traditional real estate investment markets will retain their top positions, especially those in the United States, said Jeremy Kelly, a director of global research for Jones Lang LaSalle and author of the report.

"While, the Asian/Pacific story is very compelling, and many real estate players are focusing on the growth opportunities there, we shouldn't forget the chunkiness, size and growth potential of many U.S. cities," Kelly said. "They are among the most innovative, and they are huge cities. Eleven of the top 30 in 2020 will be in the United States."

South East Property Prices Strongest in 2011

noreply@blogger.com (London Estate Agents) — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 08:51:00 +0000

Woking in Surrey recorded the biggest rise in house prices among major UK towns and cities in 2011, according to new research by the Halifax.

Based on the Halifax’s own house price data, the average selling price in Woking, a commuter town within easy reach of central London by rail, was 16% higher than in the previous year. Prices increased from £257,590 in 2010 to £299,654 in 2011.

Falkirk in Scotland experienced the second biggest rise in house prices with a 12% gain. Like Woking, Falkirk is within easy commuting distance of major commercial centres, lying almost equidistant between Edinburgh and Glasgow. The town also has relatively low average property prices, making it more affordable than many other areas close to Scotland’s two largest cities.

Towns in London and the South East accounted for nine of the 20 towns recording the strongest price rises in 2011. Overall, 28% of the towns surveyed saw some increase in prices over the year.

The majority of worst performers were outside southern England. Kettering in Northamptonshire and Dunfermline in Scotland experienced the largest falls in average selling prices in 2011, both recording declines of 15%.

Nine of the ten towns that saw the biggest declines in property values are outside southern England, reflecting the generally weaker performance of the housing market outside the south.

Cordea Savills Launch London Residential Property Fund With Asian Investors In Mind

noreply@blogger.com (London Estate Agents) — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 12:23:00 +0000

Reuters reports that Cordea Savills, the fund management arm of British real estate consultancy Savills PLC, has launched a 150 million pound fund that will buy prime London homes, giving Asian investors an alternative way to invest in the sector.

Interest in London residential property has been on the rise in recent months among investors from China, Hong Kong and Singapore, spurred in part by state-led measures to cool real estate markets in Asia.

At the upmarket One Hyde Park development, for instance, Asian investors accounted for 30 percent of buyers.

Cordea Savills' new fund is expected to benefit from the strong Asian interest in London, and indications of interest have been strong so far, said Brian D'Arcy Clark, head of its residential acquisitions, especially on the back of strong demand from Chinese buyers.

"There's very good evidence that Chinese investors want to invest in London and there's pent-up demand from high-net-worth individuals from China to come into London," Clark said.

Cordea Savills expects its fund to see net returns of about 18-20 percent a year, and said investors who are keen on the fund will need to put in a minimum of 200,000 pounds.

The fund, which closes in January, will invest in London property by forming joint ventures with developers and by committing to acquire apartment units before construction to get better prices, Cordea Savills said.

Investing in the fund would allow investors greater diversification and higher potential returns as the fund would be able to acquire assets in bulk and thus at better discounts, Clark said.

Super-Prime New Home Prices Set to Soar in London

noreply@blogger.com (London Estate Agents) — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 11:45:00 +0000

Super-prime new homes in London are expected to achieve record values of up to £10,000 sq ft within the next five years, fuelled by an influx of wealthy overseas investors and lack of housing supply, reports Whathouse.

The recent boom in prime central London property prices has benefitted homes in premium locations like Mayfair, Chelsea and Knightsbridge, with prices rising from £1,000 sq ft in 2000 to over £7,500 sq ft, as achieved for new build apartments at One Hyde Park - believed to be the most expensive price for any home in the world.

But while most property experts project that property prices will generally fall nationwide in the short to medium term, Knight Frank believe that the market in prime central London looks ripe for further growth, with values expected to reach a staggering £10,000sqft in the most exclusive new developments by 2016. This is partly because there is a lack of land available for the construction of new homes in prime London.

Liam Bailey, head of residential research, said: "In key markets like London the availability of top-end developments that attract wealthy international purchasers is still very limited. The opportunity for developers to capitalise on this market is therefore a real option."

Will London property retain ‘safe haven’ status?

noreply@blogger.com (London Estate Agents) — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 13:09:00 +0000

Manager says investors are ‘sitting on their hands’ in the UK property investment trust sector, despite attractive dividend yields.

As the perceived safe havens of US debt, Swiss francs no longer appear so solid, demand for central London property has soared among foreign investors seeking to preserve their wealth, reports Citywire.

But although central London real estate’s safe haven status is secure in the near term, managers of UK property investment trusts have warned that prolonged social unrest and further financial markets regulation could lessen its allure.

‘What we’ve seen throughout the whole of this year is that whenever there’s been a shock [abroad] of some sort ... there’s been another phone call to London agents saying: “We’ve got 30 or 40 million, which we’d like to put in the safe haven of central London,”’ said Jason Baggaley, manager of Standard Life Investments Property Income.

Speaking at an event hosted today by the Association of Investment Companies (AIC), he added: ‘On a global basis, London is seen as very much a safe haven for real estate.’

Richard Kirby, manager of F&C Commercial Property Trust, noted that central London had a ‘very strong’ local economy, an affluent population and a major role as an international centre. ‘And to that extent we’ve seen the numerous overseas buyers trying to buy into central London at some very, very hairy yields – but for them it’s a matter of wealth preservation,’ he said at the same meeting.

International Buyers Choose Knightsbridge Property

noreply@blogger.com (London Estate Agents) — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 09:02:00 +0000

Sales of London’s most expensive homes reached a record as foreign buyers dominate the city’s luxury residential market, Savills Plc (SVS) said.The number of houses and apartments that sold for more than 5 million pounds ($8 million) rose to 262 from 200 in the nine months through September, 31 percent more than a year earlier, the real-estate broker said today in an e-mailed report, reports Bloomberg.

Overseas buyers make up 65 percent of the market for homes costing more than 5 million pounds, according to the report. The costliest purchases remain concentrated in central London neighborhoods such as Belgravia, Knightsbridge and Mayfair, said Lucian Cook, Savills’s director of residential research.

“Knightsbridge and Belgravia have a high proportion of London’s best-performing flats,” Cook said in the report. “Mayfair has seen significant levels of capital investment and improved amenities which have underpinned price growth.”

International buyers are investing in London homes to protect wealth amid financial or political volatility at home. Europe’s sovereign-debt crisis may be worse than the Great Depression, according to Bank of England Governor Mervyn King, and uprisings in countries including Libya, Syria and Egypt have cost a total of $55.84 billion, consultant Geopolicity Inc. said today in a report.

London Most Expensive Property

noreply@blogger.com (London Estate Agents) — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 13:43:00 +0000

A Middle Eastern businessman has signed a lease to rent London’s most expensive property at a cost of £55,000 ($90,000) a week, in the latest sign Arab investors are some of the biggest spenders on British prime real estate.

The unnamed billionaire will be moving into the four-bedroom penthouse in one of the capital city’s most exclusive districts, Knightsbridge, Harrods Estates said, at a cost of $4.7m a year.

The company declined to confirm the nationality of the tenant but the Daily Mail newspaper reported the man as an “unnamed Middle Eastern man”.

The penthouse is located in one of the capital’s three most exclusive real estate developments, One Hyde Park, Lancelot Place and The Knightsbridge.

100,000 Chinese Students at UK Colleges Last Year

noreply@blogger.com (London Estate Agents) — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 08:58:00 +0000

Bloomberg reports on Chinese Property Buying Spree Worldwide;

Chinese families are increasingly sending their children to the U.K. for college, with around 100,000 students in the country last year, said Jennet Siebrits, head of U.K. residential research in London at CB Richard Ellis Group Inc, the world’s largest commercial-property broker. That compares with 4,000 in 1999.

London has four of the world’s top 100 universities, one more than its nearest rival, New York, according to a survey compiled for the London-based Times Higher Education magazine.

At Barratt Developments Plc, the U.K.’s largest homebuilder by volume, 42 percent of the residential units it sold in London this year through May were to overseas customers, all of whom were Chinese, said Gary Patrick, regional sales director at the London-based company.

For the Chinese, where you buy in London depends on how long you’ve been wealthy, said Barnes of Savills. Second- and third-generation Hong Kong residents gravitate toward prime central London locations like Knightsbridge, Mayfair and Kensington, while the newly rich look in Canary Wharf and the Docklands.

London Commercial Property Energy Efficiency

noreply@blogger.com (London Estate Agents) — Thu, 26 May 2011 09:59:00 +0000

Those who are investing in office space in London might see a reduction in their energy bills when lights are turned off.

According to Paul Edwards, chair of the British Council for Office's Environmental Sustainability Group, one key change businesses can make is to ensure office lighting is energy efficient.

"Turning them off is the simplest thing you can do, but also you could install presence detectors in meeting rooms and ensure that all the lights are turned off in the evening when people leave," he noted.

"If you work out your energy bill, you can normally see a payback on that."Companies that are behind office property investments in London or other parts of the UK might find it easier to implement changes when they are the tenants of the building, but if they own office space they should "try to get [tenants] on board".

Mr Edwards' comments come after Electricity North West announced it has invited businesses to take part in an energy trial involving micro-generation projects.

London Commercial Property News

Eurozone Debt Crisis Fuels Foreign Property Investment

noreply@blogger.com (London Estate Agents) — Wed, 25 May 2011 12:08:00 +0000

Reuters reports that he tycoons of Europe's troubled southern periphery are buying up homes in London's billionaire enclaves and shifting cash to the City's banks as they flee the euro zone's debt crisis.

Estate agents report buyers from Spain, Italy and Greece are muscling in on the residential market in London's elite neighbourhoods such as Mayfair and Belgravia, joining established colonies of rich Russians, Indians and Gulf Arabs.

Data from upmarket British property consultant Savills shows that buyers from Spain, Italy and Greece have increased their share of property purchases in central London's smartest neighbourhoods since the start of the year.

"Southern European numbers seem to have increased," said Yolande Barnes, head of Savills Research.

"In 2011, I suspect the lure of a 'safe', sterling denominated asset once again looks attractive as the financial markets in those countries... look particularly precarious."

The proportion of non-British western Europeans buying prime residential property in London has risen to 14 percent this year from 11 percent in 2010. Within this, buyers from Spain, Italy and Greece grew to 36 percent in 2011, from 25 percent.

Buyers from these three countries also make up half of all western European buyers of properties worth more than 15 million pounds, and 43 percent in the 5 million to 15 million pounds range, the research shows.

And London's private bankers,specialising in clients whose wealth is measured in tens of millions of pounds, also report they are booking more business in Europe's so-called sun belt, belying the region's financial crisis.

Luxury Property Values Surged In 2010

noreply@blogger.com (London Estate Agents) — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 16:46:00 +0000

London and New York have retained their leading positions in the luxury Property market survey carried out by Knight Frank. Paris and San Francisco were the biggest losers, sinking from third to ninth and 16th to 20th, respectively.

The Knight Frank surveys are based on the conclusions of a panel of experts who consider the cities "in terms of their importance to HNWIs," or high net-worth individuals. The agency has been compiling its surveys annually since 2008.

The survey noted that Russians were the most active buyers of luxury property in London until two years ago, but now rank fourth in that category, behind buyers from China, Hong Kong and Malaysia.

However the survey agency notes a general eastward shift in ranking that is expected to gain momentum rapidly. While seven of the top 10 cities in the 2011 survey are located in Western Europe, North America or Australia, another survey, called "Attitudes," focused on the future potential of the world's top cities, has only four non-Asian cities in its top 10 for 2020.

Knightsbridge Property News; Prime London Property In Demand

noreply@blogger.com (London Estate Agents) — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 10:05:00 +0000

Demand for high end property sales and rentals in London has increased in the last few months, according to an industry expert.

Nigel Ellis commented: "The mood is better. Whereas people were holding back a bit and wondering whether prices were going to fall, I think everyone has come to terms in London that the prices are here to stay."

He insisted that housebuyers will not get a bargain if they continue to wait for another year because of the increase of enquiries in the London property market.
"There is more coming on, there is more activity generally and it is all fairly healthy activity," Mr Ellis added.

His comments come after Buying Solution revealed sales of luxury residences in London - those valued at between £1 million and £3 million - accounted for over three-quarters (78 per cent) of total property transactions in central London in the last year.

London Housing Market News

Candy Brothers Forecast £1 Billion Profit on 1 Hyde Park

noreply@blogger.com (London Estate Agents) — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 10:37:00 +0000

The Candy brothers claim they are on track to make a £1bn profit from their luxury residential development at One Hyde Park in central London, reported the Telegraph. The colourful property developers, who were roundly mocked for starting the extravagant project four years ago, say that 50 apartments have now been sold with less than 30 left to go.

One of the penthouses was sold for over £135m to an unknown foreign tycoon who is has ordered £50m of interior works. Property experts claim the apartment is the most expensive in the world.

Nick Candy said that of the £1.1bn the brother borrowed from Eurohypo Bank to fund the project, over £900m has been repaid. He told The Daily Telegraph: "The balance will be paid by the end of the month." The profit from future sales will be boosted by the sale of the retail space on the ground floor to Rolex and Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank which has been agreed at £50.4m.

Prices at the Knightsbridge project start at £6.5m for a simple one-bedroom flat and average at about £6,000 per square foot. The development is backed by the Prime Minister of Qatar.

Uzbeks New to Luxury Residential Property

noreply@blogger.com (London Estate Agents) — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 13:14:00 +0000

A recent study by a London-based real-estate company suggests that Uzbeks became the second-fastest growing nationality in terms of purchasing luxury residential properties in London in the past year, RFE/RL's Uzbek Service reports.

Liam Bailey, head of residential research at Knight Frank, told RFE/RL that although still small in total numbers, real estate purchases by Uzbek citizens in the past year jumped from a few to 15.

The increase in purchases by Uzbeks marks a 320 percent rise over the previous 12-month period ending in February 2010, according to the recently released Knight Frank Prime Central London Index.

Bailey said several of the Uzbek customers are people "who have access to mineral resources in Uzbekistan, including the gas and oil sectors...who want to diversify their portfolio by buying prime property in central London."

He added that the average value of the residential properties bought by Uzbek citizens is about 2 million pounds ($3.3 million).

Bailey said political and economic uncertainty in Uzbekistan is a factor in wealthy Uzbeks investing their money in safer markets such as London.

He said another reason for the increase in Uzbeks buying property in England is the devaluation of the English pound, something that made property in London cheaper than in previous years.

Bailey said he believes the political turmoil in the Middle East and North Africa will further intensify the process of investments being moved to more stable markets.

International buyers in London's luxury real estate market spent 3.9 billion pounds in the year ending in February. The buyers consisted of 61 nationalities, with only the increase in the number of Spanish buyers topping the Uzbeks.

High End London Property Rental Yeilds

noreply@blogger.com (London Estate Agents) — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 18:55:00 +0000

High end property sales and rentals are becoming the focus of many London home buyers, according to London Central Portfolio.

Naomi Heaton, chief executive of the company, commented that location is the most important priority for many prospective homeowners looking for property to buy in London.

"Investors looking to place their money in blue chip tangible assets want to buy the best real estate available," she explained.

"The savvy investor will be looking at the prime postcodes around Hyde Park - areas like Kensington, Chelsea, Mayfair, Marylebone and Knightsbridge."

Ms Heaton noted that those interested in rental yields and returns in London will be looking for good value, well-presented one and two-bedroom flats - "this is where the astute investor should focus".

Her comments come in light of research from Savills showing that average prime London rents increased by 11.5 per cent in 2010.

Consequently, rents are expected to grow this year by an average of eight per cent across prime London and seven per cent in prime central zones.

London Housing Market News

Knightsbridge Residents Live to 92

noreply@blogger.com (London Estate Agents) — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 12:07:00 +0000

The largest gap in life expectancy in the country is in Westminster – with some men living almost 17 years longer than others depending on their postcode, reports the Ham And High.

Health inequalities among the borough’s population vary widely between wards.

Residents in the borough’s more deprived areas, such as Church Street and Harrow Road, live to 75 years on average, while those in Knightsbridge and Belgravia reach 92.

The gap has grown from less than 14 years in 2002 to its current peak of 17 years. The NHS suggests it is a case of the richer living longer rather than the poorer living shorter lives.

The figures, revealed in a new government-commissioned report, have led to criticism of the council and the borough’s health services for not providing enough focus for residents most in need.

Foreign Diplomats Owe £1 Million In Parking Fines

noreply@blogger.com (London Estate Agents) — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 11:06:00 +0000

Foreign diplomats have clocked up more than £1 million in unpaid parking fees in central London.

Figures show that more than 60 per cent of embassy-owned cars failed to pay for tickets issued for parking illegally in Westminster.

In a list of worst 20 offending embassies Kazakhstan comes out top with its vehicles owing more than £189,640 in fines generated from 1,715 unpaid tickets while the Sudanese embassy is second, clocking up £108,240 in fines for 1,005 unpaid tickets
Afghanistan, China and Saudi Arabia make up the rest of the top five and between them owe £207,100 from almost 2,000 unpaid tickets.

The most prolific offender is a Kazakhstan diplomat who drives a black BMW 318i and owes £53,820 for 471 tickets, while two Sudanese diplomats owe almost £56,320 between them after dodging 544 tickets .

Research by Westminster Council also reveals that:

An Afghanistan diplomat who drives a black Volvo owes over £28,800 for 248 outstanding tickets.
A diplomat from Saudi Arabia who drives a black Honda Civic owes more than £15,380 for 181 unpaid tickets.
The owner of a black Mercedes-Benz registered to the Albanian embassy has racked up 126 tickets and almost £13,880 in fines.
The driver of a black BMW 3181 registered to the Kazakhstan embassy owes £22,560 after failing to pay 196 parking tickets.

London Property News; The Foreign Enclave Supports London

noreply@blogger.com (London Estate Agents) — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 09:31:00 +0000

Prime London property is not restricted to the big five of Kensington, Knightsbridge, Belgravia, Chelsea and Mayfair.'Prime'also relates to areas of London where property is much sort after on the basis of the community, culture and nationality.

The Americans live in St Johns Wood because that’s where The American School is. The super-rich Russians want to live in Knightsbridge, preferably within walking distance of Harrods and the French always want to buy in south Kensington near the Lycee Francais School.

This phenomena isn’t confined to Central London; There is a huge Jewish community in and around Golders Green in north London and not far away is where Greeks and Turks have settled.

A walk through Stockwell in south London will take you into an area known locally as Little Portugal because London’s Portuguese population lives there. Similarly, the biggest concentration of Koreans outside Korea is in, of all places, New Malden - again in south London.

London Property Top of Global Property Investment Table

noreply@blogger.com (London Estate Agents) — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 12:39:00 +0000

London captured 27 percent of all cross-regional investment transactions during 2009 and the first half of 2010, according to new research by leading real estate advisors CB Richard Ellis (CBRE), which explores, among other trends, the degree to which investors making direct commercial real estate investments outside their domestic markets gravitate towards the largest, most liquid commercial property markets.

Unsurprisingly, the new analysis showed that overall real estate investment activity has been substantially lower during the recovery period (2009 and the first half of 2010) than was the case during the boom market (2006 and the first half of 2007). On average, the fall in investment activity has been just over 70%, but the decline in North America has been much greater, while the smaller regions (Africa, Middle East and South America) have seen property investment activity increase.

Of the €22.4 billion of cross-regional investment activity recorded over the last 18 months, over €6 billion has been invested in London. This cross-region concentration also made London the world’s most international market, with buyers of 27 different nationalities completing acquisitions in London over that period.

Tenancy Deposit Insurance Schemes

noreply@blogger.com (London Estate Agents) — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 13:31:00 +0000

When a landlord or letting agent takes a deposit from a tenant, the deposit must be protected in a government-authorised tenancy deposit scheme. The Tenancy Deposit Scheme (TDS) is aimed at ensuring tenants get all or part of their deposit back, when they are entitled to it.

The Tenancy Deposit Scheme is an insurance backed deposit protection and dispute resolution service run by the Dispute Service and builds on a scheme that has been running since 2003. The new scheme allows landlords and agents to hold onto deposits. There is an annual fee per property for landlords and a one off annual fee for letting agents.

For further information on The Tenancy Deposit Scheme (TDS) or to register/submit a deposit Click Here

Renting a Property in London

noreply@blogger.com (London Estate Agents) — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 11:10:00 +0000

When you are renting a property in London you are being given care and control of an investment which may be worth several hundred thousand pounds. The owner is entrusting Paramount Properties with the supervision of his/ her property investment and we must be sure of our tenant's credentials.

Careful tenant selection also assists you as a tenant by ensuring that as far as is reasonably possible your neighbours will be compatible and will allow you quiet enjoyment of your new home.

Paramount Properties are London letting agents with flats, houses, studios, penthouses and loft apartments for rent

Central London Ferraris, Bugattis and Lamborghini Traffic Issues

noreply@blogger.com (London Estate Agents) — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 15:36:00 +0000

Wealthy foreign drivers are racking up millions of pounds in unpaid parking tickets safe in the knowledge that British authorities cannot trace them overseas.The problem is particularly bad in expensive parts of central London where super-cars such as Ferraris, Bugattis and Lamborghinis can regularly be seen parking on yellow lines, in bus lanes or in residents' parking bays.

It follows a spate of complaints from residents in Knightsbridge who say their night-time peace is being shattered by the super-rich racing their sports cars through the streets.

Under current EU legislation, the UK’s decriminalised driving and parking laws are considered administrative and fall outside the scope of both criminal and decriminalised EU legislation and regulations.

This means that UK local authorities with decriminalised regimes cannot use UK or EU legal systems to pursue unpaid financial penalties they have issued to vehicles registered outside the UK.

According to Sparks, a coalition of London councils established to tackle the problem of penalty dodging by foreign drivers, a total of 330,000 tickets worth £12.9 million are issued to foreign-registered vehicles in London each year for parking and other contraventions.

One in eight foreign registered vehicle owners fails to pay their congestion charge.

Maybourne Hotel Group in Talks to Sell Claridge's, Connaught and The Berkeley

noreply@blogger.com (London Estate Agents) — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 08:18:00 +0000

The Guardian has reported that London Hotels group Maybourne seeks to raise £610m to refinance debt

The company that owns the five-star Claridge's, Connaught and Berkeley hotels in London needs to refinance more than £600m of loans before the end of the year to avoid falling into the hands of its banking creditors.

The three hotels, which each trace their history back more than 100 years and whose guests have included royalty, Hollywood stars and celebrities – from Queen Victoria to Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn to Madonna – could be up for sale.

Real estate investors said the properties are openly for sale, at the right price, although Maybourne said it has no plans to sell. The three properties could attract US, Middle Eastern or Asian multimillionaires seeking trophy assets and a place to impress potential clients or investors.

Property Sales News; HIPs Scrapped

noreply@blogger.com (London Estate Agents) — Thu, 20 May 2010 18:14:00 +0000

Property Sales News

Communities Secretary Eric Pickles and Housing Minister Grant Shapps today announced that with immediate effect, they are suspending the requirement for homeowners to provide a Home Information Pack (HIP) when selling their homes.

Suspending HIPs will mean a saving for consumers to the tune of £870m over ten years, giving sellers more money in their pocket to spend in the wider economy.

Paramount Properties offered free HIPs as part of the birthday celebrations last year, in an effort to encourage potential vendors by removing yet another layer of expense in the house selling process. Paramount have always maintained a realistic approach when advising clients, particularly in the current dramatic property market. Paramount magazine provides essential reading for anyone involved or considering buying, selling, renting or letting a commercial or residential property in London.

Property Sales News

Top Tips For Property: London's 'Stock-Starved' Housing Market Reaches Price Record

noreply@blogger.com (London Estate Agents) — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 11:18:00 +0000

Top Tips For Property: London's 'Stock-Starved' Housing Market Reaches Price Record