Those of us who drive into Chelsea from the outer environs of London spend the first 10 minutes of the day trudging through snow and scraping the ice from our cars. Once we get into Chelsea we have, each of us, observed that there is no snow; barely a snow flake or icicle to speak of! This is probably just as well, as most of our applicants would be less likely to venture out quite so eagerly to buy or rent a property if they had to deal with the snow and ice factor!

My own expertise is in lettings which I have been doing for the best part of 20 years and the market has certainly moved on since those early days! The growth has been huge in rentals with the odd blip over the years, the most recent being in 2008/2009 when recession hit and rents had to be reduced due to the sheer number of available properties. However, it wasn’t long before rents were on the rise again and, even now, with yet another recession biting hard in some businesses, we are seeing rental figures holding their own.

My own job involves negotiating the renewal terms of existing tenancies and recommending rent increases whilst maintaining a good relationship with both parties.

The Retail Price Index (RPI) is the benchmark for rent increases and throughout the course of 2011 we saw the level of RPI float between 4.8% and 5.6% and this assisted in achieving healthy rent increases for our clients. However January has seen the RPI drop to 3.9% its lowest level since February 2010, and both the Office for National Statistics and Income Data Services expect this to drop further to 3.4% in April 2012 before recovering to 3.6% in July 2012, prospects for large rent increases in the coming year are low.

The major contributor to this downward shift in RPI is the effect of the VAT increase in January 2011 falling out of the annual measure coupled with downward pressures from motoring expenditure, alcoholic drinks, food and tobacco. With inflation forecast to steadily fall back to around 2.5% by the final quarter of 2012, a return to the 2011 RPI levels is not expected in the short term.

However, the RPI isn’t the only tool with which to reach a conclusion on a rent increase. There are many other factors for both parties to consider such as void periods for landlords and for tenants, removal costs, finding a new deposit and the time factor involved with finding a new home are just a few.

As with almost all things in life, the property market has its ups and downs but an investment in The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea will, in general, produce a good yield with the long term in mind.

This is a common question that I am asked by Buyers and Sellers alike.

When a client is considering a sale of their flat/house, an important consideration in determining whether the moment is right to sell/buy a property will be based upon the future expectations of value. There will always be circumstances where a client is relocating abroad, has to sell to release capital for another investment or alternatively is either upsizing or downsizing. Determining the exact moment to place a...

Now I am not suggesting that someone would leave home with no intention of buying or renting a property only to find they return with a 4 bedroom house in their shopping bag, however I think in principal the same impulse is needed when finding a new home.

Knowing that a property needs to be presented at its best to generate the “impulse” to buy or rent, it’s always a shame when this presentation lets the property down. In most cases a small amount of decorating work, dressing of the...

Making the decision to rent your home can sometimes be a difficult one, especially when it’s been your family home that you feel attached to. Faced with the prospect of choosing an agent amongst the large choice of established estate agencies in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, could be an even harder one. It can be quite a daunting process when making your decision what with agents offering vastly reduced fees, making promises that your property will be rented within a week...

It was being widely reported by BBC News last week that the average rent fell by 0.8% in December compared with November, to £711 a month, with monthly rental falling for the first time in a year in London. The reasons for this dip were being attributed variously to renters feeling the shock of their Christmas shopping bills leading to more of them defaulting on their monthly payments at one extreme, and the annual seasonal dip that is consistently seen at the other.

Clearly, this is a...

I wonder? I am incredibly lucky to view, sell and acquire some of the finest properties in London. My department specialises in properties between £1,000,000 and £100,000,000 - this is huge range and it is important that one never becomes flippant about the numbers one is talking about (I once worked with an agent who used to be a ship broker and he told me not to think of the numbers involved - ships are a lot more expensive than houses and flats!).

At my tender age I would want a cool...

This is a question that estate agents are often asked.

In my opinion, the general rule for Chelsea is to do ‘all or nothing.’

While a quick lick of paint and some new, inexpensive carpets might shift your property in a buoyant market, the Chelsea clientele are generally used to paying a premium for more than a mediocre finish; even the untrained eye can invariably see past a basic touch up to procure a quick sale. If one chooses to do some work, it is certainly worth investing some...

If I had a pound for every time I have been asked this question over the last 24 years of being an estate agent, I would be a millionaire!

I always say the key to the answer is in the question- specifically in the word, ‘desirable’. This word conjures up different meanings to different people.

What do YOU truly want- do you desire the sort of flat that you would like to live in or do you desire a really good rental return.

Put another way; are you thinking of purchasing with your...

Background

For decades the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea has been revered as ‘the’ place to buy in Central London for owner occupiers, investors and developers alike, but why?

There are a number of reasons for this which I will try and clarify in this blog but the appeal of the area is not just to UK residents but the world over which is why it hosts such a diverse community.

The city of London (Londinium in Latin) was established by the Romans around AD 43. It served as a...

1. You have a picture of Kirstie Alsop/Sarah Beaney/Phil Spencer/Kevin McCloud as your screen saver.
2. Your inbox has more emails from Estate Agents and property portals than your friends.
3. You are not only on first name terms with all your local estate agents, you are in fact, spending Christmas with one of them and have been invited to three of their Christmas office parties.
4. You spend more time talking to estate agents than your parents.
5. The only umbrellas you have are...

This is a particularly regular question that I am asked by many of our clients at this seasonally distracting time.

The pre-Christmas ‘Party Season’ in Kensington and Chelsea, offers a fair share of diversions to avid house hunters and sellers, blurring the resolve to move with the desire to socialise….understandable!

The conventional seasonal cyclicality that drives our flat and house market in South Kensington and Chelsea, has evidently detached itself, in a major way from...

I am delighted to confirm that on Monday evening, we were ‘Highly Commended’ in the News on the Block Property Management Awards in the category ‘London Property Management Company of the Year’. Our trophy is proudly displayed in our office. We know our application was strong and that is thanks for our clients, leaseholders and business partners – we really appreciate your support. We hope you in turn appreciate the dedication and hard work that our staff strive to achieve every day of the...

The volatility in the financial markets, Euro crisis and potential for a global meltdown only seem to help boost the prices of flats and houses in Kensington and Chelsea as investors continue to seek safe investment havens. Yesterday, we exchanged contracts on a flat in Penywern Road in Earls Court, SW5 at 8% over the asking price. We were instructed to act alongside a local agent to boost our client’s exposure to a more cosmopolitan applicant base. We were able to solicit four bids over the...

It has been a busy month. We have had sealed bids on 5 properties within the last 10 days: 1) An un-modernised townhouse on Seymour Walk at £2,500,000 2) A beautifully presented first floor flat in Redcliffe Square at £1,800,000 3) A great cottage in Billing Place SW10 at £1,275,000 4) An immaculate 2 bedroom first floor flat at £825,000 and 5) A perfect pied a terre in Gilston Road, Chelsea at £475,000. We have also acquired a flat in Cadogan Square for a client at over £3,100 per square...