Champions of Chelsea News

Chelsea Barracks

New design gets the green light

The long-running saga of attaining planning consent for the Chelsea Barracks is finally reaching a successful outcome for the developers, Qatari Diar. Westminster Council have given their approval for the outline master plan, which is about to be passed to the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson for his consent this month.

Few people living in Chelsea can be unaware of the controversy stirred up by Lord Rogers’ original design, whose strident modernism alienated a large number of local residents and provoked the involvement of Prince Charles.

As the nearest estate agents to the Barracks we have taken an active interest

in the ongoing progress of the scheme from the outset. Qatari Diar were kind enough to give Champions a guided tour of the site. We feel that the new designs will be in keeping with the surrounding area and will add greatly to enhance surrounding developments such as Grosvenor Waterside.

The plans envisage, for example, a garden setting which combines houses and apartments with local convenience shops and restaurants, a multi-purpose community/cultural centre, a public sports and fitness facility and a medical centre.

The new public garden squares will be among the first to have been developed in Central London for more than a century. Over 100 new trees will be planted, public art will be a feature and the landscaped areas will include productive gardens, reflecting Chelsea’s earlier history as London’s market garden.

The developers say that the former Garrison Chapel, which has been recently listed, will be adapted to create a multipurpose community and cultural centre.

Building work will begin in 2012 and it will be 2020 before we will all see the final product, which we hope will match the developers’ stated vision and enhance this very special part of London.

An artist’s impression of the new Chelsea Barracks

“We feel that the new designs will be in keeping with the surrounding area”

The Chelsea Walk of Fame

The Kings Road, the beating heart of Chelsea, has an historical legacy dating from before Charles II to the vibrant internationally renowned shopping destination it is today. It has been the inspirational home to artists, artisans, trend setters and revolutionaries for centuries. Noted residents from Oscar Wilde to Bob Marley have chosen this area as their own.

Hazel Smith, a local resident and retailer with a family business going back over a hundred years has developed the idea of making the well known and the secret history of Chelsea accessible to its residents and visitors by establishing The Chelsea Walk of Fame.

The plan is to place discrete plaques on buildings along the Kings Road that are relevant to a person, place or event that has contributed to the rich of heritage of the area. These plaques will have the basic information, which will lead to the full story through walking brochures, books and all possible types of digital media.

Much of the history of the Kings Road is known but there are many amazing stories and facts to discover. Charles Dickens, for example, was married at

Olympic Opportunities

The Olympic Games were last held in London in 1948, and it will return in a little over six months.

Although the majority of the Olympics will be held in the eastern side of London, there will be a wonderful opportunity for landlords and residents in the Royal Borough to recoup a little of their share of the £625 million that Londoners will be paying for the games.

There are strong indications that there will be an acute shortage of accommo-

dation for the period of the games. As part of the winning bid by London in 2005, the UK agreed to make 40% of London’s 100,000 hotel rooms available to the Olympics, to be filled through affiliated carriers and organisations.

Summer in London traditionally boasts hotel occupation rates exceeding 90%, so it is not difficult to see that there will be an excess of demand over supply.

We have already been in discussion with representatives of one well known far-east Asian airline who find

themselves unable to book rooms and apartments during the Olympic period because they are not the recognised national carrier for the Olympics and are struggling to come up with a solution to the problem of where to place their usual quota of 800 visitors per month next summer.

Although Kensington and Chelsea will not be at the heart of the Olympics, visitors to London who know it well may not choose to spend their time in Stratford or Greenwich, no matter how

St Lukes Church in Chelsea and Bob Marley composed “I shot the sheriff” in a one bedroom flat in Cheyne Walk.

The concept has already been received with tremendous enthusiasm by landlords, retailers and other local entities. The whole scheme is a community effort and personal contributions or memoirs are invited from anyone who wishes to contribute. Hazel can be contacted by email at hazel.s@btconnect.com.

As local Chelsea estate agents, we at Champions have a great belief in the vital importance of local knowledge in the successful selling and letting of property and have thrown our weight fully behind this campaign to raise the awareness of this wonderful and unique part of London. We all look to forward this becoming a great asset to anyone who wants to learn more about Chelsea.

well they have been developed or how close to the official events they might be.

Landlords who choose to let short term may earn rents of three or four times the long term norm for the period, and residents who, on balance, would prefer to celebrate the event from a beach in Barbados could find that renting their own home would more than cover the cost.

There are potential drawbacks of course. No one really knows how many people will visit London during the Olympic period. Beijing anticipated more than 400,000 foreign guests and received 235,000 for the whole month of August. There are also restrictions on short lets by local authorities and freeholders, and also potential insurance problems. It can be a very emotive thing for someone to let a stranger into their own home, even for an eye-watering rent

We are convinced of one thing: If the London Olympics works to plan, it will work very well indeed – especially for those in a position to reap the benefits.

There are many amazing stories and facts to discover

Summer in London traditionally boasts hotel occupation rates exceeding 90%, so it is not difficult to see that there will be an excess of demand over supply

The Kings Road, Chelsea was the home of Oscar Wilde

Competition

At Champions, we firmly believe in the importance of good local knowledge in the selling of properties. Here is a competition to test your own knowledge of your local area.

The following five photographs are of Chelsea at the turn of the twentieth century. The challenge is for you to identify the streets in question. The prize for the successful entrant drawn from a hat on the 3rd of January 2012 is a magnum of champagne!

dBHOW TO ENTER

For your chance to win a magnum of champagne, please return this coupon to us at COMPETITION, Champions, 64 Lower Sloane Street, London, Chelsea, SW1W 8BP with the place names featured in the postcards above:

Postcard A

Postcard B

Postcard C

Postcard D

Postcard E

Cadogan Hall Concerts

Thursday 1 December, 7.30pm

English Chamber Orchestra

Tickets: £35, £25, £15, £10

Saturday 3 December, 7.30pm Taro Hakase Christmas Concert

With the English Chamber Concert

Tickets: £35-£15

Sunday 4 December, 3.30pm

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

The Magic of Christmas

in aid of Breast Cancer Campaign

With special guests Cherie Lunghi, George Layton, Robert Powell, James Loynes, Gary Linekar and Sir Bobby Charlton.

Tickets: £37.50-£12.50

Monday 5 December, 7.30pm

The Children’s Trust

Tickets: £30 - £20

Wednesday 7 December, 7.30pm

The Armonico Consort

With The English Cornett and Sackbutt

Ensemble

A German Christmas Story

Tickets: £30-£18

Thursday 8 December, 7.30pm

Carols at Cadogan in aid of Action Medical Research

Tickets: £35, £25, £20

Friday 9 December, 7.30pm

The Choir of St John’s College, Cambridge

What Sweeter Music?

Tickets: £30-£18

Sunday 11 December, 7pm

Ralph McTell

Tickets: £25

Monday 12 December, 7.30pm

A Christmas Cracker!

In aid of The Prostate Cancer Charity

Tickets: £18- £12

Wednesday 14 December, 7.30pm

Handel’s Messiah

London Concert Choir

Tickets: £28-£12

Thursday 15th December, 7.30pm

Yuri Bashmet with The Moscow Soloists

Tickets: £39, £32, £26, £18

Friday 16 December, 7.30pm, Saturday 17 December 3.30pm & 7.30pm London Gay Men’s Chorus

Make Mine A Snowball

Tickets: £37-£15

Monday 19 December, 7.30pm

Goldsmiths Choral Union Christmas Concert

In Support of Save the Children

Tickets: £20-£12

Wednesday 21 December, 3pm & 7.30pm

Friday 23 December, 3pm & 7.30pm

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra’s Christmas Cracker

Tickets: £37.50 - £12.50

The New Year’s Day Parade Festival 2012

29 December – 2 January

Tickets £10

Box Office: 020 7730 4500

Bookings: www.cadoganhall.com

Cadogan Hall, Sloane Terrace, London SW1X 9DQ

Local Business La Bottega

La Bottega is always busy. To what do you attribute its popularity? The key words are price and quality. We offer simple genuine Italian food from every region of Italy. Our olive oil, for example is exclusively from a little farm in Tuscany. Also, I feel our staff are the friendliest and best trained.

Who are some of your famous regulars? Monica Belluci and Vincent Cassell are regulars. Fabio Capello, Carlo Ancelloti and a number of footballers visit us. Mick Jagger, David Linley, and various European royalty have also been known to pop in.

At Champions we love our coffee, so it is a constant blessing that the best coffee in London is served just across the road in La Bottega, Lower Sloane Street . We thought we would take this opportunity to interview La Bottega’s flamboyant owner, Bepi.

How did you came to be in Chelsea?

I started 17 years ago as Manager of Santini on Ebury Street, and after that I had my own restaurant in Battersea. I realised the potential for an authentic Italian Delicatessen, and Chelsea just seemed the perfect place.

You have expanded to three other locations recently. Are there any plans to spread to other areas in London? We are currently planning new sites in Notting Hill and Mayfair.

Thank you Bepi for talking to us and good luck with everything.

Arts & Events in Chelsea

Terry O’Neill: Screen Sirens & Rock Rebels

8th December 2011 – 22nd January 2012

Celebrating his career of over half a century photographing the world’s most famous stars, Proud Chelsea is pleased to bring you Screen Sirens & Rock Rebels, a Terry O’ Neill retrospective. This exhibition will include an unseen box set of photographs which will be sold exclusively through Proud Galleries as well as some never before seen images from Terry’s extensive archive. Mon - Sun (except Weds): 10am till 7pm Weds: 10am till 8pm

Proud Chelsea

161 King’s Road, London SW1 5XP www.proud.co.uk

Gesamtkunstwerk: New art from Germany

18 November 2011 – 30 April 2012

On 18 November, the Saatchi Gallery will open Gesamtkunstwerk: New Art from Germany, the gallery’s first survey of German art. The exhibition, which presents artists from or based in Germany, confirms Germany’s position as a powerhouse of European contemporary art. The event showcases 24 artists, most of whom have been little seen in the UK. Their work, including sculpture, painting, drawing and installation, ranges from the grotesque and macabre to the lyrical and surreal, reflecting the diversity of German art now.

www.saatchigallery.com

606

CLUB

This atmospheric underground jazz club restaurant, run by musician Steve Rubie, has amazing live music seven nights a week (with occasional Sunday lunches too). They only book the very best UKbased artists and have a great range of acts playing jazz, latin, soul, groove, R&B, blues and much more. With its world-class music, candlelit tables and great food it’s hard to beat for that authentic jazz club experience. The Club’s chef JP cooks a delicious menu of modern-European food, proudly making everything fresh to order in their very tiny kitchen. A music charge (from £10) goes straight to the band that’s playing. www.606club.com

Property Surgery

Expired tenancy

I let my flat and the tenancy agreement came to an end a number of days ago. The tenant cannot be contacted and according to my agent his belongings are still in the property. What can I do?

What you can do very much depends on what you or your agent has already done. Assuming the annual rent for your flat is less than £100k, either you or your agent should have served a section 21 notice at least two months before the tenancy was to expire. Then the day after the tenancy agreement expires you can apply to court for possession.

If you are not owed back rent, you can apply to have your application processed through “Accelerated Possession Proceedings”, which is a paper exercise and does not require a court date.

Why not contact your tenant and ask him why he has not left? It may be that the tenant is intending to leave or has just vacated but has been slow in collecting his stuff from the property. If this is the case, then great, but if there is any doubt, go for possession through the court.

What you should never do is remove your tenant’s possessions or change the locks. Until a court order is granted your tenant still has a legal tenancy and to forcibly remove their possessions is a criminal offence and can incur nasty fines or even a custodial sentence. If in doubt, seek independent legal advice

Letting and tax

I am moving abroad soon and wish to let out my flat. As I will not be living in the UK, will I have to pay tax on my income?

Tax is payable on rental income, even if the landlord does not live in the UK. The law says that it should be deducted at source by whoever collects the rent on the landlord’s behalf – usually the managing agent. If the rent is paid directly by the tenant to the landlord’s bank account, the tenant is expected to withhold the tax and pay it to the Inland Revenue. If either the agent or the tenant fails to do this, they themselves can be surcharged for the equivalent amount of tax that they failed to deduct.

The way to avoid having tax deducted at source is to have your agent or tenant arrange an NRL1 form, available to download from the Inland Revenue’s web site. If your tax affairs are up to date, you will be accepted for this scheme, and then you will only have to pay the net tax due after submitting your annual self-assessment form.

A compelling reason for handling things in this way is that there are many things that you can set off against tax when renting out your property. Service charges, agency and accountants fees, tax allowances and even 10% of the total rent against wear and tear can be allowed.

In fact, you might just find that you are paying a lot less tax than you expected, if any at all.

Property appraisals

I am considering selling my property and have had three agents in to give me their idea of the selling price. The figures that they have come back with vary by £250,000 from lowest to highest, nearly fifteen percent of the property value. Which one of them can be right?

Agents do not decide the price at which a property sells. Only the market can do that. The job of the agent is to predict the market at the time of selling to get the highest possible asking price for the property and still get it sold. If the price is too high it will remain on the market; if it is too low the agent is not maximising his client’s benefit.

In our present market with its acute shortage of supply, some agents may be tempted give the vendor an exaggerated figure just to gain the sales instruction. This figure can later be talked down when that agent has gained control of the marketing of the property. The Office of Fair Trading is currently drafting guidelines that prescribe such a practice as illegal and meriting substantial punishment through the courts.

Our advice is to go through the market appraisal with the agents to understand how they reach their figures. Ask which similar properties have been sold in the area and when. The agent that can give the most reasoned argument to back up the assessment is also probably the one who has the best handle on the market.

Landlord insurance

I am about to rent out my property –should I get insurance?

Insurance is necessary in any business, including letting. There are a various types of insurance to consider. Obviously there is your building insurance. With a rented flat, that should be covered by your service charge. Then there is contents insurance covering damage to your property by accident or break

in. You can also insure yourself against a tenant’s failure to pay rent through a specialised broker.

The most important insurance we can recommend is some sort of liability insurance. If you are managing your own property and your tenant becomes injured due to some defect in the property, you may be liable if such an accident could have been foreseen and prevented. This is known as occupiers’ liability. You should ensure that you have a good landlord’s insurance policy that would cover in such an event.

Do you have any property related problems? We are not solicitors but we certainly know our business. Please feel free to send us your question to guy@champions.co.uk and we will certainly do our best to help. With your permission we may feature the solution in future editions of the Champions of Chelsea Times or we can simply give our help directly by ema il.

Predicting the Market

Issuing predictions for the following year’s property market has become as seasonal a fixture as turkey and Christmas pudding. Government bodies, property portals, lenders and estate agents all look into their crystal balls and tell us what our bricks and mortar will be worth, and the subsequent headlines are splashed over our daily newspapers.

It is therefore a bit of a shame that most of these predictions, being based nationally, have little relevance to the reality of property transactions within our own borough of Kensington and Chelsea. A market is the balance between supply and demand, and this balance is different between street to street, never mind borough to borough or across the UK. If a prediction of the market is to have any meaning at all it must be local and it must be specific.

This being said, here are our predictions for our own back garden, the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea for 2012: A greater part of the demand for prime properties in Kensington and Chelsea comes from overseas buyers, and such purchases tend not be financed by UK mortgages. It could be said, therefore, that it is the exchange rate for sterling that has the greater influence on property prices than UK interest rates. There is no indication of a rise in the value of sterling on the horizon which bodes well for the continuation of high overseas demand. Interest rates look to remain low for the foreseeable future, especially with the economy in such a fragile state, and this will also play its part in maintaining high property values. The most important factor in how the property market in 2012 is on the supply side. 2011 saw an unprecedented contraction in the number of properties

coming onto the market. The reasons for this are clear. Landlords did not want to sell because with interest rates being low the cost of holding property was less, and with rents increasing, so were profits. Owner occupiers were put off selling because they also need to buy and could not find their next home.

The result is that it was an excellent time to be a seller and an unhappy one to be a buyer.

We do not see this situation changing in 2011, especially with interest rates and sterling remaining at their present levels. This means that 2012 could be a good time to sell your property in SW3 and move to the countryside.

Property that is dependent on UK finance, dependent on a local supply and outside the bubble of prime London prosperity will continue to suffer, possibly down as much as 10% year-on-year.

In our own backyard we will see further modest growth, which should more than hold its own against inflation – all as long as the pound and rates for those who are in a position to borrow stay low.

FEATURED PROPERTIES

A bright second floor three bedroom apartment in a period building benefiting from lift access, high ceilings, a large southfacing reception room, a dining area and a separate kitchen. £1,950,000 subject to contract

A stunning and quite unique penthouse in this prime Chelsea location with views over London. The reception is built for entertaining and the whole property finished to a high standard. £3,250 pw

Old Brompton Road SW5

Chelsea towers SW3

We are an independent agency that prides itself on combining modern marketing methods with the traditional values of integrity and good customer service.

Located on the corner of Lower Sloane Street and Turks Row, we deal in lettings and sales throughout the Royal Borough.

If you are looking for an attentive and proactive agent to sell or let your property, or are an applicant looking for your new home, please do not hesitate to contact us.