The estate and letting agents magazine is distributed free of charge to over 50,000 homes in the Belsize Park, Brondesbury, Childs Hill, Cricklewood, Fortune Green, Hampstead, Hampstead Village, Hocroft Estate, Little Venice, Kensal Rise, Kilburn, Maida Vale, Mapesbury Estate, Queens Park, St. John’s Wood, South Hampstead, Swiss Cottage, West Hampstead, Willesden Green areas.
West Hampstead letting agents, Paramount Properties, anticipate even stronger demand for good quality West Hampstead property rentals in the near future.
New figures from the Association of Residential Letting Agents reveal that one in five buy-to-let investors intends to sell some or all of their properties over the coming year, a 31 per cent increase on three months ago. Property repossessions are at a 10-year high and the withdrawal of mortgages over 75 per cent for first-time buyers means many wannabe homeowners will be forced to rent.
Says Paramount’s lettings director from their prestigious West Hampstead estate agents offices in West End Lane, Spencer Lawrence: “We are experiencing a surge in corporate enquiries for exclusive houses and apartments this year as young European and American professionals and their families continue to move into the area.
‘The Jubilee line is a huge pull for these overseas professionals. It’s unique in providing access to Canary Wharf, the City, the West End, and the rest of North West London. Education is vital to these families and Hampstead and St John’s Wood have some of the best international schools in London. West Hampstead offers plenty of independent shops and has a cosmopolitan feel.’
“We are letting properties almost as soon as they become available, and so would advise anyone considering buying a property to let, or thinking about renting out a property they already own, that now is a fantastic time to do so. We are receiving enquiries for all types of quality properties for rent in all areas of North West London. The rent is virtually guaranteed especially when paid by a company. Indeed large companies often pay quarterly in advance generating good cash flow for landlords.”
Whilst Spencer believes there are many excellent opportunities available for landlords considering investing in West Hampstead, he stresses how important it is for landlords to seek expert advice from an independent specialist in order to make the most from their investment: “An experienced letting specialist such as ourselves who knows the local market inside-out can help landlords make the best decision when choosing a property to let,” he said.
“Our ARLA-qualified lettings agency staff give expert advice - free of charge - on everything you need to know: from what and where to buy in West Hampstead and which properties to avoid, to what features are most in demand by corporate tenants, and how to obtain the best rental value for your property.”
Paramount Properties are offering landlords in West Hampstead special rates for a limited period. For more information about this - or for a free rental appraisal - please contact Spencer Lawrence on 020 7372 0202 or email info@paramount-properties.co.uk
Local Mouth guide to West Hampstead
West Hampstead Blog written by Alisa, a local resident, interested in the neighbourhood and its facilities, with a distinct lack of interest in local politics.
Northwest 6 provides very local news primarily for residents of Ravenshaw, Broomsleigh, Glastonbury and Dornfell Streets in West Hampstead, London NW6.
The Queen’s Park Area Residents Association
Offers blogs organised by London Transport Underground Stations
Transport for London has received funding for step-free access to nine rail stations in London as part of the Department for Transport’s £370 million Access for All programme.
The nine stations are Bromley South, New Eltham, Tottenham Hale, New Malden, West Hampstead Thameslink, Brockley, Camden Road, Gospel Oak and Honor Oak Park.
Kensington and Chelsea, the fashionable west London district, has been pipped as the most expensive address in Britain by a street in North London’s Highgate.
One of the largest houses in London after Buckingham Palace, on West Hill in Highgate Courtenay Avenue, near the parkland of Hampstead Heath, is the UK’s new priciest place to live, with average property values of £6.8m, according to Mouseprice, the property website.
Chelsea Square, home of Formula One magnate Bernie Ecclestone, ranked second on the grid, with an average house price of £6.44m.
Famed for its cemetery, Highgate was home to political thinker Karl Marx, the author George Eliot and more recently, murdered ex-KGB officer Alexander Litvinenko. Current dwellers include the pop singer George Michael, who owns an £8m-pound property there.
The highest property prices can be found in Courtenay Avenue in Highgate (postcode N6) where the average is more than 6.8 million pounds, according to the third annual survey by property Web site Mouseprice.net.
Other streets in the same area — five avenues between the Hampstead and Highgate golf courses — make up the first cluster of property hotspots.
Ingram Avenue ranks number 11, with an average property price of 5.16 million pounds, and Winnington Road comes in 17th place, with an average price-tag of 4.73 million pounds.
The Bishops Avenue and Compton Avenue, both in the same area, narrowly fail to make the top 20.
This week we have seen the announcement by the Government of the 150 post offices in London which are due to close and another 2,000 across England. In Hampstead and Highgate the post offices in South End Green, England’s Lane and Highgate Village are on the list. Post offices in Cricklewood, Somers Town and Kensal Rise are also scheduled for closure.
WEST Hampstead has become the latest target on Tesco’s hitlist after the supermarket giant bought out an independent furniture shop, sparking panic among other small traders.
The Woods and Woods store on West End Lane will close on February 17 after 29 years as a furniture shop.
It previously traded under The Pine Shop banner.Tesco plans to gut the store and reopen it as a Tesco Express in the summer.
When it opened in 1937 as The Kilburn State, it was the biggest auditorium in Europe, with seating for 4,004 people. Since then, The State has played host to a galaxy of stars — The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Marilyn Monroe, David Bowie, Louis Armstrong, Sarah Vaughan, George Formby, Deep Purple, and many many more. And for the past 20 years, The State has been run by Mecca Bingo.
Last week it was reported that the Mecca Bingo Club building in Kilburn High Road, London has been sold for £9 million to a popular gospel church group. The building has been owned by the Rank Group for over sixty years, since the 1940’s and is a gorgeous building that was built in an Italian Renaissance design, it has a tower that reaches 130 feet high and is a Grade II listed building.
It was made into a bingo club in the 1960’s. The Mecca Bingo building is the latest in a long line of historic buildings to fall prey to the New Gambling Act, smoking ban and taxation changes, and it seems that it won’t be the last.
With many independent bingo operators and other entertainment and leisure companies such as UK pub chains struggling to keep their heads above water, the fact that the big brand names are having to offload properties does not seem to bode well for them.
The Camden New Journal reports ‘In Highgate, there are moans that every other shop is an estate agent, while shoppers in Camden Town reckon they are swamped with mobile phone shops.
But in West Hampstead, residents say they are “swimming in pizza”.Italian food chain Strada is to open in West End Lane, bringing the total number of pizza restaurants and takeaways in the street to eight.
“We’re swimming in pizza,” said Virginia Berridge, chair of the West Hampstead Action and Transport group.“It seems a bit ridiculous but the people seem to like them.
Let the market forces prevail.”Lib Dem councillor Flick Rea said: “West End Lane does have some protection but we we have no control over what sort of restaurant opens – maybe one day people will get tired of pizza and they’ll open something else.”
Too many pubs chasing a declining market means closures are inevitable, says Mark Greig in The Publican,
Mark Greig, managing director of Paramount Investments, a licensed property agency which sells pubs on behalf of clients, has called on industry campaigners to take a more realistic approach to the future of the market.
As issues such as the smoking ban and economic uncertainty circle the UK pub trade, Greig believes the environment will combine to create a “leaner, fitter, industry” with fewer but more profitable sites.
And he believes that industry campaigners, many of whom fear thousands of UK pubs will close down in the wake of the smoking ban and consumer worries, should not always oppose sales for residential use.
“In some down-market town centres you often have too many pubs chasing the same declining market. The smoking ban is hitting them hard and there is talk of people tightening their belts in the months and years ahead.
“What you often find is that when one of them closes, the others are better able to invest and improve the service they offer to customers.”
He added: “And why should anyone stand in the way of someone who wants to sell up and do something else?
“Retiring couples who have put their working lives into the business have a right to sell to whoever will give them the best price to put towards a happy retirement.”
