Where the streets have no limit?
Words Nigel Lewis
London’s prime property market boom has been unprecedented. House prices within its most desirable streets have been rising so fast that in one area house prices have increased by almost 50%.
Savills say prices in what it calls North and East Prime London (Shoreditch, Islington, Wapping and Canary Wharf) have risen by 42.1% over the past five years. Other areas of prime London have not been so spectacular, but still extraordinary including Prime Central London (+28%) and Prime North West London (Primrose Hill and St John’s Wood to you and me) at +27.9%.
But it’s not all clinking champagne flutes. Some agents say the party may be over as the European referendum, increased Stamp Duty and jittery foreign buyers have reduced demand in these markets.
Despite these worries, these percentage increases mean some roads still feature houses for sale at record highs; remember it was only a year ago that a renovated mansion on Upper Brook Street in Mayfair sold for £90m. So what are the other streets in London that can claim such huge prices?
Here we reveal where the most expensive residential roads and streets are, based on data from Zoopla.
Kensington Palace Gardens
Average price: £42.6 million
Kensington and Chelsea is the king of bling. At least half of the 20 most expensive streets in London are in the borough and the list is led by Kensington Palace Gardens which connects Kensington High Street and Bayswater Road. Last year, the tree-lined and security-guarded avenue featured the sale of 15a, which went on the market with a 125-year lease at £85 million.
The Boltons, Brompton
Average price: £36.1 million
Next down the list is The Boltons, a rugby-ball shaped road in Brompton named after the church which is within the private communal gardens at its centre. The road contains just 30 houses but when they do come up for sale, bidding wars usually ensue. Last year a new mansion built on the site of an old telephone exchange sold for £51m. It has seen some famous residents, too, including Jeffrey Archer, Douglas Fairbanks and the supermarket-owning Sainsbury family. The primary school at its northerly end was built during the 1950s on the site of Beatrix Potter’s former home. There is an off-market, six-bedroom house for sale on The Boltons at the moment, although the price is not disclosed.
Grosvenor Crescent, Westminster
Average price: £21.9 million
Taxi drivers will know Grosvenor Crescent as the connecting road between Belgrave Square and the Hyde Park Corner roundabout. It is best known as both the home the Belgian Embassy and the fact that, during the early noughties, 3-10 Grosvenor Crescent was bought, remodelled and turned into a clutch of huge apartments and duplex flats, sold individually for a total of £201m.
Courtenay Avenue, Hampstead
Average Price: £20.9 million
On first inspection, Courtenay Avenue does not look like its stucco-fronted Kensington and Chelsea rivals. It is a suburban, private gated cul-de-sac in between Highgate Golf Club and Kenwood house. It’s got illustrious company – the road parallel to it is The Bishops Avenue, better known as Billionaire’s row, and like it, Courtenay Avenue is treasured for its large detached houses and large gardens, many of which have swimming pools. In short, it is a little bit of rural North London not that far from central London. The most recent house to be sold on it was Heathways, which sold for £18m in 2014.
Compton Avenue, Hampstead
Average house price: £15.01m
Compton Avenue like its neighbour Courtenay Avenue, is off Hampstead Lane in the leafy clutch of roads below the Spaniards Inn. Compton Avenue is particularly well known for its ‘knock downs’. This is where modest homes built during the post-war years are bought up by developers and then flattened to make way for opulent mansions. There is currently a large, detached house for sale on the road with Knight Frank. The Red House, which has a swimming pool, large garden and seven bedrooms is on the market for £9.95m.
Frognal Way, Hampstead
Average house price: £13.27m
This private, gated road behind Hampstead Parish Church has bit of an ‘off-grid’ feel to it despite the huge detached houses and high prices along its length. The road isn’t paved and its sandy, sometimes uneven surface is in great contrast to the neat, upmarket roads around it. Its most famous home owner to date has been Gracie Fields, the film and stage star of the 1930s. There’s a house for at the moment backing on to Frognal Way for sale with Savills for sale at £9.95m. It’s a six bedroom detached, double fronted mansion with an indoor pool, staff flat, garden & sash windows from Lomax + Wood.
Hanover Terrace, Regent’s Park
Average house price: £11.13m
This short road off Regent Park’s Outer Circle was built in 1822 to a design by John Nash and has been a desirable address ever since. It’s unusual because all its 20 houses are linked by one continuous column-lined external gallery (or loggia) running along the ground floor. Famous residents have included author HG Wells, composer Vaughan Williams and Wallis Simpson, Duchess of Windsor and wife to the former Edward VIII. The road is security conscious to say the least, and a vendor selling their home on the road at the moment for £11 million doesn’t even want their home featured on the agent’s website instead preferring to feature pictures of the lake opposite.
