Bloom or bust: Homebuyers are still thrilled with Chelsea

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As the great and the good descended on Chelsea this week for the annual flower show, the streets of this well-heeled area of ​​south-west London were transformed by colorful flower displays.

The theme of the Chelsea in Bloom festival, which is drawing to a close, is “flowers on film”. A jurassic park-inspired by the T-Rex has been planted in Sloane Square, a huge golden statuette of the Oscars sits on Pavilion Road, and there are floral tributes to Mary Poppins And The Lion King.

Unlike factories, however, the housing market in Chelsea has withered recently. Rising interest rates have dampened activity and the number of real estate sales in the first three months of this year was 31% lower than the same period last year, according to LonRes, which tracks the first
real estate market – even though it remained up 11% compared to the average between 2015 and 2019.

Prices in this area, sandwiched between South Kensington and the River Thames, are attractive compared to other exclusive areas of the capital. Homes in Chelsea’s SW3 and SW10 postcodes average £1,554 per square foot, below the £1,740 for central London, says LonRes, although that figure masks significant discrepancy between flats and houses. The Covid space race has helped push home values ​​in Chelsea to a new high of £2,005 a square foot in 2022 (although this has since fallen back to £1,868). Apartments cost an average of £1,435 per square foot, down 11% from the 2014 peak.

Much of the recent growth in house prices has been driven by families as there are excellent schools in the area, says Matthew Morton-Smith of real estate agency Savills. “It also has a village feel to central London and Covid has underlined the importance of living in a neighborhood and having local cafes and shops,” he adds.

Chelsea’s sense of community was key for Cheryl Muller and her financier husband, who bought a duplex apartment with a roof terrace in one of Chelsea’s red-brick mansions late last year . The couple, from New York, rented from Chelsea during the pandemic and benefited from the strength of the dollar against the pound when they bought in the wake of last September’s calamitous “mini” Budget.

“We didn’t buy a bargain,” she said. “What drew us to Chelsea were amenities such as King’s Road and Battersea Park across the river. . . It’s also a beautiful neighborhood architecturally and has a real community, where they know you at the butcher and the fishmonger.”

Chelsea’s stores just got better and better. Following the redevelopment of Duke of York Square, Cadogan Estates, Chelsea’s largest landowner, has in recent years embarked on a £500million modernization project, which includes the redevelopment of King’s Road – once the epicenter of the Swinging Sixties – the installation of a new Curzon cinema, new shops and a rooftop bar.

Cadogan has also created a new shopping street, Pavilion Road – which has a European café culture feel and is home to independent shops such as a butcher, fishmonger, baker, cheese maker and grocer. In March, the landowner began a two-year, £46million pedestrian renovation of Sloane Street, which connects Sloane Square to Knightsbridge.

British and European buyers have long dominated here, although the weakness of the pound against the dollar has caused a surge in American buyers, such as the Mullers. Last year, the proportion of SW3 sales to American buyers by the Hamptons real estate agency rose 8 percentage points to 12%, the highest figure since at least 2011, with many Americans looking for second homes.

“Demand from buyers dropped off at the end of 2022 but we saw them coming back this year, eager to buy something at the right price,” says Robert Green, of real estate agency John D Wood & Co.

Buyers can find a wide range of property types, from grand crescents and garden squares to former merchants’ houses and artists’ studios, with prices starting at £500,000. Sales to homeowners have plummeted in recent years and as interest rates have risen cash has become king – 75% of buyers currently looking for homes in Chelsea with estate agency Marsh and Parsons are cash buyers.

The most sought after apartments are closer to Sloane Square in the red brick Cadogan Square and Cadogan Gardens. Markham and Carlyle Squares are popular for family homes, as is Mallord Street, while estate agency Rokstone recently sold a house in Chelsea Park Gardens for just under £11million and one in Mulberry Walk for £16million pounds sterling – both were purchased by European families.

Further west towards SW10 you will find the largest and most prestigious homes on The Boltons, The Little Boltons, Gilston Road and Tregunter Road. Many of these have benefited from Kensington and Chelsea’s old planning laws, so homes with basements command a premium, with prices ranging from £10m with no basements to around £30m. fully dug books, according to Henry Sherwood of The Buying Agents.

New constructions are rare. The most notable are Chelsea Barracks, on the outskirts of Chelsea – its final phase, 9 Mulberry Square, due for completion in the first quarter of next year – and The Glebe, a former school site just south of King’s Road. Prices for the Glebe’s seven luxury apartments and two private villas start at £27.7million and four of the houses have been sold, all to Europeans, with the smallest villa costing £75million, according to Guy Meacock , from Prime Purchase. “A house north of £3,500 per square foot is not unheard of in Chelsea, but it was still a showpiece sale,” he says.

Edward Horswell and his wife Nona moved to a five-bedroom house near Sloane Square in 2001 for the ideal location close to both centers
London and their daughters’ school.

“There’s a great lifestyle here and some great restaurants – you can go for a morning coffee at one of the outside tables and sit down at 9 at night,” says Horswell, owner of the Sladmore Gallery. “The ambiance during the flower show is unbeatable.”

What you can buy. . .

Apartment, Radnor Walk, £1.95m
A two bedroom second floor apartment with access to the communal gardens in Tedworth Square, a short walk from the Chelsea Flower Show site. The property, which has been recently renovated, measures 80 m². She is on the market with Strut & Parker.

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House, Sloane Court East, £6.25m
A four-bedroom terraced house with access to the communal garden and a self-contained one-bedroom apartment in the basement. The property, which measures 2,702 square feet, also has 460 square feet of unfinished attic space. Available with Strut & Parker.

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Apartment, The Glebe, £27.7m
An individually designed four bedroom apartment with hotel style amenities in a new luxury development on Glebe Place. The apartment, which measures 5209 square feet, is within walking distance of the shops and restaurants of King’s Road. On sale by Frankish Knight.

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