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Phones4U founder to Mayfair turn car park into £1.5 BILLION apartment block for the super rich

The Mirror 13 December 2015 by Adrian Hearn

Plans by the founder of Phones4U to turn a car park into a £1.5 BILLION apartment block have been approved despite objections.

Billionaire John Caudwell can now demolish the multi-storey Mayfair car park and transform it into a state-of-the-art development where penthouses will be worth more than £100 million.

Simon Barnes, from Mayfair-based property firm H Barnes & Co, welcomed the decision.

He said: “I think it is fantastic news that the plans have been approved and really great for the area.

“The car park has been a blot on the landscape for years. It is a disused space and I think John Caudwell is the sort of person who has the vision to make it a fantastic development. He understands what people will want.

“I think that when you build something good, people will come. There is unrest around the world and it is bringing people to London.”

CLICK TO READ FULL ARTICLE (MIRROR WEBSITE)

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Daily Mail: UK’s most expensive home has price slashed by £17 MILLION

The UK’s most expensive home has had its price slashed by an astonishing £17 MILLION. One Hyde Park went on the open market last year with a pricetag of an eye-watering £75 million.

Simon Barnes, from property consultancy H Barnes & Co, described the reduction as “hefty” but doesn’t believe the price matters too much to people at this level.

He said: “If you have a property like this you have something very special but it takes a while to find the right buyer. It is like a diamond or a painting.

“You are dealing with a different market and the air is thin at that end.

“People will buy the flat for different reasons and rarely is it down to budget. If it fits, the price is irrelevant.

READ FULL ARTICLE ON THE MIRROR WEBSITE 

Simon Barnes of H. Barnes & Co also quoted in
THE DAILY MAIL | IRISH MIRROR | SOMERSET GUARDIAN |  BATH CHRONICLE 

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The Times: How to be in your new home by Christmas

From The Times Property 30 October 2015 by Carol Lewis

If you had been looking to buy or sell property in time to be carving the turkey in your new home, Santa’s appearance will undoubtedly have prompted panic. Don’t despair. Here are some tips on how to make the deadline before Rudolf is reined.

Simon Barnes, a property consultant at H Barnes and Co, says: “There are a lot of properties about that are good but have been overpriced or not presented properly. So the sellers have the choice, sell now at a lower price or take it off the market and work on presentation, putting it back on in March.”

Know your market

Do your homework and know how much property is worth. Look at what else has sold in the street you want to move to or similar properties in the area. Barnes says: “You need to be well prepared to have seen what has sold and what hasn’t and have a good understanding of the value of the property you want. You need to be well informed to make an educated offer.”

Be flexible

If you are happy to exchange rather than complete by Christmas you could boost your negotiating power by offering the sellers time. Barnes says: “Be flexible with your timing, if the vendor is part of a chain then it is not just about price. So you could offer them less than the asking price but give them six months to find somewhere to live. It might be appealing to them to have the sale sorted and have that three to six months to find somewhere else.”

You won’t be alone

You won’t be the only one who has thought about buying in the lead-up to Christmas. Barnes says: “A lot of high-net-worth individuals have their business done and dusted now, and can focus on looking for property. Investors want to get the money off their books by the year end and are looking too.”

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FT How To Spend It: Mayfair returns to the property forefront

An emerging art district, stellar shops and widened pavements are the backdrop for a glamorous residential renaissance in Mayfair.

Much of the recent residential building activity has been made possible by alterations to the planning regulations, which in the postwar period insisted that Mayfair’s traditionally domestic space be used as a refuge for bombed-out City firms. Over the next five years, a realignment of office to home will add an extra 110,000sq m of living room to the current meagre supply.

Fortunately, these changes have come at a moment when the world’s wealthiest have also altered their perspective on what is required to make a bigger splash. “It used to be that you either ‘got’ Mayfair or you didn’t,” says property consultant Simon Barnes, “but international buyers now want big houses, and Mayfair has some of the largest in London – at up to nearly 20,000sq m, they’re often double the size of those in Belgravia.”

FT/HTSI: SEPTEMBER 28 2015 by LISA FREEDMAN

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Evening Standard: London’s most expensive property

The owner of the most expensive property on the open market in London has offered to pay almost £9 million in stamp duty to help sell it.

The drastic move follows Chancellor George Osborne’s overhaul of stamp duty in last December’s Autumn Statement, which increased the level of property tax on homes sold for more than £937,000…

..Simon Barnes said: “Most willing sellers and buyers will find a compromise — it is all part of negotiations and this is being used as an incentive. I think it is a sweetener on this home and not a sign of things to come.”

CLICK TO READ READ FULL ARTICLE on Evening Standard website

 

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