SHORTAGES BRING PREMIUM PRICING
6VAVWCBVHBW5 , In the first half of 2010, the market for new homes overall was characterised by a dwindling supply of units under construction in Midtown, City fringes and Docklands, as the unwillingness of banks to fund residential development since 2008 cut off the development pipeline. There is an exact parallel with the commercial office market
in central London, where starts also ground to a halt in the first half of the year.
By contrast, the City core did have a supply of new superbly fittedout luxury apartments on offer at Bezier, Lamb’s Passage, The Heron and Frobisher Crescent, with high sales rates and prices breaking through the psychological threshold of £1,000 psf. This handful of significant City schemes will define pricing for the new homes london market over the coming two years. In March 2010 Gerald Ronson’s Heron Residences LLP started construction on a new 36 storey residential tower, The Heron – a contemporary addition to the 1970s Barbican cluster. The scheme comprises 284 units, 83 of which were launched to the market on 18th March 2010, with both on-line marketing and an impressive marketing suite. By June 2010 110 had been reserved at prices ranging from £415,000 for a studio and £2.5 million for a three-bedroom apartment. These prices break back to a range from around £900 psf to £1,325 psf, with an average price in the region of £1,100 psf. Between March and June 2010, the average prices increased 27% from £1,100 to £1,400 psf.
The building will have a full concierge service including, housekeeping, restaurant and theatre reservations, car service, dry cleaning, courier and messaging services, maintenance services, secretarial and travel arrangements. A private club with roof garden and a gymnasium will also be available to residents and their guests including a bar, café, screening room, meeting and conference rooms. The lower levels of the building will provide a new home for
The Guildhall School of Music and Drama incorporating a 608 seat concert hall, a 227 seat theatre and a studio theatre.