Dilapidated Family Home in London Sells for £6.25 Million

Demand for spacious family homes in North West London apparently knows no bounds, with a large uninhabitable property having sold this week for £500,000 more than its asking price.

Three families with their sights on the home in St. John’s Wood entered into a bidding war, ultimately resulting in the dilapidated property selling for a huge £6.25 million.An impressive price in its own right, made all the more remarkable by the questionable condition of the property and its surroundings.

Speaking on behalf of Arlington Residential estate agents, Marc Schneiderman said that the price the property fetched represented further evidence of pent-up demand being unleashed on the housing market in the wake of three consecutive lockdowns.

“The appetite for family houses in North West London is often underestimated by people who feel that the events of the past 12 months have suppressed the sales market,” he said.

“This really could not be further from the truth, with demand currently far outstripping the availability of houses for sale.”

Mr. Schneiderman also stated that bidding wars between two or more buyers have occurred in at least 70% of his agency’s property sales over the past six months.

An ambitious renovation project

The property itself is currently in an uninhabitable condition throughout, though it has remarkable potential as a long-term renovation project.

Located in a desirable corner of St. John’s Wood, the distinctive detached property provides 7,074 square feet of living space, including eight bedrooms, seven reception rooms, six bathrooms, an artist’s studio, and a family kitchen.

According to Arlington Residential, each of the families bidding for the property is local to the St. John’s Wood area and intended to purchase the property for private occupation, not to renovate and resell.

The estate agent also emphasised the growing popularity of the local residential marketplace in and around St. John’s Wood, which is among London’s most active real estate markets for larger detached and semi-detached houses with private gardens.

A major shift in priorities among movers and first-time buyers during the COVID-19 crisis has seen attention move away from compact urban dwellings towards larger homes in less populated corners of the capital.

Private parking, space for home work, and outdoor living spaces are prioritised by more homebuyers than ever before, reflecting the new trend of working from home and spending more time at home than ever before.