Kaye & Carey in the Mirror Newspaper
Feb 06, 2015
Bargain? The flat in Egerton Gardens, Knightsbridge, has a guide price of £250,000, although it might not even sell for this much
This palatial home in one of London’s most elite roads - where properties fetch nearly £2million - has been put on the market for just £250,000.
It's a stone's throw from Harrods, in Knightsbridge, and is being marketed at the same price as a one-bedroom flat in Croydon.
But there is a catch - there is only nine months left on the lease.
Estate agents Kaye & Carey is selling the flat in Egerton Gardens, SW3, for a guide price of £250,000, although they admitted it might not sell for this much.
To renew the lease would cost a staggering £1.27 million, otherwise the house would revert back to its freeholder, the Wellcome Trust.
Matthew Kaye, director of Kaye & Carey, estimates that with a ‘normal’ lease of around 90 years, the flat would sell for about £1.75 million.
“It’s an excellent location,” he said. “It’s close to Harrods and Chanel.
“Brompton Cross tube is very close. “ It opens onto communal gardens and is in a very sought after location.”
The property has a bedroom, en-suite bathroom, reception room, kitchen, cloakroom and utility room and Mr Kaye said since it went on the market on Monday they had already had a number of offers.
The offers have to come from cash buyers, as it is impossible to get a mortgage on a property with such a short lease.
He said other people had contacted him excited about living in Knightsbridge at such a bargain rate - not realising that they would be evicted in September.
He said: “The lease is up on September 26.
“We have been inundated with calls from people asking about it.
“We’ve said, ‘sorry to deflate you, but have you seen that the lease is very short?’
“We’ve had people of all nationalities looking around.
“The home could do with some updating but with a longer lease would sell for around £1.75 million.
“But now it’s a niche market.
“We need cash buyers, not just for the original price of £250,000, but also for the subsequent loan for the lease extension.”
He said he was not sure why the lease had fallen to less than a year, saying a couple in their 60s lived in the flat.
“They both work,” he said. “ I think he is a stockbroker.
“For the right buyer the home is an investment. “It’s a lovely flat in a great location.”