The developer of Battersea Power Station is holding back around 150 apartments in phase three of the landmark scheme.
In an interview with Property Week, Rob Tincknell - chief executive of the Battersea Power Station Development Company - admits the market has “softened” for high-end apartments in central London.
Tincknell told the magazine that 35 apartments from the initial tranche of phase three were still on sale but 150 were being held back. “If there is market demand, we will release more units, but the market has softened. When we sell the 35 we will probably release some more, but the market is the market, and we don’t need to be chasing sales” he says.
Earlier this year there were media reports that Rightmove and Zoopla were “awash” with “unofficial resales of flats in developments including Battersea Power Station.”
Sluggish sales were put down to the increased stamp duty on most apartments priced over £937,000, jitters in itnernational stock markets and the strengthening of Sterling against the currencies of some Asian countries where overseas buyers are typically based. Some analysts now say uncertainty over the EU referendum result is now adding to instability.
Property Week says the latest revelation about Battersea Power Station contrasts with strong sales of phase one of the scheme; this launched to a high-profile fanfare in early 2013 and all 865 apartments sold in just a few weeks.
However, around 20 apartments in the 254-unit phase two remain unsold, despite being launched some two years ago.
Earlier this month Estate Agent Today reported that one central London agency, Portico, was adopting a fixed fee ‘offer’ to vendors over the summer, and was running a competition for any seller instructing it on a property valued at £1m-plus.
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SW11 at £1500 a foot, are you surprised? Why is it that all new builds seem to be priced at least 50% more than the local market? If new build developers were a little more savvy, they'd think about the domestic market a little more and not expose themselves to eratic overseas markets.
That would be far too forward-thinking, Roger. The developers just want to make as much money as possible, they have no interest in the domestic market or producing affordable home. They're just chasing the Yankee dollar, as David Brent might say.
I'm assuming the flats in Battersea Power station will be affordable, right? That's what the government keep banging on about, affordable housing for all. Very little evidence of that so far.
Battersea Power station would have been a real chance to produce genuinely affordable flats and apartments for people who live and work in the city. Instead, they'll be sold off to super-rich investors and playboys with more money than sense.
They're holding back the apartments until they rise in value again. Milk as much as they possibly can from them. That's all there is to it.
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