12th April 2011
Not just an ordinary agent
Think of Glentree International and you’ll probably conjure up images of breathtaking houses in the Bishops Avenue with some of the world’s most breathtaking price tags to match. And you wouldn’t be wrong. Glentree have sold, or been involved in the sale of, probably every home on that road – one of the bestknown addresses in the world.Think a little more and charismatic managing director and founder of Glentree, Trevor Abrahmsohn, may come to mind. Trevor set up Glentree in the stifling hot summer of 1976 in a hotel room with nothing more than a healthy dose of ambition and £10,000 in his pocket.All that seems a long way away from the company’s tasteful office on the corner of Finchley Road and Hoop Lane today, phones buzzing and constant footfall from potential clients, dazzled by the promise living in one of London’s most sought-after areas.Despite this talent for marketing some of the world’s most expensive real estate, it may come as a surprise to some that Trevor and his staff don’t limit themselves solely to homes with a million dollar plus price tag. Just a cursory look at the company website – www.glentree.co.uk – reveals that there’s an assortment of properties on offer, any day of the week, ranging from the entirely reasonable £300,000 mark and upwards. Glentree staffers Daniel Baum and Jonathan Wein both know this lucrative market sector well and their knowledge of the areas in which the company specialises – Hampstead, Hampstead Garden Suburb, Kenwood and Highgate – is second to none.Add to this the highly-regarded rentals and lettings service headed by Rosalind Florence and her team, Amit Sony and Matthew Messider, and the company’s success is easier to understand.
12th April 2011
The £100m question
Grand designs don’t get much grander than this. On the street known as Millionaires’ Row — The Bishops Avenue, in Hampstead — snagging is being done on Heath Hall. The Grade II-listed, restored and extended Arts and Crafts home has 27,000 sq ft of living space and 14 bedrooms, and is set in landscaped grounds of 2½ acres, one of the largest gardens in north London.Its developer, Andreas Panayiotou, is hoping the property, which neighbours those owned by the Sultan of Brunei and members of the Saudi Arabian royal family, will fetch more than £100m, making it one of the most expensive houses for sale in the capital.“They say it’s better to have the worst house on the best street than the best house on the worst street,” says Panayiotou, 45, chairman of the London-based Ability Group, and better known as a hotelier and buy-to-let magnate than as a builder of luxury homes. “But it’s far better to have the best house on the best street.”Although he won’t be pinned down to an exact figure — “How can I put a price on a house for which there is no comparison?” — he is confident that his creation will fetch twice as much as Royal Mansion, a few houses down, which sold in 2008 for just over £50m. Yet Panayiotou, who was raised in the East End by Greek Cypriot parents, and whose wealth was estimated at £250m in The Sunday Times Rich List last year, insists the project is less about money and more about creating a country classic in London, with unparalleled luxury and security. “When I was a lad, I used to drive down this road with my parents,” he says. “Over the past 20 years, I’ve built more than 9,000 apartments and they’ve all been the same. So this has been very personal.”
2nd December 2010
A London home? Yes, please- although I don’t really need it
Foreign buyers go to Italy to buy leather goods, to France to buy designer clothes and to London to buy a property. This is according to veteran estate agent Trevor Abrahmsohn, the founder and managing director of Glentree Estates in north London.Renowned as the billionaires’ agent, the South African is famous for selling expensive, or “trophy” homes, to overseas investors. Around 40 per cent of his clients are from abroad.Undeterred by the financial crisis, wealthy overseas buyers have been returning to London over the past couple of years as the market for trophy homes bucks the wider property slump.Reports indicate that the number of foreign investors buying homes in London rose from 53 per cent to 68 per cent between June 2009 and 2010 - even higher at the top end of the market.Seven out of 10 London homes costing more than £5m were sold to foreign investors. And the increase in activity is pushing up prices across London.Mr Abrahmsohn, 56, says: “The overseas market increases as the prices go up and we are seeing a lot of foreign investors. At the £5m homes, around 20 per cent of our buyers are foreign but when it comes to the £10m-plus houses, it’s about 50 per cent.“There was a slow-down in prices over the summer and now we are seeing a steady rise.”He says: “Normally people buy properties in capitalcities because they need it. In London, they buy one whether they need it or not.”In the first six months of the year, his company sold more trophy properties that it did during the past two years. He has sold £150m worth of homes this year.
26th August 2010
The £140 million Penthouse flat
The two-floor apartment at the One Hyde Park development in Knightsbridge features bullet-proof windows, an air purifying system and a panic room.The flat, possibly the most expensive in the world, is believed to cost more than £6,000 a square foot compared with the Kensington and Chelsea average of £1,214 and capital wide average of £450.The price illustrates the stark differences between how the super-prime and mainstream residential markets in the capital are faring. International buyers are still investing in London, attracted by the weakness of the pound, as many Londoners pull out of the market.Trevor Abrahamson, of estate agent Glentree Estates, said: “This is a huge price but it’s not surprising. In the last six months we have sold more trophy properties than we have in the last two years. One minute there was an over supply and then there was a shortage. Prices are high.“London has recovered much better than other prime markets around the world. It draws buyers from the most eclectic range of destinations and it will always be seen as the capital of capitals financially and culturally.”One Hyde Park, next door to the Mandarin Oriental Hotel, features more than 80 flats in four linked towers designed by architect Lord Rogers.The complex includes spas, squash courts and a private winetasting facility. Everyone on site will have access to a private underground passage to the hotel and 24-hour room service from the hotel, where Michelin-starred chef Heston Blumenthal is opening his first London restaurant.
26th August 2010
David Miliband's tax blow to 34,000 homes in London
Under the plan a home worth £3 million would pay a minimum of £10,000 extra a year, while a home worth £4 million would pay £20,000. Mr Miliband said the tax, which was first proposed by the Liberal Democrats until an internal party revolt, would allow the next Labour government to reverse the cuts being carried out by the coalition government.But Trevor Abrahamson, of agents Glentree Estates, said: “Anyone with an ounce of nous wouldn’t even suggest this policy, let alone implement it.“It would be disastrous for London. It would change the whole dynamics of the market, which would solidify as people stopped selling so as not to realise their tax liability.“That would have a knock-on effect on consumer demand as people wouldn’t be realising property gains and spending that money. This tax would also stifle demand for high level properties from abroad, which is what has helped revive the market in the last year. The British economy is far too dependent on the property sector to do something like this.”The Treasury announced in its emergency Budget that it hoped to slash £1.3 billion from housing benefit costs by cutting the current rates paid on behalf of tenants. Housing campaigners say that the cuts would force many of London’s “working poor” to move out of the city.Mr Miliband said: “We’ve calculated that a mansion tax of one per cent on homes over more than £2 million would more than cover the money that they claim to be saving from housing benefit reforms.”Under the plan, the Queen would be in line for a £9.35 million tax demand on Buckingham Palace, which has been valued at £935 million. Kensington and Chelsea has about 24 per cent of the £2 million-plus homes in the entire country. Four London boroughs, Kensington, Westminster, Hammersmith & Fulham and Camden would pay 60 per cent of the total.
26th August 2010
David Miliband wants a 'Mansion Tax' .... but not on HIS home
Labour leadership frontrunner David Miliband wants to slap a 'mansion tax' on thousands of homeowners whose properties are worth more than £2million.He says the £1.7billion raised every year would enable him to overturn the Government's plans to reduce housing benefit for the country's poorest.But critics point out that the threshold for the one per cent tax would mean that his £1.5million home in plush Primrose Hill in north London would just miss out.They said that if he is going to propose a new tax, he should have the 'courage of his convictions' and ensure he would be liable to pay it.And the Tories say that safeguarding the housing benefit bill would simply mean families would continue to benefit from £100,000 a year payouts from the taxpayer. Some 40,000 people live in homes worth more than £2million, with more than three quarters of them in the capital.Under Mr Miliband's plan, people would pay a tax of one per cent on the value of a house above £2million.So, someone with a home worth £3million would pay one per cent of £1million - or £10,000 a year - while a home worth £4million would incur £20,000.A £2million mansion tax was first proposed by Vince Cable when he was the Liberal Democrats' Treasury spokesman.But it was dropped before the election following an internalparty revolt.Mr Miliband lives in a townhouse worth an estimated £1.5million in Primrose Hill, north London. It is so appealing that while he was foreign secretary, he elected to stay there rather than move in to the official ministerial residence in Carlton Gardens.
26th August 2010
What's next for house prices?
Despite low interest rates and drifting house prices, our panel of experts say now is the time to grab a five-year fixed deal.Ali HussainPublished: 1 August 2010 Mortgage brokers tipped five-year fixed rates at our property round table last week, despite predictions that Bank rate could remain at its record low for several years.Mervyn King, governor of the Bank of England, signalled that big rate rises were a long way off, despite inflation remaining above its 2% target.“The gradual improvement in credit conditions that was evident earlier in the year seems to have come to a halt in recent months,” he told the Treasury select committee last week. “We judge that it is right to keep our foot firmly on the accelerator in order to stimulate the economy.”His comments followed a forecast from the Ernst & Young Item Club that Bank rate will remain on hold at 0.5% for at least the next three years.Stephen Martin and Rhea Sykes with their son Ethan (2) from Manchester. 29.07.10 (Roger Moody)What’s next for house prices?House pricesKathryn Cooper, Money editor:Do you see property prices falling this year?George Buckley, chief economist, Deutsche Bank: The housing market has been strong over the past 12 months for a number of reasons: interest rates are exceptionally low; unemployment hasn’t risen anywhere near as much as we feared; sterling has been weak, attracting foreign buyers; and though there is more property on the market, supply is still relatively limited, helping to bolster prices.What worries me, however, is that all of those things are showing signs of turning round. Rates are probably going to go up, maybe by the start of next year. I also think rising unemployment is a big risk.I think prices will be up 2.5% by the end of the year, although if you take Nationwide’s figures this implies a fall in the next six months of about 2%. Over 2011, we estimate a 5% fall.Lucian Cook, director of research at Savills Private Finance:We expected a 6.5% fall for 2010 as a whole but we now think this could come entirely in the second half of the year. That would mean prices would be down about 2.5% if you take Nationwide’s figures.
26th August 2010
Next left
The Standard did quote at length Trevor Abrahamson of Glentree Estates, who offered a detailed economic model explaining how the property tax could could put off wealthy foreigners, destroy consumer confidence and so bring down the entire British economy: “Anyone with an ounce of nous wouldn’t even suggest this policy, let alone implement it ... The British economy is far too dependent on the property sector to do something like this.”
21st July 2010
The Secret Agent
When foreign billionaires arrive in London needing a house, they call Trevor Abrahmsohn. Operating in a hidden world where nothing is written, nothing is advertised and everything is to play for, he sells Hampstead to the highest bidders Mark Hollingsworth investigates As Simon Cowell was turned away from the door by a 30-strong phalanx of bouncers, while his ormer girlfriend and protegee, the bejewelled Sinitta, was waved through into a vast foyer filled with dry ice, it became clear that this was no ordinary house party. But then, the venue was no ordinary house. It was 46A The Bishops Avenue, otherwise known as Royal Mansion.The party, two years ago, was to celebrate the sale of what was the most expensive new-build house in Britain when if changed hands for a reported £50 million to a mysterious businesswoman from Kazakhstan. There’s a helipad, a gilded mosaic indoor pool, and what isn’t gold is marble, including a Turkish bath in the basement. The host of this champagne-fuelled bacchanal was Trevor Abrahmsohn, 55, managing director of Glentree Estates, a smooth-talking networker renowned as the billionaires’ estate agent, who brokered the sale. His guest of honour was Mikhail Gorbachev (they both support 31 leukaemia charities and have lost family to the disease). Speaking through an interpreter, Gorbachev delivered a moving speech but concluded: ‘Many Russians bring their money to your country. Be careful, they might buy everything!’
2nd July 2010
The Secret Agent
When foreign billionaires arrive in London needing a house, they call Trevor Abrahmsohn. Operating in a hidden world where nothing is written, nothing is advertised and everything is to play for, he sells Hampstead to the highest bidders.Mark Hollingsworth investigatesThe Glentree gold rush, from left: Lakshmi Mittal bought this Kensington Palace Gardens home from Bernie Ecclestone in 2004 for £57 million; Royal Mansion on The Bishops Avenue was sold for £50 million in 2008; another house on The Bishops Avenue sold by Abrahmsohn; Ely Calil’s house on the same street.As Simon Cowell was turned away from the door by a 30-strong phalanx of bouncers, while his former girlfriend and protegee,the bejewelled Sinitta, was waved through into a vast foyer filled with dry ice, it became clear that this was no ordinary house party. But then, the venue was no ordinary house. It was 46A The Bishops Avenue, otherwise known as Royal Mansion.The party, two years ago, was to celebrate the sale of what was the most expensive new-build house in Britain when if changed hands for a reported £50 million to a mysterious businesswoman from Kazakhstan. There’s a helipad, a gilded mosaic indoor pool, and what isn’t gold is marble, including a Turkish bath in the basement.
13th May 2010
MADNESS AT THE MANSION
MADNESS AT THE MANSION Last month saw one of London’s most expensive property deals, involving the gilt-and-marble pile now known as Royal Mansion. Gorbachev was flown in to toast the deal with Simon Cowell and Sinitta. Hosting the event was the glamorous Yasmin Ghandehari, daughter-in-law of the elusive new owner, and self-styled developer of the lavish, but exhausted, 30,000 sq. ft. behemoth.
13th May 2010
THE YELLOW BRICK ROAD
EVERY TIME THERE’S A POLITICAL OR ECONOMIC CRISIS IN THE WORLD, ONE ROAD IN LONDON STANDS TO BENEFIT, CHRISTOPHER MIDDLETON UNVEILS THE HIDDEN HISTORY OF THE INVASION OF HAMPSTEAD
15th February 2010
Housing market: why the downturn's not over yet
Kathryn Cooper, editor of Money: Why has the housing market enjoyed such a strong rebound?George Buckley, Deutsche Bank: If we consider any measure of [housing] affordability — mortgage repayments as a proportion of income — it’s looking fairly good right now. Repayments are just 28% of average incomes. It’s no surprise that house prices are rising given that mortgage lending is starting to stabilise.Simon Rubinsohn, RICS: There’s also a global dimension. Central banks are pouring liquidity into the economy and pushing up asset prices, property in particular. It’s not confined to Britain; other economies are fretting about the effect on prices. It wouldn’t surprise me if we saw prices up on, say, Nationwide’s index at peak levels.Seema Shah, property economist at Capital Economics: In the short term, you could feasibly have another year of continuing price rises.Ray Boulger, senior technical director at John Charcol: The sort of people who might have been repossessed in the late 1980s and early 1990s, when their interest rates doubled in 15 months, have this time seen their mortgage rates come way down because many are on trackers.Government support is stopping lenders from repossessing, which will mean repossessions are not as bad as they were in previous downturns. Low interest rates are another key factor. For those reasons, we’re going to see the market continue to improve in the short term.Trevor Abrahmsohn, founder of Glentree International: The bottom of the market probably was in about April. Next year there will be a slow and progressive rise in prices. There’s been a sea change in thinking among developers in the past six to eight weeks.I know a number that are taking quite a bullish view.
2nd November 2009
At a top drawer bash, blini, bubbly and Gorby
Rolls-Royces and Range Rovers lined The Bishops Avenue as hundreds of guests poured into Royal Mansion, the boldest and brassiest house in the neighbourhood - quite a feat where the Saudi royal family owns 10 homes.
2nd November 2009
The billionaires row that's defying the economic woe
The impact of the credit crisis is being felt across the world. But one North London road, where a house has just been bought for a record breaking £50m , seems immune.
2nd November 2009
ON THE HEAD 'SOHN
Only Trevor Abrahmsohn, flamboyant founder of estate agency Glentree Estates, who sells Hampstead trophy houses to the obscenely rich, coul dland former Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev as a guest of honour.
2nd November 2009
The billionaires property agent
He has sold £200m of homes this month alone, to buyers including Lev Leviev. So what are Trevor Abrahmsohn's secrets.
2nd November 2009
Quantity Street
Barsh, flash and stuffed full of cash: that's The Bishops Avenue - aka Millionaires Row. Nigel Farndale takes a tour of London's most expensive slab of real estate.
29th October 2009
Kenwood Place, Hampstead Heath
Hailed as North London's most coveted new address, Kenwood Place is iset in over two acres of private gated grounds that enjopy direct access to the 800 acres of Hampstead Heath.
29th October 2009
Conspicous wealth
An envious glance at the top end of the residential property market.
30th April 2009
The unassuming street with knockout prices
This quiet road placed second among Britain's most expensive place to live.
20th March 2009
Welcome to BILLIONAIRES' ROW
He brokered the £40m sale of Toprak Mansion. Now he's selling Lakshmi Mittal's place, bang next door.
28th January 2009
Mansion sold for a record £50m 'is set for a £30m makeover'
A PALATIAL home complete with a Turkish bath for 20 people has been sold for £50million, breaking the record for the most expensive new-build house in Britain, which was recently set by a nearby property.
8th January 2008
Inside the £35m Hampstead home of diamond billionaire
Leviev buys the most expensive new house in Britain with pool, cinema and nightclub.