A few days ago I went with my daughter to look over a flat in Southfilelds. Unlike Shoreditch it’s not the trendiest part of London – yet! But it has pretty good transport connections and Wimbledon Common is but a few minutes walk away. I even spotted a couple of ‘artisan’ shops in the High Street so it’s definitely on the up.
The flat was in a 60’s block; it was ground floor, single bedroom, sitting room, kitchen and bathroom. Overall not a bad size; it needed some work on it but nothing too major. The perfect starter home.
The price? £345,000 part freehold. Then there are all the additional costs of service charges, council tax, legal fees, broker’s fees and the dreaded stamp duty, although this would be about £2,000 less today than it was earlier in the week thanks to Mr Osborne.
Suppose she wanted to buy in Hammersmith or Brackenbury in particular? Not a chance. According to the Land Registry there have been 57 sales in the W6 post code area since the end of June at an average price of £916,524. Twenty of the sales in this period were for over a million pounds. This is all the more remarkable when nearly three quarters of these transactions were for flats.
But where are all the affordable homes that developers are supposed to include in their plans? In Sovereign Court 30% of the homes should be affordable housing. But what does this actually mean?
To me “affordable housing” means housing which someone living and working in the community can afford to buy, or housing for rent available at a monthly rent which can be afforded by someone on a local wage. There’s none of that in Sovereign Court. Or anywhere else around here for that matter.
Sadly, my daughter and many other young first time buyers won’t be moving here anytime soon. Southfields could be a bargain.
SOVEREIGN COURT PROJECT UPDATE
There will be a presentation from the St George construction team this coming Tuesday 9th December at the Stonemason’s Arms, 54 Cambridge Grove. Here’s your opportunity to quiz them on all aspects of the development so far and on the planned activities for the next few months. It starts at 18.30.
If you wish to get in touch with St George their dedicated email address is sovereigncourtlocalresidents@stgeorgewl.com
MEMBERSHIP UPDATES
Please can all members who were contacted by Judi Shaw (Membership Secretary)during November regarding their outstanding membership subscriptions falling due, post or drop into 6 Overstone Road their £4 membership fees ASAP.
And if you have recently changed your email address could you please email her so that she can update her records. Shawjudi@tiscali.co.uk