WEBVTT - Property Porn for London's Ultra-Rich

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<v Speaker 1>I think the weakness of the pand but also because

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<v Speaker 1>of inflation, people hedging and thinking is property a good

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<v Speaker 1>investment to put our money into? Um if inflation reaches

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<v Speaker 1>e having having a bleed chirp, property could be considered

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<v Speaker 1>a good idea, right. So actually, with all of the

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<v Speaker 1>bad news for everyone, I mean it could be it

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<v Speaker 1>could be good right for your under the market. I

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<v Speaker 1>mean both in both surging inflation and higher interest rates

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<v Speaker 1>as a result and a falling currency. You're making it

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<v Speaker 1>sound as if I want this to dave a cost

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<v Speaker 1>of living crisis so I can sell another I'm David

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<v Speaker 1>Merritt with Francine macquar in the London studio and this

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<v Speaker 1>is in the City Bloomberg's podcast, connecting you to the

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<v Speaker 1>stories at the heart of the day of London. So

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<v Speaker 1>this week we are tackling the question of property and housing.

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<v Speaker 1>It is the national obsession of course, and the warning

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<v Speaker 1>signs of flashing that we may be at some sort

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<v Speaker 1>of tipping point for the housing market. This is a

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<v Speaker 1>tough tough time to buy, so you're probably stretching yourself

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<v Speaker 1>because of the cost of living, because of inflation to

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<v Speaker 1>purchase that dream flat or is that dream house and

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<v Speaker 1>everyone's scrambling to work out when should they re mortgage.

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<v Speaker 1>I'm doing this myself at the moment as interest rates

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<v Speaker 1>forecast to surge. We've had Bank of England rates going

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<v Speaker 1>up faster than they have done for many years, and

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<v Speaker 1>perhaps a sense of panics setting in about what might happen.

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<v Speaker 1>We haven't had a proper housing crash in this country

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<v Speaker 1>for a very long time. Joining is now as London's

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<v Speaker 1>bureau chief Neil Callen and also fair to say an

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<v Speaker 1>expert on the housing market. What you've been covering for

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<v Speaker 1>twenty two years and have received over five housing emails

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<v Speaker 1>from journalists asking from Martket advice. There's a lot of

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<v Speaker 1>like first time buyer mistakes and people made that I'm

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<v Speaker 1>happy to caution about because I have lived through a

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<v Speaker 1>proper crash and eland where the value of my apartment

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<v Speaker 1>fellent of one stage and you've seen booms and busts

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<v Speaker 1>and boom like where are we in this kind of cycle?

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<v Speaker 1>I think we're very much in the late stage of

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<v Speaker 1>the cycle. And when you look at the figures there

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<v Speaker 1>the UK housing boom since the financial crisis was driven

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<v Speaker 1>by cheaper interest rates so people could borrow more, people

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<v Speaker 1>could borrow for longer. And now with the Bank of

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<v Speaker 1>England raising rates because of inflation, a people have less

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<v Speaker 1>money to spend, but they're going to have to pay

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<v Speaker 1>more for their housing costs. And I was literally had

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<v Speaker 1>a friend texting me last week saying she's looking at

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<v Speaker 1>her mortgage costs tripling next year. So you know, first

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<v Speaker 1>of all, on average, what a new home buyer will

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<v Speaker 1>spend two d and twenty thousand pounds on the place,

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<v Speaker 1>which is which is quite expensive. I mean it's very,

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<v Speaker 1>very expensive, especially if you're a first time buyer. Are

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<v Speaker 1>we talking about possible market collapse that you know, the

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<v Speaker 1>value actually evaporates, what's worst case thing? Are you so?

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<v Speaker 1>At the moment houses in England are the most unaffordable

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<v Speaker 1>level ever. There aren't only nine times income. Again, that's

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<v Speaker 1>a sign Again I'm a market that's reached the new

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<v Speaker 1>he kind of market that might be vulnerable realistically because

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<v Speaker 1>it's taking so long for sales to go through. It's

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<v Speaker 1>going to be more of a slow puncture again, It's

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<v Speaker 1>going to take a while for the effect that the

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<v Speaker 1>energy prices to come true. Lots of people are unfixed

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<v Speaker 1>rate mortgages, but there are one point eight million people

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<v Speaker 1>next year who are coming off a fixed rate mortgage,

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<v Speaker 1>So it's going to take true to the four quarter

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<v Speaker 1>last year before you're really starting to see the full

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<v Speaker 1>impact of the mortgage rate increases, of the energy rate increases,

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<v Speaker 1>of people having less money for food having to change

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<v Speaker 1>and that just gives them less money to pay on housing.

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<v Speaker 1>Does that mean we're going to see defaults? Everything at

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<v Speaker 1>the moment is negative for housing, including construction costs are

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<v Speaker 1>going up so you can't necessarily it's much more expensive

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<v Speaker 1>to even do an extension and things like that. So

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<v Speaker 1>what sort of rates are we looking at? I mean,

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<v Speaker 1>I think there is one big qualifier I have to

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<v Speaker 1>add before I answered this, which is that the government

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<v Speaker 1>every single time the housing market has slowed down, the

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<v Speaker 1>government has kind of intervened to support it with the

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<v Speaker 1>sort of stamp duty measure or stamp. Julian helped to

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<v Speaker 1>buy in particular and particular h and that has been

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<v Speaker 1>a core tenant support in the housing markets. So the

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<v Speaker 1>question is can they continue to do that help to

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<v Speaker 1>buy his due to next year and maybe they extended,

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<v Speaker 1>but then another question is will they have the money

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<v Speaker 1>to be able to do that given the amount of

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<v Speaker 1>money they've spent on COVID and they amount the money

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<v Speaker 1>they're going to have to help spend helping households. But

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<v Speaker 1>all out of side, I think you could be looking

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<v Speaker 1>at a financial crisis type reduction which was around in

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<v Speaker 1>the UK. I'm not saying that's going to happen immediately.

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<v Speaker 1>It will take time. It will take probably at least

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<v Speaker 1>eighteen months to start to come true. And these things

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<v Speaker 1>happen tend to happen slower than you think and then

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<v Speaker 1>happen faster at the end. But I still need to

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<v Speaker 1>have to qualify if the government may stop it from happening,

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<v Speaker 1>and it is in their interests to do so. Every

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<v Speaker 1>single time the housing market slows down, the government stimulates demand,

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<v Speaker 1>they do not stimulate supply, and that helps keep house

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<v Speaker 1>prices high, which appeals to conservative work. Is London and

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<v Speaker 1>Central London immune because of buyers from abroad? Well, Central London,

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<v Speaker 1>the top end of Central London has already had a crash,

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<v Speaker 1>and has had a crash since just before Brexit. It

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<v Speaker 1>has rebounded a bit in the last year or so,

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<v Speaker 1>particularly at the very very top end where overseas buyers

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<v Speaker 1>who would have bought two years ago or last year,

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<v Speaker 1>you have all the pent up demand coming in at once.

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<v Speaker 1>Sorry by top enemy properties over a million pounds or

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<v Speaker 1>really realisticing is Prime Central London. You're talking five million

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<v Speaker 1>pounds plus and for houses probably ten million pounds plus um.

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<v Speaker 1>So the volumes of those sales are much higher. But

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<v Speaker 1>again it's a tiny part of the market. But even

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<v Speaker 1>within that, if you look at Inner London, which includes

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<v Speaker 1>Prime Central London and a few of the birds around it,

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<v Speaker 1>how flat prices have been falling since January, but outside

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<v Speaker 1>of that they're going up and they've actually just each record.

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<v Speaker 1>So Prime Central London has had a bit of a comeback,

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<v Speaker 1>but how sustainable that is we don't know yet. So

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<v Speaker 1>far you're not seeing as much benefit from the pound

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<v Speaker 1>the weaker pounders perhaps might have been expected. But in

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<v Speaker 1>all of these cases it comes down to geopolitics. So

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<v Speaker 1>the real reason Prime Central London took off ten fifteen

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<v Speaker 1>years ago was the Arab Spring and events like that

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<v Speaker 1>caused a lot of people to move Monday money to London,

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<v Speaker 1>and there is not the similar thing happening because of

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<v Speaker 1>Russians and Ukrainians who already had money, have already bought

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<v Speaker 1>in London. Whether we will see money coming from Dubai.

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<v Speaker 1>That's that could be really interesting to watch, Neil Callen,

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<v Speaker 1>and thank you so much. So from quite wide look

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<v Speaker 1>actually at the UK market and London in general to

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<v Speaker 1>the very very high end. Yeah, that that's what we

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<v Speaker 1>already want to read about, isn't it. What are the

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<v Speaker 1>the people in the stratosphere spending their money on the

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<v Speaker 1>super rich house important house. We can't get enough of

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<v Speaker 1>it to say that we're not allowed to Okay, so

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<v Speaker 1>we're allowed to call it housing porn and for which

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<v Speaker 1>we're going to be joined by the Secret Agent. He's

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<v Speaker 1>one of London's top property brokers which he goes anonymously

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<v Speaker 1>in order to protect his very importance customers. And he's

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<v Speaker 1>seen a thing or two. He has a tale to

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<v Speaker 1>tell from every celebrity and their house. We are joined,

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<v Speaker 1>very excited to be joined today in the London studio

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<v Speaker 1>by one of London's top property brokers for the very

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<v Speaker 1>super prime end of the market. He goes by the

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<v Speaker 1>title of the Secret Agent. In fact wrote under that

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<v Speaker 1>name in the f T for many years about London's

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<v Speaker 1>property market. And we're going to stick with the Secret

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<v Speaker 1>part because we really want to dive into the real

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<v Speaker 1>juice of the market here, and I think keeping things

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<v Speaker 1>secret might mean we get a bit more information. So

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<v Speaker 1>maybe I just I'll just kick off with a pretty

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<v Speaker 1>broad question. Now, there's so much bad news, isn't there

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<v Speaker 1>about the economy, cost of living slow down and talk

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<v Speaker 1>in fact about possible downturn in the housard market. But

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<v Speaker 1>is this any of this affecting your clients or are

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<v Speaker 1>they all operating up in the jet stream somewhere where

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<v Speaker 1>they are immune to all of these headwinds. I would say,

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<v Speaker 1>you're right, Dave, they are operating in the private jet stream,

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<v Speaker 1>floating above in a private jet. Yes, very much, say,

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<v Speaker 1>And I don't think that there wealth has been significantly affected.

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<v Speaker 1>And I think that their wealth is such that for

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<v Speaker 1>mas people, their home is probably their biggest asset. For

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<v Speaker 1>the clients that we're dealing with, it's one of many assets,

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<v Speaker 1>and normally you know they're lame, multiple properties, but their

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<v Speaker 1>wealth will be greater through their businesses, through through other sources.

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<v Speaker 1>I'm going to be the cross European show me the money.

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<v Speaker 1>So what are we talking about? Like ten million plus

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<v Speaker 1>in terms of property for London or more. Yeah, I

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<v Speaker 1>think the super prime market in London is defined as

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<v Speaker 1>five million plus. Most of this sort of trading that

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<v Speaker 1>we did is probably ten million plus. But so are

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<v Speaker 1>you not saying anything? I mean, is there no chill

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<v Speaker 1>going through people's veins when they look at the news

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<v Speaker 1>coming up the rest of the year or his life

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<v Speaker 1>as Karen was normal. There was certainly a few plants

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<v Speaker 1>who in Easter time who had owned their houses for

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<v Speaker 1>decades and they decided to put their houses on the market.

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<v Speaker 1>Then with the Ukraine War that Russians, no, no, no, no,

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<v Speaker 1>we don't we We've never really dealt much with Russian oligarchs.

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<v Speaker 1>I showed Mr Brown virtually few properties a while ago,

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<v Speaker 1>but he never bought them. Know that they were British

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<v Speaker 1>Ish families who had lived in their houses, as I said,

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<v Speaker 1>probably bought them in the eighties and had lived in

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<v Speaker 1>there for thirty thirty five years and we're thinking we're

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<v Speaker 1>always going to sell and downside and moved to a flat.

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<v Speaker 1>So they were there was a British owners. So in

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<v Speaker 1>terms of the foreign capital is saying none of them

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<v Speaker 1>decided to say it was time to or not deciding

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<v Speaker 1>it's the time to get out of this market. No,

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<v Speaker 1>I think that those the foreign capital who we're going

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<v Speaker 1>to go have gone pace Braxit. And I think the

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<v Speaker 1>big one of the big pills that I see with

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<v Speaker 1>clients who buy in London is the sort of education here. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>but secret agents. So is there a secret I love

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<v Speaker 1>saying that. So secret agents tell me is there a

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<v Speaker 1>pattern amongst the ultra high net worth individuals of at

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<v Speaker 1>what point do they sell? Well? Well, I suppose they

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<v Speaker 1>mean the two clients I'm thinking of had probably as

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<v Speaker 1>I said, bought three decades prayer. And I mean an

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<v Speaker 1>interesting sort of fact the year before that when I

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<v Speaker 1>was selling a house in notting Hill and they had

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<v Speaker 1>there were two clients who had bought in the late

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<v Speaker 1>seventies and one in Wandsworth and one in notting Hill

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<v Speaker 1>in the sort of prime street of notting Hill going

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<v Speaker 1>onto a communal garden, and they bath bought for two

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<v Speaker 1>eighty thousand, and the client who sold in notting Hill

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<v Speaker 1>sold for nineteen million, and the one in one's Worth

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<v Speaker 1>sold for three and a half million. So it just

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<v Speaker 1>shows also how particular pockets within London have gone in

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<v Speaker 1>the stratosphere. And one obviously you know if the ones

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<v Speaker 1>Worth people would have been very happy happy, right, But

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<v Speaker 1>it's not the kind of like winning the lottery and that.

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<v Speaker 1>But I mean that the I mean the return on

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<v Speaker 1>that that's the best investment ever, right, I mean, do

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<v Speaker 1>you and London property has been seen? Has it as

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<v Speaker 1>an investment all around the world people to pull their

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<v Speaker 1>cash in to get I mean, is it possible to

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<v Speaker 1>get that sort of return anyway? Are there any where's

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<v Speaker 1>the next nothing hill? Is it possible to have that

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<v Speaker 1>sort of boom again? Give us some tips please, mr agent?

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<v Speaker 1>Well I was. I mean, I'm slightly burst because I

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<v Speaker 1>live notting Hill adjacent in um if some people call

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<v Speaker 1>it made a veil when I want the value to

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<v Speaker 1>be her, I refer to it as Little Vernice because

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<v Speaker 1>it sounds more moneyed Little Vernice. But I think that

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<v Speaker 1>is possibly undervalued, possibly Queen's Park. I mean, I'm not

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<v Speaker 1>just because of our client base. I don't really you know,

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<v Speaker 1>I know South London is having a moment, but I'm

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<v Speaker 1>not going to be an afficionalgo on Lewisham or Peckham.

0:12:58.920 --> 0:13:01.199
<v Speaker 1>So that's COVID change. Do people want to buy minor

0:13:01.280 --> 0:13:04.240
<v Speaker 1>houses or they still want central London? And actually is

0:13:04.280 --> 0:13:07.080
<v Speaker 1>it's you know, money that elsewhere doesn't feel so safe.

0:13:07.120 --> 0:13:09.560
<v Speaker 1>Were thinking of Hong Kong. We're thinking maybe of certain

0:13:09.600 --> 0:13:12.280
<v Speaker 1>parts of the Middle East where the buyers that are

0:13:12.280 --> 0:13:14.880
<v Speaker 1>extremely wealthy say I need a second home in London

0:13:14.960 --> 0:13:19.000
<v Speaker 1>or a first time in London. I thought that my

0:13:19.080 --> 0:13:24.839
<v Speaker 1>business would pretty much be over when CAVID started, because

0:13:24.880 --> 0:13:28.240
<v Speaker 1>that everybody was talking about cities being over. And I

0:13:28.280 --> 0:13:31.120
<v Speaker 1>actually set up an affiliation with somebody in the CUTS

0:13:31.120 --> 0:13:33.600
<v Speaker 1>world because I was brought up there and I thought

0:13:33.679 --> 0:13:38.920
<v Speaker 1>everyone's going to be moving there. The first gap after COVID,

0:13:39.320 --> 0:13:45.320
<v Speaker 1>I sold a house in Kensington a video you know

0:13:45.760 --> 0:13:49.319
<v Speaker 1>What's up video. The decorator came along to you because

0:13:49.320 --> 0:13:52.120
<v Speaker 1>I insisted. I said I want the decorator as well.

0:13:53.200 --> 0:13:55.120
<v Speaker 1>They didn't see the house and they didn't see the

0:13:55.120 --> 0:13:59.520
<v Speaker 1>house there Google match it. It was in Kensington. They

0:13:59.600 --> 0:14:06.360
<v Speaker 1>bought for sixteen million over over over what. I don't

0:14:06.400 --> 0:14:09.920
<v Speaker 1>think that picture quality was as good as zoom and

0:14:09.920 --> 0:14:14.160
<v Speaker 1>and my and the clients who I was acting for

0:14:14.200 --> 0:14:17.280
<v Speaker 1>selling the property, I think they they couldn't believe it.

0:14:17.360 --> 0:14:20.120
<v Speaker 1>They just said that this is not Nobody is going

0:14:20.160 --> 0:14:23.479
<v Speaker 1>to spend sixteen million. And until the day of exchange.

0:14:23.960 --> 0:14:29.360
<v Speaker 1>They didn't believe it until it and it happened. So London,

0:14:29.680 --> 0:14:34.480
<v Speaker 1>I think, is just remarkably resilient and the market is

0:14:34.520 --> 0:14:40.680
<v Speaker 1>stronger now in prime London than it was immediately post covidd.

0:14:40.720 --> 0:14:42.240
<v Speaker 1>You do you walk in a place and say right that,

0:14:42.240 --> 0:14:44.520
<v Speaker 1>I'm valuing this at fifteen million, and I know who

0:14:44.520 --> 0:14:47.640
<v Speaker 1>will buy it. I did see. I did see a

0:14:47.720 --> 0:14:51.440
<v Speaker 1>house the other day which was sort of hidden and

0:14:51.480 --> 0:14:54.040
<v Speaker 1>I and I knew the streets quite well at their

0:14:54.200 --> 0:15:00.200
<v Speaker 1>major houses with big gardens and lots of security hard

0:15:00.280 --> 0:15:03.680
<v Speaker 1>standing outside them, and there was this tiny little alleyway

0:15:03.960 --> 0:15:08.120
<v Speaker 1>and um, it was this sort of French chateau in

0:15:08.800 --> 0:15:12.080
<v Speaker 1>a third of an acre with a very cool sort

0:15:12.120 --> 0:15:15.320
<v Speaker 1>of outhouse that felt as if you're in Laurel Canyon

0:15:15.400 --> 0:15:18.200
<v Speaker 1>in l a as a sort of and the agent

0:15:18.320 --> 0:15:20.960
<v Speaker 1>was saying you could be in Beard And I did

0:15:20.960 --> 0:15:23.720
<v Speaker 1>think that if you've got twenty million to spend, you

0:15:23.920 --> 0:15:28.360
<v Speaker 1>probably don't need the Airbnb income of But I did

0:15:28.400 --> 0:15:31.320
<v Speaker 1>say to I said, you know, I didn't even know

0:15:31.360 --> 0:15:33.560
<v Speaker 1>if he's looking. I don't know what his taste is.

0:15:33.600 --> 0:15:36.360
<v Speaker 1>But I said, Harry Styleship by this because it's very

0:15:36.400 --> 0:15:40.040
<v Speaker 1>private and he could turn he could turn the little

0:15:40.040 --> 0:15:45.280
<v Speaker 1>studio into a recording studio. So with Harry's listening, he

0:15:45.320 --> 0:15:49.720
<v Speaker 1>can you can get in contacts. Well, you can get

0:15:49.760 --> 0:15:53.200
<v Speaker 1>in contact with Francine and Day and then then then

0:15:53.240 --> 0:15:57.440
<v Speaker 1>they can connect us. What's the craziest thing that people

0:15:57.480 --> 0:15:59.640
<v Speaker 1>have asked foreign houses? Do they ask you for a

0:15:59.640 --> 0:16:02.080
<v Speaker 1>specif fix or do you assume that a lot of

0:16:02.080 --> 0:16:05.480
<v Speaker 1>them than just redo them anyway like Trump did at

0:16:05.480 --> 0:16:08.680
<v Speaker 1>the White House. When I started in the business, I

0:16:08.680 --> 0:16:13.560
<v Speaker 1>think people wanted a blank canvase, so they wanted something

0:16:13.800 --> 0:16:18.800
<v Speaker 1>that was tired and they wanted to make their own mark.

0:16:19.560 --> 0:16:22.680
<v Speaker 1>I think increasingly now and this probably happened with the

0:16:22.720 --> 0:16:26.240
<v Speaker 1>sort of super developers, and maybe it's a sort of

0:16:26.280 --> 0:16:30.720
<v Speaker 1>reflection on our sort of fast society that you want

0:16:30.760 --> 0:16:34.240
<v Speaker 1>it and you want it now that now it's much

0:16:34.280 --> 0:16:39.720
<v Speaker 1>harder to sell an unmodernized flat or house and people

0:16:39.800 --> 0:16:47.440
<v Speaker 1>want turnkey. They're old Libyan school in Ely Place has

0:16:47.520 --> 0:16:51.600
<v Speaker 1>been done that redeveloped and it's two houses and I

0:16:51.600 --> 0:16:55.200
<v Speaker 1>think it's eight or nine flat and the starting prices

0:16:55.880 --> 0:17:00.160
<v Speaker 1>for the flats of forty million, and most of them

0:17:00.560 --> 0:17:02.960
<v Speaker 1>have their own swimming pool. The flat have the swim

0:17:03.240 --> 0:17:06.240
<v Speaker 1>because you go and you have a direct left access.

0:17:06.280 --> 0:17:08.600
<v Speaker 1>One of the two of the flats have them on

0:17:08.720 --> 0:17:11.720
<v Speaker 1>sort of reef terraces, and the other ones have direct

0:17:11.800 --> 0:17:16.080
<v Speaker 1>lifts into sub basements where you go and have your

0:17:16.720 --> 0:17:18.840
<v Speaker 1>swimming pools. So I think five of the flats have

0:17:18.960 --> 0:17:24.280
<v Speaker 1>got swimming pools, and each of the flats we're done

0:17:24.520 --> 0:17:29.199
<v Speaker 1>by a different designer, I mean big name designers, so

0:17:29.320 --> 0:17:34.680
<v Speaker 1>you literally artwork, furniture, everything. So you walked in and

0:17:34.880 --> 0:17:38.080
<v Speaker 1>I mean I thought it was quite a risky strategy

0:17:38.240 --> 0:17:41.919
<v Speaker 1>because you want everything to work and everything to be perfect.

0:17:42.040 --> 0:17:45.760
<v Speaker 1>But people do have their own taste, and I think

0:17:45.760 --> 0:17:48.920
<v Speaker 1>they haven't actually sold very well. And those brand new

0:17:49.000 --> 0:17:51.600
<v Speaker 1>superprime development. Do you see the buyers there, Do you

0:17:51.600 --> 0:17:53.240
<v Speaker 1>think all that stuff is gonna is going to sell?

0:17:54.040 --> 0:17:57.840
<v Speaker 1>I think they'll struggle, Um the skirt of it. That's

0:17:57.880 --> 0:17:59.720
<v Speaker 1>just too much of it, I think. And I think

0:17:59.760 --> 0:18:04.400
<v Speaker 1>that it's a very international market, whereas the market that

0:18:04.440 --> 0:18:09.800
<v Speaker 1>we deal then primarily is international, but it's people who

0:18:10.560 --> 0:18:13.679
<v Speaker 1>live here that London say home. So we have a

0:18:13.720 --> 0:18:17.679
<v Speaker 1>lot of buyers who may not have been born in

0:18:17.720 --> 0:18:20.920
<v Speaker 1>the UK, but they're sort of committed to living here,

0:18:21.119 --> 0:18:25.720
<v Speaker 1>certainly for the foreseeable future, whereas the Chelsea Barracks developments

0:18:25.720 --> 0:18:30.000
<v Speaker 1>and others. It's usually a third or fourth home. And

0:18:30.040 --> 0:18:32.399
<v Speaker 1>I think, you know, maybe to a wealthy American or

0:18:32.440 --> 0:18:36.960
<v Speaker 1>Middle easterner. And I think those buyers, you know, why

0:18:37.000 --> 0:18:40.560
<v Speaker 1>not staying clarages, you know, for for two weeks when

0:18:40.600 --> 0:18:42.639
<v Speaker 1>you come over. So how many how many of the

0:18:42.720 --> 0:18:46.520
<v Speaker 1>houses you sell you think remain empty throughout the year

0:18:47.000 --> 0:18:51.560
<v Speaker 1>or mostly empty throughout the year? Very few? And and

0:18:51.600 --> 0:18:56.160
<v Speaker 1>the ones that do I find very depressing. I mean,

0:18:56.480 --> 0:19:01.639
<v Speaker 1>we sold a house in Belgravia seven or eight years

0:19:01.640 --> 0:19:05.440
<v Speaker 1>ago and it was Middle Eastern gentlemen who had bought

0:19:05.480 --> 0:19:11.160
<v Speaker 1>it fourteen years before that, so it held it for

0:19:11.440 --> 0:19:16.439
<v Speaker 1>four years and nobody had spent a night there, and

0:19:16.520 --> 0:19:20.199
<v Speaker 1>it was used as a sort of storage facility, so

0:19:20.320 --> 0:19:22.160
<v Speaker 1>I had amused at the back. So there were two

0:19:23.080 --> 0:19:24.600
<v Speaker 1>I'm not very good with the cars, but I think

0:19:24.600 --> 0:19:29.760
<v Speaker 1>a Rolls Royce Phantom and something else. And it was

0:19:30.160 --> 0:19:32.800
<v Speaker 1>it was a depressing house to walk into. What is

0:19:32.840 --> 0:19:35.679
<v Speaker 1>the impact of the Russians having to sell up? Does it?

0:19:35.720 --> 0:19:39.840
<v Speaker 1>Does it matter? That's all? For London. I think the

0:19:39.920 --> 0:19:44.280
<v Speaker 1>impact is not nearly as great as has been talked about.

0:19:44.880 --> 0:19:50.440
<v Speaker 1>Because I think the spread of property that the Russians own.

0:19:50.920 --> 0:19:54.800
<v Speaker 1>You know, there's a lot in Weybridge and sorry for

0:19:54.960 --> 0:20:00.399
<v Speaker 1>Junior Waters, there's some in Belgrave here. One of the

0:20:00.480 --> 0:20:05.040
<v Speaker 1>houses Mr Rono Chains is on Kensington Palace Gardens sort

0:20:05.040 --> 0:20:08.720
<v Speaker 1>of Millionaires Ray beside Kensington Palace. It's a very very

0:20:08.760 --> 0:20:13.680
<v Speaker 1>small percentage of the super prime property population, so it

0:20:13.720 --> 0:20:15.800
<v Speaker 1>doesn't make a ripple really in the whole in the

0:20:15.800 --> 0:20:18.399
<v Speaker 1>whole world. And are there buyers ready to come in?

0:20:18.440 --> 0:20:22.399
<v Speaker 1>Do you think it's not like that place on Kenston Palace, Scotland.

0:20:22.480 --> 0:20:25.480
<v Speaker 1>I mean that's a huge house. Yeah, what would you estivate?

0:20:25.560 --> 0:20:28.560
<v Speaker 1>That's worth I should think between a hundred and fifty

0:20:28.600 --> 0:20:31.040
<v Speaker 1>and two hundred million. And you've got you know, the

0:20:31.119 --> 0:20:35.720
<v Speaker 1>Mittel's next door. There's not many families who are people

0:20:35.720 --> 0:20:37.159
<v Speaker 1>who could afford that? Right? But do you think that

0:20:37.200 --> 0:20:40.720
<v Speaker 1>will sell? Reddy? I think that street will sell. I

0:20:40.760 --> 0:20:44.040
<v Speaker 1>mean I think you know, the big whopper in sort

0:20:44.040 --> 0:20:47.280
<v Speaker 1>of Winnington Rage and Hampstead could be harder, but that

0:20:47.280 --> 0:20:50.720
<v Speaker 1>that street. I mean, I've I've got three buyers who

0:20:50.720 --> 0:20:56.760
<v Speaker 1>would Yeah, who are or I know of them and

0:20:56.840 --> 0:21:02.080
<v Speaker 1>I can get to them? Who would buy on that Street, secret, angent,

0:21:02.119 --> 0:21:05.280
<v Speaker 1>what's your secret to set to? And people trust you

0:21:05.520 --> 0:21:08.360
<v Speaker 1>with big decisions, with personal decisions because it does really

0:21:08.400 --> 0:21:10.200
<v Speaker 1>touch to who you are as a person, you want

0:21:10.240 --> 0:21:13.879
<v Speaker 1>to live as a family. Well, I think, you know,

0:21:14.080 --> 0:21:20.800
<v Speaker 1>part of my job is part therapy and understanding what

0:21:20.920 --> 0:21:26.480
<v Speaker 1>people want and sometimes maybe seeing something that they don't

0:21:26.960 --> 0:21:31.440
<v Speaker 1>realize that they want and uncovering it. I remember my

0:21:31.680 --> 0:21:36.200
<v Speaker 1>biggest client in the first big deal I ever did,

0:21:37.680 --> 0:21:43.199
<v Speaker 1>was a house in Eaton Square and the client was

0:21:43.280 --> 0:21:48.399
<v Speaker 1>buying it for her son, who was twenty two years old.

0:21:49.840 --> 0:21:53.160
<v Speaker 1>And we went out for lunch and she said to me,

0:21:53.200 --> 0:21:57.800
<v Speaker 1>you know, should I buy this house? And it would

0:21:57.800 --> 0:22:02.800
<v Speaker 1>have been my you know, greatest commission of her And

0:22:02.880 --> 0:22:05.880
<v Speaker 1>I said to her, no, don't buy this house. And

0:22:06.720 --> 0:22:10.160
<v Speaker 1>she always called me darling, still does and she said, Darling,

0:22:10.160 --> 0:22:12.480
<v Speaker 1>why why why don't I buy this house? Why don't

0:22:12.520 --> 0:22:14.639
<v Speaker 1>I buy it? Because she also says that words a

0:22:14.680 --> 0:22:19.840
<v Speaker 1>lot And I said, you know, your son is twenty two.

0:22:20.359 --> 0:22:23.199
<v Speaker 1>A freehold house in Eaton Square is the sort of

0:22:23.280 --> 0:22:29.760
<v Speaker 1>apergee of your property aspirations. And where is he going

0:22:29.800 --> 0:22:35.680
<v Speaker 1>to go? Hill? There's nowhere to go. And she said

0:22:35.720 --> 0:22:39.680
<v Speaker 1>to me, Darling, that's where I like you. She was

0:22:39.720 --> 0:22:44.000
<v Speaker 1>a test. She bought the house. She bought the house,

0:22:45.840 --> 0:22:48.080
<v Speaker 1>but I told her not to buy the house, and

0:22:48.240 --> 0:22:51.440
<v Speaker 1>four years later she bought her house. That was more

0:22:51.560 --> 0:22:54.800
<v Speaker 1>than I was wrong because you could go higher. She

0:22:54.920 --> 0:22:57.560
<v Speaker 1>bought her house double the price of the house in

0:22:57.640 --> 0:23:01.480
<v Speaker 1>Eaton Square for the sun. So it but it's it's

0:23:01.520 --> 0:23:06.120
<v Speaker 1>sort of trust and them knowing that you're looking out

0:23:06.160 --> 0:23:10.159
<v Speaker 1>for them. Thank you so much, Secret Agent. Thank you

0:23:10.280 --> 0:23:15.359
<v Speaker 1>very much. I feel like I'm an octonaut. Thank you,

0:23:15.400 --> 0:23:18.879
<v Speaker 1>Secret Agent. Should I say a secret agent? Or is it?

0:23:18.920 --> 0:23:21.280
<v Speaker 1>Thank you Mr Agent? I just love it so much,

0:23:21.560 --> 0:23:23.760
<v Speaker 1>thank you Mr Secret? Is it, Mr Secret? Mr Agent?

0:23:24.240 --> 0:23:27.359
<v Speaker 1>I love it. I'm really just buy movies that but um,

0:23:27.480 --> 0:23:29.600
<v Speaker 1>there we go, do all of that right, Thank you

0:23:29.640 --> 0:23:33.000
<v Speaker 1>so much, Secret Agent. Thank you, thank you very much.

0:23:33.480 --> 0:23:40.000
<v Speaker 1>I'm definitely using the first brilliant h