Christmas is a great time to get out and about and participate in some of the various food, drink & leisure activities taking place around the capital.

 

We have put together a list highlighting our top 5 things to do.

 

1. Winter Wonderland is a lot of fun for the whole family, with rides & rollercoasters the kids and good food, drink and live music for the adults. Be sure to visit the ice rink while you are there!

 

2. Enjoy a Victorian Christmas at Kensington Palace. Experience festive music, talks on Christmas traditions and food, lantern-making workshops and more. Kensington Palace is the perfect place to spend a special Christmas day out with the family this festive season, and to top it all off, KIDS GO FREE.

 

3. Be dazzled by the Diamond in the Sky Afternoon Tea at Searcys at the Gherkin. As part of the diamond-themed afternoon tea, all guests will be given a champagne flute with a crystal at the bottom; but one lucky winner will find a real diamond! 

 

4. Step into an environment where the walls, bar, tables and even your own personal glass is made of the purest ice. ICEBAR LONDON is the UK’s only permanent bar made of ice and is kept at -5°C all year round.

 

5. Let Bompas & Parr take you on a fantastical journey this Christmas. Beyond The Waterfall will mix mythology, fairytales and science fiction to create a grown-up holiday treat. Your adventure will begin as you step aboard a small boat to traverse a 20m lagoon, passing through a real waterfall to reach an enchanted island on a quest involving gemstones, mythological beasts and undersea cocktails.

 

6. Visit Oxford Street in the evening for a spot of Christmas Shopping underneath it's world famous Christmas lights.

 

 

 

 

 

Centrepoint is the UK's leading charity for homeless young people, they support over 9,000 young people aged 16-25 every year giving them a safe place to live, health assessments and support with their mental and physical needs.

 

Once these young people are healthy and have a roof over their head, Centrepoint then go on to helping them gain their own independence through education in key skills needed for employment and eventually finding a job.

 

We at Greenstone feel very passionately about this topic and fully support all that Centrepoint are doing for these young people. Nobody should be homeless, without anyone to care for them, especially over the Christmas period.

 

For this reason, we are supporting Centrepoint and will be looking to raise as much money as possible. Greenstone have pledged to donate enough to get 10 young homeless people into a home this Christmas. If you would like to support us, please click below :

 

 

The St John’s Wood, Little Venice and Regents Park Residential property market has been affected by high Stamp Duty, lack of confidence since Brexit and multiple policy changes aimed at the buy to let investors. There has been a slowdown in demand with enquiry levels lower than we saw this time last year. The rate of house price growth in the previous 12 months in the capital fell to 7.6%, the lowest in 39 months and far below the same period last year which saw a growth at 11.8%.

The Council of Mortgage Lenders ( CML ) said it expected the number of transactions in 2017 to fall to 1.17m, the lowest level since 2013.

The rules around Landlords tax relief will start to change in April 2017 and some Landlord will feel nervous and be tempted to sell.

There has been more properties available to let ( 33 % more to let in the Capital than this time last year ) and this is due mainly to the rush of purchases in the Q1 2016 where Landlords wanted to beat the extra 3% stamp duty hike, coupled with a slow demand

Rents are falling for the 1st time in 8 years so prospective tenants are looking for good rent levels and it seems only properties that are very keenly priced are shifting.

We are fortunate that the local letting market of St. Johns Wood still has fair demand. Our focus is providing quality of tenant and a longer term of tenancy. We are placing long term tenants in most of our properties to ensure Landlords have a steady stream of income through the year.

We are also pleased to confirm the appointment of Simone Jones in August to run our Property Management department, as we understand that providing tenants with excellent service is an important way to keep them in situ for as long as possible.

Greenstone also offer a monthly fee programme so not to affect Landlords cash flow with big upfront commissions.

To keep a high service level to our Vendors we have increased our advertising on both Rightmove and Zoopla and ensure, should you want to sell your property through Greenstone, not only do you have the personal service that we know gets results but this is backed up by maximum exposure and marketing on the web and local press.

If you would like to discuss your property plans for 2017 please contact me directly for a chat on my direct dial 0203 7800 199

Season’s Greetings to all

Lewis Green
Director