The London Magazine February 2026 sample

Luxury lifestyle, prime property

RENOVATE WITHOUT REGRET

FEW EXPERIENCES STRESS-TEST RESILIENCE MORE THOROUGHLY THAN A PROPERTY RENOVATION. BUT WITH THE RIGHT HELP AND A BIT OF PLANNING, IT COULD MEAN THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A SALE OR A PROPERTY LOSING VALUE, FINDS ARABELLA YOUENS

She runs Queensdale Residential (queensdale. co.uk) which sits between a traditional property development service and an interior design platform where membership gives access to trade discounts on fabric, paint, wallpaper, kitchens, tiles and sanitaryware. “A renovation is one of the largest investments a homeowner will make,” she says. Her key to success starts with the right approach. “Treating it as a business project is critical to ensuring it finishes on time, on budget and to the expected standard.”

While there’s a tendency, when things go wrong, to blame the builder or the supply chain, the source of many problems lie with the owners. Renovations get off on the wrong foot all too easily, says Paré, when the project’s scope is unclear at the outset, contractors are selected based on recommendations from friends and skipping time-consuming but important details, such as establishing a formal contract cover ing responsibilities, timelines and standards.

Alice Barrington-Wells is the founder of Carter Wells (carterwellslondon.com). Established in 2012, it recommends architects, interior designers, builders and project managers tailored to clients’ needs and budgets for projects both in the capital and

beyond. She agrees that investing time at the beginning of a project creating a schedule of works pays dividends in the long run. “Getting the builders on site too soon is the quickest way to overspend on budget.”

Some perceived cost inflation is down to simple misunderstanding about how the industry works. In late 2024, RedBook released an index with key insights into the prime and super-prime design and construction sectors. It revealed that only 66% of budgets pay for raw build costs in a luxury project – that is materials and labour – the rest goes on professional fees and other expenses, not all of which have been captured in the initial costings. In addition, a project proposal never includes the client-supplied items like flooring, tiles, furniture and fixtures, warns Paré.

The final tip is to use a project manager. Many homeowners underestimate the complexity of renovations and attempt to manage them themselves. Renovations involve multiple specialist disciplines – planning, design, structural engineering, building control, subcontractors, procurement – and require constant coordination. Hiring a professional is the smartest way to protect the investment, says Barrington-Wells. It can even, dare we say it, make the process enjoyable. L

ALL DONE UP

Opposite: OWN LONDON renovated the garden of this Knightsbridge home, creating a panelled courtyard oasis contained within arched Georgian brickwork Above, left to right: This four-bed Pimlico triplex apartment, available through Jackson-Stops for £1.85m was thoroughly refurbished by its current owners, including the addition of a mansard extension; beautifully renovated, with an open-plan ground floor, private roof terrace, freshly landscaped gardens, a self-contained lower-ground-floor one-bedroom flat and Crittall-style windows installed throughout, Savills has brought this five-storey, three-bed Barnsbury townhouse to market for £3.25m

PUP AND COMING

Opposite: Browns Hotel gives its guest pooches the VIP treatment with a guide to the neighbourhood, pampering walking kit and bespoke biscuits. Right: Strutt & Parker’s executive dachshund and office cutey Alfie has attracted new clients to the Fulham branch, and brought awareness to the upcoming change to the Renters’ Rights Act that will ensure that landlords don’t unreasonably withhold consent if a tenant requests to keep a pet

Power of THE DOG

LONDON’S MOST EXCLUSIVE SHOPS, RESTAURANTS, CLUBS, HOTELS AND HOMES ARE WELCOMING CANINE COMPANIONS LIKE NEVER BEFORE. FROM ANNABEL’S AND LIBERTY TO SCOTT’S AND J SHEEKEY, ALEXANDRA GOSS DISCOVERS TAILS WAGGING ACROSS TOWN, AND SEEKS ADVICE FROM THE CAPITAL’S MOST IN-DEMAND BEHAVIOURIST

LEVELLING UP WITH APARTMENTS AVAILABLE THROUGH KNIGHT FRANK, THE HURLINGHAM WATERFRONT DEVELOPMENT IN FULHAM OFFERS SLICK MODERN LIVING AND LAVISH FACILITIES

DIARY DOWN SIZERS’

WILL 2026 BE YOUR CUE TO MOVE TO A SMALLER HOME? ALEXANDRA GOSS SPEAKS TO THOSE WHO HAVE TAKEN THE PLUNGE, SHIFTING FROM COUNTRY TO CITY, TOWNHOUSE TO APARTMENT

‘A

window of OPPORTUNITY’

Agents across prime central London report substantial discounts on homes in some of the capital’s most prestigious developments and an increase in new listings, discovers Zoe Dare Hall

In a typical start to the year, you can’t move for “80% off” signs in central London’s designer shop windows. Prada bags, YSL dresses… you name it, it’s all up for grabs at (relatively) bargain prices.

It’s a more discreet affair for property bargain-hunters. But with PCL prices 25% lower than they were a decade ago – or up to 30% in the case of some new-builds in Pimlico and Westminster bought around the 2015 peak, “so buyers may not have recouped their stamp duty,” comments Hamptons’ head of sales in that area, Sean Williams – there are some new-year deals to be found for those in the know.

“I’ve just seen a house with a client that

was on with five agents for most of the past year, starting out at too much money and now rumoured to have a long-overdue 15% price cut coming,” comments Guy Meacock, director of Prime Purchase buying agency. “Buyers want to get on with things, sellers wake up and smell the coffee. A number of deals have been agreed and exchanged at substantial discounts at the tail end of last year and beginning of this.”

“BUYERS WANT TO GET ON WITH THINGS, SELLERS WAKE UP AND SMELL THE COFFEE”

Price reductions can be found in some of

the most prestigious developments, including One Hyde Park, where Sotheby’s is marketing a four-bed room apartment that’s been reduced by 12% in a year to £28.5m. In newbuild schemes with remaining inventory, 10% discounts are common, “but in some cases as much as 30%,” says Samuel Richardson, head of sales for Mayfair Carter Jonas.

“Developers are also increasingly offering incentives such as multi-year service-charge holidays, creating compelling opportunities for buyers seeking value in a market poised for upward movement.”

No one is going to shout about “chasing the market down in terms of pricing”, says Philip Harvey, senior partner at Property Vision buying agency, but he estimates that at least 40% of large apartments and houses “that fail to sell immediately” are seeing price reductions. “Those who price sensibly from the outset are attracting the few buyers that are in the market and generating a little buzz of excitement. Those sellers with high expectations will end up worse off in the long run.”

25% THE DECREASE ON PRIME CENTRAL LONDON PRICES SINCE THE 2015 PEAK (HAMPTONS)

International buyers are moving in, “to capitalise on what will in years to come be considered historically weak prices,” Harvey adds. And