Focus on Victoria: Grab a prime bargain in SW1

 

Victoria has long been a place of work, but it’s been a while since it’s been a place to live. Dominated by a mixture of grey government office blocks and its various transport hubs, it certainly doesn’t fit the desirable London village trend.

 

But that may be about to change. Developer Land Securities has invested £4bn in the SW1 postcode to return it to its former glory as a stately residence. This includes a £700m revamp for Victoria rail station, which is currently on the District, Circle and Victoria lines, while also acting as the main gateway to the south of England and the Gatwick Express. Its recent past as a rather drab commuter hotspot has rendered it one of the cheapest places to live central in London, so there are plenty of opportunities for a developer to get a decent return and there are still plenty of bargains for buyers.

 

“Victoria is an area that was always ripe for redevelopment,” says Richard Klein, partner at London estate agent Knight Frank. “Sitting within one of London’s golden postcodes, on top of a key transport hub, and within walking distance of Buckingham Palace, what it has historically lacked is good quality residential property. In an area as large as Victoria, it’s rare that a single developer is able to deliver across residential, office, retail and public space.”

 

 

Around 1.8m square feet of office space should be completed by 2019, bringing a much more eclectic crowd to Victoria, including Burberry, Jimmy Choo, Giorgio Armani, Microsoft and Channel Four. Land Securities’ Zig Zag Building on Victoria Street has already attracted a number of fashionable tenants such as deli and cafe Benugo, healthy eaterie Leon, tapas bar Iberica, a flagship Jamie’s Italian and boutique cinema chain Curzon. 

 

In addition, a number of landmark developments are set to bring people to live in the area, including 800 apartments at Wellington House, 102 at Kingsgate House, a transformation of 60s office block Portland House, and five new buildings at Victoria Circle. Knight Frank is predicting a significant rise in house prices, even before the first office blocks are completed, with current figures set to rise 48 per cent by 2016 and price per square footage approaching prime prices at £2,000.

 

“Previously somewhat overlooked, Victoria is the next spot on the Prime Central London property map,” says Mark Dorman, head of London residential development and investment at Strutt & Parker. “Now is a fantastic time to invest in the area as prices are still good value when compared to the neighbouring prestigious districts of St James’s, Mayfair and Belgravia – and prices only look set to rise.” 

 

	Detached	Semi-Detached	Terraced	Flats
Victoria	£4.807m	£2.211m	£2.423m	£957,956

 

 

 

1. There was a huge brewery at the western end of Victoria Street. The Stag Brewery even had lodgings for its staff, but it was closed in 1959. All that remains is a street called Stag Place and The Stag Pub.

 

2. There’s a 20ft replica of Big Ben, known as Little Ben, on a traffic island outside the Victoria Palace. It was sponsored by French oil firm Elf Aquitaine to symbolise good Anglo-French relations.

 

3. James Brown once played in Victoria at The Venue nightclub, which was owned by Virgin Records. It closed down in 1981 but the foyer of the club still stands – it’s now an Italian restaurant.

 

4. Westminster Cathedral, which was built in 1903, was actually built on the site of Tothill Fields Bridewell, one of London’s most notorious prisons in the 17th century, holding around 900 people.

 

5. Comedian Norman Wisdom said in his biography that he slept near the bus station after his parents split up when he was nine, and he worked as an errand boy at the Artillery Mansions on Victoria Street.