Could younger homebuyers turn Belgravia from staid to ‘buzzy’?

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This month the smart streets of Belgravia have thronged with local residents and office workers to toast the annual switching-on of the Christmas lights. 

While shoppers in Motcomb Street were offered free mulled wine, those at the pop-up festive market at Eccleston Yards were regaled by the London Gay Men’s Chorus. It can have a reputation for being an exclusive yet rather staid neighbourhood of fine garden squares and Regency-style stucco houses. But Belgravia’s revitalised streets of boutiques and artisan cafés are aiming to attract a younger demographic into the area. 

Among those sipping a winter cocktail was Gemma Martinez de Ana, who has moved to the area with her fiancé from Victoria Park in east London. The couple, in their thirties, are renting a two-bedroom apartment while they hunt for a home to buy. “We moved here to be closer to my work,” says Spanish-born Martinez de Ana, who runs Bonadea, a home decor shop in the area’s hub of interior outlets, Pimlico Road. “It’s great how the pop-up screenings, events and wellness brands at Eccleston Yards have drawn younger people to the area.”

She’s looking to buy one of the period town houses that area is known for, yet the area’s housing stock is changing, thanks to a handful of luxury new-build apartment schemes. In the first nine months of the year, 37 per cent of sales in Belgravia were new-build, according to Savills Research — compared with 20 per cent in 2022, and only 9 per cent in 2021.

Combining quintessential historic-style London architecture with modern amenities and services, these schemes are attracting the sort of buyers — such as those from the US tech industry — who have accumulated wealth in their thirties and forties, according to Rupert des Forges, head of prime central London developments at Knight Frank. 

Some of such wealth is inherited. At 8 Eaton Lane, a restored French Renaissance-style mansion block on the eastern edge of Belgravia with 42 apartments and a pool, gym and cinema, one buyer has bought three identical two-bedroom apartments — one for each of his children (priced from £4.13mn).

Alongside the much larger Chelsea Barracks scheme and also Knightsbridge Gate (15 properties in a restored Edwardian building from £2.55mn), there are 25 private residences at the newly opened five-star Peninsula London at Hyde Park Corner. In the £10mn-plus market there were more sales in Belgravia (25) in the year to October than in any other area aside from Mayfair, according to Knight Frank.

Yet not everything is selling now. “There’s a nervousness in the market and people aren’t offering [on a property] unless they hear someone else has made an offer on it,” says James Waight of agent John D Wood. In June, a house in Elizabeth Street didn’t achieve its asking price of £9.25mn, despite being the subject of multiple bids. Now that most buyers don’t want to renovate, turnkey properties are more likely to be the subject of competitive bidding, he says. 

Flats seem to be faring better than houses, according to LonRes, which tracks prime central London (PCL) markets, with the same number having sold in the first 10 months of this year as the same period last year. Over the same period, the number of houses sold is down 26 per cent. The average price of a flat sold last year topped £3mn, but entry level for a one-bedroom property is around £700,000.

It’s great how the pop-up screenings, events and wellness brands at Eccleston Yards have drawn younger people to the area

Richard Dalton of Savills says there is strong interest in small flats in Eaton Square — arguably London’s most prestigious address — with short leases. While sub-20-year leases will deter many buyers, the vastly reduced price and current market conditions are attracting some, he says — those who “don’t want to tie up all their capital [on more expensive longer leases] or want the vagaries of the rentals market”. This week there’s a second viewing by an American couple on a one-bedroom flat at £995,000, while a three-bedroom one at £1.25mn (with an eight-year lease) has just gone under offer after three viewings. 

For greater saleability, these very short leases are regularly topped up to 20 years — at a cost — if owners request it of the Grosvenor estate, the landowner of much of Belgravia. The estate is planning to diversify the type of restaurants in the area, including those in the Pantechnicon building, in the newly opened Newson’s Yard on Pimlico Road, and in Elizabeth Street, where permanent outdoor dining is under consultation.

“We are repositioning Motcomb Street in a more luxury direction over the next 10 years by bringing in better brands,” says Jane Macdiarmid, Belgravia retail director.

Entrepreneur Karen Hanton, who is renting a mews house in the area while looking to buy one, is keen on the estate’s improvements so far.

“I used to live in Pimlico, which hasn’t really changed,” she says. “But Belgravia is so buzzy now. The Thomas Cubitt [pub] is even packed on a Monday night. Many properties don’t go on the open market so I am hoping to hear about one in my local.” Or maybe over some mulled wine.

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