EMERGING MARKETS: SE1 Property

How the Southbank has become regarded as 'Prime Central London' property by Jack de Aguilar

Emerging Property Markets - Southbank 2013

it would be spurious to simply describe Bermondsey Street’s Williams Lynch as an estate agent. With an eye for the unusual and the experience to back it up, theirs is a niche operation, dealing in quality, as Sales Director Raj Tanna explains.

“Being a small independent, we’re able to give that personal service that, perhaps, you wouldn’t get from the high street chain,” says Raj. “We control the brand; we control the image, and therefore we do realise that ours is a people business and people are our business, in essence.”

“Our properties very much reflect the unique blend that makes SE1 so special

Focusing on the SE1 area has enabled Williams Lynch to dominate a much coveted, high-end market. “The fact that we focus on SE1 and part of SE16 allows us to be specialists in what we do,” explains Raj. “We specialize in traditional warehouse conversions as well as riverside apartments and more modern builds. People also come to us for investment advice; so again, being a small operation enables us to be able to give that very niche and accurate advice that people require.”

Talking to Raj, it’s clear his passion for the area dictates his work. His eyes light up as he tells me about some exciting projects in the pipeline. “We’ve got a bespoke development off Long Lane, where we’re dealing with a well-established client,” he beams. “It’s going to be a very high specification, 9-unit apartment.”

“We’ve also got some exciting apartments on Bermondsey Street.” Raj was keen to point out here that GQ called it ‘the coolest road in the capital’. “We’ve got two apartments that we can offer, if they’re keen on buying on the street. One’s a conversion of an old Victorian warehouse-style property, and a more contemporary duplex apartment penthouse, just 700 yards off the street – it’s about 10 years old.”

There’s alchemy in what Williams Lynch do – merging classic and modern designs. And this is indicative of both the properties they deal in, but also the rise of SE1 as one of the emerging property markets in central London. “We’re very much regarded as the upper-end player within the street itself, so there’s something different; something with glass walls; something that’s got exposed brick; something that’s very traditional with a lot of history behind it, then we’re interested,” explains Raj.

Last time we caught up with Williams Lynch, the owner and managing director of the company Mark Williams predicted a great year. “We’ve had a record breaking January and February so far,” enthuses Raj, vindicating Mark’s forecast. “There are far more buyers than there are properties to sell.”

How, then, has the area managed to remain so lucrative? “Bermondsey Street has established itself very much in the central London market, as has Shad Thames and Bankside. These areas, now, are regarded as prime central London, and central London always works very differently from the rest of the market.”

Williams Lynch
63 Bermondsey Street
SE1 3XF
t: 020 7940 9940
Take a look at the new web site
w: www.williamslynch.co.uk

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