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Snow cabins and jungle showers: the latest perks of a luxury London flat Snow cabins and jungle showers: the latest perks of a luxury London flat
(35 minutes later)
Once it was thought enough to offer basement gyms and bowler-hatted concierges as a lure for the property-buying global elite. But now potential purchasers of £23m flats overlooking the Thames in London are being offered access to their own “snow cabin”, where they can unwind after the rigours of the capital’s social scene among artificial white drifts. It was once thought to be enough to offer basement gyms and bowler-hatted concierges as a lure for the property-buying global elite. But now potential purchasers of £23m flats overlooking the Thames in London are being offered access to their own “snow cabin”, where they can unwind after the rigours of the capital’s social scene among artificial white drifts.
This frosty cousin of the sauna is being offered to buyers of apartments at One Blackfriars, a 50-storey tower with views across to St Paul’s Cathedral. It is one of several novel attractions to lure would-be buyers to the tower including a “rainforest shower experience” which involves a dousing to the sounds of the jungle, a virtual golf course with whisky bar, a wine tasting room, a hot stone massage parlour and a 20-seat cinema. This frosty cousin of the sauna is being offered to buyers of apartments at One Blackfriars, a 50-storey tower with views across to St Paul’s Cathedral. It is one of several novel attractions to lure would-be purchasers to the tower, including a “rainforest shower experience” involving a dousing to the sounds of the jungle, a virtual golf course with a whisky bar, a wine tasting room, a hot stone massage parlour and a 20-seat cinema.
The perks are being offered amid a dramatic fall in demand for the most expensive new homes in the capital, which is forcing some developers and estate agents to look for novel ways to encourage sales. The perks are being offered as demand for the most expensive new homes in the capital falls dramatically, forcing some developers and estate agents to look for novel ways to encourage sales.
Just nine newly built homes worth more than £5m were sold in the six months to October, down 83% from the same period in 2015, according to analysis of Land Registry data published earlier this month by the property investment firm LCP. Increases to stamp duty announced by the former chancellor George Osborne and the uncertainty of Brexit have been blamed. Nine newly built homes worth more than £5m were sold in the six months to October, down 83% on the same period in 2015, according to analysis of Land Registry data published earlier this month by property investment company LCP. Increases to stamp duty announced by the former chancellor George Osborne and the uncertainty of Brexit have been blamed.
A Chinese developer in Battersea’s Nine Elms area, where there is a glut of newbuild luxury apartments, is promising that staff will turn down buyers’ bedsheets at night, while a rival is offering membership to a private club complete with rooftop orangery and transparent swimming pool that spans two towers. A Chinese developer in Battersea’s Nine Elms area, where there is a glut of newbuild luxury apartments, is promising that staff will turn down buyers’ bedsheets at night, while a rival is offering membership of a private club complete with a rooftop orangery and transparent swimming pool that spans two towers.
Marketing staff for the Blackfriars tower believe the snow facility will contribute to a “five star hotel experience”. A similar attraction – Snow Paradise at the K-West hotel in west London – consists of a two-metre-square cave-like room kept at -15C with snow pumped into it from a machine that uses just air and water. Marketing staff for the Blackfriars tower believe the snow facility will contribute to a “five-star hotel experience”. A similar attraction, Snow Paradise at the K West hotel in Shepherd’s Bush, west London, consists of a 2m squared cave-like room kept at -15C (5F), with snow pumped into it from a machine that uses air and water.
“It’s like Narnia,” said Natalia Rakowska, marketing manager at that spa. “You rub your snow into your skin and it feels amazing.” Natalia Rakowska, a marketing manager at K West, said: “It’s like Narnia. You rub your snow into your skin and it feels amazing.”
While no affordable housing is being built on the prime site at Blackfriars (the developers have made a £29m contribution to the construction of homes elsewhere in the borough), little expense is being spared on attractions for residents. As well as the snow cabin and rainforest shower, apartment owners will also have access to more standard facilities: a 20-metre swimming pool, sauna, steam room, valet parking and 24-hour concierge provided by Harrods. The first residents are due to move in in 2018. While no affordable housing is being built on the prime site at Blackfriars – the developers have made a £29m contribution to the construction of homes elsewhere in the borough – little expense is being spared on attractions for residents.
“These kinds of additions are vastly beyond the reach of most of the people we need to house in London,” said Tom Copley, Labour’s housing spokesman on the London assembly. “We need to be building homes that people can actually afford to live in. If you juxtapose the image of the snow room or the jungle shower with the rising number of people sleeping on the streets and in housing need, it paints a very uncomfortable picture of the inequality that exists in London.” As well as the snow cabin and rainforest shower, apartment owners will also have access to more standard facilities: a 20-metre swimming pool, sauna, steam room, valet parking and 24-hour concierge provided by Harrods. The first residents are due to move in in 2018.
But with a fall in demand for expensive apartments, estate agents recognise that the quality and novelty of perks on offer is increasingly important. Tom Copley, Labour’s housing spokesman on the London assembly, said: “These kinds of additions are vastly beyond the reach of most of the people we need to house in London. We need to be building homes that people can actually afford to live in.
“The top end of the market has been battered by taxes,” said Lauren Kemp, a spokeswoman for LCP. “There have been three increases in stamp duty since 2012 and the top rate of stamp duty, for properties above £1.5m, is now 12%. Anybody buying through a company, which was popular for foreign investors, can be hit by a tax of up to £250,000 a year.” “If you juxtapose the image of the snow room or the jungle shower with the rising number of people sleeping on the streets and in housing need, it paints a very uncomfortable picture of the inequality that exists in London.”
In its marketing literature, Berkeley Homes stresses: “Maintaining the comfort of the residents at One Blackfriars is essential.” Estate agents recognise that the quality and novelty of perks on offer is increasingly important as demand cools.
The One Blackfriars development was criticised last year when it was advertised with a video that showed a young couple arriving in the capital in a private helicopter. A narrator described their visits to “exclusive boutiques” and London’s museums. The video was taken down amid claims it was elitist. It came amid growing concern that London’s housing market was being distorted by a growing number of foreign investors, some of whom rarely occupy their homes. Lauren Kemp, a spokeswoman for LCP, said: “The top end of the market has been battered by taxes. There have been three increases in stamp duty since 2012 and the top rate of stamp duty, for properties above £1.5m, is now 12%. Anybody buying through a company, which was popular for foreign investors, can be hit by a tax of up to £250,000 a year.”
This month the London mayor, Sadiq Khan, appointed the London School of Economics to carry out the UK’s most comprehensive inquiry into the impact of foreign investment on London’s housing market. In its marketing literature, Berkeley Homes says: “Maintaining the comfort of the residents at One Blackfriars is essential.”
Earlier this year, the Guardian revealed that a 50-storey block of 214 luxury apartments by the river Thames in Vauxhall was more than 60% owned by foreign buyers. A quarter of the flats were held by companies in secretive offshore tax havens and many were unoccupied. One Blackfriars was criticised last year when it was advertised with a video that showed a young couple arriving in the capital in a private helicopter. A narrator described their visits to “exclusive boutiques” and London’s museums. The video was taken down amid claims it was elitist and growing concern that London’s housing market was being distorted by an increasing number of foreign investors, some of whom rarely occupy their homes.
This month, the London mayor, Sadiq Khan, appointed the London School of Economics to carry out the UK’s most comprehensive inquiry into the impact of foreign investment on London’s housing market.
Earlier this year, the Guardian revealed that a 50-storey block of 214 luxury apartments by the river Thames in Vauxhall was more than 60% owned by foreign buyers. One-quarter of the flats were held by companies in secretive offshore tax havens and many were unoccupied.