How to access London’s off-market homes for sale

Official figures show that last year there were on average some 7,000 properties sold in London every month, a bonanza for the many estate agents across the capital as their local property markets boomed.

But what most of the people who bought a property in London last year don’t know, is that several hundred of these properties are never seen on websites or within any of London’s glossy property magazines, simply because they are sold entirely off market.

Having worked in the London property market for many years, the homes I consistently see being sold like this tend to be the most exclusive, larger and most expensive properties being sold by the highest echelon of vendor.

The entry point for these properties are usually worth £5m to £10m upwards depending on which area you look at in London. Their vendors are high net worth individuals who prefer to have their home sold discreetly rather than have it appear in the pages of the Evening Standard or popping up on everyone’s property alerts.

It is within this world of discrete marketing – without any public or open-market exposure – that Garrington specialises. The vendors of these properties usually still contact London’s prime estate agents to spread the word that their homes are available, even if it’s on the quiet, and therefore Garrington’ s superb connections with these agents comes into play.

But it’s not just wealthy, private vendors who want to sell their properties off-market. London’s new homes builders, particularly in prime central London, prefer to market their developments off-market first.

A good example of this is a large and well-known development taking shape south of Sloane Square on a former Ministry of Defence site. When finished in 2018, the £3 billion scheme will include over 450 homes with, in phase one, half a dozen townhouses and 74 apartments.

These properties are going to be popular for many reasons including their location, but one of their biggest draws will be their basements. Since the City of Westminster and other boroughs in London started clamping down on large basement conversions and excavations, properties that already have them now come at a premium.

For more information on how we can assist you gain access to off-market opportunities in London, contact Garrington.