Canary Wharf and Excel Property Update April 2013

It has been a while since I updated landlords on the current market in Canary Wharf, Excel and Greenwich. The Olympics has been and gone and with it came some winners and losers both on and off the track. We had a number of landlords who benefited from some very attractive short let contracts during the Olympics. Most payments were made on time but unfortunately some of the later payments did not materialise. Some would say it all appeared to be too good to be true but speaking to other agents in Canary Wharf, Movello landlords appear to have benefited far more than landlords of other agents. Some Olympic clients were simply taking out long term contracts with Knight Frank, Morgan Randall and Henry Wiltshire and vacating after a month making no further payments.
We have certainly learnt from the experience and now insist on full upfront payment for all short let contracts no matter how big the client is. We have been contacted by the organisers of a major international exhibition being held at Excel in August and have some more very attractive short let contracts available (with full upfront payment). The requirements are:
1x 1 bed apartment for 17 nights (30th August to 15th September). £700 per week. Total contract value - £1700

8x 2 bed 2 bath apartments for 10 to 19 nights (29th August to 16th September). £1400 per week. 10 night contracts - £2000. 19 night contracts - £3800

2x 3 bed 3 bath apartments for 10 and 17 nights (31st August to 16th September). £2100 per week. 10 night contract £3000. 17 night contract - £5100
If you have an apartment in Excel that will be coming available please contact us for further details.
We are pleased to announce the arrival of Ian Pecoff, Senior Property Consultant. Ian joins us after a long spell with Life Residential and previously with Foxtons and Kinleigh Folkard and Hayward. He brings with him extensive knowledge of the Canary Wharf and Excel property market and is available to take your calls on both sales and lettings. His direct number is 020 7473 9539 and email address is ian@movello.com
We are still seeing very strong demand from tenants for apartments in Pan Peninsula, Discovery Dock, The Landmark and Baltimore Wharf. If you have apartments available in those developments please contact us for special rates.
Another trend we are seeing, particularly in Canary Wharf, is the emergence of a new type of tenancy. Traditionally there has always been long term contracts (six or 12 month assured shorthold tenancies) and short term contracts (1-3 months). Banks appear to be laying off full time employees while creating new positions on three month rolling contracts. This has created a demand for what we are calling "Mid Term lets" where tenants are requesting rolling 3 month break clauses. It is not possible to cater for these on a traditional assured shorthold tenancy since these have to be for a minimum of 6 months. Therefore we are able to negotiate increased rents for mid term lets on short let contracts. If this is of interest to you please contact either Ian, Hasan or myself.
The sales market has been fairly stagnant for the last few months, apart from the usual hotspots of central Canary Wharf from overseas buyers. There is growing interest in Excel with the announcement of plans to create a floating village in the Royal Docks http://www.wharf.co.uk/2013/03/floating-village-earmarked-for.html . With the arrival of Crossrail in 2018, prices of properties within walking distance of the new stations at Customs House and Canary Wharf are expected to rise in excess of 20%.
If you are interested in marketing your property for sale we are offering a package of professional photographs and floorplans on a fixed no sale no fee of just 1.5%. Contact us now if you would like a no obligation valuation.
We look forward to hearing from you and working with you in 2013