English heritage Survey Of conservation Areas

England has some 9,300 Conservation Areas, historic parts of cities, towns, suburbs and villages designated by local authorities to protect their special character. But what condition are they in? Are they cherished through a close partnership of council and residents? Or are they at risk from neglect, decay and inappropriate development?

Conservation Areas vary enormously. They include, for example, the Belgravia Conservation Area in central London, the industrial heritage of Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter, the fishing village of Clovelly in North Devon and the Victorian People’s Park Conservation Area in Halifax. The heart of a historic town might be a Conservation Area. So too might be a street of well-preserved 1930s semi-detached houses or an isolated group of farm buildings. Details of local Conservation Areas are held by councils and can usually be found on their websites.

English Heritage has asked every Local Authority in the country to fill in a questionnaire for each of their Conservation Areas as part of the first nationwide census of the condition of this important element of our heritage. The results will be announced and a campaign will be launched on 23rd June to help councils, communities and individual residents to care for these special places.

Guide to Gazumping and Gazundering

Gazundering and Gazumping Rates Reveal Property Market Revival

Gazumping has returned to the property market as confidence among estate agents reaches its highest level since the credit crunch began. Gazumping last hit its peak with buoyant property prices in the residential property market of the late 1980s and early 1990s when gazumping became commonplace (in England and Wales)Gazumping is possible here because a buyer's offer is not legally binding even after acceptance of the offer by the vendor. This is because, by s.2 of the Law of Property (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1989 and in order to prevent dishonesty, a contract for the sale of land must be in writing (a requirement of English law that dates back to the Statute of Frauds of 1677)

What Is Gazumping?
When the owner accepts the offer on a property, the buyer will usually not yet have commissioned a building survey nor will the buyer have yet had the opportunity to perform recommended legal checks. The offer to purchase is made "subject to contract" and thus, until written contracts are exchanged either party can pull out at any time. It can take as long as 10-12 weeks for formalities to be completed, and if the seller is tempted by a higher offer during this period it leaves the buyer disappointed and out-of-pocket.

Gazumping is hitting popular parts of London for the first time in months and it is now likely to strike other towns and cities where prospective buyers outnumber properties.

So is it farewell to Gazundering?
We hope so.When property prices are in decline the practice of gazumping becomes rare. The term gazundering has been coined for the opposite practice whereby the buyer waits until everybody is poised to exchange contracts before lowering the offer on the property, threatening the collapse of a whole chain of house sales waiting for the deal to go through.

Belgravia View

Situated between Knightsbridge and Chelsea, beautiful Belgravia is the salubrious and wealthy area which houses many of the capital's most eligible figures! Belgrave Square and its surrounding streets is also the location of many embassies. However, there can be few squares that can equal Eaton Square in providing accommodation for no less than three James Bonds!
Like Mayfair, Belgravia is almost entirely owned by the Duke of Westminster, Britain's richest man. Row upon row of glorious period houses and pristine squares make up the majority of the area, but there are also a number of extremely exclusive shops, restaurants and attractive pubs. Sandwiched between many of the grand houses you can find charming cobbled mews containing smaller residences.
Belgravia is, on the whole, fairly quiet and not the sort of place you'd undertake a raucous pub crawl but is a delight to stroll around on a sunny afternoon.
Nearest Underground: Sloane Square, Victoria, Hyde Park Corner, Knightsbridge.

Belgravia

The Grosvenor family inherited 400 acres of land between Buckingham Palace and Sloane Street, from the Thames as far north as Knightsbridge. This ultimately became Belgravia and Pimlico. In medieval times the Belgravia area was known as the Five Fields. In the 18th century it was just a wasteland used for grazing sheep. It was a dangerous place for respectable people to go. One of the bridges over the West Bourne river was called Bloody Bridge because of the number of violent robberies there. It was an area for highwaymen and footpads. It appealed to the aristocracy only as a popular area for duels, sufficiently far from civilization.

The catalyst for turning this area from a wasteland into a thriving residential district was the decision by George IV to build a new palace on the site of Buckingham House in 1819 and to move the court there.

In the 1820s Lord Grosvenor decided to develop the area as an estate to rival his existing estate in Mayfair. He came to an agreement with Thomas Cubitt. Over the next 30 years Belgravia was constructed and was immediately fashionable. Cubitt provided the estate with good quality services such as sewers and gas lighting, and well-constructed streets and pavements. Originally the area had gates and bars across the entrance of the estate to keep out undesirables and heavy traffic.

The estate was named Belgravia after Belgrave, a village on the Grosvenors' family estate in Leicestershire.

Belgravia lettings agents: Lettings in London SW1

Centred around Belgrave Square, the area known as Belgravia is home to senior politicians, lawyers, industrialists and there are several embassises here. Properties in Belgravia are predominantly white stucco-fronted buildings which are in high demand. Combine this with Belgravia's close proximity to Knightsbridge and Chelsea, ensures high rental level.

Pubs, Bars, Cafés And Restaurants In Belgravia

The Barley Mow
104, Horseferry Rd, Marylebone, London, SW1P 2EE
Tel: 020 7222 2330

Marquis Of Granby
41, Romney St, Marylebone, London, SW1P 3RF
Tel: 020 7227 0941

Surprise
110, Vauxhall Bridge Rd, Pimlico, London, SW1V 2RQ
Tel: 020 7828 5322

Marquis Of Westminster
50, Warwick Way, Pimlico, London, SW1V 1RY
Tel: 020 7834 4339

Duke Of Wellington
63, Eaton Terrace, Belgravia, London, SW1W 8TR
Tel: 020 7730 1782

The Gallery
1, Lupus St, Pimlico, London, SW1V 3AS
Tel: 020 7821 7573

J.D Wetherspoon
Unit 5, Victoria Island, Victoria Station, Victoria, London, SW1V 1JT
Tel: 020 7931 0445

Colonies Public House
25, Wilfred St,Westminster, London, SW1E 6PR
Tel: 020 7834 1407

The Red Lion
2, Duke Of York St, St. James's, London, SW1Y 6JP
Tel: 020 7321 0782

The Greencoat Boy
2, Greencoat Place, Marylebone, London, SW1P 1PJ
Tel: 020 7834 7894

Cafe Churchill
49, Parliament St, Westminster, London, SW1A 2NH
Tel: 020 7930 7676

Santini Restaurant
29, Ebury St, Belgravia, London, SW1W 0NZ
Tel: 020 7730 4094

Bombay Curry Restaurant
25, Churton St, Pimlico, London, SW1V 2LY
Tel: 020 7821 8320

Flamenco Restaurants
54, Pimlico Rd, Belgravia, London, SW1W 8LP
Tel: 020 7730 4484

Garfunkel's Restaurant Plc
122, Victoria St, Westminster, London, SW1E 5LA
Tel: 020 7834 5124

Palace Restaurant
13, Buckingham Palace Rd, Belgravia, London, SW1W 0PP
Tel: 020 7828 0198

Noodle Noodle
312, Vauxhall Bridge Rd, Pimlico, London, SW1V 1AA
Tel: 020 7828 8565

Jindalle Restuarant
6, Panton St, St. James's, London, SW1Y 4DL
Tel: 020 7930 8881

Noodle Noodle Restaurant
18, Buckingham Palace Rd, Belgravia, London, SW1W 0QP
Tel: 020 7931 9911

The Thomas Cubitt
44, Elizabeth St, Belgravia, London, Sw1w 9pa
Tel: 020 7730 6060

Foliage
66, Knightsbridge, London, SW1X 7LA
Tel: 020 7201 3723

Amaya Restaurant
15 Halkin Arcade, Motcomb St, Knightsbridge, London, SW1X 8JT
Tel: 020 7823 1166

Como Lario Restaurant
22, Holbein Place, Belgravia, London, SW1W 8NL
Tel: 020 7730 2954

Luciano
72-73, St. James's St, Westminster, London, SW1A 1PH
Tel: 020 7408 1440

Shepherd's Restaurant
Marsham Court,Marsham St, Marylebone, London, SW1P 4LA
Tel: 020 7834 9552

Travel Links to Belgravia

• Hyde Park Corner (District & Circle lines), Victoria (District, Central and Victoria lines)

• Victoria Railway Station

• Motorway Junction M4 Junction 1

• Airport London City