Notting Hill Celebrity Centre

Move over Hollywood, and make way for Notting Hill, Mayfair and Camden. These areas of London probably don’t boast as many celebrities as Hollywood but they have their fair share of starry connections. And a tour offers the opportunity to visit spots where celebrities live or have lived (Madonna), performed (Pink Floyd and the Beatles), partied (the Rolling Stones) and even died (Jimi Hendrix).

James Bonney, who devised Celebrity Tours of London, admits that the idea is a straight steal from similar tours in Los Angeles, where he spent two years. On his return to London he realized that, although there is a wide range of walking tours, none is specifically themed to celebrities.

During a recent tour of Notting Hill, the first stop was a block of flats that Madonna failed to buy; she was gazumped — a peculiarly English practice whereby a house owner raises the price of a property after agreeing to sell at a certain price.

We saw the former homes of Mark Knopfler, Richard Branson and Robbie Williams and the current homes of Annie Lennox and Elle MacPherson.

Film locations from the hit 1999 movie “Notting Hill,” starring Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant, included the Travel Bookshop (the model for the one run by Grant’s character) and the blue door of the apartment where he lived. (The door is now black and in need of a lick of paint.) Other sites on the two-and-a-half-hour tour include the studio where Bob Marley recorded the album “Exodus,” and authentic street art by Banksy.

Fashion connections included the shop run by Sienna Miller and her sister Savannah, the road where Victoria Beckham had recently held a fashion shoot, as well as an Oxfam Charity shop where donated clothes (often by stars) are customized by fashion students and sold to fashionistas.

Several pubs feature in the tours, including one in Notting Hill where Bill Clinton retired for a beer (while the wife and daughter were indulging in retail therapy in the Portobello Road market), and one in Mayfair where Michelle Obama popped in for a drink on her recent trip to London.

Freehold Property For Sale, Camden, N7

Camden
Camden Road
Hornsey
London
N7

Net Saleable: 29282 sq/ft*

£ 3,500,000

Freehold site for sale close to the junction of Camden Road and Holloway Road, London N7. Caledonian Road and Holloway Road Stations are within short walking distance.

Full planning consent has been granted for the demolition of the existing buildings on the site and erection of three blocks incorporating 43 residential flats and 388 sq.m of office space and associated landscaping.

Freehold Property For Sale, Camden, N7

Paris Hilton Buys Camden Property

Socialite heiress Paris Hilton has bought a two million pounds house in Camden and plans to have pole-dancing equipment installed in her living room.

According to mirror.co.uk, Hilton was very impressed with the six-bedroom house and now wants to spend another 250,000 pounds to make the house ‘Pure Paris’.

A friend of hers said: ‘Paris started looking for a base when she was last in the UK to film her ITV2 reality show, ‘Paris Hilton’s British Best Friend’. She initially thought about living near Hampstead and Belsize Park, but moved on to Camden, where she could get more bedrooms for her money. She wanted lots of room for her friends from LA to sleep over. She will be spending a lot of time in the UK, so she wants somewhere comfortable and quite similar to her girl palace in LA.’

London Schools

The scramble for school places every September is always a fairly desperate affair, as parents jump through hoops to secure a place for their child at the school of their choice. Around one in 10 faces disappointment, and in some parts of the country, as many as one in five fail to get into one of their preferred schools.

This year the situation has deteriorated even further. The increased pressure is a result of a a rise in birth rates combined with the pressure on household budgets, meaning that fewer parents can afford to send their child to private school. In the London Borough of Richmond, for example, there has been an 8% drop in the number of children going to private school.

Some councils are short of places overall. A report by London Councils reveals a shortfall of 2,250 places in this financial year. The government has announced extra funding, but as there are unlikely to be any simple solutions in the short term, the pressure for schools will be greater than ever.

The best schools, of course, are even harder to get into. A Guardian survey in March this year into secondary-school choice found that roughly 100,000 children don’t get into their first choice of school. But this varies across the country: in Suffolk, for example, 99% of pupils go to their first-choice school, while in Wandsworth it’s only 53.3%.

Primary schools can be difficult too. A 2009 Press Association survey shows that more than 16,800 children failed to get a reception class place at their parents’ preferred school.

So how can you find the best school for your child? The fight starts with research. The government has a website where you can feed in your postcode, and it will tell you which schools are closest. It will also have a link to their Ofsted report and the school website, where you can find out more about the school’s ethos, and its strengths and weaknesses, as well as its academic results.

Camden Primary Schools

Almost £1,500 added to average London house price in July

FT Advisor reports that house prices rose by 0.4 per cent in July, with none of the indicies with data for July reporting a decline prices.

It is the second consecutive month that the estate agents’ poll has shown average national house prices increasing.

Meanwhile prices in London and the South East showed some of the best rises, gaining 0.5 per cent month-on-month.On average, this means £1,486 was added to the value of a typical house in the capital in July.

Governments Policy To Restrict Multiple Occupation Opposed

Property groups today condemned government plans to clamp down on the number of properties that can be rented to multiple tenants as a “nimby’s charter”.

The British Property Federation warned proposals to reduce the number of homes rented to six or more unrelated people would lead to students, immigrants and those on low incomes being evicted from affordable housing.

It said the proposals were a knee-jerk reaction to the so-called studentification of some areas, which have led to complaints about anti-social behaviour, litter, noise and towns becoming empty during the holidays.

But it warned the Government’s proposals to use planning laws to restrict houses of multiple occupation (HMOs) would raise rents and also impact on immigrants, young professionals and other people who lived in these properties.

The National Union of Students has joined forces with property groups in condemning the plans, which it claims would create student ghettos and dictate where people live based on their income.

The British Property Federation, National Landlords Association, Residential Landlords Association and NUS all argue the proposals will not help, adding that similar moves failed in Northern Ireland.

Burlesque March on Town Hall

UP to 1,000 scantily clad campaigners are set to march on Camden Town Hall in protest at a “nanny state” crackdown on burlesque performers.

More than 500 people have already signed up for a massive Save Burlesque Campaign protest on July 30 – with hundreds more expected to register on the campaign website in the next two weeks.

It follows a controversial new policy from Camden Council which forces any venue staging a burlesque night to apply for a licence for “adult entertainment” as lap-dancing venues have to do.

But burlesque performers have defended the “artform” – saying it is a humorous and titillating theatrical satire dating back more than 400 years.

A spokeswoman for Camden Council said: “Camden is not preventing burlesque acts from performing in the borough. The council follows national guidelines on licensing such performances. Every licensing application is judged on its own merits.

“Burlesque dancing and anything that involves nudity or stripping can be classed as adult entertainment and licence conditions depend on many factors, particularly the content of the show. The council encourages anyone wanting to hold a burlesque performance in the borough to contact the council’s licensing team.

Camden Town Hall Redevelopment

To ensure that local residents do not contribute towards a repairs bill of around £15m for the Camden Town Hall Annexe site, Camden Council is seeking developer interest in the purchasing of the building.

The town hall requires repairs to lifts, electrical, heating and drainage systems, which have all reached the end of their useful lives. It also has high running costs and a larger carbon footprint than more modern office buildings.

Marketing the Annexe site to potential developers allows Camden Council to establish its value and review options for future office accommodation and customer services provision.

Councillor Keith Moffitt, leader at Camden Council, said: “This is an exciting opportunity to deliver our goals of better access to services for residents and more efficient and environmentally friendly workplaces for our staff. We are also acting now to ensure that Camden residents don’t end up footing the bill for expensive repairs to council offices especially important in these economically challenging times.”

According to the council, any deal that goes through will include a profit-sharing clause so that if the value of the site goes up in the future the council will share the benefit. At the same time the council will explore options for buying new office accommodation in the King’s Cross area taking advantage of current cheaper property prices.

Further, any new development should deliver high quality sustainable architecture, making the most of the central London location and contribute positively to the local community and local environment.

Camden House To Let

3 Bedrooms
1 Reception Room
1 Bathroom
A 1970′s design classic two/three bedroom house set over three floors and located in a cobbled street close to all the cosmopolitan delights of Camden Town and the famous Camden Lock. To the ground floor the house benefits from two double bedrooms (one leading to a small private rear patio garden), luxury new bathroom and separate wc. Upstairs, there is a cool open plan reception room with fitted kitchen and dining area leading to an open staircase up to a mezzanine level where there is a further bedroom/study area with fitted wardrobes and hand basin, air conditioning throughout, part furnished, available NOW!

Paramount Properties are West Hampstead based estate and letting agents with houses, penthouses, lofts, studios, flats and apartments for sale and to rent in Belsize Park, Brondesbury, Childs Hill, Cricklewood, Fortune Green, Highgate,Hampstead, Hampstead Village, Hocroft Estate, Little Venice, Kensal Rise, Klburn, Maida Vale, Mapesbury Estate, Queens Park, St. John’s Wood, South Hampstead, Swiss Cottage and Willesden Green

Paramount Properties Estate and Letting Agents

150 WEST END LANE

WEST HAMPSTEAD, LONDON, NW6 1SD

Tel: 020 7644 2336 Fax: 020 7372 2712

e-mail: info@paramount-properties.co.uk

West Hampstead estate agents

West Hampstead estate agents.blog

English Heritage Grant rebuilds Camden Bridges

Camden Council have announced that two local bridges have been repaired and restored thanks to grants of over £86,500 from English Heritage. Gloucester Gate Bridge and the lamp standards of Mornington Street Railway Bridge, which are both Grade II listed, have been awarded repair grants which means that residents and visitors to Camden will be able to enjoy their full magnificence once again.
Gloucester Gate Bridge, which is located on the outer circle of Regents Park, was awarded an English Heritage repair grant of £75,000. The bridge, which dates back to 1877 and was designed by William Booth Scott, was once regarded as one of the finest bridges in London. However, the structure suffered from bomb damage in 1941 which resulted in the loss of cast bronze gas lamp standards and a commemorative plaque. More recently the bridge was damaged by the impact of a motor vehicle in 2002 and the theft of another commemorative plaque. Ornate lamp standards and the bronze plaques have now been repaired and reinstated.

Mornington Street Railway Bridge, which spans the mainline from Euston, received an English Heritage grant of £11,586 toward the repairs of the Neo-Classical lamp standards. The lamps, situated on the east end of the bridge, had been broken and rusting ironwork was damaging the Portland Stone piers. Now, the lamp standards have been restored, the stone repaired and the globe lanterns reinstated.