Snow limit to the perks on offer...
Whilst waiting for the housing white paper it is always worth observing what perks the luxury developers are offering at their prime London schemes. The Guardian have reported on incentives and innovative common areas offered at One Blackfriars.
It may take some time of course for schemes in Tangmere, Horsham, and Solihull to feature snow simulators, hot stone massage parlours and 20 seat cinemas. We also have grave concerns about "virtual whisky bars".
More seriously, the article does question the broader value of prime residential developments, which although valuable to foreign buyers as reliable, secure stores of value are perceived to not actually address the lack of housing supply for those living in the UK.
This is an entirely valid point of view, and hopefully the White Paper will inspire confidence in large and small, public and private developers to get into the market and produce more housing of all types for all types of buyer or tenant. With regards to under-occupied prime schemes though, it is always worth accounting for the construction jobs, SDLT, VAT, CIL and placemaking that they generate even if their owners don't choose to live in them or let them out.
now potential purchasers of £23m flats overlooking the Thames in London are being offered access to their own “snow cabin”, where they can unwind from 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 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. ”
