Kensington & Chelsea and Westminster closes for business
I’ve previously bemoaned the effect of London selling out to foreigners who never move into the properties they buy. The “money park” effect has led to a “no lights on, nobody’s home” situation in the streets of Kensington and Chelsea and Westminster and now local businesses are paying the price.
The following pictures provide just a few indicators of how many empty shops there are currently in the Royal Borough and Westminster as a result of their being fewer customers and equally, greedier and greedier landlords demanding higher and higher rents.
Two stories to keep beside you
May there be Grammar
Matthew Steeples suggests Theresa May is entirely right in her decision to reintroduce grammar schools Don’t get me wrong: I loathe and detest Theresa May. She closed our police stations, she closed our fire stations and as Home Secretary she repeatedly failed to deliver justice for victims of historic abuse at the hands of […]
The grockles of K&C
Survey of locations with the highest percentage of second homes gives indication as to why so many long-established businesses are closing down in Kensington and Chelsea; in some streets in the borough second home ownership now accounts for 70% of all properties there
Cadogan, Grosvenor and South Kensington Estates should be ashamed of themselves.
Subscribe to our free once daily email newsletter here:[contact-form-7 id=”225″ title=”Contact form 1″]
Readers have their say
8 comments
Unless greedy and very shortsighted landlords correct their ways in short order, the place will turn into Monaco, a soulless ghost town.
First most of our pubs went. Then those small, independent shops and businesses that gave a village-feel to our neighbourhoods disappeared. Now our empty streets are filled with Ocado and other “we deliver” vans; kamikaze pizza mopeds and a noisy parade of foreign-registered Lamborghinis, Ferraris and McClarens. All because of the mad-monetary policies pursued by the mendacious ‘Boy’ George and his ‘REMAIN’ cronies!
At the risk of repeating myself; we now live in an effluent society
A society that respects IKEA & Grayson Perry and rejects Chippendale and Sartorius
I cite the proposed sale of the contents of Dumfries House by Johnny Dumfries as a prime example of a modern young man of good background and extreme privilege rejecting his inheritance
Dumfries House was rescued for posterity by HRH Charles, Prince of Wales
Johnny Dumfries is a significant racing driver
His forebear sold Cardiff in the early thirties to finance General Franco, thus creating Western Ground Rents, which is a Grosvenor / Cadogan / Bedford style operation
The leases on Cardiff should revert to the Bute family in under twenty years – yipee
Take a look at Western Ground Rents – The Marquess of Bute selling Cardiff to finance General Francoo- Johnny Dumfries – Dumfries House – plus ça change
This has also happened here in Aspen. Individual merchants who actually live here and participate in the community have been forced out by high rents that large chain stores like Prada, Chanel, Valentino, Brunello Cucinelli and others who will operate at a loss just to have the prestige of Aspen visibility are willing to pay. The going joke here is that there is no place to buy socks. The charm and individuality that made Aspen delightful have been steamrollered.
When Osborne became CofE his sycophantic Oxford tutor rambled on about how precociously clever he was. In reality, people tell me Osborne had a fairly run of the mill mind. This often happens with these Oxbridge tutors: they seize every chance to grease up to former charges-done well-n the hope of some government sinecure or quango(yes, they still exist)
One of Osborne’s especially stupid ideas is to allow local councils to use business rates to perk up their local economies.
If you have ever met the average councillor you would know that they would fast succeed in bankrupting a charity shop. None have any business experience….and don’t get me on to the officers. Outside local government they are unemployable.
Between the greedy landlord and central government who set business rates, our communities have been hollowed out.
London is now run for the dodgy rich, or, as my ex K&R negotiator friend said. ” people from countries you would not want your gap year daughter sending postcards from”.
If the shops are empty I assume landlord’s get no money , so they loose for years , but would, nt if they never increased the rent . Dont they make enough money? Plus more people out of work,