KINGS CROSS - Ajay Ahuja

Area:	Kings Cross
Category:	A
Postcode:	N1
In Congestion Zone:	No – 0.1 miles outside.
Parking and Traffic:	Permits & Meters. No significant traffic trouble spots.
Ethnicity Bias:	None
Investor Profile	Pension, Business, Cash&Equity, University
Crime:	Violence		Sexual		Burglary		Motor
Per 1000 population	32		2		17		14
Yield Range:	5.4% - 9.0%
Price Ranges	Low £	Hi £		Low £pw	Hi £pw	Low		Hi
Studio flat	115,000	185,000		170	255	7.2%		7.7%
1 bed flat	170,000	255,000		230	390	7.0%		8.0%
2 bed flat	190,000	550,000		275	950	7.5%		9.0%
2 bed house	480,000	750,000		500	1100	5.4%		7.6%
Valuations above the London average by:	18.4% (286,409)
	Actual				London Average
Capital growth last 12 months:	6.8%				19%
Capital growth last 48 months:	92.7%				89%
Tube:	Kings Cross Victoria, Northern, Circle, Metropolitan, Hammersmith & City Lines (Zone 1) – 11 minutes to Oxford Circus. One hour to Heathrow Terminals 1, 2 and 3.
Demand For Letting:	Okay
Average void period:	14 days
	Total (out of 10)			Capital Growth (out of 5)		Yield (out of 5)
Out of 10:	7			4		3
Summary:	Not the prettiest or safest area but represents enormous potential considering the inward private and public investment.
Sought After Streets:	Caledonian Rd, St Pancras Rd & Kings Cross Rd.
Description:	Out of all the key station areas in central London like Liverpool St, Euston, Paddington etc Kings Cross, in my opinion, is the worst area in many aspects – this is why I love it! The area is notorious for its drugs, prostitution and violence but there has been a real effort by the authorites to reduce this. This keeps property prices depressed but ripe to spring up. There is now a dedicated police station for the area and there is full video surveillance in the worser areas. There is a regeneration programme to start in 2006 and by 2007 the channel tunnel rail link will be functional (hopefully!). So four years from now it will be a great place to live hence an above average increase property prices as the area would have changed. There is also the Regent Quarter development which will be a development of the original traditional buildings and the building of new homes and commercial units which will attempt to ‘clean up’ the area. I think this will work. I imagine the illegal trades will move elsewhere and Kings Cross will really come in to fruition by 2010. The land behind St Pancras and King’s Cross stations (formerly known as the railway lands) is set to undergo a major redevelopment. Argent St George has been appointed as the development partners to establish a mixed use scheme that will bring local benefits and help to transform King’s Cross into a distinctive urban quarter. It is hoped King’s Cross Central works will start in 2006 as the Channel Tunnel Rail Link construction works comes to a close. Completion is unlikely to be before 2015. Remember – this is a long term bet!
Estate Agents:	Name		Address		Tel		Web
	APS Estates		50 Caledonian Road, London, N1 9DP		020 7833 5070		www.apestates.com
	Daniel Ford & Co		35 Balfe Street, London, N1 9EB		020 7713 0909
Letting Agents:	Name		Address		Tel		Web
	Hugh Grover Lettings Ltd		Suite 3, Islington Business Centre, Islington High Street, London, N1 9LQ		020 7745 2555
	The Art of Living (City) Ltd		Second Floor, 9 White Lion Street, London, N1 9PD		020 7833 0003
	Copping Joyce		327/329 Upper Street, London, N1 2XQ		020 7226 4221		www.coppingjoyce.co.uk
	Frank Harris & Company		104 Southampton Row, London, WC1B 4BL		020 7405 4444		www.frankharris.co.uk
	Black Katz Ltd		22 Baron St, London, N1 9ES		020 7713 7337

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