10英鎊，買倫敦騎士橋的公寓?

Knightsbridge isn’t usually somewhere to shop on a budget but this year one lucky home hunter might pick up a three-bedroom apartment on Walton Street — valued at more than £3m — for £10.

倫敦騎士橋(Knightsbridge)通常不是買便宜商品的地段，但今年幸運的購房者或許能以10英鎊的價格買到沃頓街(Walton Street)上的一個三臥室公寓——該公寓估值超過300萬英鎊。

All he or she need do is beat a few hundred thousand other hopefuls in a cricketing “spot-the-ball” competition. As well as a share of the freehold, the winner of the property will have stamp duty paid and receive a matte-black Jeep.

這名幸運兒需要做的是，在板球形式的“尋找移動的球”(spot-the-ball)比賽中打敗成百上千名其他競爭者。除了得到房屋所有權(quán)以外，勝出者的購房印花稅也將被代付，同時獲得一輛啞光黑色的吉普(Jeep)車。

“It’s a sexy house,” says Santa Agolli, founder of Your Laddr, which is organising the competition. “It’s next to Harrods, it’s a dream lifestyle.” This property event is launching her business: Your Laddr will eventually offer a range of homes through the same form of competition.

比賽組織方Y(jié)our Laddr的創(chuàng)始人桑塔•阿果里(Santa Agolli)說：“這是一套很有魅力的住宅。它毗鄰哈羅德百貨公司(Harrods)，這是一種夢幻般的生活方式。”此次競猜房產(chǎn)活動也是阿里果公司的啟動項目：Your Laddr最終將通過同樣模式的比賽出售一系列住宅。

“For 10 quid, why not have a go?” asks Noel De Keyzer, director of Savills’ local office. The average sale price of Knightsbridge flats in 2017 was just over £3m, with houses close to £5m, according to data from LonRes. The 1 in 380,000 chance offered by Your Laddr might be more appealing than ponying up the actual costs.

“僅需10英鎊，為什么不試一試?”房地產(chǎn)集團第一太平戴維斯(Savills)騎士橋營業(yè)部主管諾爾•德•凱澤爾(Noel De Keyzer)表示。研究公司LonRes提供的數(shù)據(jù)顯示，2017年騎士橋地區(qū)公寓的平均售價高于300萬英鎊，獨棟住宅的平均售價則接近500萬英鎊。因此，Your Laddr提供的38萬分之一的機會相對于全額支付房款或許更有吸引力。

“So long as the scheme involves a sufficient element of skill, judgment or knowledge, ‘spot-the-ball’ competitions can operate lawfully in the UK without the need for an operating licence,” says David Copping at Farrer & Co, the law firm. He adds, however, that if prizes can be awarded on the basis of pure luck or guesswork, the competition is likely to be subject to regulation by the Gambling Commission.

律師事務所Farrer & Co的大衛(wèi)•柯平(David Copping)表示：“只要整個比賽設計需要用到足夠多的技巧、判斷或知識元素，‘尋找移動的球’比賽就能在英國合法進行，而無需額外申請運營許可。”但他補充稱，如果獎項歸屬完全基于運氣或者猜測，則這種比賽很可能將受到博彩委員會(Gambling Commission)監(jiān)管。

Local agents describe the competition as a gimmick, but vendors may be open to new ideas. Prices are down 15 per cent since 2014, according to LonRes, and homes that did sell last year spent an average of 157 days on the market, with 45 per cent having their prices cut.

騎士橋當?shù)氐拇砩虃冋J為這場比賽是騙人的把戲，但房屋賣家或許會對新創(chuàng)意持開放態(tài)度。LonRes提供的數(shù)據(jù)顯示，自2014年以來，該地區(qū)住宅價格已累計下跌了15%，而去年實際售出的住房在市場上的平均掛牌時間長達157天，并且其中有45%下調(diào)了售價。

Like other affluent London neighbourhoods, Knightsbridge has been hit by what De Keyzer calls “Osborne’s changes” — the stamp duty reforms introduced by the former chancellor, which first raised the bill on properties costing more than £937,500 and then added a 3 per cent premium to all second homes. “People have not adjusted to the changes we’ve seen over the past 18 months,” he says. “[The vendors] might not have been able to shift the apartment the conventional way.”

和其他富裕的倫敦街區(qū)一樣，騎士橋受到了德•凱澤爾所謂的“奧斯本沖擊”——前任財政大臣喬治•奧斯本(George Osborne)推動的印花稅改革首先提高了售價高于93.75萬英鎊房產(chǎn)的印花稅率，此外還對第二套住宅額外征收3%的印花稅。“人們還沒有針對我們在過去18個月中所經(jīng)歷的變化做出調(diào)整。”他說，“房屋賣方或許不能再僅靠傳統(tǒng)方式賣出住宅。”

“As a buyer you can’t afford to make a mistake if you’re paying 10-15 per cent in stamp duty,” says Harry Dawes, head of Knight Frank’s Knightsbridge office. The caution has been palpable among Knight Frank’s customers: “At the peak of 2014 we were averaging 18 viewings per offer, now it’s around 45,” says Dawes.

“作為買家，如果你需要支付10%至15%的印花稅，選錯房子的成本將是難以承受的。”萊坊駐騎士橋營業(yè)部主管哈里•道斯(Harry Dawes)稱。這種謹慎情緒在萊坊的客戶中表現(xiàn)得非常明顯。“2014年行情最火爆的時候，我們平均每個掛牌房源有18組客戶看房，現(xiàn)在則有約45組。”道斯稱。

“Our register in the Knightsbridge office has never been so low,” says De Keyzer. “We’ve seen transaction numbers at the top end [on properties valued at £5m and above] down by 40 to 50 per cent.”

“我們在騎士橋登記的交易數(shù)量從未像現(xiàn)在這么少。”德•凱澤爾說，“目前高端房產(chǎn)(價值500萬英鎊以上的房產(chǎn))的交易數(shù)量下降了40%至50%。”

Discretionary buyers have been discouraged by the stuttering market and many have become renters until confidence returns. Buying agent Camilla Dell has an alternative explanation: “Knightsbridge is not the desirable postcode it once was,” she says. “A lot of my clients say Knightsbridge has lost a lot of its gloss.” Even Middle Eastern buyers — so established in the area that Harrods is now an asset of the Qatari state — are venturing to the garden squares of Belgravia and Mayfair, she says.

疲軟低迷的市場形勢打擊了非剛需型購房者的熱情，很多人轉(zhuǎn)而選擇租房，等待市場信心恢復。購房代理人卡米拉•戴爾(Camilla Dell)對此有另一種解釋：“騎士橋已經(jīng)不再是過去那個令人向往的居住區(qū)了。”她說，“我的很多客戶都認為騎士橋已經(jīng)失去了往日的光彩。”即便中東地區(qū)的購房者也開始涉足貝爾格拉維亞(Belgravia)的花園廣場和梅費爾區(qū)(Mayfair)的房產(chǎn)，而中東地區(qū)客戶在騎士橋地產(chǎn)界的地位是如此重要，以至于哈羅德百貨現(xiàn)已成為卡塔爾的國有資產(chǎn)。

Before the downturn, Knightsbridge had been on a streak. The area straddles Kensington & Chelsea and the City of Westminster — the two best-performing markets in the UK from 2005-2015, according to Savills Residential Research. During that decade, prices there rose 80 per cent or more.

在陷入下行走勢以前，騎士橋的地產(chǎn)價格曾經(jīng)持續(xù)上漲。該地區(qū)橫跨肯辛頓-切爾西區(qū)(Kensington & Chelsea)和威斯敏斯特市(City of Westminster)，第一太平洋戴維斯住宅研究公司(Savills Residential Research)提供的數(shù)據(jù)顯示，2005至2015年間，這兩個地區(qū)的房產(chǎn)價格在整個英國境內(nèi)漲幅最高。在這十年間，這兩個地區(qū)的房價漲幅達到甚至超過了80%。

One reason for the boom was a series of super-prime developments, such as The Knightsbridge, 201 residences near Hyde Park. Today, a one-bedroom flat in the development is on sale for £3.495m — more than £4,000 per square foot — with Harrods Estates.

導致這種繁榮局面的一個原因在于一系列超高端住宅開發(fā)項目的推出，例如騎士橋公寓(The Knightsbridge)，這個包含201套住宅的樓盤毗鄰海德公園(Hyde Park)。這個開發(fā)項目中的一間單臥室公寓目前正以349.5萬英鎊的價格在房產(chǎn)代理公司Harrods Estates掛牌出售——每平方英尺售價超過4000英鎊。

The Knightsbridge was followed in 2011 by One Hyde Park, a Candy brothers development which launched at a headline-grabbing £6,000 per sq ft. “The reputation of One Hyde Park is still head and shoulders above anything else,” says Simon Barry, head of New Residential Developments at Harrods Estates. Dell is less flattering, describing it as “a goldfish bowl”.

繼騎士橋公寓之后，海德公園一號(One Hyde Park)又于2011年推出，這是坎迪(Candy)兄弟開發(fā)的項目，發(fā)售價格高達每平方英尺6000英鎊，引發(fā)媒體熱議。Harrods Estates的新住宅開發(fā)部門主管西蒙•巴里(Simon Barry)表示：“海德公園一號的知名度仍然遠遠高于任何其他樓盤。”戴爾對海德公園一號的評價則沒有這么高，稱其是“一個金魚缸”。

The address certainly commands a premium, with a five-bedroom apartment marketed for £50m by Knight Frank. A number of apartments in the development are owned by offshore companies — at last count, it was reported that 20 have purchased homes there in excess of £20m.

海德公園一號相對其他開發(fā)項目無疑存在溢價，目前萊坊正在銷售的一套五臥室公寓標價5000萬英鎊。該住宅開發(fā)項目中的數(shù)套公寓由離岸公司所有——截至上一次統(tǒng)計，海德公園一號聲稱有20位客戶購買了售價超過2000萬英鎊的住宅。

Transaction volumes in Knightsbridge have fallen 36 per cent from 2014 levels, according to LonRes, and even a small bounce back last year, when some 26 more homes were sold than in the year before, has done little to raise morale among local agents. For now, finding a ball might be easier than finding a buyer.

LonRes提供的數(shù)據(jù)顯示，騎士橋地區(qū)的房產(chǎn)交易數(shù)量較2014年的水平萎縮了36%，即便去年出現(xiàn)了小幅反彈——出售住宅數(shù)量較上年增長了約26套——也無助于提振該地區(qū)房產(chǎn)銷售代理們的士氣?，F(xiàn)如今，尋找移動的球或許比找到買家更容易。

Buying guide 購房指南

Transaction volumes in Knightsbridge have fallen 36 per cent from 2014 levels, when 318 homes were sold, according to LonRes. In 2017, just 202 changed hands LonRes

提供的數(shù)據(jù)顯示，騎士橋地區(qū)的房產(chǎn)交易量與2014年相比下跌了36%，2014年該地區(qū)共有318套住宅售出。2017年交易成功的房產(chǎn)數(shù)量僅202套。

Two-thirds of students at Imperial College in Knightsbridge are from overseas. Agents report an increase in buyers — particularly from China — looking for high-end student accommodation

倫敦帝國學院(Imperial College London)騎士橋校區(qū)的學生中，有三分之二來自海外。房產(chǎn)代理報告稱，尋找高端學生住所的買家數(shù)量增多——特別是來自中國的買家。

Hyde Park barracks, home of the Household Cavalry, was earmarked for development, but failure to find a home for the mounted regiment stalled plans

海德公園軍營是皇家騎兵團(Household Cavalry)的駐地，未來這里將進行房地產(chǎn)開發(fā)。但開發(fā)計劃因未能給皇家騎兵團找到新的駐扎營地而延期。

What you can buy for . . .

你能買到什么?

£1m A one-bedroom flat opposite Harrods

100萬英鎊可以在哈羅德百貨對面買到一間單臥室公寓

£7.5m A five-bedroom penthouse in a listed building

750萬英鎊可以在屬于受保護建筑的大樓中買到一套五臥室頂層公寓

£20m A four-bedroom new-build townhouse

2000萬英鎊可以買到一棟新建成的四臥室聯(lián)排別墅

More homes at propertylistings.ft.com 譯者/何黎