Friday, February 09, 2007

$4300 a square foot

And we complain about real estate prices? Ouch. Apparently, the Chelsea area in London is one of the most expensive places to own property on earth. The average asking price for a house is 1.1 million pounds (about 2.2 million) in this ritzy area. That's appalling enough, until you realize the sorts of places that are for sale in Chelsea.

A janitor's storeroom in an existing housing block was just listed for 170,000 pounds ($331,000). It is 7 x 11 feet -- about the size of a closet. It has a cupboard for a shower, and a tiny kitchenette -- or it will, after the new owners shell out another $50K to add electricity and proper plumbing and clear out the rubble that fills the tiny room.

Even the estate agent selling the property admitted the flat was "incredibly depressing".

"We have to go in with a torch because the lights do not work and it is full of rubble," Jason North, associate director at Lane Fox.

Nevertheless, the flat is expected to attract buyers due to its close proximity to the fashionable bars, shops and leisure facilities of Kensington and Chelsea.

The article goes on to note that it might be one of the few affordable places in the area, if you don't mind living in a windowless room that's actually a bit smaller than a maximum security cell in prison.

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