An explorer has claimed that an exclusive central London district, where properties can fetch up to £50million, is rapidly turning into a ghost town.
The New York Times reports that the Central London area of Belgravia is a place where “practically the only people who can afford to live there don’t actually want to”.
Podcaster Hannah Ricketts ventured into the ultra-affluent neighbourhood sandwiched between Chelsea and Westminster to discover why one of Britain’s most coveted areas is also among its least inhabited.
She reveals: “There’s hardly anybody here … the majority of people who own and live in Belgravia, it’s not their first home. They have multiple homes and they’re international..”
Hannah delves into the colourful past of Belgravia, tracing its roots back to the Tudor period when it was infamous as a hunting ground for bandits and highwaymen.
It wasn’t until the early 19th Century that Richard Grosvenor, then Marquess of Westminster, acquired much of the land and developed a series of grand squares, transforming it into a prestigious residential quarter.
According to the latest data, Belgravia boasts some of the priciest real estate in the world. With property values skyrocketing, all but the wealthiest Britons have been edged out, and many homes have been snapped up by Russian oligarchs and other foreign billionaires.
A significant proportion of London’s wealthiest individuals view their opulent Belgravia townhouses more as investments than homes, often visiting for just a few weeks each year, if at all.
The remaining shops in the area seem to cater predominantly to the spouses of billionaires. Hannah comments that they’re mostly “posh shoe shops, posh hairdressers and everything in-between.”
Belgravia boasts the high-end florist Neill Strain, where a Christmas wreath for your door will cost upwards of £600. Hannah is astonished by a bouquet of roses with a price tag of £375, remarking: “I’m telling you, Aldi and Lidl, they do really good roses and they’re about three quid granted they don’t quite look as nice as that.”
Even the local coffee shops are targeting the ultra-rich, with a hot chocolate setting you back nearly £10. Hannah exclaims, “Ooh,” upon seeing an iced matcha with almond milk priced at £7.35, adding, “Iced matcha with almond milk £7.35. Welcome to Belgravia! “.
The astronomical prices help explain why there are seldom queues in Belgravia’s shops. The Lanesborough hotel’s restaurant, Celeste, has been dubbed “The Marie Celeste” due to its frequent emptiness, a nickname that has come to characterise the rest of the neighbourhood because of its often deserted streets.
The phrase is often used to describe a location from which people have conspicuously vanished, harking back to an episode involving a US cargo vessel by the same name discovered derelict in 1872a ship that was found abandoned in the North Atlantic.
To date, the circumstances surrounding the disappearance of its 10-person crew, as well as the reasons behind the ship’s desertion, continue to elude experts.
Aside from the ceaseless din of construction work as builders excavate immense basement areas beneath the line of stucco-fronted townhouses, Belgravia stands as a peculiarly silent pocket at the heart of London.
It might be quite some time, if at all, for normalcy to resurrect in Belgravia, Hannah remarks: “Even if you win the lottery, guys I hate to break it to you, but you might not even be able to afford to live here.”