It's Chinese whispers on the Wentworth Estate; rental homes in Sunningdale

As you know rental homes in Sunningdale and the Wentworth Estate are very sought after.

Since the purchase back in 2014, the new Chinese owners have made little change to this long established country club but today it has been announced that revolution is underway. 

The Wentworth Club, home to the annual PGA Championship, has always been frequented by the rich and famous, not to mention the odd Royal, with full membership for a couple commanding a first payment on joining of nearly £39,000. 

Those who weren't full Wentworth Members could however also come and pay and play as corporate guests. But from 1st April 2017 this club will become "fully private" using a debenture scheme. 

James Wyatt, Partner at Barton Wyatt, Wentworth resident and Club Member, comments:

"At the lively AGM, 400 members were informed that in 2017 they will have to pay a debenture of £100,000 and annuals subs of £16,000. Membership will be offered only if the Wentworth board members approve the 'application'. New members will pay a debenture of £125,000.

This marks a massive change to the existing club set up, but the Chief Executive Steven Webster told us that the club need significant investment in the golf courses, clubhouse and tennis club.

However, the current Captain slammed the owners lack of communication with the members, explaining that members wanted value for money - and for the Club to be inclusive not exclusive.

Over the years, we have seen plenty of changes at Wentworth, and very few of those changes have been popular at first glance. But it is clear that Wentworth members after 2017 will have rather more space to themselves".

For more details on the changes coming to The Wentworth Club contact James Wyatt on 01344 843000.

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Barton Wyatt provide luxury and select Property for sale in Ascot. James Wyatt MNAEA, MARLA, TRC, REALTOR ® is a partner at Barton Wyatt Estate Agents Surrey. Tel: 01344 843000

Barton Wyatt welcomes Chinese purchase of The Wentworth Group

The announcement of the acquisition of The Wentworth Group in Surrey by a large Chinese Investment company, Reignwood Group, spells good news for Surrey's Wentworth and Virginia Water.

The Wentworth Club is one of the world's finest golf and country clubs set in an oasis less than an hour from central London.  Consisting of a famous castellated Clubhouse, three championship golf courses, a Tennis & Health Club, an active social calendar and dining inspired by The Ivy and Le Caprice also owned by Richard Caring.

Barton Wyatt, the leading estate agents in Surrey, are delighted with the news.  James Wyatt, partner of the firm explains:

"Rumours have been flying around for months about the sale of The Wentworth Club.  Richard Caring has been open about his ambition to sell this part of his empire and release capital for other ventures.

"It was all just a case of who had the money for this hugely expensive slice of Surrey.  We are delighted it is now settled and we are most excited by having internationally renowned Chinese owners at the helm. 

"This purchase by a major Chinese group will undoubtedly expand the Wentworth Brand globally.  This in turn will open new doors, bring new markets to our estate and of course more wealth outside of London to the Home Counties."

The Reignwood Group has purchased Wentworth for a jaw dropping sum of £135m. Dr Chanchai Ruayrungruang, founder of The Reignwood Group in 1984, commented,

"Reignwood has a long history in golf development, a profound respect for excellence in every form and deep interest in East-West cooperation.

"As a world famous golf institution, Wentworth is a key strategic acquisition for our rapidly growing luxury lifestyle division, whose unique culture we are dedicated to preserving and whose exceptional expertise will inform our golf operations across Asia."

Dr Chanchai Ruayrungruang is also known more familiarly as Yan Bin and has a multitude of feathers in his cap including being the man who brought the energy drink Red Bull from Thailand to China. Three years later, he started building the Wonderland Amusement Park, not dissimilar to Disneyland near Beijing.

In 2000, he built China's largest golf resort, the Pine Valley Resort in Beijing, which caters to a luxury crowd: in 2009 the course was awarded the Multimillionaires' Most Favourite Golf Course in Beijing.

Yan Bin has grown his fortune on the back of a strong performance in sales of Red Bull energy drinks in China, and with sales expected to hit US$800 million this year, it is estimated that his personal wealth is $8.17 billion.

James Wyatt says:

"In my mind golf and the Chinese sit in harmony together.  Asia has become golf mad over the past few decades and are already regular visitors to Wentworth.  Hopefully now they will move into leafy Surrey and become part of our rich and diverse international tapestry. 

"I for one would be thrilled to see some dim sum on the menu at The Wentworth Club!"

For more details contact Barton Wyatt Surrey Estate Agents.

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Barton Wyatt provide luxury and select Property in Sunningdale. James Wyatt MNAEA, MARLA, TRC, REALTOR ® is a partner at Barton Wyatt Letting Agents Surrey. Tel: 01344 843000

A secret service for 50 years, now to be publically launched on 1st October 2014 Award-winning Barton Wyatt Launches Private Office

Barton Wyatt, the prime multi award-winning estate agents Surrey , has been offering a concierge service to their clients since 1965, designed to fulfil the needs of international royal families, non-doms, celebrities and high net worth individuals who wanted more than "just an estate manager".

Over the past five decades, Barton Wyatt has further honed and developed this incredibly discreet and specialised service and today they launch their service under the name of Private Office as more and more clients seek this type of assistance.

James Wyatt, Partner of Barton Wyatt and Head of Private Office explains,

"We have been fulfilling a concierge facility for clients for fifty years but as demand has risen, we felt it was time to give the service a separate identity and more credence. 

"Our clients include those who hold properties all over the world but may only use their Surrey homes for one or two months of the year, whilst others may visit at weekends.  Some live here all the time but want to enjoy their own time to the maximum. We sit in the background of these luxurious lifestyles ensuring that homes and households continue to run seamlessly whilst the client is here or away." 

The Barton Wyatt Private Office offers a fully bespoke and customised service for clients although typical services include:

• Recruiting and managing household staff, ensuring they are fulfilling their role both within the house and the grounds
• Handling the utilities, ensuring best value and arranging maintenance of household equipment - this could be anything from swimming pools to whirlpools, kitchen and / or gym equipment, Wi-Fi, electronic gates and even internal lifts for both people and cars!
• Undertaking basic "running of the house" errands from the dry cleaning through to servicing the cars, cleaning windows and chimneys
• Arranging private transportation from limousine airport picks up through to private jets for national and international travel
• Organising social gatherings from lavish children's birthday parties through to gastronomic luncheons for 100 guests plus
• Assisting with finding suitable schools for off-spring - from pre-school to seniors, traditional English schooling and international schools, day or boarding
• Re-opening the house upon a client's return includes a deep clean, fresh flowers and filling the multitude of fridges and freezers with food that is often quite specialist and pertains to country and culture
• Closing the house upon a client's departure including once again a deep clean, laundering bedrooms, replacing any broken items during their stay and ensuring the house is safe and secure whilst they are away

James goes on to say:

"Wentworth and the surrounding area has a unique set of families who live here; many are from overseas, often of high standing or famous but almost exclusively they are all very wealthy.  With wealth comes very high expectations and offering the Private Office is not something that we have taken lightly. Our staff must have exemplary customer service skills and an in-depth knowledge on how to make things happen seamlessly.  Thankfully I have no hesitation in stating that we hold these skills and are looking forward to taking on more clients to assist them with running their households."

Needless to say the sky is the limit when it comes to the services on offer to members of Private Office.  Time is often short for the rich jet set and despite an army of staff, having someone on the ground at the Surrey country mansion enables better planning and organisation.  It is hard to organise dinner for 20 from Malibu or a champagne reception with a string quartet from Dubai.  But with Private Office no job is too hard, the team have the know-how and the savvy to be on hand to make things happen on time and as requested.

Wyatt says:

"Clients sometimes need assistance with interior design which will all come under the Private Office banner.  We are highly experienced with applying for planning for new extensions, assimilating quotes and ensuring work is carried out to the highest standard.  We create new bathrooms and kitchens, re-design any room in the house, select new curtains, carpets and often furniture for our clients.  No job is too big or too small."

The Private Office is available to client's who live in the vicinity of the Barton Wyatt Wentworth office in Virginia Water, Surrey. Prices are available on request but are generally calculated on the size of each property. 

For more details of this luxury service please contact James Wyatt at Barton Wyatt Surrey estate agents on 01344 843 000

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Barton Wyatt provide luxury and select Property For Sale in Sunningdale. James Wyatt MNAEA, MARLA, TRC, REALTOR ® is a partner at Barton Wyatt Letting Agents Surrey. Tel: 01344 843000

Surrey Properties Sold Within Hours

Aviva recently commissioned research into 4,000 homeowners surprisingly revealing that the average buyer takes just 33 minutes to decide on a house purchase. Probably one of the most expensive decisions a person makes in their lifetime and yet seemingly one of the most rushed. 

 James Wyatt, partner of Barton Wyatt (Estate Agents Surrey) is unsurprised,

"I have known my wife take longer choosing a pair of shoes than many people take deciding on a house purchase!"

 Aviva is of the opinion that buyers are reacting to a highly competitive market, leading them to make snap decisions. Indeed the insurance company reports that 24% of homeowners only ever make one viewing before taking the plunge on offering.

Wyatt suggests,

 "Properties are extremely evocative items and buyers know pretty much instantly if they like or dislike what they see.  I would suggest that the gut decision is actually make in the first 10 minutes of being in a home and the other 23 minutes is spent reassuring themselves they are making a good choice.

 "The real talent in being a savvy estate agent is knowing your buyer well enough that you don't spend ages taking them around properties that they won't like - it wastes everybody's time." 

 Barton Wyatt is red hot at qualifying potential buyers, utilising years of experience and expert insight into a property's specification so that it will meet the purchaser's requirements. This is important for every purchaser but even more so as you foray into super prime properties which need to accommodate lavish lifestyles.

 James Wyatt mulls,

"There is little point looking at houses that don't have the right size kitchen, the correct number of bathrooms, wardrobes or dressing rooms required to house your Imelda Marcos-esque collection of Louboutin shoes, enough rack space for haute couture collection or with the right storage facilities for your Chanel handbags. 

 "The garage needs to be big enough for not just one but multiple luxury cars - Bentley and Rolls Royce models are longer and wider than average. And external storage facilities can be important if you need somewhere to park the racing bikes, golf clubs, vintage cars and the ride-on lawn mower."

 So if you are limited to 33 minutes what should you do with this precious time?  Barton Wyatt advises:

1. Study the kitchen - does it have the room and space you are used too?  Accepting a smaller kitchen is a big ask for many.
2. The bathroom number might seem fine but turn on the shower - a trickle of water will not keep you amused.
3. Look at the boiler and ask about its maintenance and age.
4. Get in the loft - it may sound odd but 3 minutes in the loft could answer many questions!
5. Spend the last 10 minutes doing the school run at peak time. Many people look at houses in the middle of the day when no-one is around.

Further research from Aviva found that a third of home buyers didn't carry out any specific checks when viewing their future home, spending an average of £3,500 on repairs after moving in - an additional cost some home buyers may not have budgeted for.

These are often problems that the current owner knows about and doesn't want to fix before departing - damp and cracks are the worst culprits.   Buyers often fall in love with a property and don't want to hear about the bad bits.  Poor heating, a bit of subsidence, a leaky roof can all be swept under the carpet in a hasty viewing.

Further invaluable advice from James who goes on to say:

"Talk to the seller. You don't need to become best friends but you do need to get a good understanding of why they bought the property in the first place and why they are selling. Ask them who the neighbours are and what they are like.

"Get a good survey done, it will pay off in the end.  Agents are very keen to sell and most will give completely honest and open advice. The days of "Caveat Emptor" are long gone, today all and any adverse information must be given to a buyer BEFORE they start incurring costs.

"Above all, after you've agreed to buy a property, step back, breathe deeply, go and visit again. You can change your mind. We agents hate this, but it is a big decision for the purchaser, and if I have a happy buyer at the end of the day, I'd like to think they might sell that home through me in 7, 10, 20 years time."

For more details contact Barton Wyatt on 01344 843 000.

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Barton Wyatt provide luxury and select Property in Sunningdale. James Wyatt MNAEA, MARLA, TRC, REALTOR ® is a partner at Barton Wyatt Letting Agents Surrey. Tel: 01344 843000

Game, set and match! Get the advantage and choose a home with a tennis court

As the oldest and most prestigious grand slam event in tennis approaches, it's not just residents of Wimbledon who are eagerly anticipating the tournament. Tennis aficionados across the UK are being inspired to improve their racquet skills and interest in homes with tennis courts is reaching fever pitch, as James Wyatt, Partner of leading Sunningdale estate agency Barton Wyatt, explains,

"Luxury homes with tennis courts are always popular, but particularly so as the Wimbledon Championships approach. Homes near tennis clubs are also in demand at this time of year, both with parents who enjoy the game and families who want their children to have access to top class facilities."

One such home is Strawberry Fields, located on the exclusive Wentworth Estate in Surrey and just minutes from the Clubhouse which features golf and spa facilities as well as 13 tennis courts with a range of surfaces and year-round coaching for all ages. Strawberry Fields, on the market at £2,995,000, combines contemporary living with traditional character. It offers the latest in technology, appliances and interior design, while the landscaped garden is perfect for entertaining. A double award nominated property, Strawberry Fields is a six bedroom home complete with games room, cinema room, numerous ultra-modern bathrooms and a magnificent kitchen/breakfast/family room that opens onto the garden.

For those who require their own on-site tennis court, Barton Wyatt recommends Surrey's
Eastry House, for sale at £4,750,000. As well as a tennis court, the property boasts a swimming pool within its 4.4 acres of parkland style grounds. The five bedroom house comes with four en-suite dressing and bathrooms, five reception rooms, a well-appointed kitchen/breakfast room and a conservatory, providing plenty of space for family living and entertaining.

British house builder Millgate has also noticed the rising interest in homes with tennis courts in the run up to Wimbledon. Jonathan Cranley, Millgate's Sales and Marketing Director, commented,

"Major sporting events tend to spur buyers' interest in related properties, as the events reignite their passion for their particular sport. For tennis fans, now is the perfect time of year to buy a home with a court, ready to enjoy it throughout the warm summer months."

Millgate's current recommendation for those looking to pursue their love of tennis with their own court is Highview Manor, in the south Oxfordshire village of Boars Hill. With commanding southward views over ancient woodland, the Georgian style mansion enjoys a truly splendid location. Set in nearly two acres of grounds, the house combines traditional country living with modern elegance, all for £5,950,000.

As well as five en-suite bedrooms, the house comprises a drawing room, dining room, study, kitchen, family room, orangery/breakfast room and games room. Sports-wise it includes an indoor swimming pool, gymnasium, leisure zone and all weather tennis court and pavilion. A two bedroom, detached cottage in the grounds provides further living space as part of this delightful property.

However it's not just homes in the UK with tennis courts that are attracting interest - Spain is also a prize location for such properties, which is fitting given that it was an English/Spanish duo who were credited with the birth of lawn tennis in the mid-1800s.

Taylor Wimpey España, which offers properties for sale across Spain and the Balearic Islands, has noted particular interest in its Los Altos development at Port Andratx, Mallorca. The two bedroom Mediterranean townhouses come complete with coloured façades, verandas, spacious terraces, gardens and three communal swimming pools. They benefit from spectacular sea views and are located near to Port Andratx, as well as being a stone's throw from Andratx's impressive golf course. Mallorca's rich tennis history includes the island being the birth and training place of Rafael Nadal, one of the greatest tennis players of all time and currently ranked number 4 in the world by the Association of Tennis Professionals (as at May 2013).

In Italy, fractional ownership company Appassionata has found that the all-weather tennis court at its five bedroom/five bathroom Casa Leopardi is a key attraction for families looking to own their dream holiday home in Le Marche. The property also features a basketball court, swimming pool and easy beach access, with three blue flag beaches within 10km. Fractions are currently available for the special price of £185,000, which includes five weeks' exclusive use of the property, as well as a share in the organic produce from the estate's vineyards, olive groves, lavender plantation and truffle orchard.

Appassionata's Dawn Cavanagh-Hobbs comments,

"The outdoor lifestyle is an essential part of Italian living. Our owners can spend healthy, active time with their families on the tennis court and in the pool during the day, then cool off on one of Casa Leopardi's terraces in the evenings while enjoying fresh, locally sourced meals and wine from the estate."

Over in France The Villages Group also cites tennis as one of the essential elements of its offering. Le Village-Canal du Midi, in the delightful Languedoc-Roussillon area of southern France, provides an active living community for those aged 50+. In addition to tennis, activities include archery, aerobics, equestrian events, sailing, boating and swimming in the village's outdoor and indoor pools. With house prices starting at around £200,000 and weekly maintenance of £30 covering all activities, the dream of retiring to an active community and spending days playing tennis in the sun has never been more achievable.

So as Wimbledon approaches this year, it seems that companies across Europe are bracing themselves for a flood of eager purchasers looking to live their own tennis championship dream - all on the site of their very own property.

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Barton Wyatt provide luxury golf villas in Florida and select Property in Sunningdale. James Wyatt MNAEA, MARLA, TRC, REALTOR ® is a partner at Barton Wyatt Letting Agents Sunningdale. Tel: 01344 843000

Closure of Stamp Duty loophole will not deter my foreign buyers says James Wyatt

21st March, 2012

"Chancellor George Osborne might have kept his promise of coming "down like a tonne of bricks" on those who have avoided paying stamp duty by closing the tax loophole in today's Budget but this won't deter foreign nationals from buying property in UK.

The UK is an extremely attractive place to buy property given the Pound's weakness in recent years. In fact the UK is an all round favourite choice due to our dominant financial centre, superb sporting and cultural activities, some of the World's best restaurants and top drawer educational choices.

Since the start of 2012, 35% of our business has been selling houses to overseas buyers and of those, 65% were from Eastern Europe (Russian, Ukraine & Kazakhstan).

Barton Wyatt have sold properties on the exclusive Wentworth Estate and St Georges Hill, Weybridge, both of which are attractive to wealthy buyers. Foreigners pay an average of £8m for a house and have taken advantage of the loophole using an offshore company in the past however at this price point, I doubt the revised 7% stamp duty applicable on standard purchase vehicles moving forward would put off a serious buyer.

In terms of property types, new homes is the preferred purchase by foreign buyers. Recently one luxury developer Millgate Homes sold 'September House' on Wentworth for £6.25m after a bidding war broke out between two Russian families.

The problem we face in the Home Counties is not the closure of the stamp duty loophole but a dwindling stock of new properties of a high enough calibre which will inevitably lead to price rises."
For more information or immediate bespoke comment from James please contact Barton Wyatt on 00 44 1344 843 000.

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Barton Wyatt provide luxury golf villas in Florida and select Property in Sunningdale. James Wyatt MNAEA, MARLA, TRC, REALTOR ® is a partner at Barton Wyatt Estate Agents Surrey. Tel: 01344 843000

US tenants drive lettings market in Surrey

According to data from Surrey's Best Estate Agent, Barton Wyatt, US nationals are driving the North Surrey lettings market, accounting for 45% of all tenants in rented properties in 2011. Established in Virginia Water for nearly 50 years, the award winning agency Barton Wyatt which specialises in high end lettings as well as property sales, also revealed that despite the majority of rental stock in 2011 being privately let, almost 20% was let to companies and their employees. Commenting on the findings, Partner James Wyatt, who celebrates his silver anniversary at Barton Wyatt this year, said: "In line with the recent findings from PrimeLocation.com which revealed that the location from which the highest volume of searches for British property to buy was the US at 21%, we too have seen a resurgence in US nationals renting in the North Surrey area, accounting for nearly half of all lets in 2011."   Wyatt continues, "During the recession we saw a decrease in the volume of corporate lets particularly with many international companies downsizing operations or relocating, many back to the US. In 2011 however we saw this trend reverse with US professionals and their families once again returning to the area for employment which in turn has boosted the corporate lettings market." Of Barton Wyatt's corporate tenants, the most popular sectors of employment in 2011 were energy at 19%, finance at 15% and telecoms and pharmaceuticals each accounting for 10%. As Lettings Manger, Joanne Parris explains, "Some of our biggest corporate letting clients include oil and gas giants BP and Shell as well as the 10th largest pharmaceutical company in the world, Eli Lilly and American corporation, Dow Chemicals." Indeed this leafy corner of Surrey, in and around Virginia Water, only 42 minutes by direct train to Central London, seems to be the preferred destination not only for major US conglomerates to house their UK operations but also for employees to reside. A number of American expat groups and communities exist in Surrey such as the American Women of Berkshire & Surrey and the presence of not only TASIS in Thorpe but the ACS International Schools in Egham and Cobham is highly appealing to families. These flavours of home combined with the large, often American style open-plan properties on offer in the area make it an obvious choice. As James Wyatt points out, "Over the years we have seen a greater demand from our US tenants for larger detached homes with properties in the area now averaging a substantial 5 - 6000 sq.ft. 4 and 5 bedroom properties are frequently the most popular with smaller 1 and 2 bedroom apartments barely rented by this market." One such home, available to rent today is Sylvanus House located in Sunningdale. This great family house just minutes from the shops and mainline train station comprises master suite with full dressing area, guest suite with bathroom and dressing area, 3 further bedrooms, family bathroom, living room, dining room, study, open-plan kitchen / breakfast room leading to a family room as well as a double integral garden and gardens to the front and rear. Available for £4,750 per calendar month, this type of property is ideal for corporate tenants and won't stay on the market for long.

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Barton Wyatt provide luxury golf villas in Florida and select Property in Sunningdale. James Wyatt MNAEA, MARLA, TRC, REALTOR ® is a partner at Barton Wyatt Letting Agents Surrey. Tel: 01344 843000

James Wyatt

James Wyatt is the chairman of Surrey branch NAEA (National Association of Estate Agents), and partner at Barton Wyatt, which is a Broad based Estate Agency based in Virignia Water.

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Barton Wyatt provide luxury golf villas in Florida and select Property in Sunningdale. James Wyatt MNAEA, MARLA, TRC, REALTOR ® is a partner at Barton Wyatt Letting Agents Surrey. Tel: 01344 843000

James Wyatt

James Wyatt is the chairman of Chairman at Surrey NAEA and Partner at Barton Wyatt.

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Barton Wyatt provide luxury golf villas in Florida and select Property in Sunningdale. James Wyatt MNAEA, MARLA, TRC, REALTOR ® is a partner at Barton Wyatt Letting Agents Surrey. Tel: 01344 843000

James Wyatt at the NAEA International Forum 2008

DRAGON BREATHES FIRE INTO THIS YEARS INTERNATIONAL FORUM
30 / Oct / 2008

James Caan, Sue Hayward and Michael Saunders were just some of the key speakers to attend this year’s highly acclaimed International Forum ‘Staying Profitable in a Challenging Market’ held by the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA), which was a show stopping success this year.
The main attraction of this exciting event was celebrity guest speaker James Caan, from BBC’s Dragon’s Den who discussed the ways to stay profitable in a challenging market.
James explained ways to make the most of a difficult market place using his personal experience as a successful businessman. He proved very popular with attendees as he provided an excellent insight into ways to improve their business in the current market.
The fifth in a series of international forums was held at the luxurious 5 star Renaissance Chancery Hotel in London. The event, which was sponsored solely by Foreign Currency Direct had over 100 leaders in international property attend, providing them with the opportunity to listen to a number of property experts give an insight on ‘Staying Profitable in a Challenging Market’.
Other guest speakers included; Sue Hayward, TV presenter and journalist, who discussed marketing properties within the media; Peter Bolton King, Chief Executive of the NAEA, gave a preview talk on the much anticipated Property Portal ‘Property Live’ and Michael Saunders, Top US property expert, flew especially from America to discuss how to expand ones horizons through effective networking. Other topics included staying on the right side of the law and the current Spanish initiative from the government to underpin the building industry. The day was split up with a buffet lunch and the forum was rounded off with a cocktail party, which provided opportunities for delegates and speakers to meet. Delegates received an action packed day allowing then to obtain useful information.

Delegate, James Wyatt of Barton Wyatt International, comments: “This was by far the best NAEA conference I have ever been to. There was a fantastic range of speakers, from different counties, who shared a lot of knowledge on the current market. With the present situation of the market, a number of property professionals are feeling the pinch, however this day was insightful and many left feeling positive.”

Peter Bolton King, Chief Executive of the NAEA, says: “The International Forum was an astounding success, with a great turn out and a well-informed picture of the international property market from a mix of property experts. The event provided the perfect opportunity for the NAEA to unveil its plans for Property Live, the Associations new Property Portal.”Stephan Hughes, Associate Director at Foreign Currency Direct, concludes: “It was a pleasure for us to be the sole sponsors this year. The day was a major success and everyone left content with the set up of the day and information provided. In this difficult market, it is useful to gain insider knowledge as this helps maintain sales and opens doors to other opportunities presented in the overseas market.”

Barton Wyatt provide luxury golf villas in Florida and select golf villas in Spain.

James Wyatt MNAEA, MARLA, TRC, REALTOR ® is a partner at Barton Wyatt International based in Wentworth, Virginia Water. Tel: 01344 843000

James Wyatt

The following is an article that was published in the Telegraph about James Wyatt:


'I have had two new houses in the past five years, both built by the same developer, but this is the first I've had built for myself. It's the big move if you like: we're jumping up into a large, family house, although, by Virginia Water's standards, I'd say it's actually quite modest.

"We've one daughter, Victoria, who is two and Jane, my wife, is pregnant again, so it's the right time to do this. I knew exactly what sort of property I wanted. It's what is referred to as a railway carriage house, long and thin. The living-room, dining-room, kitchen, breakfast room and family room are all along the back with the view of the garden, and the other two reception rooms, which aren't quite so important - the study and the telly room - are on the front.

"The chap who developed Virginia Water from its humble beginnings was called W G Tarrant, a very brave developer, who was continually going bust. He started building houses in West Byfleet. Then he bought St George's Hill in Weybridge and developed that and then, in 1921, he developed the Wentworth Estate.

"As it happens, his office is where mine is now. His drawings are on the wall here and his typical Surrey vernacular, tile-hung house was often the railway-carriage design. These days people don't build weedy, thin houses, they prefer bigger houses on smaller plots, but I like them.

"I've never thought of any of the places we've lived in would be a home for very long. But I've a feeling this new house is going to be different because it's been a product of love and enormous involvement. From when we married, in 1994, we've kept moving, up until now, every two years. After we moved the first time I thought: well, this is a good way to get up the property ladder, buying the right thing and then fairly quickly moving on. And that's what we've done, though the actual business of moving is ghastly.

"Put a price on this property? Let's say that to buy the plot and build the house was getting on for one and a half million. And I suppose you could now say it's worth one and three quarter million so, yes, I'm going to make a little bit out of it.

"Estate agency is not a game where you make lots of money. All we do is take a commission and at the end of the year there's a profit. But one of the ways you can build up your capital is through building your own house and it's tax free, and that's the angle."

James Wyatt is a partner with brother Rupert in Barton Wyatt, Station Approach, Virginia Water, Surrey.