Never Mind The £17.5 Million Price Tag, This London Flat Has A £65,000 Service Charge

This Flat Just Went On The Market For £17.5m. You Won't Believe The Service Charge
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In the latest installment of the growing monster that is the London property market, a luxury flat opposite The Ritz Hotel has gone on the market for £17.5 million - with a £65,000 per year service charge on top of that.

A studio flat recently went on the market in Islington for £737-a-month in rent that was so small it offered the tenant the chance to do the dishes in bed, but this is surely at the opposite extreme.

The five-bedroom apartment is spread across 4,000 square feet and features a 31.6 f00t long drawing room, a formal dining room and a large kitchen.

But on top of the price-tag, the owner will have to pay a £65,000 service charge a year - which is two-and-a-half times the average UK salary, though we somehow doubt the person buying it would earn the UK average salary.

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£17.5 Million? Bargain

They will also have to fork out £1,000 per year on ground rent.

It will be good news for George Osborne if the flat fetches its asking price - with the buyer having to hand over more than £1.2 million in stamp duty.

There's one piece of good news for the buyer - the leasehold lasts 999 years, so you may be able to turn into your family seat for the next 25 generations or so.

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The estate agent also boasts the building has "24 hour porterage", which we think means there are porters manning the entrance all day.

The apartment sits on the upper floor of a Grade II listed six-storey Italian Renaissance style building at 160 Piccadilly.

Its master bedroom suite is the size of a conventional one-bedroom apartment, with twin dressing rooms and his and hers bathrooms.

There are are a further four bedrooms - three with en suite bathrooms - and a guest cloakroom and a shower and bathroom.

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Interested?

Peter Wetherell, chief executive of Wetherell, which is selling the property, said: "The apartment provides an abundance of luxuriously appointed lateral living space and the views from the reception room onto the Ritz are breathtaking and priceless."

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The estate agent lists 'grand entertaining' as an appropriate use for the place

Here's a refresher on some on the state of the London housing market - a list of some hefty price tags for not very much property.