(Bloomberg News) The price of a luxury home in central London can jump as much as 3,000 pounds ($4,800) a square foot with the help of a pair of white gloves costing a few pounds.
Houses and apartments described as luxury or prime in the U.K. capital can fetch from 1,000 pounds a square foot to more than 4,000 pounds. The widening disparity prompted property broker Knight Frank LLP to define the touches like a white-gloved doorman that separate truly elite from merely prime.
"One man's luxury is another man's commonplace," said Stephan Miles-Brown, the London-based firm's head of residential development. "People say I've got a wine cooler and a screening room; developers are saying: 'what else can we offer to attract them?'"
Luxury-home values have rebounded faster than those for other London properties, reaching a record last month, as the pound's weakness attracted overseas purchasers. Knight Frank estimates that prices for prime residences start at 2 million pounds, though you may have to pay more for one with a wine cellar, home cinema, squash court or health spa -- not to mention accommodation for the staff.
At the bottom end of Knight Frank's five tiers of luxury, a buyer should expect no less than a 24-hour concierge team, secure underground parking and a terrace or balcony. Prices are seen increasing by 500 pounds a square foot with amenities such as a wine cooler, slab marble and a ceiling at least 2.7 meters (8.9 feet) high.
'Layers of Value'
"What drives value is location, but also product, views, architecture and amenity," said Ed Lewis, director of new development sales at Savills Plc. "All these things add to the layers of value." Savills is Knight Frank's biggest competitor.
Six apartments at One Hyde Park, the luxury-condominium complex in the affluent Knightsbridge neighborhood, sold for an average of 6,000 pounds a square foot last year. That includes a view of the west London park, service from the Mandarin Oriental hotel next door and hand-painted silk wallpaper. The building was designed by Rogers Stirk Harbour and Partners, the firm that worked with Renzo Piano on Paris's Pompidou Center.
A one-bedroom duplex in the development went for 9.85 million pounds, according to the Land Registry.
"Luxury isn't enough," Miles-Brown said by telephone. People using "words like prime, super-prime and uber-prime are looking for ways to redefine the word luxury."