A Kensington mansion block that was once home to 20th century poet TS Eliot will go under the hammer at a bespoke sale next month.
Savills will offer the reversionary ground rent investment in the block of 20 flats at 1-14A Kensington Court Gardens in Kensington, W8, with a provisional guide of £1.1m-plus.
The sale on 11 December at the Marriott Hotel, Grosvenor Square, W1, will also see two 999-year leaseholds in the block (granted in 1998) go under the hammer: flat 4 could offer vacant possession in around 11 years when the occupational lease expires, while flat 9 offers potential vacant possession in around 12 years. Each flat will be offered with a provisional guide between £1.7m-£1.9m-plus.
“They are pretty much a freehold,” said auctioneer Christopher Coleman Smith.
The ground rent investment currently produces £25,719 pa, with eight leases having unexpired terms of 57-89 years and two flats let on regulated tenancies.
The timing of the sale – two weeks after Savills’ 26 November auction – was dictated by the need to issue Section 5b Notices to lessees. This gives notice of the sale by public auction and gives the lessees a right to effectively takeover the purchase – if they have reserved their rights – at the price the lot is sold for.
Coleman Smith said the vendor was a family which had owned the investments for around 60 years.
The block features a blue plaque to commemorate Eliot, who lived in flat 3 from 1957 until his death in 1965. His flat has already been sold off.
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