Lesson 19. Section 1. Task 1. Estate Agent.
This week's financial talk will be given by our property expert, James Milligan,
who is here to tell us about some surprising new developments in the London Area.
Good Afternoon. Not a very long ago, it would have been really unusual to pay a million pounds for a house.
Unfortunately, this is no longer so.
The decline in the real value of money over the past few years has made property values rocket.
The cheap house is a thing of the past, now the sale of a million pound house no longer causes surprise,
nor is it likely to be the subject of a newspaper article.
What exactly can we expect to get for a million pounds today? Well, first of all, space, of course,
Living in large cities has made us all tired of living in those cramped little houses and flats built just after the war.
We now want space, space to live and relax in, preferably with a garden.
And this, of course, is what puts the price up.
Another reason for needing space is the fact that we have larger families growing up under one roof
and even quite small children demand their own room these days,
while teenagers may demand an extra room where they can entertain their friends privately.
Also the trend of going out to eat is dying out due to rising prices of restaurant and transport
so people are once more beginning to entertain and dine at home, which requires a larger dinning room.
There are numerous new developments in London at the moment which can provide all this and more, if you have the money.
At the moment, the most fashionable places seem to be the Barbican, St John's Wood, Morgan's Walk in Battersea.
People wanting quiet in the evening tend to prefer the Barbican situated in the business heart of the city
and there fairly free of traffic in the evenings, although several theatres have opened there lately.
The Barbican is also for those who like living high up, accommodation being situated mostly in tower blocks.
St John's Wood, on the other hand, is favoured mostly by upper middle class families
who prefer a detached house surrounded by a walled garden, thus ensuring their privacy.
Gardens of course tend to raise the price of a property.
Those not interested in gardening can choose from the grand mansions in Battersea
where you get a wonderful view of the Thames and are still only a few minutes away from London's theatres and shops.
Look around and take your pick. Oh, just make sure that you have that million pounds first.