A room with a view of Hugh...
The sight of actor Hugh Grant frolicking in his alfresco rooftop hot tub awaits anyone who buys a two-bedroom South Kensington maisonette, available at £995,000 through Alyesford. Its two roof terraces overlook the vast roof garden of the Hollywood star's £3.25 million penthouse, currently being refurbished as something of a Beverly Hills-style fun palace. Some neighbours already report having a grandstand view of the tub and the various guests who have filled it since the departure of the lovely Liz Hurley.
Food critic AA Gill has sold his flamboyant two-bedroom flat off the Old Brompton Road, South Kensington, for a little more than its £565,000 asking price. But he is holding fire before re-entering the property market. "I'm camping with Nicola, he says, referring to his girlfriend, former model Nicola "The Blonde" Formby. "Eventually I'd like to buy a place in Notting Hill, Kensington or Chelsea, with three bedrooms so that my two children can come to stay.
Bon viveur millionaire Lord McAlpine, husband of stunning Greek heiress Athena Malpas, has lasted barely six months in Notting Hill's raffish Portobello Road area. For around £220,000 he has sold the modest one-bedroom flat he bought in All Saints Road late last year. "I mainly live abroad and so, on my infrequent visits to London, it's easier to stay with my mother-in-law," explains the Monaco-based former Tory Party treasurer.
GMTV presenter John Stapleton and his wife, Lynn Faulds Wood, have invested in their first buy-to-let property. The two-bedroom second-floor flat is in a modern block near Richmond train station and cost them £250,000. They bought it through Dexters. "It should be easy for us to manage as it's close to our home in Twickenham," Stapleton tells me. "We bought because we thought property would give us a better return than pouring more money into our pension fund." The flat is now available for rent at £1,200 a month through local agent Fitz-Gibbon Residential.
