Buy a whole street: entire cobbled mews in Islington up for auction in 'once in a generation' sale
More than 20 buildings in Rheidol Mews, Islington, will come under the hammer as a single lot later this month after being owned by the same family for almost eight decades.
The one- and two-storey brick structures are currently light industrial workshops and offices. But if a new owner wins planning permission, they could be converted into highly desirable mews houses — more than doubling the value of the street.
Sales of entire streets or terraces by a single owner are exceptionally rare in London.
George Walker, a partner at auctioneer Allsop, which is handling the sale, said: “It’s a good old-fashioned cobbled mews. I’ve never seen a whole mews like this for sale in my career and that’s 21 years.” Last year a row of eight Georgian townhouses in Huntley Street, Bloomsbury, was put on the market for £15.5 million by the charity arm of University College London Hospitals.
The charming private mews is entered through an archway off a residential street. It is not listed but is within the Duncan Terrace/Colebrook Row conservation area.
The largely Victorian-constructed brick buildings were originally stables but were bought by family-owned business William J Gowar & Company at the start of the Second World War.
It turned them into workshops where it still makes decorative metal grilles for radiator covers. The street narrowly escaped destruction from a bomb that fell nearby during the Blitz.
As well as the freeholder, current occupiers in Rheidol Mews include jewellery maker Groove Lines and independent radio production company Just Radio. Total annual rent is £57,291.
Mr Walker said 11 potential buyers had already expressed interest in Rheidol Mews, which is close to Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson’s family home. They range from investors to residential developers.
“Hopefully it’s going to be a good battle,” he said.
The auction takes place on May 15 at the Berkeley hotel in Knightsbridge.