Crown Estate sells £34m slice of history in medical heartland of Harley Street - Howard de Walden Estate raises control of doctors’ premises to 90 per cent

Published: 16 April 2010
by JAMIE WELHAM

A CHUNK of one of Marylebone’s most famous streets will pass between two of the capital’s oldest landowners in a historic deal that sees the properties in new hands for the first time since the reign of Henry VIII.

The Crown Estate has sold the freehold of a terrace of 14 properties along Harley Street to the Howard de Walden Estate for £34million.

The landmark deal for which de Walden payed £10million more than the original price tag, strengthens its grip on the world’s leading medical street, where it now owns 90 per cent of the buildings.

Given the run-down condition of some of the properties at the Regent’s Park end of the street and de Walden’s almost infallible reputation in the area thanks to its transformation of nearby Marylebone High Street, the news has been welcomed by doctors and residents.

For the Crown Estate, which has suffered a tideswell of negative publicity for the proposed sell-off of affordable homes in Pimlico, the deal is likely to be seen in a more flattering light given majority of tenants are wealthy private doctors. It is part of the Crown’s strategy to increase revenue by reducing its property portfolio in the capital.

It comes a week after a Commons select committee criticised the Crown for not doing enough in the wider public interest and urged a government review of its operations.

Agents acting for the Crown were understood to have received 17 bids over the asking price after the terrace was marketed in early February, mostly from developers wanting to convert the consulting rooms into luxury houses.

Simon Baynham, property director of the de Walden estate, which stretches over 90 acres between Marylebone High Street and Portland Place, said: “This was the first time this important portfolio of Harley Street buildings has come to the market and opportunities to acquire assets such as this within the area come along very rarely. Accordingly, we are delighted to have secured this freehold purchase, which raises our control of medical premises in Harley Street to about 90 per cent and is therefore strategically important to us”.” 

Carl Upsall, chairman of the Marylebone Association, said: “It makes sense for those properties to be in de Walden’s hands. They own 90 per cent of the Harley Street medical district and have a strong vested interest in its health and continuity.”

The Crown doesn’t know the precise date it acquired the land on which Harley Street was built in the early 18th century, but said it came into its possession soon after the dissolution of the monasteries in 1540. 

Since the mid 19th century the number of doctors, hospitals and medical organisations has grown and grown.