In our Christmas issue of Barbican Life in 2013 we asked the question as to how long it would be for a one-bed Barbican apartment to reach the £1 million sales mark. With property price rises seemingly slowing down over the past year we might have thought that the £1 million one-bed had moved further into the future, but Estate Agency Frank Harris has just circulated a flyer round the Barbican reporting the first sale of a one-bed apartment to achieve the £1 million landmark price – a level which would have seemed beyond the pale only a few short years ago.
We understand the sale was for a type 31 apartment – admittedly one of the larger one-bed layouts within the complex at 842 square feet (78.2 square metres) and in one of the blocks which tends to command something of a premium. But even so it would seem to be a remarkable price to achieve for a one-bedroom property. We understand the sale completed last Thursday.
Barbican properties tend to hold their prices well and have seen a remarkable run in price increases over the past few years. The complex has tremendous transport links – soon to be improved further with Crossrail access at both the eastern (via Moorgate with one of the ticket halls for the new Liverpool Street Crossrail station) and western (Barbican Station will have a direct link into the new Farringdon Crossrail hub) ends, as well as existing north/south and east/west tube lines at Moorgate. The EC2 postcode, within which the Barbican falls, has seen flat price rises of 180% over the past six years according to a recent report by property website home.co.uk, and with a post election boost it may not be long before we see other one-beds in the Barbican join the millionaire club.
