Clerkenwell : Focus on Design

This May, Clerkenwell once again hosts the UK’s leading design event — Clerkenwell Design Week (20–22 May). As home to more architectural practices and creative businesses per square mile than almost anywhere else globally, Clerkenwell’s reputation as a centre of innovation continues to grow.

This year, the link between great design and the property market feels stronger than ever. Presentation is critical: in today’s fragile sales market, homes that fail to create emotional appeal are harder to sell, take longer to shift, and often achieve lower prices.

This doesn’t mean sellers need a Boffi kitchen, a White Statuario marble bathroom, or a full architectural overhaul. It’s simpler than that: Does your home look good enough to buy?

With Central London’s market softening and many properties adjusting prices to attract interest, presentation is now a decisive factor. Today’s buyers — less often investors, more often full-time homeowners — are led by the heart as much as the head. If we can make them fall in love with a property, we are halfway to a sale.

However, buyers are cautious. Rising service charges, stamp duty (SDLT), cladding issues, and a volatile media landscape all feed hesitation. Landlords, in particular, face tough choices: either wait for tenants to vacate and invest in making the property more attractive, or sell with a tenant in place — often resulting in a discount and a smaller pool of buyers.

Having just returned from Salone del Mobile in Milan — the world's premier home and design showcase — I’ve seen first-hand how powerful good design can be and the impact it can have on your property sale.