Wandsworth charity to benefit from property venture

Putney resident, Charlotte Grobien, founder of Give It Away Limited, is embarking on a new property investment venture in order to raise more funds towards achieving her goal of giving away £1m to local charities who support children and teenagers in the Wandsworth and London area.

Following her amazing success in 2007, when she made a profit of £705,000 to give away from building and selling three homes in South-West London Charlotte has now decided to explore a another property option by entering the Landlord/Tenant arena.

She has chosen to invest in two apartments at Queen Mary’s Place on Roehampton Lane, built by property developer, St James Homes, and will be donating the monthly rental income from both properties after expenses, to Give It Away together with any resulting capital gain achieved in 2 years time when she decides to sell.

“The downturn in the building industry put my property fundraising plans on hold for the past 18 months but rather than wait any longer, knowing that some of the Charities I support are struggling in today’s economic situation, I thought I would try the “buy to rent” option which would at least get me back into the market. My plan is to rent out the apartments for at least 2 years by which time the Queen Mary’s project will be more fully developed and hopefully confidence in the property market will have recovered sufficiently for me to make a capital gain” explains Charlotte.

“I was not planning this venture at all! In fact I had decided to wait until January before deciding what Give it Away would do next. I just took a walk one Saturday to view my first development site in Akehurst Road, 2 new houses which border the boundaries of Queen Mary’s Place. I had seen many plans for the development, but had not yet been in to take a look so the following day I visited the Marketing Suite.

“I talked to the sales team who showed me around, checked on the current lettings market and decided to take the plunge. In a way it was something of an impulse buy” Charlotte continued. “I know and like the area and the whole development has an excellent quality feel to it.”

Charlotte has purchased a two bedroom show apartment and a penthouse suite in Cliveden Square - consisting of 43 private apartments and luxury penthouses, all with balconies and most with views of the central courtyard area or overlooking the attractive surrounding gardens and nearby Grade 1 listed Roehampton House.

“I am delighted to say that my intuition that Queen Mary’s Place might be a great investment already seems to have been right. Within days of deciding to buy the two bedroom apartment, someone committed to rent it for the next two years. I am hopeful that the penthouse which will also be decorated as a show home will attract a quick rental too - it has a magnificent southwest facing terrace and excellent designer living space.

“The joint rental yield for both apartments will be in the region of £3,000 - £3,300 per month, so over two years this will amount to around £80,000. I then intend to sell the properties and donate any additional profits made from the increase in value,” she concluded.

Chris Gilbert, Sales & Marketing Director, St James Developments explains: “We are delighted that Queen Mary’s Place has been chosen to be involved in such a worthwhile cause. It is great to know the rental income will generate a significant amount of regular income to support local charities in the area. Give It Away is a great venture and St James hopes to be able to get involved in some of the local projects over the next year.”