High Commission! Dutch embassy in London goes on the housing market £150 MILLION

An estate agency is hoping for a some seriously ‘high commission’ after the Dutch embassy was put on the market for £150 MILLION.

The huge property, on Hyde Park Gate in London, has been home to the Kingdom of the Netherlands since 1953.

But the Dutch are selling up as they plan to move their embassy base south of the Thames to Nine Elms’ new diplomacy quarter.

Estate agency Cushman & Wakefield has been given the job of selling the embassy, which is expected to attract bids of more than £150 million.

It comes with panoramic views over Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park and could be transformed into luxury flats or one single mega-mansion.

The winning bidder will get a property in super-prime London with more than 75,000sq/ft of space.

While the property could be converted into one of the world’s largest private homes, it is most likely developers will want to turn it into luxurious multi-million pound flats.

An early planning report into the potential use for 38 Hyde Park Gate has shown it could be transformed into 18 luxurious apartments.

The posh pads would be practically next door to the Albert Hall and have some of the best views in London.

Beauchamp Estates, the upmarket agency, claimed prices in and around the Knightsbridge area could soon be hitting #10,000sq/ft on properties worth more than #5 million.

When completed, 38 Hyde Park Gate could have a total value of more than £500 MILLION.

This could make the site a shrewd investment for a property developer looking to cash in on London’s mad housing market.

However, they wouldn’t be able to get going straight away, with any buyer having to lease the 122-year-old building back to the Dutch until 2018.

This is when the Nine Elms embassy, in London’s major new diplomatic quarter, will become available.

The Dutch are the latest to take advantage of the lucrative property market in the capital by selling their embassy headquarters.

Last year the Canadians old their high commission on Grosvenor Square, Mayfair to an Indian developer of around #306 million.

Around 20 embassies or diplomacy related buildings have been sold or considered for sale over the past 18 months.

The Nepalese government are also understood to be trying to sell their embassy on Kensington Palace Gardens, something that has infuriated the Gurkhas who see the building as a thank you from the British for their war efforts.

Jack Simmons, head of Cushman & Wakefield’s UK residential development and investment team, said: “Hyde Park Gate, one of London’s most sought after addresses, provides a rare opportunity to create a vast single residence or multiple apartments adjacent to Kensington Palace, the former home of Princess Diana.

“This property will undoubtedly become the envy of the world.”