“Your postcode reflects your income, age and lifestyle down to the newspaper you read.”London-based estate agent Ludlow Thompson recently reworded its logo to match its web address in response to the number of e-mail enquiries it is receiving.Director Stephen Ludlow believes a high percentage of its clients work in the financial markets where e-mail is the main form of communication and time for house hunting is limited. “We’ve responded to requests from our regular customer questionnaires by giving each member of staff their own personalised e-mail to enable quick access to the client.”What about dressing down, just how far will an estate agent go? A survey commissioned by OfficeSmart revealed that around 60 per cent of the respondents thought that smart dressing commands greater respect from colleagues and clients. Psychologist Dr David Lewis believes “smart clothes convey an impression of a business-like approach, which the casual look rarely manages to communicate.”Mr Morgan agrees based on his experience in Leeds. “We thought dressing down just created a different kind of uniform and we felt disadvantaged when our clients were wearing suits. It seems to be a culture of the South-east.”Back in London, Mr Ludlow supports the north/south view. “Many people work from home now, so they come in to our offices dressed in casual gear and wouldn’t see it as a problem if the staff are too.” There have been embarrassing moments.

One of their negotiators was asked if he’d come to deliver a fridge when he went to show a client around a house and had to explain the concept of a “dressing down” day.When it comes to cars, estate agents show no signs of moving down a specification or two. While many agents start with a new bottom-of-the-range run-around, their sights are set a little higher once they meet their sales targets. Mr Ludlow thinks clients aren’t in the least bit envious of the estate agent turning up in a smart car. “It shows that the member of staff is good at their job and has been rewarded accordingly.”And, of course, it could be another of those “feel-good” factors, so important in cementing relationships. The client is just as likely to be interested in discussing the agent’s flashy new car as they are their flat.Further info: Morgans, 0113 3980098; Brand.New is at the V&A from 19 October to 14 January 2001; www.ludlowthompson ; www.08004homes ; www.naea.co.uk.

If you aspire to a Porsche, Aston Martin or Ferrari Testarossa, you may not be aiming high enough. Soon, where your car hangs its hat may be more telling than its brand. If you aspire to a Porsche, Aston Martin or Ferrari Testarossa, you may not be aiming high enough. Soon, where your car hangs its hat may be more telling than its brand.
“We may eventually have two tiers of housing: those with, and those without, parking,” says John Hunter, who has recently given up the parking frustrations of Chelsea and upped sticks to Berkshire.But Mr Hunter, a property developer, is leaving behind a legacy of improved parking in one of two major developments that are topping and tailing the King’s Road.Hunter’s Northacre and European Land are developing the former King’s College site on the western end of the busy thoroughfare, where the lamp and antique shops hang out. Near Sloane Square, the Ministry of Defence has sold the Duke of York’s Headquarters back to its original owners, Cadogan Estates, who will bring the restricted site into public use.The 7.5 acre King’s site, large enough to yield nearly 300 residential units including 16 townhouses, is becoming an enclosed complex with landscaped gardens, courtyards, a lake and trees.”There really is nothing else in central London to compare it with, and in London the only home with comparable parkland is Buckingham Palace,” says Dominic Pasqua of Hamptons International.”King’s will help smarten up the SW10 section of Chelsea and will raise property values in the entire area,” says Lulu Egerton of Lane Fox. “Its presence might even expedite the new Chelsea-Hackney underground line, which has been talked about for many years.”Meanwhile, at the Duke of York’s site the iron railings have been replaced by wooden boards, and when they come down this section of the King’s Road opposite Peter Jones will have shops, restaurants and much-needed open space.Only half of the 11-acre site will be redeveloped and only 26 residential units will be created, which, says Stuart Corbyn of Cadogan Estates, will be for “rentals only”.This low number of new flats will nonetheless have an impact: “Most affected will be landlords who don’t update their properties regularly enough,” says Ms Egerton.In between these two projects is Taylor Woodrow’s Seventy Park Walk, which is similar to King’s in having a landscaped courtyard. But this development of flats, a 2,000sq ft penthouse and mews houses, is on a much smaller scale.The Low-DownTransportNumerous bus lines link King’s Road with Piccadilly and Oxford Street and serve Sloane Square, South Kensington, Victoria and Fulham Broadway Underground stations.Prices Prices at King’s range from £410,000 to more than £2m for flats More than half have been sold or reserved.