Candy brothers buy Chelsea Barracks for £1bn

The developers of some of London's most ritzy new properties, Nick and Christian Candy, have paid £1bn for Chelsea Barracks. In what is believed to be Britain's costliest residential property deal, the Candy brothers and the Qatari government have bought the 12.8 acre site from the Ministry of Defence for £959m. At £75m per acre, this makes the land, located between Sloane Square and the Thames, the most valuable residential plot ever to be redeveloped in the capital.

The Candys, whose current projects include the £150m One Hyde Park in Knightsbridge and Kensington's De Vere Gardens (whose 100 luxury apartments are expected to sell for up to £10m per flat), and their Qatari backers were due to take possession of the Barracks at an official ceremony today.

The barracks development, to be designed by architect Richard Rogers, will have 650 apartments, a hotel, underground parking and health spas. Half of the units will be state-of-the-art apartments worth up to £20m. The rest will be affordable housing, in accordance with London housing laws. The barracks' previous occupants, the Coldstream Guards, have been moved to Woolwich Station.