Grand Designs water tower in Kennington listed for £2.75m

The Victorian water tower in Kennington, south London, made famous by Grand Designs, is being marketed for £2.75 million. Its sale price is far below the £6.5 million sought by its original developers in 2013, though the property failed to sell at that time. The tower’s conversion into a distinctive home became one of the programme’s best-known projects.

Developer Leigh Osborne and his partner Graham Voce bought the derelict 100-foot tower for £380,000 in 2011 and spent more than £2 million converting it, well above the initial £600,000 estimate. The work included replacing 4,000 bricks and fitting 47 windows; the finished home has six bedrooms, four bathrooms, a lift and a rooftop viewing room. Businessman Jamie Hamer bought it for £2.5 million in 2021, and the 1867 building once held a 38,000-gallon water tank serving the neighbouring Lambeth Workhouse.