A London house is set to smash Britain's price record after going on sale for US$ 388 million - 700 times more than the US$ 565 thousand average property value in the capital. With 4645 square meters of living space, it is 30 times bigger than a typical London family house. The new owners of the Grade I listed Regency property, described as the biggest private home in central London, would be neighbors of the Queen and enjoy views of St James's Park. The price tag comes as figures show million pound property sales in the capital boomed last year with the total passing 5,000 for the first time. New figures from agents Savills show that demand for multi-million pound homes in London is reaching new highs despite the global economic doldrums. There were 5,115 sales over US$ 1.9 million in London last year, eight per cent more than 2011 and 12 per cent more than in 2007 the last "boom" year before the banking crash triggered a temporary collapse in prices. The house on 18 Carlton House Terrace is in the hands of an elderly member of a Middle East royal family (some sources refers Saudi Arabian royal family) who is discreetly trying to find a buyer. The mansion is at the end of a quiet street between the Mall and Lower Regent Street that was once the most fashionable address in London. The house has four storeys above ground and two below that currently hold facilities such as the huge boiler and strong rooms that could be converted into a basement with swimming pool, spa and cinema. The stuccoes mansion, built to a design by John Nash between 1827 and 1832, was once one of London's most important and glittering political salons. In the First World War the property served as the the Enquiry Department for Wounded and Missing, the British Red Cross and Order of St John from where thousands of British families learned of the fate of their loved ones.

London Array just placed its last wind turbine and switched online as the world's largest wind farm. Located in the Thames Estuary, UK, the farm consists of 175 turbines that will power the area from Essex to Margate. Owned by Dong Energy, Masdar and EON, the 141 turbine (630 MW) phase one of the London Array is now fully functional. London is already known for being home to the world's largest solar bridge at Blackfriars , and now Kent joins the renewable energy elite with London Array, which is only around 50 miles from the capital. Under construction since March of 2011, the London Array's first Siemens 3.6MW turbine kicked into power just six months ago. Since then, the remainder of the first phase has quickly come into fruition, and since last Thursday has been pumping wind power into the grid. The next phase will be to get the remaining 34 turbines online, as well as to bury remaining cables. Phase one itself is anticipated to provide power for half a million homes a year, which will save 925 thousand tons of carbon dioxide emissions per year. Aside from becoming the world's largest wind farm, the developers behind the London Array are also using the project as a case study, in order to lower costs for large scale wind farms in the future. The ultimate goal for DONG Energy is to create offshore wind farm projects that yield usable wind power at around US$ 152 per megawatt hour by 2020.

As we reported earlier, Kensington & Chelsea Council was poised to grant approval for scheme to reconstruct the 17th century mansion of Russian billionaire last week. Roman Abramovich has won a three-year battle with planners for permission after making a series of compromises, which were forced on him by neighbors anxious at possible loss of light and increased traffic. His US$ 15 million plan to refurbish the mansion has been met with fury from neighbors who have described the proposal's approval as "bad news". Particularly hard-hit will be residents of nearby apartments, whose complaints about losing their views of the Thames were airily dismissed in the committee's report. The businessman aims to excavate beneath the Grade II-listed house, which was once home to artist James Whistler, to create a two-storey basement. He is also going to convert part of the building into an art studio to house his collection of valuable modern paintings that he has bought along with his 31-year-old partner, Dasha Zhukova.

Chelsea Football Club owner Roman Abramovich is set to realize a three-year dream to renovate a historic property overlooking the Thames - including a new art studio to show off his priceless collection. The 17th century building was once home to artist James Whistler. Now the Russian billionaire, 46, promises to transform its front garden to resemble one of Whistler's paintings of the Thames embankment at night. Kensington and Chelsea council is poised to grant approval next week for a US?$ 15 million scheme to restore three linked Cheyne Walk properties into a super-home. The project, which began in November 2010, has sparked concerns from a number of neighbors who fear they will suffer a loss of light and views and have their homes put at risk by plans to excavate a two-storey basement. According to plans drawn up by architects 6a, Mr Abramovich wants to transform the Grade II-listed property into a "beautiful and meaningful contemporary home". A report by the council's executive director of planning said the basement would not harm the "special architectural and historical interest" of the two surviving houses, dating back to one built in 1521 by Sir Thomas More. The proposal would see a garage block demolished and replaced with a "bespoke" art studio "with a particular focus on the quality of light and display of artworks" for the collection of priceless modern paintings he has amassed with partner Dasha Zhukova, 31. One property would be separated from the main home to create a "secondary building for staff and guests". Grand drawing rooms overlooking the Thames would be restored in the main house, with oaks replacing the lime trees in its front garden. The main property has access via a private side road. Work is unlikely to be finished for three years.

Google has completed a US$ 1.6 billion deal to build a new UK headquarters on 10 thousand square meters of disused land behind King's Cross Station, underlining the global technology industry's commitment to London, reported The Financial Times. The internet search group confirmed that it would start building a new 11 storey office block on the site, which it would use to consolidate operations from its existing offices in London. The land was acquired from the Kings Cross Central Partnership. As reported Reuters Google was investing US$ 1 million to buy and develop the site. The office building will be worth up to US$ 1.6 when it is finished in 2016. The deal, one of the most valuable property transactions in the UK since the start of the financial crisis, follows a string of high-profile moves by technology groups, including Skype, Oracle and Amazon, to take up office space in the UK capital. Matt Brittin, vice-president for northern and central Europe at Google, said: "This is a big investment by Google, we're committing further to the UK - where computing and the web were invented. It's good news for Google, for London and for the UK." Google's London staff are currently split between two offices in Victoria and one in Holborn. The move will allow the company to house all London staff under one roof. The company plans to keep its office in Manchester. Google also operates Campus, a seven-storey centre in Shoreditch that offers work spaces to technology and media start-ups as part of London's Tech City project. Google has traditionally leased its overseas offices but in the past two years has purchased premises in Paris, Dublin, and now London, its filings show.