$1.3m beach house has creepy bathroom secret
Located in the seaside town of St Leonards-on-Sea near Hastings, East Sussex, the four-storey property has hit the market for $US885,000 ($A1.3 million).
It features multiple living rooms, two kitchens and three baths.
But one of those lavatories stands apart — outfitted with stark tile, exposed plumbing, and a steel cabinet beneath a rusting mirror, a sign posted on the wall warns, 'Cell alarm system not in operation', the New York Post reports.
The shower, which looks like it belongs in a prison, is located just off the main room.
While the property's listing does not directly mention the unconventional design, it describes the home more broadly as 'offering incredible potential for families, investors, or those seeking a unique development opportunity'.
The residence includes a ground-floor dining room, a utility room, and multiple bedrooms across all levels.
One of the bathrooms is noted as a space that would 'benefit from refurbishment'.
The property is currently being marketed by Leadenhall Estates.
The listing frames the home as a balance of period charm and renovation opportunity, stating: 'Set over four generous floors, the property combines charming character features with areas in need of modernisation — making it ideal for customisation to suit your lifestyle or vision.'
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Sydney Morning Herald
2 hours ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
The clean energy era is arriving. Is your power company ready?
As long as the lights stay on and power bills aren't too high, most of us aren't overly fussed about who supplies our electricity. That may be about to change, executives in the industry believe, as Australians' booming uptake of solar panels and batteries radically reshapes the market, sending customers searching for the most effective plans to help run their homes on cheap or free energy and profit from selling surplus solar to the grid. Origin Energy was first among the nation's big power companies to start preparing for a future that looks something like this. Five years ago, it purchased a minority stake in UK-based power retailing disruptor Octopus Energy and, with it, the perpetual licence to use its market-leading customer software platform, known as Kraken, in Australia. 'Just like in fintech, there is a digital revolution in energy,' Octopus co-founder Greg Jackson explains. The heart of Kraken is its advanced data and machine learning capability, which collapses multiple legacy customer-service functions, like billing, sales and meter enquiries, into just the one, avoiding the need to bounce callers between departments, and cutting down the company's 'cost to serve'. But perhaps its most important feature in the accelerating shift to green energy is its ability to give customers access to real-time variable power pricing (think Uber as opposed to taxis), and products that automate when to run households' solar panels or hot-water units, charge electric cars and discharge batteries based on when they will get the best price. Octopus, it turned out, was onto something. In less than 10 years, it has gone from a tech start-up selling energy to zero customers to 7.5 million accounts – more than a quarter of all homes in Britain – and is considered one of the world's most valuable unicorns. Its Kraken platform, meanwhile, has proven so successful that it is licensed to utilities in 18 countries. Now, Kraken is poised to be spun out into a standalone entity with a possible valuation of up to £10 billion ($20 billion), according to British media reports earlier this week. Australian investment analysts at UBS and Macquarie value Kraken considerably less than that – UBS's Tom Allen assumes a valuation of £3.4 billion ($7 billion) to £5.8 billion, depending on its growth in sales. Either way, he says, Origin had made a 'fantastic' investment and may be headed for a considerable payday. But Kraken is paying off for Origin in more ways than that, says Jon Briskin, the company's executive general manager of retail. Since Origin migrated its 4.7 million Australian customers onto Kraken in 2023, customer loyalty scores have lifted, customer churn has been falling and complaints to the ombudsman have been fewer. 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Origin's VPP called Loop – a far-flung network of interconnected household devices including solar panels, batteries, electric cars and appliances that can be ramped up or down to inject bursts of energy into the grid or help address imbalances – is the biggest in the nation, with more than 400,000 devices under orchestration. Briskin says the Loop virtual power plant today sits at 1.5 gigawatts – bigger than a typical coal-fired power station. 'This orchestration is real, it's here, it's building fast,' Briskin says. 'I certainly feel like we are at a competitive advantage to have that technology that can move at greater speed.' While the value of Kraken to Origin's operations today overwhelmingly stems from the lower cost to serve customers, its ability to expand VPPs and co-ordinate household electricity usage and output would become increasingly critical in the fight for customers in the future, UBS's Tom Allen says. 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Jo Egan, AGL's chief customer officer Last year, AGL snapped up a 20 per cent stake in the scalable and flexible Kaluza technology platform for $150 million, and has begun the process of migrating its 4 million power and gas customers in the coming years. Key drivers behind its adoption of the platform were the need to bring new and innovative energy retail products to the market more quickly in response to customers' fast-changing needs, says Jo Egan, AGL's chief customer officer. 'We are going from a traditional commodity billing relationship to a much more complex and integrated service provision … it's a completely different model,' says Egan. 'When you are working in a world like we are now, where the energy market is changing so frequently, the best situation is that you can deploy and innovate products quite rapidly and at low cost.'
The Age
2 hours ago
- The Age
The clean energy era is arriving. Is your power company ready?
As long as the lights stay on and power bills aren't too high, most of us aren't overly fussed about who supplies our electricity. That may be about to change, executives in the industry believe, as Australians' booming uptake of solar panels and batteries radically reshapes the market, sending customers searching for the most effective plans to help run their homes on cheap or free energy and profit from selling surplus solar to the grid. Origin Energy was first among the nation's big power companies to start preparing for a future that looks something like this. Five years ago, it purchased a minority stake in UK-based power retailing disruptor Octopus Energy and, with it, the perpetual licence to use its market-leading customer software platform, known as Kraken, in Australia. 'Just like in fintech, there is a digital revolution in energy,' Octopus co-founder Greg Jackson explains. The heart of Kraken is its advanced data and machine learning capability, which collapses multiple legacy customer-service functions, like billing, sales and meter enquiries, into just the one, avoiding the need to bounce callers between departments, and cutting down the company's 'cost to serve'. But perhaps its most important feature in the accelerating shift to green energy is its ability to give customers access to real-time variable power pricing (think Uber as opposed to taxis), and products that automate when to run households' solar panels or hot-water units, charge electric cars and discharge batteries based on when they will get the best price. Octopus, it turned out, was onto something. In less than 10 years, it has gone from a tech start-up selling energy to zero customers to 7.5 million accounts – more than a quarter of all homes in Britain – and is considered one of the world's most valuable unicorns. Its Kraken platform, meanwhile, has proven so successful that it is licensed to utilities in 18 countries. Now, Kraken is poised to be spun out into a standalone entity with a possible valuation of up to £10 billion ($20 billion), according to British media reports earlier this week. Australian investment analysts at UBS and Macquarie value Kraken considerably less than that – UBS's Tom Allen assumes a valuation of £3.4 billion ($7 billion) to £5.8 billion, depending on its growth in sales. Either way, he says, Origin had made a 'fantastic' investment and may be headed for a considerable payday. But Kraken is paying off for Origin in more ways than that, says Jon Briskin, the company's executive general manager of retail. Since Origin migrated its 4.7 million Australian customers onto Kraken in 2023, customer loyalty scores have lifted, customer churn has been falling and complaints to the ombudsman have been fewer. Loading In a fast-changing world where more customers have solar panels, batteries and electric vehicles, the tech has also enabled Origin to become more nimble in developing and rolling out futuristic retail products, such as the EV Power Up. With more than 2 million EVs projected to be on the road by 2030, the product means customers can use their app to nominate when they want their EV charged by, and the software automatically chooses the best times of day to charge at an ultra-low capped rate of 8¢ a kilowatt-hour (that could charge up a Tesla Model Y for $5). With home battery uptake on the brink of surging since the Albanese government this month introduced rebates wiping 30 per cent off the cost, Kraken has also given Origin an edge in building out its 'virtual power plant' (VPP) network, whereby Origin pays customers a fee to let it aggregate the energy stored across thousands of their homes. Origin's VPP called Loop – a far-flung network of interconnected household devices including solar panels, batteries, electric cars and appliances that can be ramped up or down to inject bursts of energy into the grid or help address imbalances – is the biggest in the nation, with more than 400,000 devices under orchestration. Briskin says the Loop virtual power plant today sits at 1.5 gigawatts – bigger than a typical coal-fired power station. 'This orchestration is real, it's here, it's building fast,' Briskin says. 'I certainly feel like we are at a competitive advantage to have that technology that can move at greater speed.' While the value of Kraken to Origin's operations today overwhelmingly stems from the lower cost to serve customers, its ability to expand VPPs and co-ordinate household electricity usage and output would become increasingly critical in the fight for customers in the future, UBS's Tom Allen says. 'Energy retailing in the next five to 10 years will be won by who has the best technology to orchestrate behind-the-meter loads and be able to offer incentives to customers and dynamic pricing signals,' he says. 'That's what the future model will look like – it makes sense to be investing in that extra capability now.' While not everyone will be hyper-engaged and may not want to think about optimal times to run appliances, more than 80 per cent of Origin customers are already 'digital-only', Briskin says, with many simply using their app to track their energy usage, and receive alerts if it is trending too high. Origin is not alone in recognising the need to more efficiently manage customers and their energy usage in the shift to cleaner, more dispersed sources of power. We are going from a traditional commodity billing relationship to a much more complex and integrated service provision. Jo Egan, AGL's chief customer officer Last year, AGL snapped up a 20 per cent stake in the scalable and flexible Kaluza technology platform for $150 million, and has begun the process of migrating its 4 million power and gas customers in the coming years. Key drivers behind its adoption of the platform were the need to bring new and innovative energy retail products to the market more quickly in response to customers' fast-changing needs, says Jo Egan, AGL's chief customer officer. 'We are going from a traditional commodity billing relationship to a much more complex and integrated service provision … it's a completely different model,' says Egan. 'When you are working in a world like we are now, where the energy market is changing so frequently, the best situation is that you can deploy and innovate products quite rapidly and at low cost.'
News.com.au
2 hours ago
- News.com.au
Hemsworth link could help make Phillip Island next Byron Bay
The Victorian coastal hamlet of Phillip Island has been touted as having the potential to become Australia's next celebrity-studded coastal paradise, a la Byron Bay. And the former Block destination has one big advantage over other contenders nationwide: the Hemsworths already own a home there. The revelation comes as Ray White economics team research has revealed the best places to buy a holiday home with room to boom, and why the middle of winter might be the best time to sign up for a sea-change. Frankston South house price record set by clifftop mansion Adrian Portelli selling entire Block compound at Phillip Island For those on a budget, the best spots are in the state's far east and west. House prices in the Glenelg region on the South Australian boarder can be as low as $352,000, according to the Ray White data. While on Victoria's southeast coast the Longford-Loch Sport area isn't much more expensive with homes for $407,000. Those looking for something closer to Melbourne will get the best value in the southern end of Werribee, where the median house price is just $746,599, or the wider Frankston region, which has an $840,217 typical value. The research tracked Statistical Area level two regions, which are typically slightly bigger than suburbs of the same name, and can yield differing median prices to the suburb, but capture a broader range of homes that have the coast close at hand. And now could be the best time to make a move. Ray White Group chief economist Nerida Conisbee said buying a holiday home in winter could prove advantageous due to reduced competition from other buyers, leading to better deals and more favourable negotiation terms. 'Selling in winter in a beach side location is generally not something people do. If they are selling, they are potentially a highly motivated seller and that's where you could get a bargain. 'While you'll have greater choices in summer, it's in winter that buyers will have a higher chance to save money.' While potential savings will vary in each state and location, some studies suggest an average of 0.51 per cent to 1 per cent less than other times of the year. As for those looking to get a piece of the next Byron Bay, before prices take off, Ms Conisbee tipped Phillip Island. With a surf lifestyle and community appeal, as well as property prices typically still well under $800,000, it shares many hallmarks of the NSW playground of Hollywood A-listers and Aussie richlisters — but not the price, with Byron Bay's typical house costing about $2.243m. 'So for people seeking a similar lifestyle, Phillip Island is becoming quite popular,' Ms Conisbee said. 'However, Victoria seems to be the area that's still a bit undiscovered (as a holiday destination) and hasn't seen the same (price growth) as other areas. 'So for those looking for a bargain – and a similar lifestyle to Byron – you'll find that the cheaper areas are in the east, starting at Phillip Island.' And while the coastal hamlet hosted The Block in 2024, it's had its own star-power appeal for a lot longer. Property records show Liam and Chris Hemsworth, alongside their parents Craig and Leonie, bought a home for $1.6m in a secluded pocket of Phillip Island in 2012. It's a more modest space than the sprawling compounds the Hollywood heavyweight brothers own in Byron Bay, but might be a bit closer to the surfing-centric lifestyle they enjoyed while growing up on the island in the 2000s. Phillip Island based real estate agent Greg Davis said the popular spot had been going through a transformation since the pandemic that was making it more like Byron Bay than ever before. Mr Davis said in addition to Hollywood heart-throbs the Hemsworths, others calling it their home away from home included famous musicians, sporting greats and business leaders. Most are drawn to the million-dollar water views on offer along its coastline, available for the about $2m you'd pay for a standard home in Byron. Phillip Island has also hosted its share of music festivals – but goes a step further with the annual Moto Grand Prix, which has lured Hollywood A-listers including Eric Bana and Keanu Reeves. Mr Davis said the Island had been transforming in recent years, with about 60 per cent of buyers today looking for a home there as a permanent residence — driving an increase in the presence of cafes, breweries and boutiques. 'It's certainly been busier than it was before Covid,' he said. It's also going cheap at the moment, with prices in most suburbs around the Island still below their post-Covid peak, though Mr Davis said it wasn't likely to stay that way for long. He's tipped areas like Smiths Beach and Cape Woolamai to be the first back into the million-dollar club, and popular Cowes might not be far behind. 'I've sold three in the past few weeks around the $2m mark,' he added. Mornington Peninsula-based buyer's advocate Michael Sier said this winter and spring would likely be among buyers' last chances to really take advantage of a broader decline in Victoria's coastal property markets. Mr Sier said additional land tax costs introduced by the Victorian government at the start of 2024 had turned many off of owning a beach house, unless it was their permanent residence. However the Buyer X buyer's agent has noticed rising numbers of holiday home buyers contacting him this year. While he noted that there were very different vibes in some of the most affordable pockets identified by the Ray White research, particularly suburban areas like Frankston, the wider Mornington Peninsula was still as much as 10 per cent below its peak for prices. 'So buyers still have an opportunity for properties where sellers are motivated to get it sold,' Mr Sier said. VICTORIA'S MOST AFFORDABLE COASTAL HOUSE LOCATIONS Source: Ray White Economics, figures track Statistical Area 2 regions that extend beyond named towns and locales. Region (Statistical Area 2) Median house price Median unit price GLENELG (VIC.) $352,674 N/A LONGFORD – LOCH SPORT $407,134 N/A ORBOST $416,170 N/A YARRAM $443,210 $306,029.00 PORTLAND $449,102 $339,028.00 MOYNE – EAST $459,863 N/A CORANGAMITE – SOUTH $489,394 $419,347 BAIRNSDALE $502,813 $367,490 LAKES ENTRANCE $556,134 $425,591 FOSTER $565,597 $395,198
