One-upmanship: Why more and more developers are playing a numbers game with addresses

It stands proudly alone amid the traffic, its elegant neighbours having been demolished by the post-war vandals who wanted wider roads.

In reality, the neo-classical Robert Adam building is called Apsley House but even English Heritage, to whom it was gifted in 1947, prefers Number One London because: "Addresses do not come much grander." It boasts a fine art collection including a massive statue of a naked Napoleon. If you visit this astonishing house, you might even glimpse the (fully dressed) 8th Duke of Wellington who still uses the building as a part-time residence.

Perhaps the cache of Number One London inspired the developers of Bowater House down the road to call it One Hyde Park although for a while the grumpy old Post Office insisted on using its real address, 68-114 Knightsbridge, which does not have the same ring.

This controversial development, designed by Lord Rogers, owned by the Qataris royal family and decorated by the Candy Brothers, has seen the highest price for a residential property, or so we are told.

Only nine of the 86 apartments are listed by the Land Registry as sold to individuals, the remainder belong to shadowy companies with names like Smooth E Co, Giant Bloom International and Rose of Sharon, registered in such tax havens as the Cayman Islands, British Virgin Islands and the Isle of Man.

Almost no one lives there and if it were once the pinnacle of one-upmanship, a wave of new towers is threatening to overshadow it with several using their Number One address as a marketing tool. At least three major developments underway have gone down the One route. The first is One Tower Bridge by Berkeley Homes on the south bank of the Thames next to the river gateway and Tower of London.

Advertised by the slogan: "Come home to the ultimate address", at least there will be people coming home to One Tower Bridge unlike in Knightsbridge. Its prime location within walking distance of the City has ensured buyers from all over the world. The architecture, by Squires and Partners, is said to complement the area's landmarks but it is not easy to spot the connection. There is nothing remotely Tudor about Tudor house nor any of the other great British royal houses after which the sleek blocks are named.

Inside, the apartments look extraordinarily elegant and luxurious, offering the best of modern minimalist design and technology. The complex will have a full concierge service managed by Harrods Estates, as well as spa, pool, gym and fitness centre.

Unlike at One Hyde Park, almost all of the apartments have river views and start at Ј810,000; a mere drop in the Thames.

Not a mile south, in regenerated Elephant and Castle, two tower schemes by Lend Lease are rising around the ashes of the old Heygate estate which was cleared by Southwark Council. One of these was to have been called St Mary's Residential but that name was changed to One The Elephant soon after planning permission was granted.

one commercial street, londonOne Commercial Street is between London's finance district and its arty neighbours

Unlike at One Hyde Park, almost all of the apartments have river views and start at Ј810,000; a mere drop in the Thames
This "one-upmanship" is almost certainly linked to a new "vision" for the rundown area which has not been without controversy. Despite the manifest benefits of such regeneration schemes, the number of affordable homes they deliver is constantly falling. As for example in the Nine Elms/Battersea area, developers tend to buy their way out of Section 106 agreements (planning obligations attached to development permits) by putting affordable homes in less desirable areas.

Investors, who snapped up homes in the Lend Lease first phase at prices from Ј320,000, are waiting for the imminent release of the next phase in One The Elephant. Buyers should register interest now before they too are all gone. Prices have not been released, but properties in the Ј1.5billion regeneration of Elephant and Castle, including more than 5,000 new homes, are still some 20 per cent cheaper than average Zone I locations. Developers report pent-up demand because so few new homes have been built, despite the area's potential.

It is significant that One Commercial Street, Redrow's Aldgate Tower, is being billed as London's new "landmark address" rather than "landmark building". Perfectly located between the City and its arty fringe neighbours Hoxton and Spitalfields, the 260ft tower offers panoramic views of London's evolving skyline. Residential properties including the Tower Apartments, City Collection and Penthouses, are situated between the 12th and 21st floors with prices from Ј720,000 for a two-bedroom apartment.

One-upmanship is happening out of town at well. In Surrey, Oxshott has just seen its first luxury apartment scheme arrive. Advertised as "the premier Surrey address", it is the latest offering from boutique developer Newcourt which specialises in opulent lifestyle projects in desirable Surrey postcodes close to central London.

Neo-Georgian architectural style is the current fashion in this area where older homes tend to make way for celebrity-style ones. This is exactly the case at Number One Oxshott, where two ugly Sixties houses have become two stylish urban/country apartment blocks in a garden designed by Chelsea experts. The fashionable "Moon gate" entrance to a small boxed garden uses the O for One: a motif employed throughout the development.

The entrance hall, with its 16ft-high cascading chandelier, is a sure symbol of the rising status of the area where the developers expect "rich bachelors" to be among the buyers of the Ј1.25million-plus properties

express