The OWO Residences by Raffles
Buying at The OWO means buying leasehold in a Grade II* listed building where the two numbers that settle a London purchase, the unexpired lease term and the service charge, come from the selling agent in writing rather than from a page.
Photograph, The OWO.
- Price
- On request
- Stage
- Selling
- Bedrooms
- 1 to 4
We tell you what is available and arrange the introduction.
The property
The OWO Residences by Raffles occupies its own building within the Old War Office on Whitehall, across the courtyard from Raffles London at The OWO. The Hinduja Group has owned the Grade II* listed Edwardian Baroque building, completed in 1906 opposite Horse Guards Parade, since 2016, and commissioned the restoration, an eight-year transformation completed in 2023. Eighty-five homes sit inside it.
Read the full picture
Residents at The OWO have thirty thousand square feet of amenity space reserved for them and managed by Raffles: a private garden, access to the Guerlain Spa, a 20-metre pool, Pilates and yoga studios, a gym, a cinema, a games room, treatment suites and lounges, with twenty-four-hour staff and security. The distinction to hold is that these homes are not apartments carved out of the hotel: the developer describes eighty-five homes set in their own building across the courtyard, with hotel service reaching across to them.
Ownership at The OWO is leasehold. The lease term is to be confirmed, and on a London leasehold it is the figure that decides the purchase. The service charge is to be confirmed too, for a building whose amenity floor is run by a hotel operator. Both numbers come from the selling agent in writing, and we ask for them before a client goes further than a viewing.
Homes at The OWO are sold through a new-homes desk, which is why the building reads as primary stock rather than resale, with two-, three- and four-bedroom homes of roughly 1,400 to 3,300 sq ft on the market at any time. Pricing is on request: asking prices on a new-homes desk move, so each figure is confirmed with the agent before it reaches a client.
The OWO suits a buyer who wants Whitehall, hotel service at the door and a building with a documented history, and who is comfortable with leasehold inside a listed structure. Two things are settled in writing rather than in print, the unexpired lease term and the service charge. Neither is a reason to walk away from the building; both are a reason to hold the paperwork before an offer.
- Homes
- 85 private homes, set in their own building across the courtyard from the hotel
- Building
- Grade II* listed Edwardian Baroque, completed 1906 as Britain's Old War Office, opposite Horse Guards Parade
- Hotel
- Raffles London at The OWO, Whitehall, London SW1A 2BX
- Amenities
- Thirty thousand square feet of amenity space reserved for residents and managed by Raffles, private garden, Guerlain Spa access, 20-metre pool, Pilates and yoga studios, gym, cinema, games room, treatment suites and lounges
- Staffing
- Twenty-four-hour staff and security
- Restoration
- Owned by the Hinduja Group since 2016; described by the developer as an eight-year transformation, with completion in 2023
- Architect
- William Young, completed by his son Clyde Young after Young's death in 1900; sculptures by Alfred Drury
- Tenure
- Leasehold; lease term to be confirmed with the selling agent
- Selling agent
- A new-homes desk appointed by the owner; ask us for the details
- Wider building
- The OWO also holds twelve dining venues and a Guerlain Spa alongside the hotel and the residences
The homes
Named exactly as the developer or the seller's agent names them. Sizes appear only where they are published.
One Bedroom Residence
1 bed · 1,156 sq ft
Published show residence on the fourth floor.
Two Bedroom Residence
2 bed · 1,998 sq ft
Published show residence on the fourth floor.
Two Bedroom Residence
2 bed · 1,425 sq ft
A second published two-bedroom show residence, on the fifth floor; a separate layout, not the other end of a size range.
Two Bedroom + Study Residence
2 bed · 2,383 sq ft
Published show residence on the fourth floor.
Three Bedroom Residence
3 bed · 2,626 sq ft
Published show residence on the fourth floor.
Four Bedroom Residence
4 bed · 3,324 sq ft
Published show residence on the third floor.
Exclusive Two-Bedroom Lateral Residence at The OWO
2 bed · 1,425 sq ft
Leasehold; price on request.
Three Bedroom Apartment with The OWO Residences by Raffles
3 bed · 2,630 sq ft
Leasehold. The floor area of 2,630 sq ft differs slightly from the 2,626 sq ft published for the three-bedroom show residence; both figures are given as stated.
Four Bedroom Apartment with The OWO Residences by Raffles
4 bed · 3,329 sq ft
Leasehold. The floor area of 3,329 sq ft differs slightly from the 3,324 sq ft published for the four-bedroom show residence; both figures are given as stated.
Owning it
How title works here, what is on the market, what it costs to run and what happens when you are away. Open the one that is your question.
How ownership works here
Leasehold. The lease term is to be confirmed with the selling agent in writing; a leasehold price without an unexpired term tells a buyer very little, so we obtain it before a client commits to anything.
Leasehold or freehold: which is better?
Each has its advantages, and we would not steer a buyer to one over the other in the abstract. Freehold is title in perpetuity: the home is yours outright, it passes to your heirs without a clock on it, and it is the simpler asset to finance and to sell to the widest pool of buyers. Leasehold is normally structured to 90 years, as a 30-year registered term with two further 30-year terms written into the contract in Thailand, or as a 99-year term in markets such as Singapore, and it is the route to a villa on its own land where the law keeps freehold land in local hands. On resale a lease is assigned rather than a title transferred, which in Thailand means a fraction of the transfer fees and taxes a freehold sale attracts, and a well-run branded estate keeps its resale value on the strength of the operator and the address rather than the tenure. What matters is the specific home: the years left on the term, how the renewals are secured, and what the purchase pack says about assignment. We put those three questions to the developer or the seller's side before any offer, and we tell you what comes back.
What is available now
Homes at The OWO are marketed through a new-homes desk, with a dozen or so on the market at any time. Pricing is on request; asking prices on a new-homes desk move, so each figure is confirmed with the agent before it reaches a client.
What it costs to run
To be confirmed with the selling agent in writing. An absent figure is not the absence of a charge, on a building with a thirty-thousand-square-foot amenity floor managed by a hotel operator.
Who is behind it
Developer
Hinduja Group, owners of the building since 2016, who commissioned the restoration rather than developing a new building
Architecture and interiors
William Young, completed by his son Clyde Young after Young's death in 1900, with sculptures by Alfred Drury
The hotel on site
Raffles London at The OWO. The residences sit in their own building across the courtyard from the hotel
Completion
An eight-year transformation under Hinduja ownership from 2016, with completion in 2023 and the hotel opening the same year: a project that did not slip.
Where it is
London, United Kingdom.
Also in United Kingdom, and elsewhere by Raffles
Park Hyatt / Announced
Park Hyatt London Residences, River Thames
London, United Kingdom · 1 to 3 bed
Price on request
Raffles
Jimbaran
Raffles / Announced
Raffles Residences Bali
Jimbaran, Indonesia
Price on request
Raffles
Jeddah
Raffles / Selling
Raffles Residences Jeddah
Jeddah, Saudi Arabia · 3 to 4 bed
Price on request
Ask about The OWO Residences by Raffles
Three short steps. We come back with what is available and arrange the introduction.
How this works
Via Privata is a travel advisory. We do not sell property and we are not the developer, the seller, or a licensed real-estate broker in any of the markets on these pages. What we do is introduce a buyer to the developer or to the agent selling a home, and stay alongside for the parts we are useful for. The sale is concluded directly between you and them.
Where an introduction leads to a purchase we may be paid a fee by the developer or its appointed agent, and we do not act for both sides of the same transaction.
Every price on these pages was verified by us against a live published asking price on the date shown. Asking prices and availability in this market move constantly, so treat every figure as indicative and as of its stated date, and expect it to be re-confirmed before anything is agreed. Where a figure is not published anywhere, we say so rather than estimate it. Ask us and we will tell you what is available today and arrange the introduction.
In the United Arab Emirates, introductions run through a licensed local brokerage. Dubai requires a Trakheesi permit, issued per advertisement to the brokerage holding the listing, so a UAE property carries an asking price here only where that brokerage's permit number is shown on its page. Where no permit covers a page, the page reports the property and quotes nothing.
Where a residence has a rental programme we describe how it works and nothing more. We publish no yield, no projected return and no occupancy figure, for any property, anywhere.
None of this is investment, tax, immigration or legal advice. Buying across a border has consequences that depend entirely on your own position; take independent local counsel and your own valuation before you commit to anything.