Tue, 04/08/2009 - 2:31pm

Two weeks ago 'The Guardian' did a story on how the global financial crisis has affected those at the very top. They said that, on average, the world's glitziest luxury property has only dipped by around 12% in the past year.

At the end of the article was an interesting league table in which they listed the top 10 most expensive streets in the world measured by price per square metre. Hong Kong's very own Severn Road came in at number 8. (For the record, Monaco's Avenue Princesse Grace came in at number 1 with a staggering £73,000 per square metre).

OK I'm not implying anything at all here, but last week I was asked by a certain photo agency to go and shoot whatever I could get of luxury property on Severn Road for another British newspaper (which I can't name here). It seems that they really liked The Guardian's piece and wanted to do their own story.

Being up to date with the news on Hong Kong property due to my own vested interests, I knew that I had to get shots of Sun Hong Kai Properties 'Severn 8' development which, no prizes for guessing, is at the (auspicious for some) number 8 Severn Road. The development is on The Peak, which was once favoured by colonial era Brits for being cooler than down along the tram tracks at grunge level Hong Kong. According to The Guardian, a house at 'Severn 8' only costs £24,500 per square metre. Exiled Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra bought a place here in 2007. And recently fung shui maestro Tony Chan put his House 3 at 'Severn 8' up for sale at a price lower than the market price.

There was no way the security guard at 'Severn 8' would ever let me in, though I did try to blag it. So, like a pap, I scrambled through wet jungle and all the way along the exterior perimeter fence, none of which, by the way, is against the law in Hong Kong. This is also why I ended up with mosquito bites and jungle scratch marks all over my shins and ankles. (I did, however, see a couple of nice looking spiders. They had tiny white bodies and very small white feet and legs as thin as human hair so you could hardly see them. Alas they were too quick to get a shot of to post here. Not to mention I was hardly in the mood for shooting natural history stuff, as by the time I saw them I was dripping in sweat and cobwebs and ready to leave).

So here's what the most expensive property in Hong Kong looks like, anyway.

Another angle. Note the killer view of the Hong Kong skyline from the infinity pool.

And here's a different view of 'Severn 8' from the top of the Bank Of China Building in Central, (bad weather, bad light).

And here's that list in it's entirety, courtesy of The Guardian:-

The world's top 10

1. Avenue Princesse Grace, Monaco, £73,000 per sq/m

2. Chemin de Saint-Hospice, Cap Ferrat, South of France, £61,000 per sq/m

3. Fifth Avenue, New York, £44,000 per sq/m

4. Kensington Palace Gardens, London, £40,000 per sq/m

5. Avenue Montaigne, Paris, £33,000 per sq/m

6. Via Suvretta, St Moritz, Switzerland, £27,500 per sq/m

7. Via Romazzino, Porto Cervo, Sardinia, £26,000 per sq/m

8. Severn Road, The Peak, Hong Kong, £24,500 per sq/m

9. Ostozhenka Street, Moscow, £21,000 per sq/m

10. Wolseley Road, Point Piper, Australia, £17,000 per sq/m