Britain: Tiny 1 BR, Sliver Vu

Housing is dear in London, but $60,000 for a broom closet? That was the asking price for a 5 1/2-ft. by 11-ft. room on Princes Court opposite Harrods department store in the affluent Knightsbridge section of the city. Though the cubicle had indeed been a broom closet, it was gussied up with a concealed kitchen sink, Laura Ashley wallpaper and a tiny window.

The astonishing price tag drove home just how superheated London's upscale residential-property market has become. The reason: a recent influx of cash- rich foreigners, most notably Arabs and Americans, and well-paid fugitives from the so-called "stockbroker belt" south of London who want to reduce the time they spend commuting to and from their offices in the city's revitalized financial district. An offer to buy the $60,000 closet was made by a woman who was weary of commuting to the capital from a bedroom exurb, but the wave of publicity caused her to withdraw her bid. Explained her real estate agent: "She is a very shy lady and wants to keep out of the public eye." So, it seems, did the owners of the teensy pad, who at week's end decided to take it off the market for an unspecified time.