Wednesday 23 April 2014 New trends Homes& from Milan

The world’s top interiors show Property Page 12

PROFIT FROM A NEW HOME P4 GREENWICH IS HOT P7 BUY ON THE CENTRAL LINE P10 SPOTLIGHT ON P32

I sent those rats packing Transforming a wreck: Page 24 PHOTOGRAPH: SIMON ELDON AT SIMONELDON.CO.UK/STYLING: SAMANTHA GIDDINS AT MINKINTERIORS.CO.UK SAMANTHA GIDDINS AT SIMONELDON.CO.UK/STYLING: SIMON ELDON AT PHOTOGRAPH: London’s best property search website: homesandproperty.co.uk 2 WEDNESDAY 23 APRIL 2014 EVENING STANDARD Homes & Property Online homesandproperty.co.uk with This week: homesandproperty.co.uk news: the true cost of buying a first Property home in each London borough search £205,000: for a studio apartment in the recently London buy of the week converted Royal Military Academy views to make the heart sing at Woolwich (homes and £699,950: rooms with a view are guaranteed at this property.co.uk/ über-smart apartment on the 14th floor of Canary Wharf’s military) Pan Peninsula tower — thanks to wall-to-wall windows and sliding glass doors to a balcony. The open-plan kitchen and THE true cost of getting on to the property ladder across dining areas are perfect for entertaining, while both London is revealed today. Exclusive new research shows bedrooms (one en suite) have bags of storage space. exactly how much a modest starter home in each of the Further perks include a communal gym and pool for your capital’s boroughs will cost — ranging from a surprisingly daily workout, plus a residents cinema — you just provide affordable £159,340 for those prepared to house hunt in the popcorn. Through Foxtons. Barking and , to well over £500,000 — and rising — for those who aspire to a first home in prime O Visit homesandproperty.co.uk/buyoftheweekcanary central London. The figures, from Savills, show first-rung prices in almost half of the capital’s boroughs are now above the £250,000 stamp duty threshold, meaning buyers will be Out of town buy of the week you liable for three per cent tax on their purchase. The areas to look at are those that combine affordability could live near Shakespeare’s local with strong capital growth. In Haringey, for example, starter homes are priced at an average £250,313, up 16 per £595,000: it’s gorgeous Georgian time Elizabethan cock-fighting pit can be cent over the last year. In they come in at an in the Warwickshire village of Bidford- found. Upstairs, three bedrooms — two average £205,523, up 15 per cent, while in Greenwich they on-Avon. This Grade II-listed, double- en suite — and a dressing room or fourth are priced at £206,520, up 14 per cent. Enfield (£207,703, fronted house is full of treats, from its bedroom overlook charming walled up 13 per cent); Bromley (£224,866, up 12 per cent) and duck egg-blue windows to the original gardens and The Old Falcon Inn across Brent (£246,311, up 12 per cent) also combine price stone floors, beams and exquisite the road, a 16th-century watering hole growth and relatively low pricing. fireplaces in generous reception rooms. which according to tradition, was visited Flagstone floors run from the dining by Shakespeare. Through Sotheby’s. O TO FIND the average cost of buying a starter home in each room to a relaxing conservatory and London borough, visit homesandproperty.co.uk/starterhomes kitchen/breakfast room in a Tudor O Visit homesandproperty.co.uk/ part of the house, under which an outbidford

VISIT homesandproperty. Life changer there’s room co.uk/rules for details of our Editor: to spare on the Norfolk coast usual promotion rules. When Janice £625,000: close to King’s Lynn and the Norfolk coast, The you respond to promotions, Morley offers or competitions, the Old Coach House in Ingoldisthorpe offers a versatile London Evening Standard 4,000sq ft interior which could happily convert to a guest and its sister companies may house of seven suites. Or you could divide the space to live contact you with relevant Editorial: 020 3615 2524 in one side and let the other. Exposed brick walls and log offers and services that may Advertisement manager: burners mix with modern details, a spacious sitting room be of interest. Please give Mark Wood beneath a high vaulted ceiling can’t fail to impress and your mobile number and/or Advertising: 020 3615 0527 there’s a lovely country kitchen. Lush, secluded gardens email address if you would Homes & Property, complete the picture. Through Abbotts. like to receive such offers by Northcliffe House, 2 Derry By text or email. Street, Kensington, W8 5TT O Visit homesandproperty.co.uk/lifechangeringoldisthorpe Faye Greenslade

ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE Have you done your homework? CAN you really afford the mortgage to spend on things such as television repayments on that new home you and broadband. hope to buy? Could you still afford it You will also need to show how you if interest rates were to rise? These would cope with increased costs, are questions borrowers will have to such as an interest rate rise, or a consider even more closely once new change in personal circumstance — rules come into force on April 26. such as retirement or having a baby. Strong, durable fencing. So, if you plan to buy a property, Lenders will want to “stress-test” make sure your paperwork is ready to your finances to make sure they can Designed for life, Guaranteed for 25 years. built to last face new beefed-up affordability stretch if your costs go up. For checks. The new rules mean getting a example, with a £140,000 mortgage, Protect your garden, whatever the mortgage could take longer, with and making monthly repayments of weather and save 50% on delivery* your household expenses and utility three months, maybe longer, plus £749 at 3.4 per cent APR, you would when you quote ‘STRONG2’ bills probed more closely than before evidence of any retirement income or have to find another £171 a month if — checks designed to stop borrowers maternity pay. If you have additional interest rates rose by two per cent. www.jacksons-fencing.co.uk overstretching themselves, sources of income from investments The new tightened-up rules could 0800 408 4736 something three quarters of first- or a rental property, you will need to affect how much you can borrow, so     time buyers admitted to in a survey provide details of those, too. doing your homework first is vital.       for the Money Advice Service. You will also need a clear idea of

  YEARS  YEARS  Whether you’re a first-time buyer or your household expenditure — ¬ Visit moneyadviceservice.org.           looking to remortgage, you’ll be preferably written down. This should uk/changes for our checklist, to asked for evidence of your main cover everything from council tax ensure you’ve got all angles covered, Get 50% discount on delivery* charge by quoting STRONG 2 over the phone or on the web site checkout on orders of £200 or more (excluding VAT and delivery) *Standard delivery areas only – offer ends 31.5.14. Retail customers only. income. This could include payslips and fuel bills to the cost of and for more about the changes and and bank statements going back outstanding loans and what you plan how they might affect you. EVENING STANDARD WEDNESDAY 23 APRIL 2014 3 homesandproperty.co.uk with News Homes & Property Raise a glass, then steal that style ÉTHE restored Cat & Mutton pub, right, on the corner of London Fields and Broadway Market is a buzzing new destination. Owner Tom Gibson was keen to accentuate the property’s rich history in its design. Stuffed and Spot the star £17m Miami Beach mounted animal heads pay homage to the building’s livestock traditions. quality of this house to suit glam There are references to East End boxers from the Thirties and old glass place, Alesha Kardashian clan signs from the 19th century which came from a pub in Bermondsey. É WITH Britain’s Got Talent É SO YOU want to keep up with the Gibson’s parents own a reclaimed back on our screens, life is now Kardashians? Then move to Florida, furniture company called Castle very different for judges Simon where sisters Khloé, Kim and Gibson and have clearly influenced Cowell and Alesha Dixon, both of Kourtney, below, recently hosted the his interiors style. So if the decor whom have become parents since opening of the family’s Dash boutique appeals, be inspired to give your own the last series. in Miami Beach. home a spring refit. Dixon, right, lives in a small village The event was covered for reality TV’s house in Welwyn Garden City, Keeping up with the Kardashians, and Hertfordshire, but with baby Azura during filming the girls stayed at Casa now in tow she is sure to want more Casuarina, once home of the late space. This five-bedroom property, fashion king Gianni Versace, and now above, on the market locally could fit run as a high-end boutique hotel. the bill for a new family home. If the über-glam mansion tempted Tucked away behind private gates, them to buy in the city by the sea, One its exposed beams were sourced from Sotheby’s International Realty is selling

MATT WRITTLE MATT old ships and churches, while singer- a suitably extravagant house, above, for turned-gardening guru Kim Wilde is a £17 million in exclusive Harbor Point. near neighbour. It’s on at £2 million By famed architect Cesar Molina, no with Hamptons International, and expense was spared on custom wood- By Amira Hashish nearby Knebworth station is just over work, marble floors, Lutron lighting, a 30 minutes from King’s Cross. private beach, dock and a vast infinity pool with views of Downtown Miami. Got some gossip? Tweet @amiranews O homesandproperty.co.uk/alesha There is also a separate guest house for when the rest of the clan come to stay.

Ivan’s wonderful, wonky home for sale

ÉENTREPRENEUR and former basement, all of its 13 fireplaces work head of the Institute of and it is incredibly quiet.” Contemporary Arts Ivan Financier Nat Rothschild is believed Massow, left, is selling his to have purchased a similar building four-bedroom Soho home. a few doors away. If he is keen to Built in 1720, the five-storey invest in another of the area’s historic townhouse, far left, is on the gems, this would be a safe bet. market for £5.95 million. Soho has never been so trendy and “Although it is south facing and lively with new bars and restaurants bright because it is all painted — so the location is an enormous white, it still feels incredibly draw. Dickensian with all the twisted floorboards, wonky floors and O homesandproperty.co.uk/Massow doors and an old country kitchen with a huge Aga,” says Massow. O Visit homesandproperty.co.uk/

“There are flagstones in the celebrityhomes for more celebrity news SPLASH

       #  %,  #&  #,%  + %&,+  ## ,   %" ## ,  ,, # ) , #,&# ) , ,#),     # # +)#,+ )#+   

!$! $! $ '* *  ( 4 WEDNESDAY 23 APRIL 2014 EVENING STANDARD Homes & Property New homes homesandproperty.co.uk with

Room to breathe: the South Downs National Park, left, is among many areas of natural beauty available to those willing to commute

From £562,500: homes at Kings Hill, an 800-acre estate in West Malling, Kent, where amenities include a cricket

ALAMY pitch, right Cash in on the ‘value gap’ with a move

WINDOW of opportunity apartments, the grounds re-landscaped minutes. Keeper’s Court is a scheme of has opened for spring and a modern-day spa or tennis courts If you are planning to buy a family four- and five-bedroom houses with sellers moving from the added. Redundant hospitals, colleges, double-height entrance hall, cathedral capital to the commuter barracks, convents and sporting estates home in the country, now is the ceilings in the master bedroom and belt or the countryside. are also providing a steady supply of perfect time to use your London pocket doors that allow living areas to TheA Office for National Statistics new properties in park land, green belt be opened up. reports that London prices have or bordering golf courses, often within property profit. By David Spittles There is even a large “bonus” room jumped 17 per cent in a year, and the the M25. in the loft, reached by an electric stair- “value gap” between the capital and case that drops down at the touch of a the provinces has never been wider. HAPPINESS IS A HOME piece of the town square is an original switch. Prices from £562,500. Call This means now is a good time to IN A NEW KENT HAMLET Art Deco control tower, currently being 01732 848316. pocket some profit while nabbing extra Redundant Twenties horticultural refurbished to provide office space. space with a move to the suburbs or research laboratories at East Malling, Called Kings Hill, opinion seems split BREAKING DOWN BARRIERS shires. Despite “corridors of wealth” Kent, have been given a new lease of as to whether it is a soulless Stepford The Surrey village of Hindhead used to along commuter routes leading from life, redeveloped as Orchard Gate, 37 Wives-style estate or a model new be a cut-off point for London commut- the capital to the countryside, family homes built from reclaimed materials From town, but it is popular nonetheless. ers because of the long traffic jams at homes are cheaper outside London. to give the sense that the homes have £1.25 million: Clusters of housing are sprinkled the junction of the A3 London to Port- Most couples moving out seek three grown organically over time. apartments in around the estate, and green builder smouth road — but no longer. vital ingredients — a manageable com- “This is one of those rare moments gated grounds Environ is one of several targeting A new 1.2-mile tunnel burrowed mute, a good-value home, and an easy when we can play a part in creating a at Number One London commuters — the scheduled beneath Hindhead solved the snarl-ups school run. Estate agents say buyers are new hamlet within the Kent countryside Oxshott in Surrey train journey to London Victoria is 49 as well as preserving the Devil’s Punch happy to buy off-plan if it guarantees and at the same time ensure the future the type of new home they desire while productivity of the surrounding giving them time to plan ahead, getting orchards and fruit farms that are syn- schools sorted before they arrive. onymous with the county,” says Jeff Jonathan Cranley of developer Mill- Elliot, deputy managing director of gate Homes, which focuses on prestige Millwood Designer Homes, which has addresses in the western home coun- joined forces with a local charitable ties, says: “Buyers want a low-mainte- trust to revive the site and neighbouring nance, brand-new property with land. Terrace and detached eco-friendly architectural distinction and spacious, houses with allotments are priced from open-plan layouts.” £330,000. Call 01732 448270. Local planners are encouraging such designs, while across the South-East COUNTRY PARKS AND region, developers and landowners are A 49-MINUTE COMMUTE responding to the growing demand for A former Royal Air Force base at West better architecture. Malling in Kent is now an 800-acre Spurred by relaxed planning rules estate designed with a mix of so-called they are converting rural buildings and “vernacular” house types plus ameni- creating new homes with dramatic ties including a golf course, cricket open-plan interiors overlooking pitch, country park, schools, conven- pastures and meadows. Run-down ience stores, a Waitrose supermarket, mansions are being split into grand pub, vet and restaurants. The centre- EVENING STANDARD WEDNESDAY 23 APRIL 2014 5 New homes Homes & Property

     

Stylish 1 bedroom suites, 1 & 2 bedroom apartments to the shires or suburbs coming soon

Bowl, a dramatic natural amphitheatre bedroom suites, an outdoor infinity golf and tennis clubs. Number One listed as a Site of Special Scientific Inter- pool, south-facing garden, first-floor Oxshott is a 10-apartment scheme near   * # $    #'# #   #! est. Easier commuting is causing prop- balcony, a triple garage and a vista span- the high street and train station, with its erty ripples further south in attractive ning three counties. The interiors are a 35-minute journey to Waterloo. There +!#     *)  country areas such as Petersfield, modernist showcase, with free-flowing is also secure basement parking for the Petworth and Midhurst. open-plan spaces and glass walls. Price Bentley. From £1.25 million. Call 01883 " ## # Lavington Park is a scheme of 18 £3.6 million. Call 01883 716404. 621122. It is one of the last developments new houses designed by noted Sussex of its kind in Elmbridge borough as a  # & * $   " architect Neil Holland set within the KNIGHTSBRIDGE STYLE new planning rule requires schemes of *##+ "   private grounds of Seaford College, OUT OF TOWN more than four homes to include 40 per Petworth, part of the South Downs Once known as the stockbroker belt, cent affordable housing. National Park. Prices from £499,950. the area between Oxshott, Weybridge Cobham, part of the same territory, Call Strutt & Parker on 01428 734017. and Esher in Surrey is fast becoming has a spot-the-celebrity high street Trevereux Hill, near Oxted in Surrey, Kensington in the country, with a new because of its local Chelsea FC training is where a fabulous, ultra-modern generation of luxurious homes offering ground and rock star residents. Sales & Marketing Gallery launching detached mansion with sweeping North all the creature comforts for buyers who Detached houses at Fairmile Gate Downs views sits confidently alongside can’t stretch to Knightsbridge prices. boast a feature spiral staircase, a light- 26th April, 11am - 4pm. a cluster of six more traditional-design These buyers want modern yet tradi- filled atrium and a giant “super-room” luxury flats and two five-bedroom tional-looking homes in quiet roads combining kitchen, dining and living houses. Millgate Homes’ spectacular away from railway lines and flight paths, areas and opening on to the garden.  0207 758 8449     gated property, Chart Ridge, has five but close enough to amenities such as From £2.7 million. Call 01932 506800. Hurry spaces are going fast!

From £330,000:    right, homes at      Orchard Gate, a new countryside hamlet in East Malling, Kent Beyond your expectations

£3.6 million: % #(%! % Chart Ridge, a spectacular modern mansion, *Travel times represent the quickest journeys via public transport from Canning Town station. Source: Transport for London. left, at Trevereux Hill in Surrey 6 WEDNESDAY 23 APRIL 2014 EVENING STANDARD Homes & Property Perfect locations homesandproperty.co.uk with NEW SERIES REDEFINING LONDON We help you to target your home search Following the Tube map, Ruth Bloomfield plots London’s property prices as they ripple

outwards and finds pockets of opportunity ALAMY

ONDON, so sprawling a city transition continues from commercial Fun and edgy: Soho Square, where local homes prices have soared 113 per cent and of such infinite variety, to living spaces, new homes that can be overwhelming for the include some stunning lateral flats are Stops & Staff, says buyers are flocking says Luke Bishop, sales manager at home buyer. As they try to appearing, convenient for Soho’s fash- to the area — and indeed, to the whole Wooster & Stock. Two-bedroom Victo- choose the spot that will best ionable restaurants and bars. The City. Homes in new developments are rian conversion flats, popular with suitL their means and lifestyle, people central location and the imminent proving a hit with everyone from finan- first-time buyers, can be had locally for traditionally split the city into north, arrival of Crossrail at Tottenham Court cial workers to downsizers who want to about £400,000, a bargain for an area south, east and west — but there may Road are driving this trend, as is the swap a country house for a City pad. A within walking distance of Elephant & be a better way to view your choices. area’s relative value for money. new-build, two-bedroom flat in the area Castle in Zone 1, while Burgess Park Homes & Property has commissioned Charles Lloyd, a director of Savills, will cost between £1.2 million and recently had an £8 million facelift. exclusive research from Savills based said: “Soho has always been popular £1.5 million — hardly chicken feed, but “Five or 10 years ago this area was a on the Tube map, dividing the capital with certain buyers, people who want £2.5 million: a listed two-bedroom, far cheaper than central west London. bit of a no-go zone,” adds Bishop. “But into rings with central London as the a fun, edgy feel. It attracts the bohe- two-bathroom flat in Soho Square I think it’s just getting to the point when bull’s-eye. In a four-part series we will mian, arty and media-driven, and has (homesandproperty.co.uk/sohosq) PICKING people are happy to move here.” work from the inside out, starting with always been undervalued compared If, however, you want central London Price growth is not rapid but worth the historic wards of the centre and to Mayfair, by up to 50 per cent. Even for less, the only way is south-east. In waiting for. working through the inner and outer so, the flats in new developments in the Peckham ward of , suburbs, and beyond. Soho cost up to £2,000 a square foot between Peckham Road and Burgess ONE TO WATCH The most expensive parts of the city, — compared with £4,000 in Mayfair.” Park, the average property costs Lucian Cook, director of residential within the prime streets of central west £245,205, up 16 per cent in five years. research at Savills, says overseas buy- London, are beyond most people’s CROSSRAIL IS KEY South Bermondsey, also in Southwark, ers have distorted the market. “The pockets. Prices in the Knightsbridge and Another central ward enjoying major is priced at just a shade over the stamp most expensive wards have seen an Belgravia ward of , which price rises is Farringdon Without, the duty threshold, at £251,841, up 15 per inflow of overseas cash over the last lie around the Royal Albert Hall, have easternmost section of the City of Lon- cent. Peckham hasn’t yet benefited from five years. The less expensive wards more than doubled in five years to an don, just south-west of Farringdon the kind of gentrification seen in Peck- are far more dependent on local buyers average £4,551,939. The second most station, where the average of £675,957 £274,950: a one-bedroom conversion ham Rye and around Camberwell — particularly on those who depend on expensive ward is Norland, the tract just reflects a 103 per cent increase. flat in Culmore Road, Peckham Grove, both of which are nearer fashion- mortgage finance, at a time when north of Holland Park Avenue, where Again, Crossrail has been a powerful (homesandproperty.co.uk/cul) able East Dulwich and enjoy the ripple mortgage finance is tight.” homes cost an average £2,440,205, up game changer. When the line is opera- effect of its cool shops and bars. An exception is Faraday in Southwark, 20 per cent in the period. tional from Farringdon in 2018 the “Peckham ward is not yet at all gentri- between Elephant & Castle and the whole area will have direct links to the fied, but you can get a really nice three- western edge of Burgess Park, where SOHO THE UPSTART City, West End and Heathrow airport. bedroom Victorian terrace house there prices are up 41 per cent to an average The title of most up-and-coming ward A recent report by property consult- for between £600,000 and £700,000,” £303,513. Elephant & Castle regenera- goes to a relative upstart, West End, ants Jones Lang LaSalle forecast price tion has brought the area to the cusp of which covers the Mayfair and the Soho rises of 41 per cent across Farringdon, £250,000: a two-bedroom, second- gentrification, says Bishop. It is starting streets north of Piccadilly. Prices there thanks to Crossrail, by 2018. floor flat in Hanover Park, Peckham, to attract young families priced out of have grown by 113 per cent in five years Ben Babington, residential develop- close to sought-after Peckham Rye Dulwich or Brixton. “Prices are really to an average £2,173,142. As the ment director at estate agents Jackson- (homesandproperty.co.uk/han) low for central London.”

       

COMING SOON.         " $       $  #   $ !     $ $ $     #   $           $     $  $            "       $ $       #     #    $     $ $  $  

 

            DISCOVER MORE | LONDONDOCK.CO.UK | 020 7971 7880 LONDON DOCK INFORMATION CENTRE, VAUGHAN WAY, LONDON E1W 1YY EVENING STANDARD WEDNESDAY 23 APRIL 2014 7 homesandproperty.co.uk with Affordable homes Homes & Property The splendour of a charitable The Movement: a new trust estate is being transformed mixed-use Greenwich development with flats, for Londoners to enjoy historic student accommodation, a boutique hotel and homes, says David Spittles education and work spaces

HE history of charitable housing in Greenwich runs all the way back to 1694, when King William and Queen Mary established the RoyalT Hospital for Seamen. The ancient Crown charity still owns the splendid Sir Christopher Wren-designed hospi- tal and other prized buildings that form the core of the gracious old naval town, now a Unesco World Heritage Site. For the first time in 50 years, a new- build project has been added to the estate, a development of townhouses and apartments for rent to people who live and work in the borough. Built on a former car park moments from the river, the design is described by Trehearne Architects as “contex- tual” — low-rise and made of brick and Greenwich rides a tide of change block — in keeping with the traditional surroundings. But the homes are defi- and Georgian buildings refurbished in apartments are attracting Canary Greenwich Square, and will include a antly contemporary in terms of energy a Marylebone-type makeover that aims Wharf workers. Town centre improve- leisure centre, library, cafés and restau- efficiency, being highly insulated yet to spruce up Greenwich’s retail and ments focus on a large island site, the rants. Maisonettes cost from £535,000, naturally ventilated with “at-point” residential draw. area’s main commercial hub, ringed by while cheaper flats in a new phase will From £535,000: recycling and rainwater harvesting. It is unusual for one organisation to a one-way traffic system. be released in early summer. Call Savills for maisonettes Rents start at £1,325 a month for 12- have complete ownership of a town An earlier proposal to completely on 0800 077 8177. at Greenwich month minimum tenancies. Call Jones From £1,325 a centre, including an entire conserva- redevelop the covered market square The Peltons, east of the town centre, Square, a Lang LaSalle on 020 8463 6741. month: below tion quarter with numerous listed has been ditched. Instead, it is being is perhaps the best lower-priced 645-home The Greenwich Hospital charity is now right, eco-friendly buildings, and the charity’s strategy is upgraded with a new roof, portico scheme. This butts up against a Victo- development of wielding its power as freeholder to give townhouses and to cherry-pick independent retailers entrance, lighting and cobblestones. rian conservation area with a primary the old district the historic centre a facelift. The medi- flats in Old and turn rooms above shops into Some of the 130 market traders are mov- school and church. Flats and terrace hospital, below eval market square is being upgraded Woolwich Road homes. These newly created rental ing into refurbished shop premises. A houses are for sale from £305,000. Call Jamie’s Italian in Nelson Road is the first DTZ on 020 3296 3895. of the new-style restaurants. Peabody, another of the capital’s It is a fine place to live, cheaper than long-standing housing charities, is step- equivalent inner suburbs such as High- ping up its shared-ownership offering gate in the north or Richmond in the and has also launched a “private sales” west. Younger buyers and renters are division. At Coopers Road, in South- discovering an area with homes of all wark, new flats cost from £374,000. shapes and sizes, ages and prices, from Call 020 7922 7226. Another scheme of swish riverside flats to cobbled mews 66 homes on Camberwell Road is cottages and period townhouses. launching soon. And due for comple- Several developments are under way tion next year are 180 homes — 61 for either side of the town centre. Coming shared ownership — at Chambers soon is The Movement, a funky mixed- Wharf, close to Tower Bridge. use scheme of 181 flats, student accom- Peabody is also creating a new “gar- modation, education space, boutique den suburb” at , south- hotel and start-up business workspaces. east London, as part of a community Call Cathedral Group on 0800 319 6079. housing initiative. The area is set to The former Greenwich District Hospital benefit from the arrival of Crossrail at is being transformed into 645-home nearby Abbey Wood in 2018.

    Photography for illustrative purposes only. illustrative for Photography 8 WEDNESDAY 23 APRIL 2014 EVENING STANDARD Homes & Property Homes abroad homesandproperty.co.uk with

OU don’t have to be a sports fanatic to buy a From £275,400: holiday home at a leisure for two-bedroom resort. Whether your apartments at property is in Corsica or La Durantie in Ythe Caribbean you’ll need help, of south-west course, from mowing the grass to France. The repairing storm damage, which is development where a managed resort can offer a also offers helping hand. houses The best resorts also offer a range of facilities, encouraging stronger rental returns and more potential income for you. These incur extra costs, usually a service charge covering maintenance, housekeeping and possibly a golf course, pools or spa. Balancing the costs with the facilities is key to a successful holiday home.

HASSLE-FREE IN FRANCE Helen and David Ponsford from St John’s Wood both have busy lives From £190,000: and demanding jobs, Helen as a for one-bedroom director at Microsoft and David apartments at running a video start-up. Castelfalfi, They began their search for a Tuscany, which holiday home in the French Riviera, has a range of but high prices forced them to head homes for sale west towards Toulouse. Properties there were affordable but the couple got cold feet, unsure they had time to Convenient country living: Watermark in the Cotswolds has New England-style homes for sale and five lakes with sailing and fishing, just 90 minutes from London take care of a second home abroad. On the point of abandoning their ACCESSIBLE COTSWOLDS dream, they saw La Durantie in the Fast broadband, a 90-minute train quiet, rural Tarn. The renovated A working holiday home trip to Paddington and accessible golf 17th-century château with new-build and horse riding mean the 520-acre homes in the grounds and a Watermark resort in the Cotswolds is restaurant, bar, and large spa with CHECK THE SERVICE CHARGE resort. The 2,700-acre Tuscan estate a winner with Londoners, who make indoor and outdoor pools and Invest in a bolt hole ANNUAL service charges vary hugely offers lock-and-leave smaller homes up over 75 per cent of owners. treatment rooms, was a revelation. depending on facilities and service and large, detached farmhouses, The five lakes offer sailing, water Helen, 43, says: “Originally we that will rent well when levels included, and on the number close enough for weekend bolts from skiing, cable skiing and fishing and wanted a romantic, independent of homes in any development. Some London, yet with a rural outlook over there are 350 New England-style property before realising that a fully you are not using it. apartment blocks might have only a vineyards and olive groves. homes for sale. Resales from £250,000 managed rental suits our lifestyles Cathy Hawker communal hall and lift to maintain, Facilities include swimming pools, for a three-bedroom home on Isis much better. We can lock it up and finds while other resorts will have pools, two golf courses, tennis courts, Lake. New to the market are four- and leave with no hassle, coming for two managed resorts gardens and sports facilities. restaurants and boutique shops, five-bedroom homes on Summer weeks in the summer as well as As a rule, allow 0.5 to 0.75 per cent while one hotel is already open in a Lake. Homes rent for 70 per cent of numerous weekend breaks.” abroad and in the UK of the purchase price for flats in the former tobacco barn, with a second the year on average and some achieve Rental return was not essential for Swiss Alps, say agents Investors in planned for 2016. a five to six per cent yield. Watermark the Ponsfords but they have decided Property, while at the top end of the One- to three-bedroom apartments, charges 30 per cent of income for full to use the rental pool as La Durantie rental guarantee for nine years of market in America, buyers can easily golf villas and large, detached stone rental management. Typical annual offers a full service. “That way there is 2.8 to 3.1 per cent, with La Durantie pay £17,000 on a £1.5 million home. farmhouses are priced from service charge for the largest homes is no pressure if one year we decide not taking 20 per cent of rental income. Buyers should check carefully what £190,000 and service charges start £2,846, plus £1,260 ground rent. to visit so frequently,” reasons Helen. is included under the service charge. from £100 a month. They paid £406,500 for an off-plan A TUSCAN TREASURE. Always ask who determines the level Castelfalfi will arrange all aspects of O La Durantie: durantie.com (01732 three-bedroom house, with annual Castelfalfi is an 800-year old of charge, look into how steeply it rentals including advertising in 848316) charges of £4,300. Two-bedroom medieval hamlet within one hour of could increase and check whether a return for 30 per cent of the rental O Castelfalfi: castelfalfi.co.uk (00 39 apartments at La Durantie with a Pisa airport, Florence and Siena sinking fund, that builds up to cover income. Typical high-season weekly 0571 890170) shared pool cost from £275,400 with which Tui, Europe’s largest travel unexpected repairs, is in place. rates range from £950 to £1,650 for O Watermark: watermarkcotswolds. annual charges of £2,650. There’s a company, is refurbishing into a large apartments. com (01285 869031) 10 WEDNESDAY 23 APRIL 2014 EVENING STANDARD Homes & Property Commuting homesandproperty.co.uk with

OVERING 46 miles and serv- areas. Apartments, including four-bed- ing 49 stations from Ruislip room duplexes, are priced from in suburban west London to £450,000. Call Countryside Properties Epping in Essex, the Central on 020 8993 6923. line is the Tube network’s Despite the BBC’s departure from longestC route. It is also the busiest at Television Centre, Shepherd’s Bush peak hours, with the most intensely and White City have wind in their sails. used stretch of rail track in the UK. Outline plans have been agreed for the Street is the only mainline redevelopment of Shepherd’s Bush station the Central line connects with, Market with 199 apartments, 13 mews meaning it is used heavily by outer-east houses, a new market square with stalls London and Essex commuters, but it and small independent retailers plus is also convenient for west London an “artisans’ quarter”. Together, these residents who want a quick and direct elements will preserve the existing link to the Square Mile. market’s eclectic personality, or “melt- Beyond the coveted Zone 1 section of ing pot” image, and provide an anti- the route property prices are fairly dote to Westfield’s chain stores and evenly spread — apart from a spike in high-end fashion brands. values at Chigwell and Ealing — mean- White City has a promising future ing there are good-value suburban £106,250: for 25 per cent of a one-bedroom flat with a full price of £425,000 at — a huge regeneration zone where areas as well as up-and-coming inner- Mondrian on the site of the old Mildmay Mission Hospital in trendy Shoreditch thousands of new homes and a campus London districts to be discovered by a for Imperial College are in the pipeline. new generation of buyers and Look out for a scheme of 1,300 homes renters. on the site of a former a Marks & Spen- cer depot. More details will be available ON THE WESTERN FRONT Map out your later this year. Call St James on 020 Railway expansion in the Twenties put 3675 1502. Ruislip and Northolt on the map, pro- pelling them from sleepy villages to HECTIC, ECLECTIC EAST commuter suburbs. Both feed off the Once past Bank, the Central line slices Heathrow commercial zone as well as through the heart of the old East End central London and benefit from a lot and continues on to Essex commuter of green open space such as Northala towns. Fields, which has boating lakes, hiking Wealth and opportunity are spread- trails and giant landscaped mounds ing across east London. Hectic, eclectic created from landfill that was exca- and youthful, it is in the forefront of the vated during the building of the new new digital/design/creative economy, Wembley Stadium. future and is an engine of stylish entrepre- Developers are bringing some fresh neurship. It is a place for fashionistas, and affordable homes to an area THE CENTRAL LINE finance-sector workers and families dominated by interwar housing. At alike. It has a rooted community of art- Mandeville Place, Northolt, one- bed- ists, a cultural scene with galleries, room apartments are priced from In part five of our series spotting hot homes museums and pop-ups, plus new noted £157,000, with shared-ownership restaurants and fashion boutiques, options available. Call Network Living on the Tube network, David Spittles gets homeware stores, farmers’ markets on 020 8454 7388 and designer hotels. Ealing, leafy and well-behaved, pro- to grips with all 46 miles of the longest route Estate agents speak of a “golden claimed itself the “Queen of Suburbs” triangle” formed by the City financial in the 1880s. Today, the bustling Broad- district, Canary Wharf and Stratford. way is more like Street, but squares and pedestrianised lanes urban mishmash, carved up by train Within this area lie Bethnal Green and while other areas have seen big demo- brought to life with shops, restaurants, tracks and busy roads into small, badly Mile End, where a high level of public graphic changes and swings in fashion markets and street theatre. Two-bed- linked pieces that undermine any cohe- housing has put a brake on property and status, Ealing has remained largely room homes are priced from £679,950. sive sense of community. But being in values, making prices cheaper than in itself, with a middle-class old guard, an Call 020 8568 1100. Zone 2, it is packed with young renters Shoreditch. enviable common and tree-lined, Ealing is tipped to be a major Cross- and is attracting more and more buyers The East End’s charitable housing spacious streets. rail winner when the line is up and priced out of Shepherd’s Bush and roots run deep. St Clements, a listed Dickens Yard, a town centre regen- running in 2018, slashing travelling Hammersmith. Victorian workhouse in Mile End, is at eration scheme bringing 698 new times to the City and Canary Wharf. So Liberty Quarter is part of an ambi- the heart of a community trust housing apartments, introduces a fresh ingredi- maybe now is the time to buy before tious regeneration project bringing project backed by Mayor Boris John- ent in the shape of a Docklands-style the bankers arrive and push up prices 2,500 homes around a series of son. This will bring 252 homes, a mix complex of homes overlooking public further. Next stop is Acton, a sprawling squares, courtyards, parks and play of private, shared-ownership and

#  $ !$ 

. 3    )/,    --%  . )) %   %%   * /, &( "  % *    % &/+& &( "   *     - () "&20  %  -* - 1'&3)/'.1'1 0 EVENING STANDARD WEDNESDAY 23 APRIL 2014 11 homesandproperty.co.uk with Commuting Homes & Property

rental properties. To register, call CENTRAL LINE Linden Homes on 01883 334400. Mondrian is a new development on Zone Average house prices Average house prices / Zone the site of former Mildmay Mission Hospital in Shoreditch. One-bedroom apartments cost from £106,250 for a 6 West Ruislip £385,266 Epping £369,608 25 per cent share (full price, £425,000). Theydon Bois £580,399 Call Genesis on 0808 118 3131. 6 Essential Living builds rental flats for Ruislip Gardens £284,395 Debden £216,753 young professionals who do not qualify £316,717 for social housing yet cannot afford to 5 South Ruislip £284,395 Loughton get on the property ladder. Coming Northolt £236,284 soon is a purpose-built scheme of 149 homes at Three Colts Lane, Bethnal Buckhurst Hill £420,557 5 Green. A concentrated focus of regeneration Greenford £275,318 in postcodes surrounding Stratford is 4 Perivale £296,059 Woodford £297,872 benefiting Leyton, the second-cheap- est area on the Central line. South Woodford £360,065 Sitting high above the traffic-choked £409,881 North Circular Road and close to the Hanger Lane £482,714 Snaresbrook junction with the M11, Woodford might 3 Ealing Broadway £604,806 Roding Valley £339,537 be dismissed as a polluted and noisy suburban staging post. The local retail West Acton £482,714 Chigwell £761,008 mix, which includes a Waitrose and Grange Hill £433,521 fashion boutiques, tells you something else. It is a prosperous place with per- North Acton £387,954 Hainault £303,939 4 sonality, a real neighbourhood where people want to put down roots. Buyers East Acton £367,530 Fairlop £303,939 aspire to it on the way up the ladder White City Barkingside £243,675 and downsizers on the return journey. 2 £367,530 And with good local schools and Shepherd’s Bush £553,926 Newbury Park £243,675 Epping Forest on the doorstep, it is also popular with families. Holland Park £2,440,205 Gants Hill £333,676 £354,522 END-OF-THE-LINE DEALS Redbridge Highbeam House, at Woodford Notting Hill Gate £1,461,160 Wanstead £461,298 Green, is a new-build scheme of 14 two-and three-bedroom apartments Queensway £1,271,885 set in landscaped grounds that were Lancaster Gate £998,321 Leytonstone £317,541 designed by a Chelsea Flower Show From £679,950: award winner. A show apartment is Marble Arch £1,125,648 Leyton £222,222 for a two- now open for viewing. There is under- 3 bedroom ground car parking, too, and the 1 Bond Street £2,173,142 Stratford £240,413 apartment in Central line Tube station is a short walk Oxford Circus £2,173,142 Dickens Yard, away. Prices from £499,000. Call Ealing, above Galliard on 020 7620 1500. Tottenham Ct Road £2,173,142 Debden, a suburb of Loughton, is worth checking out for affordable fam- Holborn £861,120 Mile End £275,069 ily houses, typically less than half the Chancery Lane £861,120 Bethnal Green £298,170 From £499,000: price of those at Theydon Bois, the next 2 new-build stop down the line, according to local St Paul’s £734,042 apartments at estate agent Stevenette on 01992 Highbeam House 563090. Bank (& Monument) £734,042 in Woodford Epping, an attractive market town at Liverpool Street £1,250,833 Green, left the end of the Central line, has one of Source:Source: Savills Savills only five Tube stations outside the M25. It also has the biggest car park on the network — a boon for London-bound TO JOIN us online for a tour of hot homes near key Central line stations, commuters who live in leafy avenues surrounding the famous forest. visit homesandproperty.co.uk/centralline 12 WEDNESDAY 23 APRIL 2014 EVENING STANDARD Homes & Property Design homesandproperty.co.uk with

ILAN just hosted the world’s biggest annual furniture fair. The Salone Internazionale del Mobile sets the global trend in interiors and spawns a week of design across the northern Italian city, with multiple shows and product launches.M London’s designers strutted their new stuff, while shopkeepers and webmasters decided what we will be keen to buy. So what will they be bringing home?

1 METALS are moving away from dull, industrial grey steel. Think mellow yellow, with brass, copper and gold that are sophisticated and warm. Kartell has even put a gold coating on its plastic furniture. “These metallics are stunning in dark London rooms,” reports Cecilia Massoni of the Aria shop in . Tubular steel now makes elegant frames, 1 often finished in punchy colours. By contrast, clever moulds coax sheet metal chairs into pretty shells, while mesh casts dancing shadows. These metal mesh tables were designed by Benjamin Hubert of Finsbury for Moroso, Rosebery Avenue, EC1 (020 3328 3560; moroso.it).

2 BIG STATEMENTS are being made by designers who love to 2 use fun colours and splashy patterns. In Milan, outrageous big and bulbous chairs were among pieces guaranteed to add drama. But popping up everywhere, quieter and more restrained, were the old classics with a modern makeover — buy these for serious design cred. Shown are Philippe Starck’s Madame chair for Kartell with Pucci covering, and the super-light Ripple table by Benjamin Hubert, now at FiveFivivevee trendstretreendsnds the Design Musuem, SE1 (benjaminhubert.co.uk). By Barbara Chandler 3 TECHNOLOGY is ever more audacious, and fresh materials from Milan make furniture stronger and slimmer than before — it’s a lovely, light look for small London homes. “I call it romantic minimalism,” says James Mair, of Clerkenwell’s Viaduct store. Glass, moulded plastics, acrylic sheet — and even a new composite made of British wool — left light yet impressive footprints in Milan. Shown is Ross Lovegrove’s new stacking Diatom chair for Moroso (as before).

4 SOFAS get star treatment, as Londoners hang out at home with friends, family, TV, gaming and iPads. Comfort is king, 3 but the look is slimmed-down and good for London homes. “We’ve done new adjustable frames,” say designers BarberOsgerby, of 2012 Olympic torch fame. The back of their Vitra Mariposa sofa, pictured, moves with you and then magically stays in place (vitra.com; 020 7608 6200). 4 5 WOOD is holding its own as new computerised machines serve up radical forms for a material that’s always been 5 with us. The look is sleek, blond and streamlined, urban rather than rural, and silky smooth. Simon Alderson of Twentytwentyone, Islington, loves “the contrast between simple, flat planes and rounded, turned timbers”. This cantilevered Kyudo chair is by Jasper Morrison for Magis (magisdesign.com; call 01279 508111 for UK stockists).

O Marvellous marble in Milan: see Page 19 18 WEDNESDAY 23 APRIL 2014 EVENING STANDARD Homes & Property Auctions homesandproperty.co.uk with If you hanker after that classic country house look — put your hand up. By Philippa Stockley The English Home

Top left: antiques collector David Bedale’s exquisite CLECTIC is the right word for Above: lot 61, Cheshire home. Left, lot 74, a painted hall postbox, early The English Home, Christie’s one of a set of 20th century. Estimated to fetch £400-£600 at The forthcoming auction of 400 six Regency English Home auction at Christie’s lots. The sprawling variety of painted glass items, from a few centuries pictures, early andE many countries, were collected by 19th century. Christopher Gibbs, Robert Kime, Piers Est £800- von Westenholz and David Bedale, four £1,200 of the biggest guns in antiques and interior decoration, each of whom has been dealing for about 40 years with private clients ranging from Prince Charles to Lord Lloyd-Webber. Mixing grand with cosy, the lots hint at a lordly pile and extensive collecting trips to corners of Britain’s far-flung former Empire, giving the impression that if you open a door you will be met by a tumble of wet dogs, gumboots and tweeds, and either a cup of tea or a stiff gin and tonic. If you long for a home that confers the idea of land and titles, a whiff of staff, and the comfort of the country, just strew a few of these spoils nonchalantly around. Above: lot 317, paintings. “Shire Horses” is an attrac- As you would expect, there is plenty a Venetian gilt- tive four foot-long work in oils, at of antique furniture, particularly 18th tooled gondola £2,000-£3,000, and a set of pen-and- century. From other periods, lot 122 is chair, late 18th ink designs by Edward Bawden done an early 20th-century English oak century or early for the Iron Foundry, at £1,000- refectory table (£800-£1,200), while 19th century. Est £1,500, may be of interest to collectors. lot 350, a delicate 1904 bentwood occa- £800 to £1,200 Lot 107, a portrait of a gentleman sional table by French firm Thonet, is identified as Lytton Strachey, by an interesting buy at £600-£900. Above right: Bloomsbury painter Duncan Grant, There are two pretty Queen Anne lot 250, a set may top its £2,000-£3,000 estimate. mirrors — one at £800-£1,000 — and lot of Regency Finally, there’s a scattering of indis- 198 is a long, three-part George IV over- simulated- pensible items that set the truly English mantel mirror at £800-£1,200. bamboo painted home apart. These include a splendid

ESHomesAndProperty Soft furnishings include two splendid steps, early 19th stuffed anteater in a case for £4,000- carpets, one a 23ft-long, mid-19th cen- century, in oak £6,000, a limestone pine cone finial, a tury Axminster from the Ditchley Park and leather. Moroccan gun rack, and a gilded estate in Oxfordshire, delicately col- Est £500-£800 18th-century leather gondola chair. oured and patterned like a vast paisley Every lot here has been bought with shawl, for £4,000-£6,000. Unusual a discerning eye and for that reason textiles include ikats and cushions from alone, this sale is not cheap — but Turkey and Syria. This sale is strong on there’s much in it to lust after.

O The English Home sale is at Christie’s in South Kensington on April 30. Visit Christies.com for further details.

Find us on Left: lot 39, a set Facebook of George III scumble- decorated dining chairs, circa 1800. Est £500-£800 EVENING STANDARD WEDNESDAY 23 APRIL 2014 19 homesandproperty.co.uk with Design Homes & Property

ARVELLOUS marble was everywhere at the 1 2 annual Milan furniture show earlier this month, with designers hewingM whole chairs and tables from solid blocks that were far too heavy and costly for the real world. Yet London, as ever, is ahead of the game, with stores stocking affordable, measured doses of the real thing alongside stone prints and patterns on ceramics, rugs and wallpapers.

1 Inspired by vessels that held perfume and honey in the ancient 3 world, these beautiful shapes are hand-carved from solid natural alabaster — £594 each, from Lapicida, King’s Road, SW10 (020 3012 1000; lapicida.com).

2 Cole & Son’s Fornasetti wallpaper, £76 per 10m roll, depicts the semi- precious stone malachite in various colourways, including black and white, pictured, a striking green, and taupe and silver. The showroom is at Design Centre Chelsea Harbour, SW10 (cole-and-son.com).

3 The Spindle Range of handcrafted glass pendants and solid marble side tables is available at London-based Feix&Merlin. The stools shown start at £2,652 and the pendant lights from £535 (shop.feixandmerlin.com). 4 Handmade in Portugal, these large, Let’s get stoned porcelain, dishwasher-safe serving 6 platters have a swirling marbled glaze — £24 each from West Elm, By Barbara Chandler Tottenham Court Road, W1 (0800 4 404 9780; westelm.co.uk).

5 Stone cubes of recycled granite can be kept in the freezer and brought out to chill drinks. Sagaform Whiskey 5 Stones cost £11.50 for a gift-boxed set of nine from Red Candy (0121 224 7728; redcandy.co.uk). 7 6 Lead crystal wine and champagne glasses with marble base, from £60 each at Lee Broom, Rivington Street, EC2 (020 7820 0742; leebroom.com).

7 Agate-pattern Sliced rug by German designer Jan Kath — £1,580 a sq m at Front, Bruton Place, W1 (wearefront. com; 020 7495 0740). 24 WEDNESDAY 23 APRIL 2014 EVENING STANDARD Homes & Property My home homesandproperty

Man with a plan: Study your architect James market: once Davies found his squalid inside special project — and out, the a problem house house has been in east London to transformed, transform main picture and right, into an uncluttered, spacious home complete with hardwood floors, clever lighting and handy storage

And so to bed: even the bedrooms are light and bright, right, while the neighbourhood has “a really nice feeling”, says James

AKE a young architect who knows how to control the purse strings, find a falling- down, rat-infested house in east London that most people I SENT THOSE Twouldn’t touch with a bargepole, add six months of very hard work — and come out with a sleek and bright, five-bedroom, three-bathroom family house and a fair profit. If that sounds like a plan, the good news RATS PACKING is that anyone sensible, with gumption, the right team behind them and a willing- ness to work, can do something very Young architect James Davies bought a bomb-damaged similar. “My parents were brought up in Liver- terrace wreck in Homerton and relished every moment pool,” says 30-year-old architect James Davies, who started his own practice in of turning it into a stunning five-bedroom family house 2010, “and they always taught me the value of money.” in only a few months, reports Philippa Stockley James was looking for a project but had very clear ideas about the niche he was after: something with lots of problems Backdrop: white to strip back and sort out, that could walls throughout make a spacious family home and he allow James wanted to do it in E5, which is Homerton to use colour to you and me. widely in lighting “It has a really nice feeling when you and furnishings walk round the area,” says James. “It’s well connected, with bars and shops. Ten years ago, families who wanted to live in Islington leapfrogged Dalston and came to Homerton. It’s quiet, and I know all my neighbours.” James saw the house, a 1900s terrace, early last year. The 1,500sq ft property was on the market at £580,000, its prob- lems visible from the street. “It looked horrific,” he says happily, leaning against the clean, shiny, white and marble kitchen he has put in, looking out, through new timber double-glazed win- dows, at the garden’s just-laid lawn. “There were horrid latticework uPVC windows and bricked-up additions, the bay window at the back was falling down, the front wall was coming for- wards, the side walls had bowed out, the back wall had been bomb damaged, and there was a ‘non-compliant’ side

Lighting-up time: new skylights were part of the first fix and were key to James’s aim of turning darkness bright  EVENING STANDARD WEDNESDAY 23 APRIL 2014 25 y.co.uk with My home Homes & Property

Put a gloss on it: finishes and fittings are smart but practical in this family home

WHAT IT COST O House bought for £550,000 in June last year. O Costs, including project managing: £175,000 plus VAT. O Value now: £1 million.

WHO’S WHO O Architect: James Davies at Paper House Project (paperhouseproject.co.uk) O Contractor: Future Building Solutions (futurebuildingsolutions.co.uk) O Specialist plasterwork: Thomas & Wilson (thomasandwilson.com) O Timber sash windows: from wall2wall (wall2wall.info/sash_window.html) O Victorian cast-iron radiators in black primer: coventry-demolition.co.uk O Rustic oak engineered hardwood floors: from thesolidwoodflooring company.com O Worktops in white Carrara marble: from GQ London (gqlondon.com) O Glossy white kitchen cabinets: from Howdens Joinery (howdens.com) O Taps and showerheads: grohe.com

JAMES’S TIPS: O CREATE a character profile of who you extension that would have to go.” Oh, my seven builders moved in,” he says. are designing for and stick to it. I was and the butterfly roof had had concrete Within a month they had corrected most designing with a young family in mind. tiles put on it in the Eighties and was of the external defects, rebuilding walls, O BE DOGGED on price. Try for discounts collapsing. fixing the roof, taking down the aberrant on everything. Most people will drop the To complete the picture, adds James, extension and preparing for new win- price a bit if you ask. “when I walked in I thought someone dows. James, who was living in the gutted O HOW to bargain: try to speak on the had died. It smelled like an open sewer.” property, which now had no electricity phone, don’t email. Buy several things That was because there were 20 dead or gas, was his own project manager. “I from one supplier and they are more rats under the floorboards. was so excited to be up the scaffold every likely to be flexible. The house, which had been let to stu- day, and every single decision was run dents for years, was in appalling condi- past me.” O USE a heating engineer and get good- tion inside, too, dark and dingy, with a quality radiators and a good boiler. The filthy kitchen. Even so, in a lively market UT he admits to one mistake, whole system has to work together to it had gone under offer but the sale had which is inevitable in a project work properly. fallen through. Two months later when of this scale. He ordered the O DON’T cut corners on taps. Every the For Sale sign went up again, James windows late, so the team had plumber knows how to fix a Grohe tap. approached the vendor directly and got to wait for them to be deliv- O POCKET DOORS keep space the house for £550,000. ered.B And in July, “I was woken up at 6am streamlined, particularly in halls. As he says, with all those structural one day by someone trying to break in O YOUR contractor is your best asset. To defects his credentials played to his to steal tools.” find one, ask a professional you trust, strength. The surveyor understood that Undaunted, with the first fix done, and such as a surveyor. Ask for references, James could fix things, so he got a mort- three new skylights bringing in lots more and then ask the contractor to take you gage — but with a whopping £25,000 light at the top, they started on the Quality where it counts: the kitchen island is crafted from Italian Carrara marble to see a previous project. Talk to the retention. That alone might scupper inside. “I knew exactly what I wanted,” owner in person. A good contractor some people’s finances. James says. “It was about making a dark Pocket doors that slide away into the wall sitting room on site, while the kitchen should be very busy, and need to be James is evidently no slouch. Knowing and dingy house as light as possible.” increase flow in passageways. Basic island is made from Carrara marble — the booked ahead. that time really is money in a develop- This is a textbook development. Eve- goods have been used to save money, type Michelangelo used — and the heavy ment project, he’d already had a full rything is clean and bright. Clutter has such as square-cut skirtings, standard radiators are absolutely gorgeous but Photographs: SIMON ELDON AT structural survey, a drains survey and a been removed, the butterfly roof has plastic switch plates, and Ideal Standard also belt out heat. SIMONELDON.CO.UK damp survey. He knew exactly what he been replaced, insulated, and exposed, sanitary ware. But where it matters, This house shows that, if you have the was buying — and relished the prospect. creating a lot more height on the top James has used quality. So a specialist guts, you really can turn adversity to Styling: SAMANTHA GIDDINS AT “A day after contracts were exchanged, floor, which makes the rooms feel bigger. plasterer recast the lovely frieze in the your advantage. MINKINTERIORS.CO.UK  26 WEDNESDAY 23 APRIL 2014 EVENING STANDARD Homes & Property Reader promotion homesandproperty.co.uk with Alison All set for those Cork meals alfresco GET your garden ready for summer with a stunning dining set from The Furniture Department. The round glass-top table (D120cm Chic vintage table x H72cm), four chairs with seat cushions (L60cm x D55cm x for every occasion H84cm) and parasol (D260cm x THE Sebastian occasional table from H240cm) are just perfect for Alison at Home is priced at just £145. outdoor entertaining. This versatile piece works equally All the items are UV treated and well by a bedside or in the living fade resistant so they can be left room and is hand-carved from outdoors. The set is also available sustainably sourced mango wood. as a six-seater. The recommended Painted in an antiqued shade of retail price for the four-seater set is sage for a chic vintage feel, the £799.99 but readers can buy it for Sebastian has three spacious drawers £499.99, or purchase the six-seater and measures H65cm x W50cm x set, RRP £999.99, for £589.99. D35cm. Visit alisonathome.com/seb When you buy either set, you will or call 0800 472 5533 to order, and also receive a 10 per cent discount for chance of winning vouchers on any other garden furniture. worth £500, use code WIN9 at Visit thefurnituredepartment.com/ checkout before April 30. Only 35 offers and use code ES23 before tables available for delivery in June. May 31 to make your saving. Get ready in a jiffy for a slumber party GIVE your overnight guests a treat with the Intex Comfort Plush Bargain news inflatable bed from Slumber Slumber. This bed is fitted with a Do take a seat — in pump so it inflates in just two minutes, and deflates easily for comfort and style useful storage into a neat carry bag. It is available as a double or single, and WILLOW & HALL sofas and sofa beds, with free delivery included. Cut a cutlery deal handmade in Wiltshire, offer comfort, With a recommended retail price of style and quality cushion fillings in a £99, readers can buy a single-size MAKE dining a special affair with this choice of more than 70 fabrics and Intex bed for just £49.99 and a 44-piece Quay stainless steel cutlery leathers. All items have a five-year double for £54.99. To purchase, visit set from Viners, the perfect solution wood frame guarantee and sofa beds slumberslumber.com/intex or call for entertaining. Currently reduced come with a 14cm-deep open sprung, 0800 121 4110 before April 30. from £120 to just £30, snap up this pocket sprung or memory foam offer now and save a massive £90. mattress. Delivery is free to most parts Comprising six table knives, forks of the UK within three to four weeks, and soup spoons, six dessert knives, and a free return and 100 per cent forks and spoons, six teaspoons refund policy is included. and two tablespoons, the set Readers get an extra five per cent is as durable as it is stylish, off all sale prices, with discounts of dishwasher safe and comes up to 35 per cent. For free fabric with a Viners guarantee. To samples or to order, call 0845 564 purchase the set, visit 2008, or visit willowandhall.co.uk alisonathome.com/viners. and use code ES14514 before May 14.

O The companies listed here are wholly independent of the Evening Standard. Care is taken to establish that they are bona fide but we recommend that you carry out your own checks prior to purchases and use a credit card where possible. To offer feedback on any of these companies, email homesand [email protected] with “Bargain News” in the subject line. For more bargains, visit alisonathome.com or homesandproperty.co.uk/offers.

, % ),% % )) % +%    # ' % # %, %( % #%+ %#  %&, ! %!   # 3 seater sofa %% %# %! !  %# %& £999   +    % ##! % ,%, + (+ ,  %, %  +%! ( !  %% ! % %  #%    % ) # +& ,   + )  #)% # %   %% ! +, % #%  %   ! %&   %! ) " % %) %  #! % #%%( ,   %*

THE CANDLE FACTORY, 100 ROAD, BATTERSEA, SW11 3RD +)++ -$-$ # #(+ # &"&"" &  $"&  $& & %# +#*++'('  * EVENING STANDARD WEDNESDAY 23 APRIL 2014 27 homesandproperty.co.uk with Outdoors Homes & Property Vegging out with celebrity chefs How do our favourite TV cooks guarantee the finest ingredients? A new book spills the beans

SING fresh, seasonal Champion grower: at Le Manoir, produce is what great food Raymond Blanc is passionate about is all about, which is why his organic kitchen garden many of the country’s top chefs liaise closely with theU growers of their own kitchen outside diners, so no horticultural gardens. mesh can be used, as everything is on “It was thrilling to see how the best show. The marine-ply containers are in the business ensure their productive on coasters, a smart move that means plots fuel their innovative, award-win- gardener Simon Hewitt can shift them ning kitchens,” says foodie and veg around to give sun-loving plants the grower Cinead McTernan, who took a best growing positions through the Padstow pair: gardener Ross Geach gourmet tour around 20 of the finest year. In shade, he grows sorrel, a key and development chef Jack Stein veg plots in the land, gleaning growing ingredient in The River Cafe’s frittatas, tips and recipes from both cook and soups and salads. It provides a sharp gardener, before collating them in a and distinctive lemon flavour, and is new book, Kitchen Garden Experts. easy to grow from seed in early spring or early autumn. Another bonus is that, as a perennial, it will keep growing Pattie from year to year.

Barron O Though Sir Terence Conran has plenty of room in the walled potager at Barton Court, his Hampshire home, in which to supply restaurants such as Shoreditch’s The Albion and Tate O Thus we learn that in the glorious Modern, he prefers to grow chillies, two-acre heirloom vegetable garden at sweet peppers and aubergines in 25cm Raymond Blanc’s Le Manoir aux pots. “A restricted root space will Quat’Saisons, where, in summer, encourage plants to produce a heavier about 200 of the Nero di Milano cour- and healthier crop,” he advises. Other gette flowers are used in the kitchens tips from Conran and head gardener daily, head gardener Anne-Marie Owens Jonathan Chidsey include growing, in sows spinach and radish every 10 days summer, baby leeks instead of spring from mid-spring to midsummer to onions, conveniently leaving them to ensure constant supplies, then replaces grow in a clump, and sowing climbing Plot to plate: gourmet carrots from summer radishes with the winter courgette Black Forest if you are short Simon Rogan at L’Enclume, Cumbria variety. Blanc’s preferred tomato varie- on space. “Vertically grown courgettes ties include Roma, Marmande and San are much easier to pick than those on Marzano; Owens recommends giving bushy plants, so you will not end up each plant as much space as possible, overlooking some of the fruits.” supporting them with canes and pinch- ing out the growing tips when they reach O TO SEE recipes from the book, six feet. To aid pollination, she taps the including The River Cafe’s sorrel frittata plants when they are in flower. and Conran’s leeks vinaigrette, visit homesandproperty.co.uk/food O Treat them mean and keep them keen is the philosophy at Hugh Fearnley- READER OFFER Whittingstall’s celebrated River Kitchen Garden Experts (Frances Cottage, one of the most visited — and soft, pampered ones. Make the soil and initial outlay as it helps to create a micro- Lincoln) by Cinead McTernan costs £20, televised — veg plots in the country. the plants do the work.” climate either by warming up the soil but Homes & Property readers can buy Grower Craig Rudman believes in water- early or bringing on crops,” explains the book for £15 including p&p by ing only when necessary. “If needed, O At Padstow Kitchen Garden, where Geach. “It also lets in rain and sun while calling 01903 828503 and quoting code water very heavily but infrequently. grower Ross Geach supplies all Rick protecting plants from pests.” APG 138. Grow hard — by providing little extra Stein’s Cornish eateries, they take no Edible bouquet: Le Manoir’s courgette water or nutrition, plants are able to chances — all the crops are grown under O The River Cafe’s potager is all flowers are stuffed with peas and mint withstand pests and diseases better than horticultural mesh. “It is worth the in large pots that are set among the Photographs::Jason Ingram buy it Buy it: garden kit See it: for budding growers BOTTLE GREEN garden string is easy to ON SUNDAY, and the last Sunday of every month until the lose in a border, which is why twine in end of September, Hahahopscotch will hold play sessions at bright colours is a good idea, especially the Brunel Museum’s vibrant garden in Railway Avenue, when it is wound on a no-tangle SE16. While budding horticulturists enjoy gardening from wooden bobbin, left. 3pm to 3.45pm, and traditional games are played from Salvaged from Lancashire cotton 4pm to 4.45pm, parents can enjoy imaginative concoctions mills, each bobbin holds approx 100m from the Cocktail Gardener, Lottie Muir, as well as of twine and can be hung on a hook so mouthwatering treats from the I Should Be Souvlaki Great you won’t lose it in the garden shed, Greek Grill. Tickets are £4.50 per session per child from either. In four colourways, the twine wegottickets.com/BrunelMuseum costs £14.50. Another bright idea are handy mini O The Garden Museum, , is holding its annual snips, left, 10cm long, ideal for Spring Plants and Gardens Fair this Sunday, from 10.30am to snipping herbs, sweet peas and 5pm. Admission is £7.50 for adults, while children go free. deadheading with a clean, quick cut, at For details see gardenmuseum.org.uk £5.50 each. All from Sarah Raven on 0845 092 0283 (sarahraven.com). Play sessions: fun in the garden at the Brunel Museum 32 WEDNESDAY 23 APRIL 2014 EVENING STANDARD Homes & Property Property searching homesandproperty.co.uk with Spotlight Tottenham £299,500 A GROUND-FLOOR flat with a double bedroom and a secluded garden in Boundary Road (Wilkinson Byrne). O homesandproperty.co.uk/bound Regeneration is the goal —

£540,000 A THREE-BEDROOM house in Ewart and this Grove with two receptions, kitchen/ diner and garden (Bairstow Eves). O homesandproperty.co.uk/ewart place scores

A new Spurs stadium is at the heart of plans to put troubles in the past with thousands of

£749,950 new homes and jobs, says Anthea Masey A FOUR-BEDROOM period house in Boundary Road, with original HE north London suburb of already announced include a new features and an open-plan kitchen/ Tottenham gets a terrible Tottenham Hotspur football stadium dining room. Through Foxtons. press. After nearly 30 years with seating for 56,250 next to the O homesandproperty.co.uk/bound and numerous trials includ- current stadium at White Hart Lane. ing the most recent acquittal The 20-acre site also includes a huge ofT suspect Nicholas Jacobs this month, new branch of Sainsbury’s, a technical the murder of Pc Keith Blakelock on the college for 14 to 18 year-olds with an estate remains emphasis on sport, 275 new homes and unsolved. Then in August 2011, the Met’s a new primary school. replacement market and 200 homes, Enjoying the shooting of Mark Duggan, who was There will also be more homes at Tot- although a local action group has put grounds: Clifford under police surveillance, sparked riots tenham Hale and a new station on what in a planning application for an alterna- Bramble with that spread throughout London and to is an important transport hub on the tive scheme saving the old building. nephew Nathan some other cities, leaving a trail of line to Stansted airport, while £2 million Estate agent Elan Silver, of the local Thomson, two, at destruction and burnt-out buildings. worth of public realm improvements at branch of Winkworth, is optimistic Grade I-listed £500,000 The local council, Haringey, is hoping Tottenham Green and Bruce Grove are about the future. “Tottenham’s image Bruce Castle THIS house in St Albans Crescent has to put the past to rest with a regenera- under way. Meanwhile, at Seven Sisters, is being transformed and the process Museum, parts three bedrooms, two receptions and tion programme that will build 10,000 developer Grainger proposes to knock is accelerating. The area is definitely of which are a modern kitchen (Wilkinson Byrne). new homes, create 5,000 jobs and a down the long-empty Wards depart- urban but it is also very well connected 16th century O homesandproperty.co.uk/albans million square feet of employment ment store and build a mixed-use devel- and it has a plentiful supply of mainly space between now and 2025. Plans opment of shops and restaurants, a Victorian terrace houses.”

98% OF OUR GUESTS WOULD busy... BOOK WITH US AGAIN!* ...as a bee to make your holiday home work harder for you!

• The UK’s favourite holiday letting agency • Personal support from a specialist Regional Manager • Clear commission rates • FREE photography and professional copywriting • FREE grading and regular business review • Expert yield management of your income

Call our Property Recruitment team on 0845 268 8517 Email [email protected] or visit www.letmycottage.co.uk Lessons learned: the local College of Haringey, Enfield and North East London Tottenham central: Monument Way, off the A10 High Road

*Reevoo percentage correct at 6th January 2014. To find a home in Tottenham, visit homesandproperty.co.uk/tottenham ForF more about Tottenham, visit homesandproperty.co.uk/spotlighttottenham EVENING STANDARD WEDNESDAY 23 APRIL 2014 33 homesandproperty.co.uk with Property searching Homes & Property

CHECK THE STATS

■WHAT HOMES COST BUYING IN TOTTENHAM (Average prices) One-bedroom flat £214,000 Two-bedroom flat £267,000 Two-bedroom house £344,000 Three-bedroom house £437,000 Four-bedroom house £519,000 Source: Zoopla RENTING IN TOTTENHAM (Average rates) One-bedroom flat £1,002 a month Two-bedroom flat £1,262 a month Two-bedroom house £1,293 a month Three-bedroom house £1,541 a month Blast from an elegant past: Tottenham Green East property, in the N15 postcode Four-bedroom house £1,928 a month Source: Zoopla

GO ONLINE FOR MORE O The best schools O The best shops and restaurants in Tottenham O A round-up of the latest housing developments O The lowdown on the local rental scene O What the Tottenham postcodes mean to your home search For all this and more, visit homesand property.co.uk/ spotlighttottenham Look to the future: 264 flats and townhouses are being built in Lawrence Road

kind of hip café culture which has adventure playground, a skateboard HAVE YOUR SAY grown up, for example, along and BMX track, the Shell Theatre TOTTENHAM Kingsland Road.” outdoor performance space, and a Staying power: Tottenham has long- stretch of the River Moselle. @tottenhamlife future tip — check standing and stable Afro-Caribbean Tottenham Marshes covers 100 acres out the new @TottenhamMarket led and African communities who, if they of semi-natural wetland in the Lee by Jessica from @HarringayMarket are not tempted to sell up to newcom- Valley Regional Park, linking with miles and @StreetFeastLDN. ers, have put down permanent roots. of walking along the River Lee and Lee WHAT THERE IS TO BUY Suburb. The two-bedroom cottages However, Silver expects the new Navigation. @absinthecity huge amount of Tottenham is spread out along the A10 sell for between £200,000 and generation of first-time buyers to be good, green spaces (Lordship Rec, London to Cambridge road and there £250,000. more fickle. “Many will move out after LEISURE AND THE ARTS Chestnuts Park, Downhills) regular are still a number of Georgian houses The area attracts: Winkworth’s Elan four or five years,” he suggests. Bruce Castle — a fine Grade I-listed market @TottenhamMarket opening scattered along the route and on other Silver says Tottenham is attracting a lot Up and coming: N17 is the up-and- structure that was probably first built soon... main roads in the area. For the would- of first-time buyers who have been coming postcode. in the 16th century, but altered over the be home buyer, though, the main priced out of Hackney, Dalston and years — is the jewel in Tottenham’s @jamesrgrinter great local worth of Tottenham is its wealth of Stoke Newington. “It is only relatively OPEN SPACE crown. In the 19th century it housed a greengrocers, fruiterers, no need to Victorian terraces. Many have been recently that Hackney has become Lordship Recreation Ground, known radical school run by Sir Rowland Hill, shop in multinationals. converted into flats which are increas- fashionable. I expect the young buyers locally as “The Rec”, in Lordship Lane, who invented the postage stamp. ingly luring first-time buyers. There are now making the move to Tottenham is Tottenham’s largest green space. It Bruce Castle now houses the local @jasonlarsgreen perhaps its also a number of attractive conserva- will eventually bring with them the has a lake, a children’s playground, an museum. greatest selling point is huge tion areas, in particular the Tower The Bernie Grant Arts Centre, potential. Gardens Estate between Lordship Lane Historic: the old designed by architect David Adjaye, is and Henningham and Gospatrick water pump on named after the late Tottenham MP and @wildescheese we love @tottenham Roads. the corner of has the mission to develop “culturally plough, our parks and our amazing Victorian terrace houses currently Philip Lane, just diverse artists”. It is a venue for plays, warm community #Tottenham. for sale range from an end-of-terrace a rural lane until dance, music performances and runs property with three bedrooms in mid-19th century classes and courses. NEXT WEEK: Twickenham. Do Hanbury Road, half a mile from Bruce development but The local council-owned swimming you live there? Tell us what Grove station, for sale at £350,000 now a major road pool is at the Tottenham Green Leisure you think @HomesProperty through Thomas & Co (020 8801 6068), Centre. to a four-bedroom house in Stanmore Travel: there are three Tube stations Road close to Turnpike Lane Tube sta- and five train stations in Tottenham, tion, on at £700,500 with Wilkinson all in Zone 3, and an annual travelcard Byrne (020 8888 0022). to Zone 1 costs £1,472. Seven Sisters and Two-bedroom Victorian conversion Tottenham Hale Tube are on the Vic- flats range from £215,000 in Pembury toria line, while Turnpike Lane is on Road, also close to Bruce Grove station, the Piccadilly line. Tottenham Hale, for sale through King Group (020 8801 Bruce Grove and White Hart Lane sta- 2696), to £375,000 for a home in tions all have trains to Liverpool Street Downhills Park Road, again close to — the fastest link being from Tottenham Turnpike Lane Tube, on sale for Hale at only 15 minutes. Commuters £375,000 through Winkworth (020 from Northumberland Park change at 8808 9200). Tottenham Hale for trains to Liverpool Historic Tower Gardens Estate, built Street, or for the Victoria line. South by the Tottenham is on the to TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE between 1904 and 1911, was the first Barking Overground route and com- garden suburb. It has Arts & Crafts and muters can change to the Victoria line WHEN did this bright pink sponge Queen Anne-influenced cottages with at Blackhorse Road. cake become a TV star? small, privet-hedged front gardens Council: Haringey is Labour control- Find the answer at homesandproperty. similar to those found in the much Photographs:: led and Band D council tax for the co.uk/spotlighttottenham better-known Hampstead Garden Graham Hussey 2014/2015 year is £1,483.32.  34 WEDNESDAY 23 APRIL 2014 EVENING STANDARD Homes & Property Inside story homesandproperty.co.uk with

THURSDAY We’re off to a promising start today Mum-to-be is so with an offer on a Midtown building that we haven’t brought to market yet. My applicant hasn’t seen the place but excited by our he wants to offer £14 million for all of the apartments. The vendor is quite rightly confident that he can achieve more if he sells the flat, baby scoots flats individually, but the early interest is a really positive sign. After lunch I receive a call from one of my colleagues into the world in Abu Dhabi. His Saudi client owns a stunning residential block in Westmin- ster that he wants to let. It’s a great building in a part of town with more MONDAY tenants than properties, so our lettings We hit the ground running this week Diary of team are delighted with the instruc- — the phones start to ring earlier than tion. ever these days. First off, I head to an appointment in South Kensington an estate FRIDAY where my applicant arrives on his Both Singapore and LA are on the line micro scooter. agent at 8am. They have decided on an apart- The lift is not operational yet so it’s a ment each, one at Royal Waterside, the brisk walk up to the fourth-floor pent- TUESDAY other in Islington. I am delighted that house. As soon as I open the door to The day starts with a 6.30am call from we have come to a conclusion that the apartment the buyer’s on the a colleague. He needs me to cover a interest in it is still keen. I take a call buying agent who viewed the St pleases them both. A week of interna- phone to his wife insisting that she 9am viewing. I arrive on site in the City from a British buyer of mine based in Alphage Garden site on Tuesday has tional phone calls... maybe I should comes straight over. I run downstairs to show a buying agent and his client Los Angeles. He’s interested in buying made an offer on behalf of his client think about working for the United to see his very heavily pregnant wife around what will be a great collection a couple of apartments. His brother and he has come in at the asking price Nations instead. arrive on a matching micro scooter. of apartments overlooking St Alphage and business partner, who lives in — a great 24-hour turnaround. This afternoon, to toast the success The site manager and I exchange Garden. Just as I am leaving, Mr Micro Singapore, will call me in the morning It’s barely lunchtime and my Los of a launch last week, my team is taken nervous looks as she puts on a hard hat, Scooter calls to tell me that Baby with a few more questions. Angeles applicant is on the line. He out for a celebratory meal at a local although I receive equally nervous Scooter arrived into the world last night wants me to call his brother in Singa- pub, the Ape & Bird. It can’t be all work glances when they notice the height of so he’s putting his property search on WEDNESDAY pore and convince him that Royal and no play after all, especially when my heels in the middle of a building site hold for the time being, but will be back The call I’m expecting from Singapore Waterside is a better investment than the Scotch eggs are this good. — my trademark. to speak to us as soon as possible. comes at 7am. This brother prefers one the development in Islington. It turns Thankfully the baby decides to stay Back in the office, the phone keeps of our schemes in Islington and asks me out that both brothers only need three put for the 10-minute walk up the stairs ringing. It has been over a month since to speak to his brother in LA — this is all hours sleep a night — so I spend the O Safina Ahmad is a senior sales and the course of the viewing, and the the launch of Royal Waterside, a before I’ve reached the office. evening refereeing an international negotiator at CBRE in the West End couple love the flat. new development in Park Royal, but Arriving at work I discover that the family dispute. (020 7182 2477).

.   &&&  "&' # * &   +!&$  &  +-  "&'+-&   !& !- +-%., . )  &  +)  &$&+ &$ %., . &    &" &"&$ $  &+-! - $' &&&  "&$& )  (

%

%

      &)      ') (

*

 (   &'   .'

)   ') 

'  ( 

   .

     +)..& ,

  ).)  ).) #  %    

      &' %  %      



  %$   



)

  

%$ &





    

%    !  !   &'('& 

,  

   ' -&  %"   %" %#



 

     %"

  !      

 

)   & 



  & '       )&' -&  

       

( --+( +(+ 38 WEDNESDAY 23 APRIL 2014 EVENING STANDARD Homes & Property Ask the expert homesandproperty.co.uk with Can Japanese Knotweed kill a mortgage deal?

Fiona WHAT’S A YEAR ago we bought a flat in a block. Major YOUR repairs to the roof are about to start and all McNulty PROBLEM? Q the flat owners must give £5,000 to the cost. IF YOU have a We were not told about this when we bought, OUR LAWYER ANSWERS question for but we now know it was planned for two years, that a YOUR QUESTIONS Fiona McNulty, consultation took place and quotes were obtained. please email Surely we should have been warned about this when MY PARENTS are trying to legalsolutions@ we bought? How do you find out about these things? buy a house in north standard.co.uk Q London but the estate or write to Legal THE contract bundle received by the buyer’s agent says that if they Solutions, Homes solicitor from the seller’s solicitor should include need a mortgage they may be in & Property, A a leasehold information form, which is a list of some difficulty, as the garden is London Evening questions the seller has to answer. One asks if they believed to contain Japanese Standard, 2 Derry know of any expense not usually incurred on an annual Knotweed. How can a plant have Street, W8 5EE. basis which is likely to be shown in the service charge any affect on whether a mortgage We regret that accounts within the next three years. Another asks if the is going to be granted? questions cannot seller has received any notices about the building’s use, be answered repair, condition or maintenance. So the seller should THIS extremely invasive individually but have disclosed the intended roof repairs in the form. species of plant can damage we will try to Your solicitor should also have sent enquiries to the A property including drains, feature them seller’s solicitor to be forwarded to the management walls, paths, driveways, here. Fiona company or landlord, asking about any anticipated major outbuildings etc, and as such is a McNulty is a expenditure in the next three years, the estimated cost and concern for lenders. whether the property is affected by know there is a treatment plan or partner in the when the financial outlay would be due. It appears the It is not an offence to have Japanese the plant, and if it is, they must also management plan in place, and will residential seller and/or management company or landlord failed to Knotweed on your land. However, say whether a management plan is in usually require an insurance-backed property, farms disclose the right information, or it may have been given it is a criminal offence to plant it, place to deal with it, and provide a guarantee. Most lenders will look at and estates team but not interpreted or followed up correctly by your or otherwise cause it to grow in the copy of any such plan. each case individually and will at Withy King LLP solicitor. Had you known about the work and the likely wild. In fact all reasonable steps Furthermore, a valuer carrying out consider their valuer’s comments. (withyking.co.uk). cost, presumably you might have offered less for the flat, or should be taken and due diligence a mortgage valuation for a lender Do remember that in view of the not bought. You’ve suffered loss and may wish to consider exercised to avoid spreading the must note on their report if Japanese invasive nature and rapid spread of whether there has been an actionable misrepresentation. plant. Knotweed is present. Japanese Knotweed, it can be an The property information form that Some lenders may automatically issue for lenders even when it is only More legal O These answers can only be a very brief commentary on a seller completes when marketing refuse to lend where there is a present in a neighbouring garden Q&As the issues raised and should not be relied on as legal advice. their home has a section on Japanese presence of Japanese Knotweed, and not actually in the garden of the Visit: homesand No liability is accepted for such reliance. If you have similar Knotweed. The seller must disclose while others will lend but will wish to property to be mortgaged. property.co.uk issues, you should obtain advice from a solicitor.

   

      

    40 WEDNESDAY 23 APRIL 2014 EVENING STANDARD Homes & Property Letting on homesandproperty.co.uk with

NEW Halifax study suggests that young people are now resigned to becoming lifelong Bond with your renters, and while I usuallyA file reports like these in the bin, I think landlords can learn something from this one. In a tenant and have nutshell, it suggests that tenants, especially those in their twenties and early thirties, are increasingly seeking accommodation that they an income for life can call home for several years. So what can we do, as landlords, to make tenants feel more comfortable, Young people priced out of the housing market more secure and encourage them to stay longer? now face a lifetime of renting, so landlords I think that allowing a tenant to should encourage the good ones to make it choose their own furniture is a first £774 a week: at Richmond Mansions, Old Brompton Road, Faron Sutaria has a step to helping them make a place their home, advises Victoria Whitlock smart two-bedroom flat available to rent. See homesandproperty.co.uk/rentrich their own. I’m not suggesting you let them pick out items for you to buy — let’s be sensible. But if you let a place Help tenants to view the property as they decide to have children, pets, or Unfortunately I don’t know of any completely unfurnished — saving you a long-term possibility right from the both. I’m not keen on either, unless similar agreements for children. money — they are free to fill it with The start by inserting a clause in the they happen to be mine, but even It goes without saying that the best stuff they like instead of being forced tenancy agreement that gives them I am not so heartless as to ban a way to hang on to tenants is to keep to live with your tat. See, it’s a win- accidental the option to renew their lease at the tenant from acquiring a small pet, the property well maintained, win situation for everyone. end of the initial term, possibly for assuming I didn’t manage to talk them respond quickly to any problems, You could also allow them to landlord several years at no more than an out of it first. keep any rent increases reasonable redecorate and even choose their inflation-linked increase in rent. Of I would add a pet clause to the lease and above all, be nice to them. I’m own colour scheme if you’re certain allow them to hang their own course, if rents rocket and you think agreement to make it clear the tenant still working on that last bit. they intend to stay for a few years. artwork. Some landlords ban tenants you can get more, there would still be would have to pay for any damage This could work in your favour if from even sticking up posters, but I nothing to stop you from ending the and any additional cleaning at the O Victoria Whitlock lets three your place needs a fresh lick of paint think this is a bit harsh and I don’t agreement, but you know, it’s end of the tenancy. You can properties in south London. To contact anyway, although I would always add think it is a problem as long as they cheaper to keep a tenant than to find download one from the Dogs Trust Victoria with your ideas and views, a clause in the tenancy agreement to are careful not to rip the wallpaper a new one so it might be worth website (letswithpets.org.uk). tweet @vicwhitlock say that the tenant must pay to have and will wash the walls afterwards to sacrificing a few quid a week to hold the property repainted when they get rid of any blobs of Blu-Tack. If you on to the good ’uns. Find many more homes to rent at leave, just in case they daub the walls hang on to any leftover paint every The longer a tenant lives in a in black or psychedelic pink. time you decorate your rental, you property the more they are likely to A cheaper alternative would be to can easily touch up any damage. take root — and when people take root homesandproperty.co.uk/lettings 42 WEDNESDAY 23 APRIL 2014 EVENING STANDARD Homes & Property New homes homesandproperty.co.uk with

That country feeling, yet you are still on the Tube Smart mo By David Spittles Streatham goes upmarket. Again BOUNDED by green belt quiet and imposing at the TREATHAM has come a long watchdog’s verdict was a blessing in yet still on the Tube map, top of the hill, part of an way since 2002 when its high disguise for the area. Lambeth council Mill Hill is a destination for ancient route called The street, the longest in Europe, and Transport for London put in home buyers who like the Ridgeway, off which are the was voted the worst in the place a regeneration masterplan for country feel. area’s best addresses. UK by a government-backed streetscape improvements and NW7 is London’s largest Millbrook Park, a new Sarchitectural watchdog, which redevelopment of key sites. postcode, an attractive neighbourhood being built lamented the traffic-clogged route’s Refurbished Streatham Green gardens swathe of suburbia with golf on an old barracks site decline from its Fifties heyday. won a Metropolitan Police award for courses, playing fields and includes The Mount, above, Back in the day, the south London best public open space. parks, riding schools, offering contemporary- suburb was an upmarket shopping A Tesco supermarket has made way independent schools and design townhouses and flats and leisure destination, with a for Streatham Hub, with 250 new even a farm, plus a wide in 14 acres of open space. Locarno ballroom, theatre and ice homes alongside a new Tesco Extra offer 1,648sq ft of space and an attic- From £749,950: range of homes to suit most From £470,000. Call rink. The very first Waitrose store, store and bus terminal, upgraded style master bedroom with high homes at The Old budgets — from purpose- Countryside Annington on badge of middle-class affluence, train station and a new ice rink. ceiling. Prices from £749,950. Call Dairy, above and built flats to interwar semis, 020 8371 9269. opened in Streatham in 1955. Away from the high street, new Bellway on 0845 548 3004. right, include to gin-and-jag executive Mill Hill East, at the bottom The retail scene reached a low point homes are arriving in leafy streets Because Streatham is entering this good-size family houses in leafy avenues. of the hill, is the cheaper bit in the Nineties after the closure of such as Leigham Court Road, where new era from a relatively low price townhouses The old village, with its but improving, with a Tube Pratts, an old- style department store an old Dairy Crest depot is being base, it is a good bet if you are putting pond and pubs, stands station on the Northern line. which had grown from a Victorian turned into flats and townhouses as down roots for the medium to long draper’s shop. However, that later The Old Dairy. The houses each term, say agents.

 $% %$ " %"  $    %$  %   $ %  %   ! "%     

 "  )   ()   (     )     (  "  ! "   ! !  '!"   #  %     %    %  " %%  &     #      !" 

!!!  ! '!

&! '!! ! '! %  '$  !  !  ! % ''   !$ EVENING STANDARD WEDNESDAY 23 APRIL 2014 43 homesandproperty.co.uk with New homes Homes & Property LIVE ON THE RIVER JOIN THE KINGSTON STAMPEDE

AWAY from the busy of a waterfront scheme of commercial centre and flats with big terraces that bypass, Kingston benefits project out like a ship’s from two of London’s best prow. The development assets — the Thames and boasts an eco-friendly the great green tract of heating system that extracts Richmond Park. The Office 13 million litres of river for National Statistics water a day and re-uses it predicts it will be in the top for hot water and 10 UK towns for population underfloor heating, and growth over the next eight there are splendid views years, and buyers across from communal rooftop the price spectrum are terraces. Prices from looking for homes. £375,000. Call Redrow on River Walk, right, is part 020 3358 2516.

A river taxi to

WANDSWORTH used to be mainly a family house district but the trend for riverside living is adding a whole new layer of flats. Where once were wharves and distilleries — the untidy side of commerce and industry — now stand gleaming developments with that vital river view. At the foot of Chelsea Bridge, Vista, right, is a redevelopment of the postmodern Marco Polo House office block, bringing 350 homes priced from £826,000. Call 020 3053 6900. The recently extended river taxi service from Wandsworth to Blackfriars, a 30-minute commute, has introduced a fresh group of City buyers to the area. Five Riverside, a tower with 99 apartments, is the latest addition to the neighbourhood. Prices from £475,000 for a one-bedroom apartment. Call Savills on 020 8877 2000.

CONTEMPORARY. STYLISH. SPACIOUS.

9<<+9<<+$

9<<+9<<+/2 / 4/8 + ;+=9<4   +

9+'<4+ 64 4 4<=4+0 Visit our show apartments Contact us ,/=++"=)+ +2/+/+ 44: +7,+3,#3 /==4+/4)+ 9<<+9<<) /<4=9<<89<<