Wednesday 20 September 2017 The big three Homes&

London Design Festival’s top shows Property Page 14

HOMES UNDER £500K NEAR TOP SCHOOLS P6 UMBRIA P10 SERVICE CHARGE RIP-OFFS P11 SPOTLIGHT ON BRIXTON P34 Aldgate Europe’s hottest new address 10,000 new homes 20,000 new jobs Seven new squares Super-fast broadband — and a gardening club

Page 4 MICKEY LEE/TAP Don’t miss our 12-page Shared Ownership guide in tomorrow’s paper 2 WEDNESDAY 20 SEPTEMBER 2017 EVENING STANDARD Homes & Property | News

Trophy home of £259,000: a new-build one-bedroom flat at Langley £125,000 (guide): Purple bricks has a studio flat the week Square, Dartford. Through Hastings (020 8012 3341) in Goodmayes Lane, Ilford (0121 396 0867) Luxurious rooms with a Latest hotspots fabulous view £3.5 million: what better way to admire your weekend yacht than from your mansion overlooking pretty and bargain buys Chichester Harbour, West come party season — along Sussex? Brightwater, a with a study and snug at striking new coastal home, ground level. A spiral VEN in London’s faltering enjoys such a setting staircase framed by floor-to- property market there are complete with gardens of ceiling windows takes centre still some places dramatically half an acre that stretch stage and leads up to a outperforming the rest — reg- down to the water’s edge master bedroom suite with istering price growth of and a high-spec, airy interior his-and-hers bathrooms, and almostE 30 per cent in a single year. designed to soak up the four more guest bedrooms The new data from JLL and Right- beautiful views from every all with access to a glass move published today also highlights angle. Walnut floors run wraparound balcony and the best areas for first-time buyers — through open-plan lounge/ those stunning views. where you can still buy a London flat dining and bespoke kitchen Through Jackson Stops for less than £200,000. areas — perfect to showcase (01243 786316). There are seven London postcodes with current growth of at least 20 per cent, led by Dartford, where asking Lifechanger prices have grown by 29.5 per cent in £400,000: a pay from £320,000 and £400,000 for the past year, to an average price of one-bedroom flat a period one-bedroom flat. of the week £213,483 for a one-bedroom flat. in hotly tipped An increase in the number of new- Next come Uxbridge, Harrow and Camberwell, for build flats is part of the reason prices A cottage and Carshalton, which have all seen price sale in Vicarage in most of the top areas have increased. growth of 22 to 24 per cent on one-bed- Grove, SE5. MacDougall’s top tip is Camberwell, chapel where room flats in the past year. Through haart which he says has been historically Other locations with strong growth (020 8012 1481) undervalued for a Zone 2 location. you can make identified today include Camberwell, Meanwhile the JLL and Rightmove sweet music West Wickham (just east of Croydon) report also reveals the least expensive and Southall. Here starter flats have starter flat locations but they are a long risen about 21 per cent year on year. commute away. London’s most pocket- £850,000: in the village of “Typically the buyer will be a first- friendly postcodes are South Ockendon, Coton, just a few miles from time buyer, and the bank of mum and Dagenham, and Erith, where average Cambridge, this divine dad is our favourite lender,” said Brett asking prices for a one-bedroom flat start former baptist chapel might MacDougall, a partner at Hunters at just under £146,000. Other budget just be the answer to your estate agent in Camberwell. locations include Romford (£170,000) prayers. It comes with Grade barn extension to live in, hall with surprisingly good He estimates that an ex-council flat and Thamesmead (£174,000). II-listed Rose Cottage, which converted from a former acoustics and seating for 70. in the area would cost between dates from 1689. The present workshop (but the property Manicured lawns, vegetable £270,000 and £300,000, while buyers O Find Ruth Bloomfield’s full story at homesandproperty.co.uk owner — a professional can easilly be turned back to and herb gardens and a cellist — has divided it into one large house). The old summer house complete the two homes. One is a two- chapel sits in the garden and rural idyll. bedroom house to let and has been beautifully restored Through Cheffins (01223 the other a one-bedroom to provide a private concert 787058). Editor: Janice Morley London buy of the week You’d be barking not to go for this smart Plaistow townhouse VISIT homesandproperty.co.uk/ rules for details of our usual £549,995: this newly built promotion rules. When you one-bedroom townhouse respond to promotions, offers or stands out from its competitions, the London Evening neighbours like a shiny new Standard and its sister companies pin in Plaistow, E13. Space may contact you with relevant and light has been well offers and services that may be of thought out across each of interest. Please give your mobile its three floors, starting with number and/or email address if a living room at ground level, you would like to receive such opening to a secluded patio offers by text or email. garden, followed upstairs by a 22ft open-plan kitchen/ dining and living space, all Editorial: 020 3615 2650 nicely kitted out with wood Advertisement manager: floors, spotlights, white walls Ann Finan and large windows. The top Advertising: 020 3615 0266 floor features the bedroom, has a good selection of shops Homes & Property, Northcliffe with en-suite bathroom and and restaurants and is just a House, 2 Derry Street, Kensington, a wall of sliding glass doors stroll away. Through Foxtons London W8 5TT. to a balcony. Barking Road (020 8012 6765). By Faye Greenslade EVENING STANDARD WEDNESDAY 20 SEPTEMBER 2017 3 homesandproperty.co.uk powered by | Homes & Property Cindy adds luxury in O For more Versace towers over city celebrity gossip, her signature style visit homesand É DONATELLA Versace brought some serious street cred property.co.uk/ É CINDY Crawford and her husband to London Fashion Week with a catwalk that showcased gossip Rande Gerber have splashed out her younger range, Versus, at Central Saint Martins. $11.6 million (£8.5 million) on a There were plenty of checks, bikinis and cowgirl-themed Beverly Hills home in the super pieces. Plus, a frow that included the relentlessly cool FKA

upmarket Trousdale neighbourhood. ZILLOW Twigs and Kate Moss’s model sister Lottie. The 5,386sq ft home, with five The fashion house is clearly having a London moment as bedrooms and six bathrooms, was it has quietly launched its first European residential previously owned by OneRepublic development collaboration here, kitting out AYKON lead singer Ryan Tedder. It has an London One tower at Nine Elms with Versace Home. extravagant outdoor entertainment Versace Towers must be the most fashionable new block area with a large swimming pool and in town. From gold kitchens and Italian marble bathrooms a garden with a fire pit. to a gym with a punchbag dressed in Armani fabric, these The interiors have a laid-back luxury apartments ooze the high glamour Donatella epitomises. California feel. Crawford’s holiday There is a huge yellow slide in a multi-coloured home in Mexico and Manhattan playroom with views overlooking the city skyline, plus apartment have similar boho style. swimming pool, Jacuzzi, cinema and winter gardens. The The supermodel regularly mixes up stylish communal rooftop lounge has statement chairs her property portfolio and recently sporting the famous Medusa head logo. sold another mansion in Malibu for For sale with Portico, a one-bedroom will set you

$60 million (£44.4 million). GETTY back around £1.15 million. GETTY DDG By Amira Hashish Rooms at the top

Got some gossip? Tweet @amiranews for Matt Damon É MATT Damon is rumoured to be buying the most expensive home in Millen could cut it in a Georgian mansion Brooklyn. The Jason Bourne actor (above with wife Luciana Barroso) is É
DESIGNER Karen Millen, inset, may thought to be buying a six-bedroom have had to borrow £100 to get her penthouse on top of the former fashion empire off the ground back in Standish Arms Hotel in Brooklyn 1981 but look where it got her just Heights, listed at $16.64 million seven years later. From 1988 to 2000 (£12.2 million). her home was this this glorious six- If he pays the asking price, the sale bedroom Georgian mansion would beat that of a townhouse at 177 (right) in Wateringbury, Kent,, Pacific Street, which sold for now for sale for £1.45 million $15.5 million (£11.4 million) in 2015. through Sotheby’s It’s not the first time the A-lister has International Realty. considered paying big bucks for a All her first shops were family home. He and his wife almost in nearby Kent towns bought nearby Low Mansion, once and the mansion’s minutes from on the market for £29.5 million. master bedroom doubled Victoria. The penthouse at The Standish as her cutting room. Millen’s huge antique comes with its own private outdoor Once owned by a rear mmirrori is still in the hall space and fitness centre and was admiral, Gransden is set in theh anddh her Louis XIV-style sofa is converted from a 1903 hotel once

Weald countryside and is just 55 still to be seen in the sitting room. ALAMY REX owned by the Jehovah’s Witnesses. 4 WEDNESDAY 20 SEPTEMBER 2017 EVENING STANDARD Homes & Property | New homes Aldgate is on a charm offensive, offering its Looking for a new-build new residents homes, home? Start super-fast broadband your search on and London’s best transport links, says Emily Wright ‘The most exciting place to live in Europe’ VEN in a city as commercial exchange on the Isle of Dogs means it is and urban as London, our go- served by a key fibre artery — gold dust to image of a residential in a tech-enabled age when a decent hotspot often comes with wi-fi connection is becoming increas- certain expectations of home- ingly non-negotiable for office workers Eliness. Some green space, perhaps? Or and homeowners alike. a public square. A smattering of Victo- The big question is whether the crea- rian terrace side-streets? Even just a tion of so many new homes in a rela- friendly local bar or restaurant would tively short space of time will be part of be a good start. a considered, sustainable plan to inte- If there is one area of the capital where grate residential development into an you might struggle to find any of the area still very much tailored to its com- above, it’s the Square Mile — and Aldgate mercial function. If not, we could see in particular. Traditionally dominated the emergence of a confused, mis- by insurance brokers and commercial matched district. high-rises, the City’s easternmost ward is not known for its convivial village ALDGATE PARTNERSHIP atmosphere. And why should it be? A It’s a fair concern and one that has, to

GETTY warm, welcoming vibe is not a prere- some degree, been addressed by the MEULLER SHUTTERSTOCK/CHRISTIAN Local landmark: the Church of St Botolph-without-Aldgate, dating from 1744 quisite for a thriving business district. creation of the Aldgate Partnership. But anyone ready to dismiss Aldgate Members include some of the area’s big- developments into the area’s existing out of hand would be wise to think again. gest developers, including Barratt, Der- layout — something chairman Ian Mulc- Change is afoot here at blink-and-you’ll- went London and British Land, and the ahey knows will be vital to the district’s miss-it speed as the residential develop- group’s goal is to ensure that cohesion is future success. “We want to unlock the ers are piling in with plans for 3,500 new at the heart of the transformation. area’s further potential and make it one homes in this City enclave over the next Without this focus on considered of the most exciting places to live and seven years. “The amount of new build- growth, Aldgate could easily become work in Europe,” he says. “We’ve ing highlights the high level of confidence something of a runaway train. A report worked on community initiatives such and investment being piled into the released by the partnership revealed that as Art Night 2017, where a residents’ area,” says Stephen Porter, head of new the ward will create 20,000 new jobs mural was made, the establishment of homes at Stirling Ackroyd. and see the arrival of 6,000 new resi- the Aldgate Gardening Club and the The incentive behind the creation of so dents by 2020. But with plans to run a launch of the Absolutely Aldgate loyalty many homes is pretty clear. When the strategy alongside that to create 3,300 card for local residents to use locally. new Crossrail station at Whitechapel hotel rooms, 2,700 student accommoda- “Crossrail will be arriving next year, opens at the end of 2018, Aldgate will be tion rooms and seven public squares and and there are plans to expand London’s one of the most connected districts in accompanying open space by 2025 on most famous street markets — Petticoat London, with journey times of 10 min- top of the 3,500 new homes, it looks as Lane and Brick Lane — into prosperous utes to Bond Street, three minutes to though the commitment to adapting the markets once more.” Canary Wharf and 38 minutes to Heath- urban fabric to match the changing It is not just an influx of new homes row. And the area’s connectivity goes demographic is in place. providing such an uplift in Aldgate. With beyond traditional infrastructure. Beyond the raw stats, the partnership the likes of forward-thinking developer

THE ALDGATE PARTNERSHIP THE ALDGATE Aldgate’s proximity to a major internet will also look to stitch Aldgate’s new Derwent London making its mark on the

Green shoots: the Aldgate Gardening Club has been set up by the Aldgate Partnership to help build a sense of community

From £735,000: right, a Neroli House winter garden at Goodman’s Fields with views to Canary Wharf EVENING STANDARD WEDNESDAY 20 SEPTEMBER 2017 5 homesandproperty.co.uk powered by New homes | Homes & Property

Flexible and in demand: The Office Group has set up newspaces at 133 Whitechapel High Street SHUTTERSTOCK

area with the redevelopment of the High-rise and launched last week with prices starting Whitechapel Building and flexible work- office blocks: from £695,000. space provider The Office Group taking Aldgate will soon Another one to watch is Berkeley space at 133 Whitechapel High Street, have a more Homes’ 1,000-plus-home Goodman’s new life is being breathed into the area. villagey feel Fields masterplan complete with squares, landscaped courtyard gardens INNOVATION HOTSPOT and an art space created in collabora- John Sanders, boss of Berkeley Homes From £695,000: tion with the Whitechapel Gallery. The in north-east London, says: “Aldgate has below left, new current and penultimate phase, Neroli become a hotspot of innovation and scheme The House, includes 123 homes with prices enterprise, with industry pioneers such Denizen, with 99 starting from £735,000 for a studio as Uber moving in, as well as a series of flats, launched apartment and first completions sched- tech start-ups and innovative hotels as last week, which uled for the last quarter of 2019. well as established media and advertis- includes a The eastern edge of one of the most ing agencies who have migrated east residents’ games hard-nosed commercial hubs in the from their status addresses in Soho or room world might not be everyone’s first the West End.” choice for a place to live. But for fast Key residential developments include Landscaped: transport, internet and City life, you will Aldgate Place, by Barratt Homes, with below right, new be hard pushed to do better. prices starting at £725,000, and Taylor garden squares Wimpey’s The Denizen in the neigh- af Goodman’s O Emily Wright is global editor of bouring Barbican — a 99-flat scheme Fields Estates Gazette 6 WEDNESDAY 20 SEPTEMBER 2017 EVENING STANDARD Homes & Property |

HE class of 2017 is setting out into the world with Homes freshly minted A-level results and university or a first job in their sights. TMeanwhile, parents of younger chil- dren are facing the nail-biting schools’ that make admissions season as applications for places at senior school are made and results anxiously awaited. Schools are the single biggest driver the grade of family house moves, and properties within the catchment area of a top Live near a top-performing performer command substantial pre- miums. school for less than £500k. In But research by Homes & Property has found that it is — just — possible to

REX the first of a 3-part series, Ruth buy a family-sized house close to a Extremely popular: St Olave’s and St school that outperforms all its local Saviour’s for boys in Orpington Bloomfield does the searching rivals for less than £500,000. A comparison of schools scoring the best A-level grades within their bor- oughs and the local price of a three- bedroom terrace house proves there are plenty of options out there for par- ents with small budgets but big ambi- tions. Almost all the schools highlighted have “outstanding” Ofsted reports, as well as scoring well above average exam results. Selective schools, of course, enjoy the highest marks but the comprehensive, faith and academy schools with lower grades all have rigorous academic stand- ards and strong track records in improv- ing all students’ attainment. In many cases the compromise is a longish commute.

There are plenty of options in east and south-east London for parents with small budgets but big ambitions ALAMY

The fringes of Essex and Kent, east and south-east of central London, are an excellent hunting ground for great (and mostly selective) schools and affordable homes across the boroughs of Bexley, Barking & Dagenham and Bromley. St Olave’s and St Saviour’s Grammar School tempts parents of brainy boys to Orpington in Bromley for its fantas- tic results (more students score an average A-level grade of A* than many of London’s private schools) and its affordable homes. An average terrace house, according to Rightmove, costs just under £415,000.

ORPINGTON Great senior schools tend to operate alongside excellent feeder primaries, and St Olave’s is no exception. Farn- borough Primary School is particularly sought after. Commuters can be at London Bridge

in just over half an hour, though its ALAMY reputation as grey suburban sprawl is Good results: London Academy of Excellence, Stratford

Thinking of moving? Start your search on

£450,000: four-bedroom home in the suitably named Scholars Way, Dagenham. Bairstow Eve (020 8012 1725) EVENING STANDARD WEDNESDAY 20 SEPTEMBER 2017 7 homesandproperty.co.uk powered by | Homes & Property

£450,000: three-bedroom terrace house with garden in £495,950: four-bedroom house in Poulett Road, East Ham. Through Yopa (01303 473360) Wembley. Brian Cox (020 8012 4436)

not misplaced. There are, however, oughs for a chance of a place at a top Average A-level some green shoots suggesting that school, or don’t think the 11-plus is for grade B-: Orpington is on the up. A new cinema them, then east London also has some Townley opened last year, brightening up the excellent options. Grammar in town centre, and there are much- Pupils at the ambitiously named Bexleyheath is a needed plans to pretty up Orpington’s London Academy of Excellence in selective school market square, upgrade its stalls and Stratford achieved impressive average for girls hold an annual food festival. A-level results of B+, according to Ivan Epps, director of Edmund Estate Ofsted, while Brampton Manor Acad- Agents, said families move from “all emy in East Ham has an average grade over London” to get their boys into St of B. Both schools far outdo national Olave’s — girls can try for the highly and local averages. regarded Newstead Wood, a selective Sandwiched between the mega regen- grammar school. “We find people eration zone at the Royal Docks at Can- move nearby just in the hope they will ning Town and the former West Ham get a place,” he said. stadium at Upton Park, in the throes of Homes near the schools tend to be being turned into an 842-home devel- from the 1930s or 1950s, and if you opment of apartments, East Ham’s need something larger than a terrace, streets of period houses, tucked amid then Epps estimates that a four-bed- ugly post-war developments, currently room detached house would cost from look like good value for young families, around £700,000. with an average three-bedroom terrace selling for just over £380,000. A EAST HAM £500,000 budget would buy a four- or For buyers who don’t want to venture five-bedroom period house, possibly out to London’s furthest-flung bor- in need of some TLC.

WHERE TO BUY FAMILY HOMES UNDER £500K Average price of a Average grade School’s local terrace home in School London borough at A-level postcode local postcode Wembley High Technology College Brent C+ HA0 £443,667 London Academy of Excellence (selective) Newham B+ E15 £482,367 Brampton Manor Academy Newham B E6 £380,581 Robert Clack School Barking & Dagenham C+ RM8 £319,308 The Sydney Russell School Barking & Dagenham C+ RM9 £299,154 Bexley Grammar School (selective) Bexley B- DA16 £313,200 Chislehurst and Sidcup Grmr Sch (selective) Bexley B- DA15 £358,750. Townley Grammar School (girls, selective) Bexley B- DA6 £405,500 St Olave’s & St Saviour’s Grmr Sch (boys, selective) Bromley A- BR6 £414,357 Newstead Wood School (girls, selective) Bromley B+ BR6 £414,357 St Mark’s Roman Catholic School Hounslow B- TW3 £472,800 Queensmead School Hillingdon C+ HA4 £457,827 Vyners School Hillingdon C+ UB10 £430,909 Source: Source: Ofsted, Rightmove. Schools are mixed and non-selective unless otherwise stated. 8 WEDNESDAY 20 SEPTEMBER 2017 EVENING STANDARD Homes & Property | First-time buyer

ET on the River Mole with its village green and traditional pubs, Hersham, near Walton- on-Thames, feels a million miles from the cut and thrust Sof London. And yet its outstanding commuter links mean that it is possible to be in the centre of the capital in less than half an hour. Hersham sits in classic Surrey coun- try: surrounded by golf clubs and with private streets of multi-million-pound trophy homes hidden behind electric gates. Under normal circumstances first- time buyers who fancy a bit of town- and-country life couldn’t consider Hersham. But a new development of one- and two-bedroom flats from Fab- rica, part of housing association A2Do- minion, goes on sale this month with prices starting at £105,000 (fabrica.

co.uk). ALAMY Jubilee Meadows is set beside the Picture-postcard view: the villagey feel of Hersham is boosted by its green Countryside for first-time buyers

Coronation Recreation Ground, so Hersham is an idyllic village that’s only half an open space is literally on the doorstep. The nearest stations, Hersham and hour from London, says Ruth Bloomfield Walton-on-Thames, are each a 10- to 15-minute walk. There are plenty of local shops, neigh- bourhood restaurants and independ- ent cafés on Hersham Road and around the village green, and as befits Elm- bridge village, in the most affluent borough in Britain, there is also a Wait- rose. The lovely Walton-on-Thames, with its larger range of shops and places to hang out, is just over a mile away. One-bedroom flats at Jubilee Mead- ows start at £105,000 for a 35 per cent share, while two-bedroom flats start at £136,500. As well as mortgage repayments, buy- From £105,000 for a 35 per cent share: the Jubilee Meadows development ers must pay rent on the proportion of overlooks a recreation ground and is a short walk from two stations the property they do not own — for those buying a 35 per cent share this boroughs will also be considered. Buy- got a really fast and easy commute from will be around £447pcm for one-bed- ers must have a household income of there.” room flats and £581pcm for two-bed- less than £80,000. Trains from Walton to Waterloo are room flats. The average service charge “Hersham is a really villagey kind of marginally faster, from 25 minutes, will be £150pcm. place, with a huge range of property compared with from Hersham, where The homes — in low rise, and slightly from big mansions on gated estates to services take just over half an hour. But bland, redbrick blocks — will be ready ex-local authority flats,” said Rob in one of the anomalies the great British to move into at the start of 2018, and Emmett, sales manager at Castle Wild- railway system is known for, an annual while priority will be given to people ish estate agents. “It is very popular season ticket from Hersham starts at working or living in Elmbridge already, because it is a short walk to either Wal- £2,324, while an annual ticket from those who live in any of the London ton or Hersham station, and you have Walton starts at £2,456.

THE MARKET FROM MODEST FLATS T0 A MEGA MANSION

STARTING life on the open market in active in the area in the early 2000s — plenty of these, both old and new. Hersham will cost an average of would cost about £280,000 to Martin Flashman & Co is selling a almost £580,000, according to £300,000. Two-bedroom flats are neo-Georgian two-bedroom house in Rightmove, up from just under around £320,000 to £350,000. a modern development for £389,950. £460,000 two years ago — a leap of Buyers who fancy a project could Or it has a two-bedroom period 26 per cent. pick up a pretty bungalow very close redbrick cottage for £409,950 if you The most expensive home available to the green, priced at £320,000 with prefer some historic charm. right now is a new-build mansion Harmes Turner Brown. Though The centre of Hersham has some with seven bedrooms and a price tag compact, its long, skinny garden is very cute properties at manageable of — gulp — almost £5 million. begging to be extended into. sizes — and therefore prices — on But one-bedroom flats in modern The next step up would be a two- offer. Close to the green, Harmes developments — Bellway Homes was up, two-down, and Hersham has Turner Brown has a two-bedroom detached cottage with a courtyard garden for £449,950. For buyers who need a bit more space, three-bedroom houses are priced at around £520,000 to £550,000 and range from ex-council to historic. For kerb appeal, James Neave has a three-bedroom house overlooking West Grove open space for £520,000. Its third bedroom is a bit of £520,000: a neat three-bedroom £320,000: a one-bedroom, single-storey a box but it’s in good condition, you terrace in one of the village’s prettiest starter home begging to be extended can walk to the station and it is in one corners. James Neave (01932 485010) into its long garden. HTB (01932 485087) of the prettiest parts of the village. 10 WEDNESDAY 20 SEPTEMBER 2017 EVENING STANDARD Homes & Property | Homes abroad Head for the sweet spot at Italy’s core Better value homes, chestnuts, vinyeards and oak forests draw buyers to Umbria, says Cathy Hawker Culture: Spoleto hosts a 17-day festival around its Duomo and historic centre

HE hilltop towns and medi- eval villages of Umbria are some of the most beautiful in Italy. Orvieto, Spoleto, Todi and Gubbio combine Tculture and history. Less crowded than their Tuscan neighbours, they also have more realistic property prices. “We have some incredibly good opportunities in Umbria for buyers who want a country house in central Italy,” says Amy Redfern of Knight Frank. “In Umbria you can get at least 20 to 30 per cent more for your money than in Tus- £575.000: a five-bedroom wisteria-draped stone farmhouse with a swimming cany and properties are more recently pool and nearly 19 acres of land in Val di Chiana bordering Tuscany. Knight Frank renovated and in better condition.” Umbria is Italy’s green heart, a thinly made popular in Frances Mayes’s book side Spoleto on the edge of a small vil- populated, landlocked region of steep Under the Tuscan Sun, Knight Frank is lage a three-bedroom detached stone mountains, dense forests and agricul- selling a five-bedroom stone house, house, renovated in 2008 and with tural plains.Flights from London land restored with a swimming pool, for wondrous views from its well-planted in Perugia and further afield at Bolo- £575,000. The 200-year-old façade is garden, is newly reduced to £455,000. gna, Pisa, Rome and Florence. draped in wisteria while a rear terrace In Trevi, 18 miles from Spoleto and Last year two severe earthquakes, is shaded by a vine-covered pergola. Assisi, a modernised two-bedroom one close to Norcia in south-east Every summer the ancient hill-top village house on a south-facing plot Umbria, testified that Italy’s mountain- town of Spoleto hosts a 17-day festival with terraces and gardens is €565,000 ous backbone, the Apennines, is of music, opera and dance. The Festival (£520,000), also through Knight Europe’s most vulnerable earthquake dei Due Mondi (Festival of Two Worlds). Frank. area. It comes with the territory. Spoleto is south of Perugia and east of Celebrities with Umbrian homes Orvieto, two minutes from the auto- include actor Colin Firth and WHAT TO BUY strada or a 90-minute train journey musician Ed Sheeran, both In Umbria renovated stone country from Rome. living close to Città della houses start from £368,000,with good In Spoleto’s historic Pieve, south of Perugia and three- and four-bedroom homes from centre close to the also close to the Tuscan bor- £552,000-£735,000 says Redfern. The rail station, Gate- der. To rub shoulders with Niccone Valley is most sought after, away is selling a them, The Viewing has a fully along the Tuscan border taking in vine- delightful one-bed- restored stone and yards, sweet chestnut and oak forests. room apartment for brick farmhouse with One outstanding estate, substantially £82,000. A two- six bedrooms and above prices elsewhere, is the privately bedroom 2.5 hectares of land owned Reschio Estate, 3,000 acres 1,571sq ft including olive around a 12th-century castle and 50 apartment groves for large farmhouses crafted and polished in a restored £902,000. within an inch of their lives. Top-end palazzo is facilities include cookery classes and £365,000. O Knight Frank: stables filled with Andalusian horses. Eight knightfrank.com Twenty-four homes have been com- miles out- O Reschio: pleted and sold to international buyers. reschio.com Fully restored remaining properties Umbria fans: Ed O Gate-away: start from £4.5 million. Sheeran, left, gate-away.com and Colin Firth O Pure UNDER THE UMBRIAN SUN both have bases International:

Ten miles from charming Cortona, close to Perugia REX pureintl.com GETTY ‘WE’VE HAD AMAZING TIMES HERE’

IN 2007 Celia Gould and husband four, and rented it successfully as Matthew went house-hunting in well. Umbria just three weeks after they “We have had amazing times at met. House-hunting so early in their our Umbrian house,” says Celia, 41. relationship was insane, agrees “Matthew is a diplomat and we Celia, but luckily it ended happily. lived abroad for many years so The couple bought a farmhouse in used it as our base to meet up with the Niccone Valley and spent two family and friends, having long, years renovating it into a six- happy meals outside.” bedroom family house. They got Favourite days involve picking engaged there, have had many fresh produce at Umbertide market happy holidays there with daugh- and shopping in Cortona, then a ters Rachel and Emily, now six and swim and an evening Aperol. Ten years on and now in Hertfordshire, Family fun: Celia Gould, with daughters Matthew and Celia are selling their Rachel and Emily, used Umbria as a home for €1,295,000 (£1,190,000) happy base with her diplomat husband through Knight Frank. EVENING STANDARD WEDNESDAY 20 SEPTEMBER 2017 11 homesandproperty.co.uk powered by Finance | Homes & Property

O YOU own a flat? If you do, did I, so I started to do some research. then the chances are that it I spoke to friends, searched the inter- is leasehold. In London, net, looked at review sites and found half the city’s entire hous- out who managed the blocks I thought ing stock is leasehold, and were well maintained. Dnine out of 10 new-build properties are We came up with a shortlist and sold in this way. This means you will invited three companies to visit the have a landlord, known as the free- block and send over a tender docu- holder, and will also be paying a service ment. In it we asked them how they charge — an annual fee to cover things would make cost efficiencies and bring such as building insurance and the up standards, should they be awarded upkeep of communal areas. A manag- the contract. ing agent is often employed to oversee One agent stood out from all the oth- these duties but, frustratingly, the ers — they made carefully considered property-management industry is suggestions and proposed changes we unregulated, so it’s hard to know if hadn’t thought of. Best of all, their you’re getting value for money. annual fee was a massive £15,000 cheaper than our existing agent, mean- I bought my leasehold flat in north-west ing a tidy saving of £120 for each flat

London in 2013 and was amazed to see GETTY owner. We negotiated a few clauses in how high the service charge was for a A warning to leaseholders: painting exterior walls is just one of many upkeep items that can add hugely to service charges the contract and signed with them.

Even if you do not own the freehold to your block, all of this is still possible. It’s worth asking the freeholder first if they will change agent, but if you don’t How to save yourself a fortune have any luck, you can enforce your statutory right to do so, known as Right Stefan poorly maintained building. It was also that managing agents rely on customer £38,000 — nearly half. This is all too to Manage. the complaint of my neighbours, who apathy. Let’s face it, you come home common: freeholders adding sky-high You must meet a set of criteria and Levy felt the managing agent was indifferent after a long day at work and just about commission onto insurance contracts, normally have at least 50 per cent of to our concerns. Then, in 2015, the have enough time to cook dinner. Do which are then facilitated by the man- leaseholders in the block willing to opportunity came up to buy our free- you really want to start poring over aging agent. This was one of many participate. With it also comes a greater hold, which we did. The managing building quotes and receipts? examples where I felt the property share of responsibility, but for many it agent was now reporting to us, and manager had failed to act in our best is a good way to have proper control unsurprisingly they became more The answer for most of us is no — but interests, and decided we needed over one of your most valuable Put in the effort and obliging. when you see the rewards, the incen- change. assets. I was pleased that the service had tive grows. Our annual insurance bill You’ll always get people who want the you can cut the cost improved but I started to do some in 2013 was £68,000. As soon as we Earlier this year I called a meeting of the easy life and are happy for the status number-crunching. A cursory look at acquired the freehold, we asked a bro- residents’ committee and put forward quo to continue, but if you know you dramatically of your our service charge breakdown revealed ker to find us a better deal. We imme- the suggestion of changing agents. can get more for less, don’t settle for we were still being ripped off by inflated diately saw a double-digit reduction There was support for the idea but second-rate service. Your neighbours flat’s service charge maintenance contracts. The reality is in the bill and now, in 2017, we pay people didn’t know where to start. Nor will thank you for it. 14 WEDNESDAY 20 SEPTEMBER 2017 EVENING STANDARD Homes & Property | Design

1. LONDON DESIGN FAIR Formerly known as Tent, this fair is at At home the Old Truman Brewery, 26 Hanbury Street, E1, from tomorrow until Sunday; public admission, Saturday and Sunday, tickets £10 in advance, £15 on the door; londondesignfair.co.uk in London Brick Lane at the weekend sees Shoreditch locals out in force, swarming around markets and street- food booths, or just chilling over brunch. And this energy permeates Three big shows the London Design Fair. “Expect London experiments, quality and open in London this experience,” says the irrepressible founder-director Jimmy MacDonald. week, confirming the Design For the first time, the US is crashing city’s dominance as into the design scene, with Assembly, Festival 17 a parade of the avant garde, garnered the world capital of by pioneering US magazine Sight Unseen. home design, reports Poland is bringing highlights from SEPTEMBER 16-24 its celebrated Lodz design festival Barbara Chandler and Sweden, too, has its own home. SHANNON TOFFS Bright ideas: at 100% Design, Design fair: Patricia Shone’s highly 2. DESIGN-JUNCTION Benjamin textured vessels are inspired by the Craven, fresh landcape of the Isle of Skye design-junction 1 Granary Square, N1; from the New open tomorrow until Sunday, half-price Designers Finland’s impeccable design tickets at thedesignjunction.co.uk/ summer pedigree is highlighted in Finnish tickets-eveningstandard, £7.50 graduate show in Form. And Dutch Stuff — typically Islington, has irreverent — is your chance to buy THIS vast trade show is in five separate designed a range into extreme design. areas behind the looming brick facade of fabrics for British Craft has a whole pavilion to that edges the popular Granary a café itself, curated by the elegant Square. It is aimed at retail buyers, specialist magazine Hole & Corner, interior designers and architects but Scotland is a long way off but let the the public are welcome throughout, country come to you in a special especially in the “Canopy” of shops on show of Scottish design, with At design-junction: from the the left as you go in. ceramics, lighting, furniture, glass Assemble studio, prototype plates, Dramatic arches, conjured up by and mixed media. £32, and cups, £22 in the café London architect Adam Nathaniel EVENING STANDARD WEDNESDAY 20 SEPTEMBER 2017 15 homesandproperty.co.uk powered by Design | Homes & Property

Sparkling: crystal with mirror, ¤365, by Isaac Monté for Form & Seek at London Design Fair

International: cushions printed and made in Scotland by Laura Spring, plus a rug created in collaboration with Floor Story and a wall hanging inspired by the ancient Finnish weaving technique, takana. All at Design Junction

Eastern influence: mid-century-style furniture by Polish company VZOR at the design fair

Furman (who has a show at the Sir Above: cushion by John Soane museum), are made from Poppy Westwell. a medley of tiles from Turkish Right: Carmen ceramics. Flower-delivery Bloomon’s Constantine’s Swaye floral tunnel is a fragrant softening Bombai cabinet in touch, while on the canal, Campari satinwood with hosts cocktail classes on a barge. stitching. Both at Tala, the light bulb people, serve port 100% Design and tonics from a vintage Mini. Inside the show, around 200 brands strut their latest home, office and lighting. Young Sussex-based furniture-maker Ted Jefferis puts brown oak, ash and elm into a massive headboard with a natural “wavy” edge. 3. 100% DESIGN 100% Design is at Olympia, Hammersmith Road, W14, today until Saturday, which is the public day; 100percentdesign.co.uk, use code ES100 for a half-price ticket at £7.50

IN 1995, this show was the first of its kind and a trigger for the London Design Festival, which did not arrive until 2003. Originally at Earls Court, it has now settled comfortably into Olympia, a great venue for “the largest design show for industry professionals” with a splendid roof and natural light. Products are arranged in handy sections, such as “kitchen and bathroom”, “interiors” and “design and build”. Plus “emerging brands” interiors masterclass with the British Luxurious: Mairi with an eclectic mix of printed Institute of Interior Design’s Helena’s Summer velvets and wallpaper, furniture with president, Susie Rumbold. Thistle velvet, concrete tops and radios assembled And down the road, at the new £99 a metre, in from vintage machinery. Design Museum in Kensington High the Emerging The Design London area showcases Street, eight designers are exploring Brands section at luxury brands. An innovative café marble and limestone for a free 100% Design flaunts bold geometric fabrics by new installation called Set in Stone grad Benjamin Craven. Catch an (designmuseum.org). 16 WEDNESDAY 20 SEPTEMBER 2017 EVENING STANDARD Homes & Property | Design shopping The London Design London Festival runs until Design Sunday, offering pop- up shops where you Festival 17 can buy original home design, says SEPTEMBER 16-24 Barbara Chandler PAST AND PRESENT St Jude’s in the City, Town House, 5 Fournier Street, E1; opens today until Sunday Here is a collective with papers and fabrics by artists both past Let’s go and present. New is the artist Edward Bawden’s seaweed pattern of 1927. Contemporary painter-printmaker Mark Hearld has a fresh, radiant blue colourway for his best-selling Harvest Hare paper/fabrics. Plus there are textiles (above, £66 a metre), screenprints and watercolours (left, priced around shopping £850) by the inimitable Angie Lewin (angielewin.co.uk).

GO GREEN Green House Café by Darkroom, The Old Shoreditch Station, 1 Kingsland Road, E2, until October 1; darkroomlondon.com The cult Bloomsbury store hosts a pop- up café-cum-store, with plants and planters and a one-off version of Studiopepe’s Kora Vase (which normally sell for around £170) below, all for sale.

DESIGN TAKEAWAY designjunction, Granary Square, N1; tomorrow until Sunday; half-price tickets at thedesign junction.co.uk/tickets- evening standard , £7.50. This major trade show has more than 70 entrepreneurs in its “Canopy” section — a feast of takeaway design. Also meet the design junkies curating a new wave of exclusive webshops. Click and collect.

ESTONIA RULES Estonian Design: Size Doesn’t Matter, Oxo Tower Wharf, SE1, open until Sunday; oxotower.co.uk; banksidedesign district.co.uk. Fifty Estonian makers offer distinctive textiles, furniture, lighting, ceramics, glass and fashion accessories.

TAKE A SEAT RhubarbLondon, The Marylebone Gallery, 25 Devonshire Street, W1, until Sunday; rhubarblondon.com Find surreal, one-off wing and easy chairs dolled up in rescued uniforms and vintage fabrics by Shaun Brownell (right, £7,030 a pair). 18 WEDNESDAY 20 SEPTEMBER 2017 EVENING STANDARD Homes & Property | Outdoors

Plant like a pro: Kniphofia Bee’s Sunset with Lobelia x Perennials speciosa Hadspen Purple from Crocus’s Vibrant collection keep on giving Now’s the time to put in flowering plants that return another year — with help from experts HIS is the perfect time of year to plant perennials — those Alex flowering plants that add colour all summer and return Mitchell to flower another year. While GAP PHOTOS//HEATHER EDWARDS GAP PHOTOS//HEATHER Tsoil is still warm and not bone dry the roots of young plants can get going. But which plants will look good together is a perennial headache. You may know and Butterfly to Vibrant, there is a style you love lavender or have a thing for for everyone and for every spot. Simply foxgloves, but combine the wrong plants browse the photographs and select the and it can all fall very flat. one that fits your garden best, then Online nurseries know most of us are order. fairly clueless about what plants go well Helen Derrin, the inhouse designer together. So they’re coming up with at Crocus who devised the range, says: ready-made borders, carefully selected “For people who just don’t know where to look good together. All you have to to start these ranges can be quite inspi- do is roughly measure how much space rational and a good starting point.” One you have, work out if it’s sunny or of her favourites is the Add Some shady and then choose from a selection Oomph range with vibrant purples and of styles. Now that world-renowned reds. Another popular one is the designers are getting in on the action, Budget border (£107.34 for 16 plants the ready-made border is gaining a new and a plan for 3.5x2m area) which cachet. combines plants that will either grow quickly, self-seed readily or can be Piet Oudolf, Dutch master of wafty divided to make new plants so your grasses and late summer seedheads collection will soon spread. If you’re and designer of the much admired High feeling rich, go for The Grand Experi- Line in Manhattan, has recently begun ence, £1,554.35 for 165 plants, includ- selling seven personally selected ing topiary box, rivers of lavender and groups of plants so you can recreate an orchestra of drumstick alliums. his naturalistic schemes at home. Hein Lommerse, who runs Oudolf’s com- If you don’t like website ordering go for pany from the Netherlands with his a professional planting designer. Tony brother and aunt, has created collec- Woods, founder of Garden Club Lon- tions including Playfull (sic), Creative, don, is often called in by the desperate. Original and Naturalistic. You will For around £500, Garden Club can visit receive a box of nine plants — eight your garden and draw up a bespoke list flowering perennials and one orna- and planting plan for you. You can then mental grass — along with a planting either use this as template to buy and plan — each designed to fill an area plant yourself, or ask Garden Club to around 1x1.5sq m — perfect for a bed supply and install the plants (some- in a small London garden. Expect some thing 90 per cent of their clients unusual, artful plants including rud- choose). beckias, salvias and, of course, dreamy The costs, Woods says, are worth it, grasses. especially if you’re honest about how much you probably spend on plants Another giant in the planting world, anyway. “People realise that they’re Beth Chatto, has also entered into the spending £20 or £30 on plants every world of ready-made borders. The weekend at Homebase or Columbia woman who coined the phrase “the Road Flower market, not knowing right plant in the right place” has three where to put them and slowly but ranges, which start at £55, are shady, surely creating a plant graveyard.” damp and drought-resistant and come with a planting plan and maintenance For ready-made borders visit instructions throughout the year. Pietoudolfcollection.co.uk But it is Crocus that is the field leader Bethchatto.co.uk or with a dizzying range for the confused, Crocus.co.uk time-poor and unconfident. From For bespoke planting design, visit Fiery Summer to Shady Sanctuary, Bee Gardenclublondon.co.uk GAP PHOTOS/ELKE BORKOWSKI GAP PHOTOS/ELKE Pollination perfection: the Bee and Butterfly ready-made border from Crocus 20 WEDNESDAY 20 SEPTEMBER 2017 EVENING STANDARD Homes & Property | Reader promotion

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No boring glass balcony: Susan Brierley went for a statement cast-iron balustrade

Simplicity: the design lets the walls, floor and furniture speak for themselves Engineering a sexy new look NGINEERING rarely seems head-height regulations above the mez- painted silver by Susan, there’s a whiff of It took more than a year from first sexy: it holds things up, like Converting a Victorian zanine, the kitchen could only be about friendly Dalek about them. The apart- sketches to starting work. Going through knicker elastic. But as Susan 6ft high — but the feeling of enclosure is ment also has fantastic top-light. Basi- planning, which included listed building Brierley and Charlie Finch’s pumping station was a refreshingly cosy against the soaring, cally, in 2008 they bought one super-high, consents, took months and was frustrat- home in a former late-Victorian riveting experience for brightly lit heights all around. large room with a two-storey side section ing, but once work started, it flew. pumpingE station near Canada Water off it, holding a bedroom, bathroom and The couple are actuaries in their late shows, brilliant engineering can be used Susan and Charlie. By Built in 1902, the pumping station hall or study on each floor. thirties. “We were both at work all day to great visual effect. They’ve used it to flaunted state-of-the art engineering, The overall design, showing off original and couldn’t imagine how they’d get the transform the large industrial-style Philippa Stockley with immense iron beams, a majestic brick walls with oak parquet floors pieces in, but each evening there was apartment they bought in 2008, by pump room with lofty arched windows throughout, was simple, letting the space, more to see. Once the preparatory work putting in a decorative, cast-iron right along the roof and oculi in the ends, the light, the windows and the strong was done it went up in just a week,” says mezzanine right along one wall. But not stools, comfy leather armchairs and a plus a glorious octagonal chimney. Water materials speak for themselves — though Susan. any old mezzanine: their engineer, Steve piano. A sort of flying snug. The gallery power created electricity until 1977 Susan says there was too little storage. Then it was time to fit the kitchen. Webb, designed a bespoke one with is reached by a folded-iron stair up one when the station stopped. A decade later There was a delay getting the bespoke matching balustrade in keeping with the side wall, with storage below. Its hand- it was listed Grade II and converted to The mezzanine design evolved in 2014, tiles from Spain, so it wasn’t finished for spirit of the place. some solidity also conceals part of the apartments around 2000. when the couple hired an architect to work Christmas 2015 as hoped. “But the So no boring glass balcony for Susan, support structure for the gallery. A well- Susan and Charlie bought their apart- up plans. Susan had a pretty good idea kitchen designers made us a temporary who read physics at university and was appointed kitchen occupies the entire ment in 2008, just after the financial of what she wanted, but when the archi- worktop. involved in the design from the word go. undercarriage, a generous island demar- crash. They’d been renting in the bor- tects brought in Steve the engineer, “They were a delight, and the kitchen “I thought about glass but it’s a question cating kitchen from living area, while ough and had often admired the build- things really took off. Steve’s designs for was finished in mid-January last year.” of doing something more interesting,” bespoke encaustic tiles designed with ing. “We viewed this flat for fun, then the gallery involved huge patterned she says. The innovative result has been the architect to reflect the metalwork without telling me, so I didn’t get my plates bolted together — solid for the HIS is a bold, instantly mem- shortlisted for this year’s prestigious patterns. hopes up, Charlie put in a silly offer — as floor, with surprisingly delicate-looking orable design, which Susan Structural Awards Keen cook Susan had longed for a it was way over our budget. tracery for the balustrade. says she never tires of looking kitchen like this and put her soul into its “As he expected, a higher offer was These socking great slabs of metal all at. Perhaps it won’t be every- The result is striking and unique — and design, with a fabulous range cooker, accepted. But then the crash happened, fit beautifully together — with huge bolts. one’s cup of tea — but then adds about 250sq ft of extra space. pretty lustre tiles on the back wall and the other buyer fell through — and they Due to their astonishing weight, the sup- Tgood design never is. What’s really great Where once there was air, the couple bespoke iron door-pulls on some cup- took our offer.” ports, concealed in the back and side about this project is that its modern have a long gallery room. They’ve boards. It’s a far cry from the old oak- Converted from a third of the old pump walls, are also immense. Hydraulic lifts engineering enhances the Victorian devoted it to a bespoke copper bar with topped kitchen set in one corner. It also hall, huge steel beams run through and were used to lift each gallery section into structure without trying to copy it or to an enviable range of bottles, plus bar uses the space really well, for due to brace the space. Regularly riveted and place, to bolt to its neighbour. vanish into it.
EVENING STANDARD WEDNESDAY 20 SEPTEMBER 2017 25 powered by My home | Homes & Property

Extra space: the owners have created a long gallery room where there was air — a sort of flying snug

Ingenious: a well appointed kitchen sits beneath the balcony Historic: building was a pumping station A feature: steel beams are everywhere What it cost Apartment in 2008: £490,000 Money spent on mezzanine and new kitchen: £150,000 Value now: £1,350,000 (estimate)

Get the look Architect and project manager: Fabric Space at fabric-space.com Engineer: Steve Webb at webbyates. com Fabricator: FSE Foundry at fsefoundry. co.uk Kitchen and copper bar by Finch London at finchlondon.co.uk Handblown pendants over bar by Rothschild & Bickers at rothschildbickers.com Sage by Hester Blumenthal coffee maker from companies such as johnlewis.com Front of bar painted Downpipe by farrow-ball.com Groucho armchairs from John Lewis as before Five-burner from Lacanche at lacanche.co.uk Lustre metro tlles from Fired Earth at firedearth.com Worktop by silestone at silestone.co.uk Bespoke encaustic floor tiles by Mosaic del Sur at cement-tiles.com Lem by LaPalma bar stools from suppliers such as offique.co.uk Decorative cupboard pulls via Finch London as before

The Structural Awards 2017, in their 50th year, take place on November 17. For full details visit istructe.org

Spacious: lofty arched windows and top-light help make the apartment feel bright and welcoming Photographs: Charles Hosea

30 WEDNESDAY 20 SEPTEMBER 2017 EVENING STANDARD Homes & Property | Ask the expert Why do we have to use our developer’s solicitor?

Fiona WHAT’S MY BOYFRIEND and I are first-time buyers YOUR and are trying to buy a leasehold flat. So far McNulty PROBLEM? Qour solicitor has only had the contract and a IF YOU have a copy of the lease and title documents. He has OUR LAWYER ANSWERS question for had the results of our searches but says we cannot YOUR QUESTIONS Fiona McNulty, make any progress until the seller’s solicitors provide please email the standard information. What additional WE ARE trying to buy a legalsolutions@ information will our solicitor need to enable us to new house. The developer standard.co.uk proceed, and can we do anything to hurry things up? Q is offering great incentives or write to Legal provided we pay a Solutions, Homes YOUR solicitor should have received from the reservation deposit of £2,000, & Property, seller’s solicitor a Property Information Form exchange contracts within 28 days London Evening A(PIF), which provides a brief history of the and use his solicitor. We are OK Standard, 2 Derry property, a Fittings and Contents Form, with the first two but we want to Street, W8 5EE. confirming which contents are included in the price and a use our friend, who is a solicitor, to We regret that Leasehold Information Form. The seller should have do the conveyancing. The questions cannot completed these forms as truthfully as possible. developer is pushing us to use his, be answered Your solicitor should also have sent Leasehold Property saying our friend will be slow. We individually, but Enquiries (LPE1) to the seller’s solicitor, who should have think his solicitor will be biased, we will try to forwarded them on to the landlord’s managing agents to especially as he is paying our legal feature them complete. A completed LPE1 provides detailed important fees. We do not want to lose the here. Fiona information about the management of the building. Some house — so should we just give in? McNulty is a managing agents provide useful packs dealing with the solicitor enquiries raised in the LPE1. DEVELOPER incentives vary specialising Once appropriate documentation is available, your enormously, from paying in residential solicitor can consider it, raise further enquiries, advise A stamp duty to free cars. The property you of issues and prepare a report. law firm recommended by If the property is being sold through estate agents, tell your developer will not be the one law firm may be doing the property independently they could face them you cannot proceed until your solicitor has the representing the developer on the work at a discounted or reduced rate serious disciplinary action. usual documentation and replies to enquiries, and if such sale as that would amount to a because they know the development If you are concerned about the information is not forthcoming you will have to withdraw. conflict of interest. site and act for several purchasers. relationship between the solicitors and Do ask why the seller is not being forthcoming with

Some developers have an Although the solicitors may not want developers, tell them you intend to use information about the property. arrangement with a law firm to upset the developers as they refer your own lawyer and request they still whereby they refer to them all their them work, they have a duty to you pay your legal fees. If they refuse, ask More legal O These answers can only be a very brief commentary on new homebuyers. They encourage as their client to act in your best why. You may still be able to negotiate Q&As the issues raised and should not be relied on as legal advice. new buyers to use such firms by interests. If a solicitor was biased payment of the fees as the developers Visit: homesand No liability is accepted for such reliance. If you have similar offering to meet the legal costs. The towards a developer and did not act may not want to lose a sale. property.co.uk issues, you should obtain advice from a solicitor 34 WEDNESDAY 20 SEPTEMBER 2017 EVENING STANDARD Homes & Property | Property searching

Hotspot: Electric Avenue provided the Brixton barnets: Carlos Martin runs Blue Peacock, a unisex hairdresser’s in title of a 1983 pop song by Eddy Grant Coldharbour Lane that has been a fixture in the area for more than two years Spotlight on Brixton This thriving south London district has become every young Londoner’s dream destination, discovers Anthea Masey A sense of local history: staff of the Black Cultural Archives in Windrush Square, which was set up in 1981 HERE are few areas in Lon- south of the river; the other is Bank- don whose fortunes have Today in Brixton side. This weekend The Department had so many twists and Store hosts Design Circus, a collabora- turns as Brixton. From Rightmove has 667 tion between Crafty Fox Market and being a smart south London BRIXI, the quirky design and gift shop Tsuburb with one of the capital’s top homes to BUY and in Brixton Market. shopping streets at the beginning of the Elsewhere in Brixton’s town centre 20th century, to the area that became 547 to RENT the Your New Town Hall project will the beating heart of the Windrush gen- see the landmark Lambeth building eration who came from the Caribbean renovated to provide some council after the Second World War and a local- services, a council chamber and offices ity troubled by racial tension, crime for start-up businesses. Surrounding and gang violence, resulting in major buildings are being developed to pro- riots in 1981, 1985 and 1995. vide new council offices, 194 new How things change. Today Brixton is ners, has moved the company in. He homes and ground-floor shops and achingly cool. and is shrugging off its is one of the new Brixton’s biggest restaurants. Shop/eat until battle-hardened reputation. Brixton fans, having recently transported his And next to the Black Cultural you drop: main Village — locals still call it by its original offices from King’s Cross to Ferndale Archives in Windrush Square a memo- picture, Brixton name Granville Arcade — is now a Road, where the firm has renovated rial to the estimated two million Afri- Village, a popular major London tourist attraction. Situ- one of Brixton’s lost landmarks, the can-Caribbean soldiers who fought in tourist ated in part of the famous and now Bon Marché department store, a both world wars was recently destination with listed covered markets, it is a destina- stone’s throw from the high street. unveiled. shops and tion reborn with boutiques, restaurants The Department Store, as he calls his Brixton is four miles from central restaurants; and cafés sharing the space with South building, has a brand-new glass dome London with Kennington and the Oval above left, Luke American butchers, Caribbean green- and a restaurant on the ground floor, to the north, Camberwell to the east, Willis and Ezra grocers, African stores and English and although Squire is coy about how Streatham to the south and Clapham Townsend at Pop fishmongers. much the development has cost, he to the west. Brixton; above The nearby shipping-container park says the move to Brixton makes sense Estate agent Mark Hustwit from right, Ben Bell, Pop Brixton is home to young busi- both financially and socially. “I found Marsh & Parsons, which opened its manager of nesses running cafés, bars and restau- King’s Cross was becoming increasingly branch in Brixton last year, says the LionVibes rants but its hipsterish vibe has caused corporate. Here in Brixton there is a area is evolving. “It is popular with Records some locals, who voice their opinions community and we are much more first-time buyers who like the busy most vocally on Brixton’s colourful engaged in local activities.” nightlife and the easy commute into message board Urban75, to claim that One example is the Brixton Design central London. We see brothers and Brixton’s regeneration is sliding into Trail, which runs until Sunday. This is sisters and sharers buying together gentrification. Shock horror. the fourth year Brixton has been part with help from their parents. There is The hugely respected architect of the London Design Festival, one of also a strong local market with people Photographs: Michael Squire, head of Squire & Part- only two local design celebrations progressing from a flat to a house. Daniel Lynch

£985,000 £825,000 A handsome double-fronted period In Hetherington Road on the Clapham five-bedroom house in Sulina Road, borders is this fully refurbished two- £649,950 Brixton, with a very pleasant patio bedroom period terrace house/ Kinleigh Ramilles Close, Brixton, has a smart and spacious four- garden. Brooks (020 8769 8000) Folkard & Hayward (020 8012 4522) bedroom house for sale through Foxtons (020 8012 6723)

To find a home in Brixton, visit rightmove.co.uk For more about Brixton, visit homesandproperty.co.uk/brixton EVENING STANDARD WEDNESDAY 20 SEPTEMBER 2017 35 homesandproperty.co.uk powered by Property searching | Homes & Property

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STATS CHECK WHAT HOMES COST BUYING IN BRIXTON (Average prices) One-bedroom flat £390,000 Two-bedroom flat £520,000 Two-bedroom house £631,000 Three-bedroom house £821,000 Four-bedroom house £983,000 RENTING IN BRIXTON (Average rates) One-bedroom flat £1,339 a month Two-bedroom flat £1,637 a month Two-bedroom house £1,984 a month Three-bedroom house £2,335 a month Four-bedroom house £3,092 a month Source: Rightmove

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THE PROPERTY SCENE blocks are eight storeys tall with 020 7738 6839) in Brading Road is a commercial space on the ground development of six four-bedroom BRIXTON has mainly mid- to late- floor; one-bedroom flats start at terrace houses from £840,000. Victorian two-, three- and four-storey £460,000. Sales are off-plan and the There are two small developments, terrace houses and mansion flats, development will be ready to move ready to move into, overlooking each although there are some earlier into next summer. other on Coldharbour Lane close to Georgian and early-Victorian terraces Your New Town Hall in Brixton Loughborough Junction station. along Brixton Road and Vassall Road. (020 3603 5546) town centre is a Noble House (020 7689 1000) has The most expensive house for sale joint venture between Lambeth built seven studios, one- and two- now is a double-fronted Victorian council and developer Muse that will bedroom flats; only two-bedroom house in need of renovation in Trent provide new council offices and 194 flats remain and prices start at Road, on sale for £1.5 million. new homes. Ivor House in Acre Lane £475,000. On the other side of the is being converted into 26 one- and road, developer Woodberry Group is ■ NEW-BUILD HOMES two-bedroom flats over four floors selling nine one-, two- and three- Taylor Wimpey is building 71 one-, and there will be 94 affordable and bedroom flats at 215 Coldharbour two- and three-bedroom flats, of private sale flats in Brook House on Lane (Pedder, 020 7738 6839); one- which 21 are affordable through Brixton Hill. Expect the launch bedroom flats start at £375,000. housing association Paragon at The before the end of the year. A further Edge (the-edgebrixton.co.uk; 020 74 homes will be built on the site of ■ AFFORDABLE HOMES 3897 4811) next to the railway viaduct Olive Morris House in Brixton Hill. Housing association Metropolitan in the centre of Brixton. The two Elm Park Gardens (through Pedder, has launched South West 9 (020 3535 2555) in Barrington Road, a development of 81 one-, two- and TRANSPORT HAVE YOUR SAY: three-bedroom shared ownership BRIXTON is at the end of the BRIXTON flats. One-bedroom flats start at Victoria line, which £162,750 for a 35 per cent share in a guarantees a seat in the LOCALS TWEET THEIR TIPS flat valued at £465,000. morning rush hour. There is As part of the Oval Quarter, the also a train station with regeneration of the Myatt’s Fields trains to Victoria, which @barnesy3391 Definitely the @ North Estate, Southern has one- and take nine minutes. Nearby shrubshutter336 — amazing cocktails two-bedroom flats in The Wren Loughborough Junction is and great food! #lovebrixton Building (0300 555 2171) in Eythorne on Thameslink, with trains @DiddlySquat15 My favourite pub in Road; one bedroom flats start at to Blackfriars (in nine running through Brixton with Brixton is the Duke of Edinburgh — £157,500 for a 35 per cent share in a minutes), Farringdon (in 14 the number 2 to Marylebone unexpectedly amazing beer garden flat valued at £450,000. minutes) and St Pancras (in via Victoria and Marble Arch, and jerk chicken 18 minutes), although locals the number 3 to Trafalgar @Toby_Nicholson Le Deli Corner and ■ RENTABLE HOMES complain of overcrowding Square, the 59 to King’s Cross Naughty Piglets are both epic for Lexadon is a local south London in the rush hour. Brixton is via Waterloo and Holborn, food, Fierce Grace for yoga... developer which unusually specialises in Zone 2 and an annual the 133 to Liverpool Street via in the private rental market. Its flats travel card to Zone 1 costs London Bridge and the 159 to @petsie7 Etta’s seafood! currently range from £310 a week for a £1,296. There are useful Marble Arch via Trafalgar @GinaFitchett1 Brixton Beer! Best one-bedroom fat in Weld Works Mews commuter bus routes Square and Oxford Circus. beer in London!!! off Brixton Hill to £630 a week for a three-bedroom flat in Brixton Road. 38 WEDNESDAY 20 SEPTEMBER 2017 EVENING STANDARD Homes & Property | Inside story Diary of Fitzrovia’s now an estate in the Noho zone agent

MONDAY to a financial director of a large com- only were they viewing in the same Off to Warwick for a board meeting for pany. He is delighted with his purchase building but it turns out the buyers’ Propertymark. I represent more than but has been to see it four times and names were very similar too. Confu- a thousand agents in London and act measured every angle before finally sion reigned until they swapped keys as a conduit between its board and making an offer. The seller is happy as and headed to the right apartments! member agents, keeping the people at our buyer doesn’t need a mortgage. the top aware of what’s happening While finance is cheaper than it’s ever FRIDAY from day to day. They’ve just launched been, we have found mortgages are tak- Breakfast meeting today with a new a nationwide TV campaign to raise ing longer to process, slowing down the property tech company. It’s always awareness and offer better protection buying process further. good to keep tabs on what’s changing to consumers (landlords, tenants, sell- in our industry. Some have real poten- ers and buyers) from bad practice. WEDNESDAY tial to help us innovate as a company, Back in London I’ve had an enquiry My production company is out viewing whereas some just add more processes, from a film production company look- with me first thing today. We look at a so you have to be careful. ing for space in Fitzrovia, as they want lovely first-floor unit on Rathbone I’m off to a meeting with a big local a more discreet setting than the bustle Place, opposite the new Rathbone landowner who has instructed us on of Soho. I send them some options in Square development on the site of the 22 units in Fitzrovia that are under “Noho” — North of Soho as some are old post office. construction. We are finalising the calling Fitzrovia — and I set up some My unit has a wonderful oval window show suite and agreeing the video that viewings. overlooking the new scheme and a roof will help promote these carefully terrace at the back that would make a crafted spaces which are on a corner TUESDAY great break-out area for staff. We then position, some of them having dual I feel a good day is coming. I sit in on head off to a self-contained office on aspects. It’s very exciting and another the morning sales meeting. September Middleton Place, a quiet pedestrian project we have handled for the client, has seen a steady flow of enquiries but walkway near the BBC. It’s very differ- the last one selling very well due to its not quite at the level of previous years. ent from the last place with lots of little high specification of finish and atten- That said, the quality of those looking rooms. My client likes them both for tion to detail for the demanding mod- is very good. Buyers are taking their different reasons and as we finish our ern buyer. time, wanting to know and measure tour we grab a coffee to discuss the pros Back to the office, a final catch-up on every detail before committing to an and cons of each. ings at the same building with buyers appointment showed up, so he headed the day’s emails and a well-earned glass offer. This is a change from when mul- at the same time. One was viewing a to the one-bedroom flat. of wine for everyone. tiple buyers outbid one another in THURSDAY one-bedroom apartment and the other Almost simultaneously it seems one haste in busier markets. I bump into Simon and Spencer from a one-bedroom duplex. After checking said she was looking for something O Jonathan Hudson is a director at The team has just agreed a sale of a the sales team and they are chuckling her name, Spencer whisked his buyer bigger while the other said she was Hudsons in Charlotte Street, Fitzrovia top-floor apartment in Covent Garden with one another. They both had view- to the studio shortly after Simon’s looking for something smaller — not (020 7323 2277). 42 WEDNESDAY 20 SEPTEMBER 2017 EVENING STANDARD Homes & Property | Letting on

EALLY, I can’t understand why more landlords don’t let their properties themselves when it’s so easy and you can save Save money: Rhundreds, if not thousands, of pounds in agency fees. I realise that some landlords can’t be bothered organising viewings, and that’s fair enough, but if you live close enough don’t rent with to your property and can spare a few hours to show people around, it’s a no-brainer. You only have to snap a few photos, load them on to a cheap online a letting agent letting agency’s website, write a bit of blurb about your property and wait for the phone to ring. When the Victoria Whitlock finds it cheaper and viewing requests start to roll in, if you’re clever you can bunch them less hassle to let her properties herself — and together into one or two sessions to save yourself some time. that tenants love cutting out the middle man Granted, when the market is sluggish, as it is at the moment, you and as much as £150 less on the might need to do more viewings to The other. find the right tenant, but it’s As the market is decidedly less definitely, definitely do-able. Not buoyant than it was when I last £320 per week: this one-bedroom furnished apartment in a handsome period only will you save yourself a lot of accidental advertised for tenants, he property in Brixton Road at the Oval in SW9 is available to rent through Kinleigh money, you’ll also get to pick your recommended I cut my asking prices Folkard & Hayward in Kennington (020 8012 2722) tenants, weed out the ones you don’t landlord by five to 10 per cent. When I told want and be nice to the ones you like. him that I’d already had a lot of I think many landlords think letting away. I invited a well-known letting interest from potential tenants at the its fees for both landlords and especially as their fees are tax- agents achieve more rent than they agency round for a valuation, and the existing rents, he admitted private tenants, ditched “admin” charges for deductable. However, if you can get would get themselves, but I have result was quite revealing. landlords are actually achieving tenants ahead of the government’s more rent by doing it yourself and proof that this isn’t necessarily the The agent actually took a step back higher rents than letting agents. proposed ban on tenancy fees, and advertising privately, it is a bit of a case. when I told him how much the “Everyone wants to deal directly cut landlords’ commission from 11 no-brainer. I recently had to re-let two outgoing tenants on both properties with landlords these days, they don’t per cent to nine. Even better, it no It takes a tricky market for agents to properties at the same time and so I were paying in rent. He said his go to an agent unless they absolutely longer charges renewal fees to get real. advertised them privately. But agency had never achieved so much, have to, we’re actually struggling with landlords who are happy to arrange because I was going on holiday and not even on top-spec properties — rentals,” he told me in all honestly. renewals privately with their tenants. Victoria Whitlock lets four properties short of time, I thought I’d line up a and mine definitely didn’t fall into I also found it interesting that his If other letting agents are making in south London. To contact Victoria letting agent to take over if I didn’t that category. He said he would have agency, which has branches similar cuts, I suppose it will make with your ideas and views, tweet manage to find tenants before I went estimated the rent at £50 less on one nationwide, has significantly reduced landlords more likely to use them, @vicwhitlock 44 WEDNESDAY 20 SEPTEMBER 2017 EVENING STANDARD Homes & Property | New homes By David Spittles SmartSmartmoSmaSmmartmaraartrt moo

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The sun shimmers in Wandsworth BRONZE, a shimmering tower of 77 open waterfront quarter. The apartments in burnished panels, Southside shopping mall has been reflects not just the sun but the rising given a makeover and now has a One for the allure of Wandsworth town centre. Waitrose supermarket and a The local council has paved the way Debenhams department store. for sweeping changes with the town Bronze, 20 storeys high (above), centre attracting design-conscious occupies the site of a former light community young singles and couples priced out bulb factory and puts some nearby of zone one, with new build flats. schemes in the shade by offering For generations, the eight-acre spacious, light-filled flats with leafy OYAL WARWICK SQUARE than 1,000 new homes, including community rather than merely an brewery complex in the middle of views over King George’s Park and is a smart new London one block for dozens of Grenfell exclusive enclave for rich and hardly- the town centre was corralled in by the area’s copious open spaces plus a address, transforming a Tower residents who survived the ever-there Royal Borough investors. an unfriendly one-way road system, new public square, small business busy junction near the devastating fire. The site will also The architecture and landscaping, hostile for pedestrians and preventing premises and new pedestrian routes. Olympia exhibition have a new primary school and inspired by a classic London garden any real sense of neighbourhood. Prices from £465,000 to £1.5 million. Rcomplex in Kensington High Street. public spaces, that local planners square, ensures a sense of privacy But it is now being turned into an Call 020 3931 1404. The development is bringing more hope will create a genuine and sanctuary for buyers, who can EVENING STANDARD WEDNESDAY 20 SEPTEMBER 2017 45 homesandproperty.co.uk powered by New homes | Homes & Property GEMS FOUND IN ERITH’S QUARRY

ERITH, a somewhat bleak, south- east outpost with a high level of dull social housing in Bexley borough, is one of the few places in London where you can buy a new three- bedroom house for less than £400,000. But with so much Thames-side regeneration and the bonus of Find good value in New Cross Crossrail stations opening next year THERE is no shorter overland rail commute to the City at nearby Abbey Wood and from a Zone 2 location than from colourful New Cross. Woolwich, the future promises Regular trains to London Bridge from both train stations better homes and neighbourhoods take just six minutes. Yet property prices here are still for priced-out Londoners. Currently Coming together: within reach of many lower-budget first-time buyers. the district is a 40-minute commute Royal Warwick New-build developers have discovered New Cross, to London Bridge or Cannon Street. Square will offer pushing the Bakerloo line extension south from Elephant First up is The Quarry, an eco 1,000 new and Castle as a good reason to invest early in this area. development (below) of 470 houses homes, including Iron Works, a scheme of value-added 34 apartments all and 130 flats plus a primary school, one block for with outside space, is in a traffic-free neighbourhood park and play areas for children. dozens of around Pomeroy Street, with a popular primary school and Prices start at £325,000 for two- Grenfell Tower refurbished park. Clarion Housing Group is selling one- bedroom houses, with the low- residents who bedroom homes (above) from £360,000, with shared deposit Help to Buy scheme available survived the ownership options from £108,000. Call 020 7704 5618. too. Call London & Quadrant housing devastating fire association 0333 0033 737.

also enjoy a spa, gym and private cinema. The sleek blocks have full- height glazing and crisp stone façades while interior design focuses on clean lines. Prices for premium apartments are from £849,950. Call 020 3441 3579.