Wednesday 28 November 2018

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LUXURY EXTRAS THE EXODUS MY HOME SPOTLIGHT ON Tempting millennials to buy First-time buyers head out of town A warehouse with a water tower Rugby, riverside and family homes Page 8 Page 12 Page 18 Page 24

Buy into a thriving borough Page 6 BEN BROOMFIELD 4  WEDNESDAY 28 NOVEMBER 2018 EVENING STANDARD Homes Property | News

THIS WEEK IN... Property search

‘Sensible buyers will find a way through the Brexit fog’ Lifechanger of Janice the week Make Morley guests welcome in Winchester EDITOR £1.5 million: this five-bedroom, bespoke house in Winchester, Trophy home of the week You’re bound to get minutes from the city’s boutiques BUYERS could be forgiven for feeling dizzy and medieval cathedral, serves as papped with a hot roost near Chiltern Firehouse with Brexit indecision, wondering where the a first-class B&B — though it was used as a dance studio in an £5.95 million: commanding prime position among Marylebone’s celebrity haunts and top-end property market is going. Huge areas of the earlier life. boutiques is a new 15-storey luxury tower. Just a few doors from Chiltern Firehouse hotel and capital appear becalmed, with buyers scared Its grand rooms, offering restaurant in fashionable Chiltern Street, the two-bedroom duplex apartment is the largest of to spend amid rumours of mortgage rate rises 3,000sq ft of living space, include three at almost 2,000sq ft and enjoys a private, south-facing patio garden overlooking pretty a vast beamed dining hall, an Paddington Street Gardens. A mass of deluxe details feature in the spacious living area with its to come and more uncertainty. Yet, as we elegant sitting room opening to a huge sliding doors to the patio, the super-sleek kitchen/breakfast room and two plush en suite reveal this week, new research finds that south-facing courtyard, a kitchen/ bedrooms. Concierge service, valet parking, a residents’ members club and gym are among some areas are thriving, proving what we breakfast room with a striking exclusive perks. It’s on the market with Savills (020 8012 0342). island, marble worktops and a already knew — that with the right guidance butler sink, and sleek, under- the decision to buy can still be a profitable heated micro cement floors. Each London buy of the week Be on trend one in all respects. of the bedrooms is en suite and individually styled. Through with a warehouse mews flat in Brixton Active boroughs, where developers are Winkworth (01962 460052). considering the daily lives of all age groups, where families can live and employment rates £450,000: this one-bedroom duplex in Horseshoe Mews, a gated scheme in are high, can offer opportunities to everyone Brixton, oozes warehouse wow. The — to small businesses, independent shops ground floor offers a private entrance, a spacious bedroom laid with parquet and restaurants that help high streets flourish. and an en suite bathroom. The entire Sensible buyers will navigate their way first floor, lit by a large window, is an through the Brexit fog and find the value industrial-style open-plan kitchen/ dining/living room, showcasing created by strong and loyal communities. distressed oak floors, exposed brick walls, inky blue cabinetry and ample storage space. Private parking is VISIT homesandproperty.co.uk/rules for details of our included and Brixton and Clapham usual promotion rules North Tube stations are a stroll away, along with SW2’s markets, Ritzy Editorial: 020 3615 2650 Cinema and Tate Library. Chain-free Advertisement manager: Ann Finan and available through Hamptons Advertising: 020 3615 0538 International (020 3369 4374). By Faye Greenslade Homes & Property, Northcliffe House, 2 Derry Street, Kensington, London W8 5EE

NEWS Do the maths before you commute YOUNG couples are moving out of the unaffordable capital in droves but does a move to the commuter belt really save money? A recent study suggests not … unless you move to Basildon in Essex. The average starter home in London has hit £420,000, so buyers who can scrape together a 10 per cent deposit face monthly mortgage repayments of £1,600.33. Two monthly travelcards

for Zones 1 to 4 will add another ALAMY £376.40 to the bill, totalling £1,976.73. Research by Which? and Lloyds 40-minute commute. The study £271,567: the Bank looks at similar costs in the shows first-timers would actually be price of an commuter belt and finds Basildon is worse off in these terms if they average starter the nearest to an affordable option. bought an average home in a string of home in Basildon, An average property in the land of “affordable” commuter towns Essex, above, is a reality TV’s The Only Way Is Essex including Luton, Rochester and lot more costs £271,567. Mortgage repayments Harlow. However, lower entry prices achievable than of £1,100, plus two travelcards, brings mean they can take advantage of the the London the total monthly cost to £1,879, stamp duty amnesty on properties average of making a first-time buyer saving of priced less than £300,000. £420,000 £97.73 a month — just enough for a daily coffee on the train during the See Ruth Bloomfield’s full story at homesandproperty.co.uk EVENING STANDARD WEDNESDAY 28 NOVEMBER 2018  5 homesandproperty.co.uk powered by News | Homes Property

Fans will love this House of Hackney

Do we need four homes Keith? Nah NICOLE KIDMAN and husband Keith space aplenty, plus Urban, inset, have found a buyer for staff quarters. The their four-bedroom Tennessee house couple, who have after two years. It was listed for two children — Homes £2.7million but the Big Little Lies Kidman also has actress and country music star Urban two adopted eventually settled for £2.1 million. children with ex- A 30-minute drive from Nashville, it husband Tom Cruise gossip sits in 35 acres and has entertaining — still have a HOUSE OF HACKNEY founders £2.7 million home in By Amira Hashish Frieda Gormley and Javvy M Royle, Nashville, a Beverly right, are selling their incredible Hills mansion and a Got some gossip? London Fields home. penthouse in Sydney. Tweet @amiranews@ Their cult interiors brand, loved by celebs including Poppy Delevingne and Alexa Chung, is synonymous with flamboyant floral and animal prints and their five-bedroom Victorian townhouse, pictured, is a House of walls, while bedrooms display a Hackney fan’s dream, showcasing the bold blue pinstripe with flying wild style of Gormley and her whales or archive William Morris husband — from the zebra print study daisy print. The house, named to a leaf-printed runner up the central Loddiges after the famous stairway and atrium. Victorian nursery garden which Moroccan-inspired Mamounia stood near Mare Street, is for sale paper covers living area ceilings and with Butler & Stag for £1,825,000.

Romance in Diaz’s cosy cottage

IN FESTIVE movie favourite Hamptons International. It TheTh Rock’s R k’ loving l Richmond R h d life l f The Holiday, starring has an inglenook fireplace HOLLYWOOD actor Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is so Cameron Diaz and Jude with a log burner and enjoying the huge London house he’s renting that he can’t Law, left, Diaz’s character exposed timbers. The seem to stop posting pictures of it to his 122 million Amanda jumps at the bespoke hand-painted Instagram followers. The eight-bedroom property in chance to leave her US kitchen has an oil-fired Aga Richmond, above, is no stranger to starry tenants: Brad Pitt home and spend Christmas and there is oak joinery and Angelina Jolie have stayed there, as have Michael in a quintessential English throughout. It is the perfect Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones. cottage. winter escape but the The Rock has installed a gym in a marquee in the 35-acre The production crew built landscaped gardens with a grounds with all the state-of-the-art kit the semi-retired pro a house in Shere especially flagstone terrace and lovely wrestler needs to keep those famous muscles in shape. for the film, inspired by views will come into their There’s an indoor pool, plus an outdoor pool and tennis Honeysuckle Cottage, left, own in sunnier months. court, and he can host screenings of his latest projects in the in the commuter village of Just an hour from central cinema. Surrounded by trees and next to a lake, there is Holmbury St Mary nearby. London by road or rail, it plenty of privacy for the star as he spends time in the UK to Honeysuckle Cottage is now would make a picturesque

shoot The Fast and the Furious spin-off, Hobbs & Shaw. for sale at £650,000 with commuter base. THE ROCK/INSTAGRAM GETTY, BENETT, DAVE PHOTOGRAPHS: 6  WEDNESDAY 28 NOVEMBER 2018 EVENING STANDARD Homes Property | New homes homesandproperty.co.uk powered by BEN BROOMFIELD All in the game: Cakes & Ladders, above, a free community board game café and taproom in Haringey’s Blue House Yard creative hub, where affordable work and events space is provided in brightly coloured sheds, right, by Meanwhile Space Boroughs beating

the Brexit blues MCMINN TRENT

Strong communities can cope with international crises. We bring you a guide to the post-Brexit boroughs to invest in. By Anna White

HE London property market neighbourhood. Clusters of small is shrouded in Brexit independent businesses are another uncertainty ahead of the indicator of prosperity. “When small March deadline. There are businesses thrive, local economies pockets of the capital that thrive,” says Michelle Ovens, director Tare thriving but it is “erratic at best”, of the government-backed scheme with dramatic swings in sales month Small Business Saturday UK, which to month, says Featherstone Leigh will help independent shops, estate agent Oscar Doyle. restaurants and cafés to offer He is expecting a muted first discounts and run events to raise quarter of 2019 — an opinion widely their profile this coming Saturday. shared. Expensive new homes in the “Small businesses employ locally, very best locations are shifting, at support local supply chains and bring Southbank Place next to the London prosperity and life to a community,” Eye for example. But mostly it is a bit she adds. of a slog selling high-end flats. “It is “It is always great to see lots of undoubtedly much quieter in the independent traders on local high second half of the year,” says Brian streets, as it can really help increase De’ath of the Canary Wharf Group. the appeal of a community, which can

often lead to increased house prices HORNA TOM WHERE DOES THE MARKET as an area becomes more attractive.” Noteworthy: Martha Keith, centre, with some of her team at Richmond-based personalised stationery brand Martha Brook STILL HAVE A BUZZ? Hackney remains vibrant and LOOKING FOR ECONOMIC buoyant, measured by economic GROWTH? TRY HACKNEY LAUNCHING A SMALL little love notes. “Richmond is a very growth, employment figures, house Hackney’s strong economic BUSINESS? TRY RICHMOND local market and families moving out price and rental rises, according to performance is down to the RICHMOND has seen 5.7 per cent of London often skip over it and head new research exclusive to Homes & development of Tech City, the cluster house price growth over the last 12 down the A3 to Esher and Cobham or Property. It’s followed by Tower of digital companies that started on months, taking the typical value to the M3 to Wentworth,” says local Hamlets, Westminster, Haringey and Old Street Roundabout and spread, £688,578. Average earnings, Featherstone Leigh estate agent Oscar the City of London, says property according to CBRE’s Jennet Siebrits. meanwhile, are second highest in Doyle. “But if people do land here they group CBRE, with Islington, She predicts growth in local GDP of London, behind Westminster. seldom move on. I have repeat clients Richmond, Southwark and Newham 18 per cent over the next four years — As a result, small independent who I see on their way up the ladder next in line. Other boroughs such as the highest across the capital. businesses that develop a loyal local and back down again.” Waltham Forest are highlighted for “Hackney is one of the biggest customer base do well while many of Surrounded by protected parkland, their high employment levels. success stories of the regeneration of the bland chains fold. Rock & Fairy big new developments are hard to the East End of London,” she says. hair salon in nearby St Margarets is a come by in leafy Richmond, while START-UPS: ARE THEY A The cost of a home there has risen favourite, as is Debraggio Italian deli small boutique schemes tend to be GOOD SIGN FOR BUYERS? 4.5 per cent over the last year to reach near . expensive, such as the plush Fledgling companies that can afford £583,331, while major housing It’s also home to personalised apartments at Richmond Brewery to pay London business rates and development has also brought jobs to stationery start-up Martha Brook Stores, a converted beer bottling rents are a sign of footfall and an the borough. There are nearly 3,000 (marthabrook.com). Martha Keith factory. Featherstone Leigh is selling active community for prospective new homes under construction. started the business in 2013 after she one for £1.35 million. Call 020 8012 home buyers perusing the Berkeley Homes demolished the old made her husband a box containing 10 2667 for details. EVENING STANDARD WEDNESDAY 28 NOVEMBER 2018  7 New homes | Homes Property ADRIAN LOURIE

From £335,000: studio flats and WANT A STRONG JOBS MARKET? apartments at Clarendon, above, part of TRY WALTHAM FOREST Haringey Heartlands Regeneration FLORIST Layla Husseyin, 34, started Bloom of the Block as part of an incubator scheme run by meanwhilespace.com (see below) and has tower blocks by the West Reservoir — recently opened her own shop in Walthamstow, where she also lives. they were used in the film Schindler’s With a background in furniture design, she prides herself on creating List to depict the Warsaw ghettos — bold and modern bouquets, but puts much of her success down to her and is building Woodberry Down, choice of area. “I don’t think I would be where I am today if I wasn’t in with 5,500 homes plus cafés, shops Walthamstow,” she insists. “There’s a lot happening and so many and a community centre. Prices at independent shops and businesses that have helped me and made it all start at £580,000 for a one-bedroom feel possible.” The employment rate in the borough is 78.5 per cent. apartment. Call 020 8108 1612. LOOKING FOR BIG CHANGE? TRY HARINGEY LOOKING FOR SPACE? On the cusp of change, Haringey TRY HARINGEY offers the opportunities that come EMILY BERWYN, right, runs with transformation. Rents in the Meanwhile Space (meanwhilespace. borough have climbed seven per cent com), a social enterprise which takes in 12 months, the highest rise in any dead space and rents it out cheaply to London borough, proving Haringey is local entrepreneurs. in demand among young tenants. Her 740 tenants include a shop that The local economy is forecast to sells fleeces for dogs and a vegan, expand 14 per cent by 2022, while the plastic-free convenience store — population is set to grow by 11 per bringing choice to London’s high cent and the average house price is streets. She has helped to transform now £550,415. “It’s a borough of Blue House Yard, a former car park in change,” says CBRE’s Jennet Siebrits. Haringey. “We unlock underused She’s referring to the regeneration of space for the benefit of the community, the Upper Lea Valley and the new finding wasted space, transforming 56,250-seater stadium for Tottenham unloved visible, interesting, Hotspur FC, along with 579 homes. dilapidated, difficult buildings into University friends Hywel Sedgwick- something useful,” explains Emily, 36. Jell and Ruth Knox are the founders of Cakes & Ladders, a free board game community café and taproom based in a double-decker bus in Blue House Yard, a creative hub in a former car park and converted disused council building in Haringey. Providing affordable work and events space on the site, Meanwhile Space (meanwhilespace.com) has set up brightly coloured smart sheds. Part of the Haringey Heartlands Regeneration, Clarendon by St William will deliver 1,714 flats plus business and community space, shops and a cultural quarter. From £335,000 for a studio flat (020 3393 5926; clarendonn8.co.uk).

£1.35 million: a two-bedroom flat at Richmond Brewery Stores. Through Featherstone Leigh (020 8012 2667) 8  WEDNESDAY 28 NOVEMBER 2018 EVENING STANDARD Homes Property | First-time buyers

ITH London’s property market saturated with fancy top-end new-build Two into one apartments that are oftenW difficult to sell, developers are turning their attention to millennials eager to become first-time buyers. In some cases this means trimming prices to make flats more attractive to goes perfectly young buyers but at other schemes a more radical approach involves slicing larger, hard-to-sell apartments in two to offer smaller, cheaper flats Tempting young Londoners back into the new which nonetheless benefit from the luxury facilities on site. homes market is easy. Just give them good value The move marks a shift in focus for many developers from the luxury end and loads of luxury extras, says Arabella Youens of the market — hit by a shortage of buyers and heavy stamp duty charges — to the first-time buyer sector. According to London Central Portfolio, an investment firm, new- build starts fell by 25.4 per cent in premium inner London last year compared with 2016. Starts in cheaper outer London, however, rose by 25.8 per cent. “In London the luxury end of the market is saturated,” says chief executive Naomi Heaton. “Developers are realising that they have to make things more affordable.” Rory Cramer of estate agents Marsh & Parsons agrees there is evidence of WHERE TO LOOK developers going back into planning to update the mix of homes to deliver ALL of these homes in Zones 2 and 3 the size and scale of units that the cost less than £500,000 and come market is demanding — that is, more with fitness equipment, residents one- and two-bedroom apartments. roof terraces, high-end branded This is happening along the South kitchens, concierge services and Bank, Nine Elms and around City open spaces. Road, Shoreditch. “We have also seen developers offering more facilities so CODA RESIDENCES their properties align more closely At Avanton, Battersea SW11, Zone 2 with the prime market offering,” adds One-bedroom flats: £495,000 Cramer. Southwark council has just Lifestyle extras: music room; flexible- approved plans to reconfigure the use entertainment suite for dinner layout of Renzo Piano-designed parties or film screenings; residents Shard Place, increasing the number lounge. of flats in the building by almost 20 Anything else? This mixed-use per cent. The 26-storey residential scheme sits alongside the new HQ for tower, set to be completed in 2020, the Royal Academy of Dance. stands next to The Shard, also by the Transport: Clapham Junction station. Italian architect, where super-luxe Contact: 020 3813 4765 (codalondon. flats remain unsold after five years. com). Original planning for Shard Place was for 148 flats. However, through JAVA HOUSE the introduction of one-bedroom London City Island, E14, Zones 2 & 3 flats, many of which are created by One-bedroom flats: £475,000 splitting duplex homes, the developer Lifestyle extras: clubhouse; leisure has been allowed to increase the centre/gym; heated outdoor pool. number to 176. The changes mean the Anything else? You’re surrounded by project will no longer include any landscaped parkland and waterways. four-bedroom homes. Transport: Canning Town Tube and

‘I wanted to be sure of high-quality finish’

FIRST-TIME BUYER John Liao, right, a 35-year-old IT manager, has chosen a two-bedroom duplex apartment at Bow Garden Square in E3, where one-bedroom flats cost £425,000. All 83 homes have outside space, underfloor heating and kitchens by east London-based studio Urban Myth with SMEG appliances. John, who previously shared a rented house in Greenwich, says: “I wanted to make sure that I was getting a high- quality fit and finish.” Another attraction was the range of transport connections. Mile End is the closest Tube station, and there is bike storage. “It’s convenient, accessible and makes getting across London so easy,” adds John. ⬤ Bow Garden Square: 020 8023 8751 (telfordhomes.london) EVENING STANDARD WEDNESDAY 28 NOVEMBER 2018  9 homesandproperty.co.uk powered by First-time buyers | Homes Property

£490,000: right, one-bedroom flats at The Otto in Hackney Downs E5, with concierge, wellness rooms, shared terrace, bike storage and a dedicated cyle entrance

Docklands Light Railway. £495,000: above LIBERTY AT CROSSHARBOUR Contact: 020 3727 7147 (jll.co.uk/ left, one-bedroom Limehouse E14, Zone 2 residential). flats at Avanton, One-bedroom shared-ownership Battersea, with flats: £184,000 for a 40 per cent share BOW QUARTER entertainment of a £485,000 flat. 60 Fairfield Road, E3, Zone 2 suite, residents Lifestyle: concierge; fitness suite. Two-bedroom, split-level flats: lounge and music Anything else? All apartments have £475,000 room their own outdoor space. Lifestyle extras: access to a leisure £184,000: Transport: Crossharbour DLR centre with pool and gym; on-site bar above, 40 per cent Call: 020 3815 2222 (nhgsales.com). and restaurant; 24-hour concierge. of a one-bedroom Anything else? Each apartment flat in The Liberty NEW GARDEN QUARTER comes with an allocated parking Building at Stratford E15, Zone 2 space. Crossharbour in One-bedroom shared-ownership Transport: Bow Church DLR and Bow E14, with 24-hour flats: £101,875 for 25 per cent of a Road Tube. concierge and £407,500 flat. Contact: Fine & Country on 020 3861 fitness suite Lifestyle extras: concierge; gym; café; 8810 (fineandcountry.com). proposed nursery and play area. Anything else? Landscaped gardens HORNSEY PARK PLACE and parkland; commercial space. Clarendon N8, Zone 3 Contact: Notting Hill Genesis on 020 One-bedroom flats: £425,000 3815 2222 (nhgsales.com). Lifestyle: gym; pool; crèche; café. Anything else? In a regeneration APT LIVING scheme beside a new Haringey park; Gunnersbury Park TW8, Zone 3 four stations within 700 yards. One-bedroom flats: £320,000 Transport: Wood Green and Lifestyle extras: concierge; gym; Turnpike Lane Tube; Hornsey and cinema; residents roof terrace. Alexandra Palace Overground. Anything else? Parking; bike storage. Contact: 020 3393 5926 Transport: Bridge station. (clarendonn8.co.uk). Contact: Marsh & Parsons on 020 7368 4830 (marshandparsons.co.uk). THE OTTO, HACKNEY Hackney Downs E5, Zone 2 One-bedroom flats: £490,000 Lifestyle: concierge; wellness rooms; shared terrace; basement storage. Anything else? 174 bike racks and a dedicated cycle entrance. Call: Currell on 020 7226 6611 (theotto.co.uk).

Looking for a new-build home? Start your search on 10  WEDNESDAY 28 NOVEMBER 2018 EVENING STANDARD Homes Property | Cultural hubs JULIET LEMON JULIET

Stepping out: WOOLWICH: A NEW RIVAL Royal Arsenal FOR THE SOUTH BANK New arts hubs Riverside’s new IN SOME cases culture is provided by residents need councils rather than housebuilders. entertainment Greenwich council has an ambition and Greenwich to transform the riverfront at council has a Woolwich into an arts and media hub £40 million plan to to rival the South Bank and has transform the pledged £40 million to take over and riverfront at repurpose a series of historic Woolwich into a buildings for the project. Culture on dynamic cultural A former munitions factory will scene to rival the become a 4,000-seat performance South Bank venue. There will also be a small 450- seat theatre and a 600-seat open-air courtyard theatre. Rehearsal space the doorstep will be provided for both individual artists and theatre companies. In total the new arts facilities will cover almost 160,000sq ft. Once the Ruth Bloomfield explores buildings are renovated Greenwich intends to set up a trust to run the the new £40 million creative venues and says it is already negotiating with theatre, dance, district putting the heart music and performance companies. Planning permission for phase one, into Royal Arsenal Riverside covering restoration work and pop-up theatres, was granted this summer. “A number of international arts and performance companies are looking townhouses. London Help to Buy is to make the Woolwich Creative available on all homes under District their new home and £600,000, cutting deposit discussions are under way for an requirements down to five per cent. Prices from exciting place-making show to launch Wellington Quarter offers 81 flats, £590,000: the site in 2019,” said a spokesman. due to complete next summer — just below, three- and in time to enjoy the beginnings of the four-bedroom READY-MADE AUDIENCE: area’s new cultural life. One-bedroom townhouses at BEST SEATS IN THE HOUSE flats start at £417,000, with two- Trinity Walk in New homes are in abundant supply in bedroom flats from £542,000 and Woolwich, a mile Woolwich, led by Royal Arsenal three-bedroom flats from £588,000. from Woolwich Riverside, a massive Thames-side Through Foxtons (020 7973 2020). Crossrail station development where, by 2030, more than 5,000 will be built. In the current crop of homes, one-bedroom flats start at £320,000 and three-bedroom flats are priced from £585,000 (royalarsenalriverside.co.uk). Beyond the Royal Arsenal there is Trinity Walk (trinitywalk-woolwich. com), a collection of 445 new flats and townhouses, a mile from Woolwich Crossrail station, which are part of the £400 million regeneration of some of the area’s ageing council estates. Prices start from £350,000 for one-bedroom flats, £590,000 for three-bedroom townhouses and £600,000 for four-bedroom 12  WEDNESDAY 28 NOVEMBER 2018 EVENING STANDARD Homes Property | First-time buyers

HE future post-Brexit is The only way uncertain and the housing is Essex: High market wobbly, but the Street, Epping. desire to get on to the Find homes at property ladder remains commuterland Tundimmed. prices — and The number of first-time buyers has you’re still just been quietly increasing — thanks in about on the part to low interest rates and Tube government schemes such Help to Buy — and is now broadly in line with pre-recession levels, a study by

Nationwide shows. ALAMY In the capital the average first-time buyer spends almost £441,000 on a new home, according to research by Hamptons International. Which is The Exodus why many first-timers, unable to Special series afford that much or without a hefty deposit at their disposal, are leapfrogging the M25 to buy in locations where commuter links are convenient and entry prices comparatively low. In this second part of Homes & Property’s series revealing the most Next stop popular out-of-London choices for first-time buyers, we look at three options perfect for City commuters: SOUTHEND-ON-SEA ESSEX Average first-time buyer spend: Southend £236,860, which would buy a three- bedroom terrace house, a three- bedroom flat, or a two-bedroom semi in Southend, or a two-bedroom flat in Ruth Bloomfield leads first-time smart Thorpe Bay suburb or the very central Clifftown conservation area. buyers out of London to find Annual price increase: 2.4 per cent. Proportion of homes sold to first-time commuter homes they can afford buyers: 11 per cent. The commute: this City-friendly option has services to Fenchurch High School for Girls and Southend cent share (estuary.co.uk). Southend’s developing a real urban village vibe manager at Freeman Forman. Street in just under an hour. An annual High School for Boys, both in affluent seafront remains dated and unloved. with independent shops and cafés. Annual price increase: -0.9 per cent. season ticket costs from £4,904. Thorpe Bay. For younger pupils Long-awaited promises of a For down time there is the beach of Proportion of homes sold to first- Schools: Southend has its own crop of standards are more variable, but £50 million upgrade from the council course, and several sailing clubs. And time buyers: 17 per cent. grammar schools including Southend highlights include Bournes Green and development partner Turnstone if you want a quick getaway, London The commute: great for City workers. Infant and Junior Schools. Estates, including a cinema, 10 Southend airport offers flights to Services to London Bridge take from What’s new? Named in honour of a restaurants, hotel and leisure centre, Spain, France, the Balearics and 35 minutes. An annual season ticket defunct Southend-based electronics have so far not materialised. Portugal. Southend also offers a good costs from £3,340. Looking for a company, Ekco Park has one- and However, Southend United Football stock of quality, red-brick period Schools: Kent is synonymous with two-bedroom flats by Bellway Homes, Club is pressing ahead with plans for houses. On the downside, an average great selective schools and Tonbridge great commute? priced from £189,995 to £238,995. It’s a new stadium, with 848 flats and an first-time buyer budget will not buy Grammar School is the glittering Start your some two miles from the town centre entertainment complex. you a sea view. Houses on the front prize. There are also exceptionally but only a 10-minute walk from The lowdown: long overlooked in cost £1 million-plus. good feeder schools for younger search on Prittlewell station (bellway.co.uk). favour of trendier Whitstable and pupils, including St Margaret Estuary Housing Association has two- Brighton, an influx of London TONBRIDGE KENT Clitherow Catholic Primary School bedroom shared-ownership flats in commuters over the last 10 years has Average first-time buyer spend: and Woodlands Junior School. Carnarvon Road, less than half a mile breathed new life into this seaside £331,340, which would buy a two- to What’s new? There are no major new from Southend Victoria station and a option. The London effect is most three-bedroom Victorian or developments right now, but 20-minute walk from the seafront. obvious in the popular inland suburb Edwardian terrace house. A four- Tonbridge does have a series of small Prices start from an extremely of Leigh-on-Sea, three miles west of bedroom Thirties semi is £500,000 to boutique schemes including One pocket-friendly £94,000 for a 40 per central Southend, which is £550,000, says Ben Hosmer, sales Three Three High Street, with 14 EVENING STANDARD WEDNESDAY 28 NOVEMBER 2018  13 homesandproperty.co.uk powered by First-time buyers | Homes Property

WHAT’S ON OFFER

£230,000: a two-bedroom flat in Clifftown Parade, central Southend. Through Hopson (01702 744195).

£345,000: a two-bedroom Victorian semi in Northcote Road, Tonbridge.

ALAMY Call Martin & Co (01732 677078).

there is a Waitrose now, and the train includes TOWIE-location Chigwell, Kent commute: line has always been quicker than where London Square Chigwell 13th-century from Tunbridge Wells,” says Freeman Village is a gated scheme of 43 Tonbridge Castle, Forman’s Ben Hosmer. “It is a way of family homes priced from above. An average living in the country but still being £1.22 million (londonsquare.co.uk). £331,340 first-time

ALAMY less than 40 minutes from London.” This summer Quinn Estates and buyer spend in Redrow Homes submitted a joint Tonbridge could EPPING FOREST application to build more than 600 get you a two- or apartments priced from £230,000 to Seaside ESSEX new homes, a sports hub and fishing three-bedroom £350,000 (savills.com). lifestyle: above, Average first-time buyer spend: lake at North Weald Golf Club, two Victorian terrace The lowdown: often overlooked in the beach at £293,820, which would buy a one- miles north-east of Epping town house £235,000: a two-bedroom flat next favour of better-known commuter Thorpe Bay, possibly even a two-bedroom flat. A centre. to the station in Southend. Through dormitories such as Sevenoaks, Southend-on-Sea, three-bedroom terrace cottage would The lowdown: Epping Forest Ashleigh Stone (01702 744154). Tonbridge is not chichi — but it is Essex. The be about £450,000. encircles the town and is perfect for better value. This traditional market average first-time Annual price increase: -0.5 per cent. walking, mountain biking, running town’s kerb appeal is upped by its buyer spends Proportion of homes sold to first- and horse riding. In town it is not position beside the River Medway, £236,860 on a time buyers: 19 per cent. pretty-pretty but there are plenty of and its 13th-century castle, but there home and the The commute: Epping Forest shops, a couple of good pubs — is also the excellent 165-acre Haysden commute’s just presents a rare chance to pay notably The Forest Gate Inn — and a Country Park, while the lovely under an hour commuterland property prices but choice of coffee bars. Regular events expanses of High Weald are just to still use the Tube. Epping is in Zone 6 include a Christmas market and the south. of the Central line. Journeys to Zone 1 outdoor carol singing. The town centre is stacked with take just under an hour. “Epping is that nice blend of being pubs, cafés and restaurants, including Schools: for seniors, Epping St John’s in the country while still being on the Tonbridge Old Fire Station and “requires improvement”, says Ofsted. Central line,” says Chris Whitbread, £325,000: a two-bedroom flat at Verdigris, which enjoys a prime In Loughton, Davenant Foundation director of Millers estate agents. Hazlemere Marina, Waltham Abbey, riverside location. However, the range School and Debden Park High School “The high street has got a buzz to it Epping Forest. Roffeys (01992 788088). of shops isn’t brilliant. “There has are both rated “outstanding”. and there is a pleasant community been an improvement in the area, What’s new? The Epping district feel generally.” 14  WEDNESDAY 28 NOVEMBER 2018 EVENING STANDARD Homes Property | Shopping

Design spy 1 By Katie Law

2

3 4 1 ANDREW MARTIN DON’T miss the pre-Christmas Andrew Martin showroom sale, running until December 2. The showroom, at 190-196 Walton Street, SW3 is founder Martin Waller’s imaginative take on the shopping experience — expect to find everything from candles and penguin prints to dazzling original neon artwork and glass apple statues among furniture, lighting, fabrics and accessories ranges, all with savings of up to 65 per cent. Christmas delivery is guaranteed on all sale items. This National Gallery Whistlejacket Pink Cushion is £75. Visit andrewmartin.co.uk to find out more. 2 THE HAND SALE THIS is one of the best and most unusual Christmas sales when it comes to sourcing original products, from Trouver’s vintage wineglasses and Stuart Paterson’s antique linens and ceramics, to Kirsten Hecktermann’s individually hand-dyed velvet cushions and her carved utensils, pictured, from £7. The Hand Sale is on today, 6pm-9pm; tomorrow 10am-8pm and Friday 10am-5pm, at St Mary Abbots Centre, Vicarage Gate, W8. Entry £2. 3 INSIDE STORE LIFESTYLE shop Future and Found has been rebranded and reopened as Insidestore, selling gorgeously colourful items including this Softline Havana chair in pink velvet for £1,445 and Como cushion, £40. Visit the new store at 225-225A Brecknock Rd, N19 (insidestoreldn.com). 4 WICKLEWOOD 5 COLOURFUL cushions, handmade Peruvian mirrors and block-printed tablecloths are just a few of the lovely things you’ll find at Wicklewood’s pop-up Winter Shop & Revolving Room. Interior designer Lucy Barlow, stylist Serena Hood and florist Willow Crossley will style the store with their favourite finds, while items from the SS19 collection will be available to preview and buy. This Tiger Tiger lamp shade is £135 and Sunlight mirrors are £315 each. The pop-up closes tomorrow, so hurry to 123 Sydney Street, SW3 (wicklewood.com). 5 CARAVANE PORTUGAL-BASED ceramicist Anna Westerlund has collaborated with French lifestyle store Caravane to create Flowers, a collection of floral-decorated ceramic jugs £145, bowls from £65-£160 and mugs, £28, in a range of acid colours and simple naive designs. Find them in the store at Coal Drops Yard, King’s Cross (caravane.co.uk). 6 REPUBLIC OF FRITZ HANSEN 6 AN EXERCISE in elegant simplicity, this Ikebana vase by Jaime Hayón for Fritz Hansen, made from blown glass and brass, comes in a range of sizes and shapes from £100. Meanwhile, Grethe Meyer’s classic Louise candleholders from 1993 now come in mirror-polished solid stainless steel with a silver-plate or gold finish, from £54. And Arne Jacobsen’s graphic Tassel textile design is now available as a cushion, from £114. Find many other beautiful new or reissued products at Republic of Fritz Hansen online at fritzhansen.com. 18  WEDNESDAY 28 NOVEMBER 2018 Homes Property | Our home Sunset from the water tower — dazzling

An old Shad Thames warehouse flat with a water tower was ripe for a roof terrace conversion. By Philippa Stockley

ENNY CLARE thought rising up the height of two storeys the warehouse flat she through an old brick tower just 12 feet was viewing looked square. On top sat an empty steel water like a dark, damp tank with waist-high sides and a hole windy chimney but cut through for an awkwardly hinged she fell in love with it glass door. “People kept banging their J anyway — or, at least, heads on it,” Jenny says. The windowless she fell for its setting. brick tower was as dark and dank as a With its cobbled chimney. Uninsulated and unheated, streets, old brick ware- wind whistled down it. And the platform houses connected by iron walkways and from which the clunky stairs sprang the river alongside, Shad Thames feels Up on the roof: Jenny Clare and daughter Gemma take in the view from their tower only had space to dry clothes. like a film set. There’s a medieval quality to this When Jenny emerged on top to a 360- stretch of London below Tower Bridge, degree view taking in the Shard and once a bustling area used for storing Tower Bridge and saw the sunset and grain and spices, scented with pepper, the gulls wheeling, she was bedazzled. nutmeg and ginger. When the last ship- They bought the flat and after letting pers moved out in the Eighties, devel- it for a year, in 2016 they looked for an opers rushed in to create warehouse architect to improve the hopeless tower flats with lots of exposed joists and arrangement and bring in more light. distinctive, arch-topped windows. Many “I searched on ‘architect’ and ‘water are listed, and buyers soon lined up. tower’,” Jenny says. She found a Surrey Finding one with a water tower thrown architect who actually lived in a water in was what made the sale for Jenny and tower, but they suggested finding some- her family when they decided to buy in one local. It turned out to be good this special area. advice. Jenny spotted Malcolm Crayton Jenny, a British doctor, met her hus- of FORMstudio, whose work she liked. band in South Africa. After having their Crayton thought the tower had huge three children — Gemma, now 28, also potential. He decided to get rid of the a doctor, Xander and Kate — they tricky spiral staircase and the big clunky moved to the Channel Islands. But one upper stair and open up the tiny hole by one their offspring went to university connecting them. To bring in light he in England and the couple wanted a sketched a dramatic, tall window in the London flat, both for the children to use tower’s side; an extra, dinky mezzanine and for themselves when they visited. Stairway to the light: the bespoke new open-tread staircase is a stylish addition floor with a glass balustrade, and a much Jenny had a friend in the area, so in 2013 neater staircase. At the top he proposed she began her search by the Thames. “I a state-of-the-art hydraulic glass door wanted to be near the river,” she says, and another big, walkable skylight on “and it is very central, too.” the terrace. All of this extra glass would The couple were gazumped on a flat suffuse the tower — and the flat below in 2014 but they shook off their disap- — with light. He also added heating and pointment and looked again. The next insulation. flat the agent showed them was The However, the warehouse is a listed One. It was a two-bedroom, two-bath- building and planners turned down the room, fourth-floor warehouse con- double-height window, requesting two verted in the Nineties. Its solid oak windows matching the rest in the flat. floors had darkened, but the high-spec There was then little point making a steel kitchen was still in good nick and balconied mezzanine floor, so Crayton the bathrooms had circular steel put in a complete floor with a big glass sinks. section in it that gives as much light, but With metal-framed windows, cast- also provides more usable floor space. iron radiators, exposed brick and a The couple kept the main flat as it was deep-joisted timber roof, the flat was but sanded the oak floors, lightening attractive but quite dark. Sulking in a the look. Crayton put small glass sky- back corner, a cramped spiral staircase lights between some roof trusses, dou- led through a hole to a platform from bling the light. Designing a new which sprang a big industrial stairway, Brought up to date: sanded, lightened floors and clever lighting among the beams staircase was a challenge as the tower EVENING STANDARD  19 homesandproperty.co.uk powered by Our home | Homes Property

Above and left: is wonky and every piece had to be car- the warehouse loft ried up, then bolted together on site. GET THE LOOK retains all the “So no piece could be longer than three desired features metres,” Crayton says. The complex including exposed structure bolted together in three days Architects: Malcolm Crayton and ⬤ Glass skylights and hydraulic brick and deep- and fitted like a glove, while reinforced Felix Stirling at FORMstudio glass door: from Prime Glass joisted timber roof, glass floor panels were craned in. (formstudio.co.uk) (primeglassltd.co.uk) but now the slim, The bespoke open-tread staircase ⬤ Builder: Volute London ⬤ Teak table and chairs in main attractive new doesn’t hog the tower, which now has (volutelondon.co.uk) living room: from West Elm stairway leads to two super-cute rooms. The lower one ⬤ Structural engineer: Structure (westelm.co.uk) two new rooms in is a comfy TV room, while the new one Workshop (structureworkshop.co. ⬤ Blue glass pendant lamps: from the water tower above holds a romantic dining table and uk) Lassco (as before) including a chairs. From here, you can stroll with ⬤ Bespoke staircase: StairFactory ⬤ Sofa and bed box: from romantic little ease up and out to a roof terrace scented (stairfactory.co.uk) BoConcept (boconcept.com) diner, right with olive trees and lavender, with a teak storage bench, table and chairs. ⬤ Douglas fir stair treads: from ⬤ Small dining table on new floor: By day, light filters all the way down. Pinckney Green (pinckneygreen.co. from West Elm (as before) Photographs: Gloom, wind and damp are banished. uk) ⬤ Dining chairs on new floor: Charles And at sunrise and dusk, the top of the ⬤ Reclaimed timber lining back from Anthropologie (anthropologie. tower is magical. Did someone mention wall of tower: Lassco (lassco.co.uk) com) Hosea a film set? 20  WEDNESDAY 28 NOVEMBER 2018 EVENING STANDARD Homes Property | Christmas interiors

Bestseller: Nazar eye TREES FOR BUSY also coming to the new Coal Drops baubles, £12 for a set of LONDONERS Yard shopping complex in King’s two in black and orange at YOU can order a real Scottish tree Cross (coaldropsyard.com/whats-on). Habitat (habitat.co.uk) online from pinesandneedles.com. Learn calligraphy to personalise a “We deliver, install, decorate, take bauble at London Craft Club in away and recycle,” promises director Bedford Square, WC1. “Craft is good Sam Lyle. Or visit their pop-up cabins for socialising, sustainability, in London parks and on commons. happiness and of course creativity,” Prices start at £16.95 for a delivered says founder Sonia Bowness tree. One delivered with lights and (londoncraftclub.co.uk). decorations — either yours or theirs Artisans have filled Heal’s — starts from £104.95 Christmas Market with gifts and decorations. The windows are dressed THE HOLLY AND THE IVY with costumes from The Crown, Ready for FOR decorations with a personal while there’s a pop-up florist and a touch, take measurements, along customers Christmas party on with pictures of what you’d like to December 6. Workshops include create, to your local florist. Or add painting with Annie Sloan (196 fresh flowers, berries and leaves to Tottenham Court Road, W1; 020 7636 Christmas? fake foliage from OKA or Neptune. 1666; heals.com). “Mix in LED candles,” suggests OKA creative director Sue Jones. LED CHANGE YOUR CURTAINS John Lewis reports sales of candles from £12; ivy garlands from New curtains can make a room £40 (oka.com; 03330 042 042). Christmas-cosy — and John Lewis Christmas decs are already Helena Willcocks is The Allotment can make them in less than seven Florist, growing her materials in days, even in December. Or measure Brush up for a bake off: Waitrose Cookery School is running up 30 per cent on last year. north London. Handmade wreaths up, take a photo of your track or pole special two- and five-hour Christmas courses (waitrose.com) start at £60, plus delivery; garlands and head for M&S, John Lewis or Ikea With only four weeks to go, for the mantelpiece are around £100 a for ready-mades. With 30 London metre. Or go to wreath workshops in branches, Carpetright can do carpet Barbara Chandler says it’s Haringey N8 on December 4, 12 and for Christmas if you order by 13, for £60 (theallotmentflorist.co.uk; December 11, plus rugs, sofa beds and time to have a plan... 07974 576715). Also check out Jane beds (carpetright.co.uk). Packer Flower School in W1 (janepacker.com; 020 3411 2174). GET BIG-TICKET ITEMS FAST Several shops deliver furniture before MUST LEARN TO COOK Christmas, flagging up options Waitrose Cookery Schools (NW3 and online. Make sure you have delivery N1C; 020 3479 1596) offer two-hour access — you may need a model that courses making yummy treats for partly comes to pieces. Check stores £50. Or pay £100 for five hours — will take away packaging and position options include an Italian or your new furniture. For an extra fee, Scandinavian Christmas, a couple’s many will remove your old furniture. dinner, and even a vegan menu Habitat has about 100 ready-to-go (waitrose.com). New Waitrose two- sofas, armchairs and sofa beds, plus hour wine tastings in your home or beds and small items. Last order for office cost from £30 a head. Includes Christmas is December 13. Tableware tasting glasses, wine, port and a and decorations arrive within three spittoon (waitrosewinetasting.com). days, or click and collect. Stores are in Cookery classes are also at W1, NW3 and Westfield London Divertimenti in SW3 (divertimeni.co. (White City). uk/cookery-school; 020 7581 2764). Loaf has best-selling sofas and sofa Prue Leith’s cookery school — Leiths beds to order before December 11, or School of Food and Wine — is in W12 order smaller items before December (020 8749 6400; leiths.com), and gives 16. Stores in Battersea, Notting Hill videos online explaining the basics. and Spitalfields (loaf.com; 0845 459 All aglow: Wilderness tableware, tree decs and ornaments 9937). DFS has the Ezra four-seater feature warm gold and animal motifs. From £6 (amara.com) DECS AND DINING sofa for half-price at £699. Order Shop for baubles now. Habitat is before December 3 for Christmas, already on second shipments of this with 13 stores within the M25 and year’s runaway success, a surreal eye. flagships in Tottenham Court Road, It also does fashionable tassels and W1, and Westfield, W12. strings of pompom lights. Get ideas Some sofas and beds at John Lewis from tables styled in store by London can be ordered as late as December chef, author and blogger Anna 18 but if you’re sitting tight until the Barnett, with 26,000 followers on January sales, resort to trusty throws Instagram (@AnnaBarnettCooks; and cushions. Exclusive modernist habitat.co.uk/annabarnettchristmas). patterns and a pared-down sofa are in Inspirations include nature and a the pop-up at Swedish design black/gold mix. company Hem in Coal Drops Yard, For the prettiest paper napkins, N1C, and there are December plates and table decorations, last designer talks. Order by December 10 order date is December 17 at Talking (hem.com). Tables (talkingtables.co.uk). Check out the Christmas programme for the whole complex at Anna Barnett at Habitat: set of two Nazar eye baubles, £12; CRAFTY GIFTS coaldropsyard.com/whats-on Turini cutlery set, £95; white pompom lights, £20 (habitat.co.uk) Stores in the Shoreditch Triangle offer exclusive discounts on late-night Thursdays and there are Christmas craft workshops for decs and gifts. December workshops and talks are

£699: the four-seater Ezra sofa, now half price, can be ordered by Dec 3 for Christmas delivery from London DFS stores including Tottenham Court Road and Westfield London (dfs.co.uk) 22  WEDNESDAY 28 NOVEMBER 2018 EVENING STANDARD Homes Property | Outdoors Londoners prefer the real thing… You can’t beat the magical sight and glorious scent of a real Christmas tree. Here’s our buying guide

Alex WHAT KIND Mitchell OF TREE TO BUY…

HE annual trip to buy a UNTIL fairly Christmas tree is a special recently, the part of the festive tradition. nation’s favourite Artificial trees may be Christmas tree was convenient but a million the Norway TLondoners prefer the real thing. Real spruce, with spiky trees are greener, too, when grown as needles and a a sustainable crop. One study found lovely pine scent. It Norway spruce: the old that you would have to use a fake tree tends to drop its pine-scented favourite for 20 years to be more eco-friendly needles though, so than buying a freshly cut tree every these days 80 per year. And nothing compares to the cent of Christmas scent of pine needles. trees sold are the Nordmann fir, WHERE TO SHOP with softer needles You can buy Christmas trees from and the crucial local nurseries, pop-ups on street ability to hold on to corners, even pub gardens, and the them so you’re not more local you buy the better. still vacuuming Columbia Road Market is opening on them up next Wednesdays as well as its usual summer. Sundays from now until Christmas For slim spaces, (columbiaroad.info). Check out the the Fraser fir is a site of the country’s largest Christmas great option since tree supplier Needlefresh (needle- it has a narrower fresh.co.uk) or the British Christmas base. Nordmann fir: hangs on Tree Growers Association website The noble fir has to those pesky needles postcode finder to locate the retailer slightly upturned closest to you (bctga.co.uk). branches that are great for showing GET IT DELIVERED off baubles or, if Busy Londoners can take advantage you like a blueish of one of the online services that will tone to your tree, deliver such as Patch (patch.garden), try a blue spruce. Good Elf (goodelf.co.uk) or even John Expect to pay Lewis (johnlewis.com). For an extra £50-£70 for a 6ft charge Pines and Needles (pinesand- cut Nordmann fir needles.com) will erect and decorate and a little less for your tree for you, either with one of a Norway spruce. their schemes or using your own Potted trees are a decorations. They’ll take it away after good choice for Christmas, too, even sweeping up the tabletops and can Fraser fir: with a narrow needles. Many local nurseries and be kept going for base that suits slim spaces garden centres will also deliver. many years in the garden as long as TREE-CHOOSING TIPS you remember to Don’t forget to measure the height of water them over your room before you go to buy — and the summer — leave a bit extra for the tree stand and easily forgotten. the fairy. Remember, a cut tree is basically like a giant cut flower. It will need at least a litre of water a day to stay looking good so buy a stand that can hold a couple of litres. If you don’t .. AND WHEN

like the look of the stand, hide it with ALAMY/GETTY PHOTOGRAPHS: TO BUY IT a willow, wicker or birch skirt This one’s just right: visit the British Christmas Tree Growers Association website for a retailer near you (Birchwood Tree Skirt, £39.95 from IT IS best to hold Sarah Raven at sarahraven.com; or off buying a cut Noble fir: with upturned try John Lewis or big garden centres). WHEN IT’S GOT TO GO tree until the bauble-tastic branches Traditionally by January 6, or Twelth second week of TOUCHY-FEELY Night — by which time you will be December, so it Choose an un-netted tree so you can heartily sick of your Christmas tree can stay looking see its shape before you buy and anyway, bah humbug — it is time for it good for as long make sure it has glossy, fresh-looking to go. These days, the process could as possible and needles that don’t fall off when you not be easier. Local authorities will certainly through run your hand along a branch. When collect trees for shredding. Check Christmas week you get your tree home, it’s recom- your borough website for details of and to New mended to saw off the bottom inch of the date, then just remove all the Year’s Eve. trunk so it can draw up water better. decorations and leave it by your bin. If you have to But if you can’t do this, just make sure buy earlier, store you get it into water as soon as Just park the presents: these days it outside in a possible. Keep it away from under- super-busy London households can get a bucket of water floor heating and radiators, and be Christmas tree delivered to the door fully until as late as BlueBlue spruce: forfdl needles sure to use low-heat fairy lights so decorated with the family baubles or possible. with a smart blueish tinge those needles don’t dry out. with a selection chosen by the supplier 24  WEDNESDAY 28 NOVEMBER 2018 EVENING STANDARD Homes Property | Property searching homesandproperty.co.uk powered by Spotlight on Twickenham Rugby union’s riverside home, rich in history, is a favourite with families who love a street party, says Anthea Masey

UGBY UNION is synonymous with Today in Twickenham Twickenham, known the world over as the home of Rightmove has 547 the sport. But for residents, homes to BUY and thisR south-west London suburb is first and foremost a peaceful riverside 287 to RENT location to call home. Occupying a big, sweeping bend in the Thames, it offers one of London’s best selections of high-performing state schools, a wide choice of family homes and a strong sense of community. But not all is as tranquil as it may appear, for in recent times this has been among London’s most politically rural retreats. In 1747 the connoisseur Get your turbulent locations. Lib-Dem leader and collector Horace Walpole bought paintbox out: Sir Vince Cable, a former leading light Chopp’d Straw Hall, one of the last clockwise from in the Tory/Liberal Democrat available riverside sites in fashionable above, the coalition government, was Twickenham, transforming it into his picturesque Twickenham MP from 1997 until he “little Gothic castle”, Strawberry Hill Embankment lost his seat in the 2015 general House, now run by a charity. There he along the Thames election, only to win it back last year. entertained, among others, the poet at Twickenham; Then the Conservatives, who Alexander Pope, who lived nearby. shopping in the controlled the local Richmond upon In the Sixties, , a nine- town centre; Thames council for eight years, lost acre island in the Thames, was at the Sophie King, control to the Lib-Dems in this year’s centre of the emerging blues and owner of The

council elections. One of the first rock music scene with the Rolling Bloomery florists GETTY things new council leader Gareth Stones, The Who, The Kinks and in Church Street; Roberts did was halt the contentious David Bowie all playing some of their Owen Farrell runs Twickenham Riverside scheme. The first concerts at the legendary Eel Pie to score for design by traditionalist architect Island Hotel, which was destroyed by England at Francis Terry for the area between fire in 1971. Twickenham King Street and the river is now on Twickenham is 10 miles south-west Stadium, the hold, with the promise of a new of central London with Isleworth to 82,000-seater architectural competition next year. the north, Richmond over the river to venue for rugby, Twickenham has more than its fair the east, to the south and American football share of historic sites. In the 17th and Whitton to the west. Estate agent and big-ticket rock 18th centuries large mansions such as Erika Hopkins of Featherstone Leigh concerts York House, now the local civic says families love its riverside setting centre, and , a and the Twickenham community Palladian mansion now owned by likes nothing better than throwing a Photographs: English Heritage, were built on the street party. Also, homes are slightly Daniel Lynch banks of the Thames as aristocratic cheaper than in Richmond. EVENING STANDARD WEDNESDAY 28 NOVEMBER 2018  25 Property searching | Homes Property

THE PROPERTY SCENE homesandproperty.co.uk powered by IN THE mix are Victorian, Edwardian during the summer, with final and later houses of the big detached, completion in autumn 2020. Call semi-detached and terrace varieties, Dexters on 020 8286 0707. along with period purpose-built flats Eden Court comprises nine one- and modern apartments, while in and two-bedroom flats, duplexes and Montpelier Row a fine terrace of penthouses with two ground-floor Georgian houses overlooks Marble shops in Heath Road, from developer STATS CHECK Hill Park. St Margarets, the area Eden Luxe. It launches next spring. between and Call 020 8330 5356 for details. What homes cost Richmond Bridge, has the “Trust Grounds”, with big Victorian FIRST-TIME BUYERS AND BUYING IN TWICKENHAM detached and semi-detached houses SHARED OWNERSHIP (Average prices) backing on to large communal So Resi Twickenham is an office to One-bedroom flat £355,000 gardens in St Peter’s, St George’s and residential conversion in Holly Road Two-bedroom flat £491,000 Ailsa Roads and The Avenue. close to Twickenham station. Housing Two-bedroom house £570,000 In Strawberry Hill, there are big association Metropolitan Thames Three-bedroom house £686,000 Victorian red-brick detached houses Valley is converting the building into Four-bedroom house £976,000 and semis in roads including 49 one- and two-bedroom flats, 29 for Strawberry Hill Road and Waldegrave shared ownership and 16 for RENTING IN TWICKENHAM Gardens. Pretty period cottages can affordable rent, which are move-in (Average rates) be found in First Cross Road ready. One-bedroom flats start at One-bedroom flat £1,207 a month overlooking Twickenham Green and £106,250 for a 25 per cent share of a Two-bedroom flat £1,692 a month in Second Cross Road. Nearby, the home with a market value of Two-bedroom house £1,704 a month Belmont Road conservation area has £425,000. The two-bedroom flats start Three-bedroom house £1,984 a month a row of detached early Victorian at £150,000 for a 30 per cent share of Four-bedroom house £3,080 a month villas. Fieldend off Waldegrave Park is a home with a market price of Source: Rightmove a Sixties-built Span estate of 51 small £500,000. Call 020 8012 7818. houses much sought after by Help to Buy is available at Kestrel architects and designers. House, another office to residential The most expensive house for sale development, above the Giant bicycle now in Twickenham is Ferry House, store on the corner of Heath and an eight-bedroom, 6,677sq ft listed Radnor Roads. Five one- and two- residence with an outdoor swimming bedroom flats are available to move pool and landscaped garden into now, with one-bedroom homes overlooking the slipway to Eel Pie from £375,000 and two-bedroom flats Island, priced £8.5 million. In at £450,000. Call Featherstone Leigh favoured Strawberry Hill Road, a six- on 020 8744 0595. bedroom detached Victorian house is TRANSPORT for sale at £3.5 million and in St HOMES TO RENT Margarets Road, a five-bedroom semi Erika Hopkins of Featherstone Leigh is priced at £2,695,000. A three- says Twickenham is a popular area FAST trains from Twickenham take bedroom Span house in Fieldend is with renters and available homes are between 20 and 25 minutes to on for £795,000 and a pretty two- quickly snapped up, with half the Waterloo. Direct trains from bedroom house in First Cross Road properties listed on the Rightmove Strawberry Hill and St Margarets has a price tag of £699,950. website only added during the last can take up to an hour, so many month. Rents vary from around commuters change at Twickenham NEW-BUILD HOMES £1,000 a month for a one-bedroom or Richmond for a faster service. Solum Regeneration, a joint venture flat to £7,600 a month for a four- Some trains stop at Vauxhall for the between Network Rail and Kier bedroom house in Pomeroy Close in Victoria line Tube. Property, includes a new station at the Richmond Lock development in There are no commuter bus Twickenham and 115 one-, two- and St Margarets. routes although the No 490 goes to three-bedroom flats, some in a Wharf House, a new development Terminals 4 and 5 at Heathrow. Georgian-style terrace overlooking opposite Twickenham station, is Twickenham and Strawberry Hill the River Crane, with a new walkway popular with commuters. Two- are in Zone 5 and an annual through to Moormead and Bandy bedroom flats are available for £1,900 travelcard to Zone 1 costs £2,328. Recreation Ground. The development to £2,250 a month. House shares are St Margarets is in Zone 4 and an launches early next year for off-plan popular with students at St Mary’s annual travelcard costs £1,960. sales and first residents move in University in Strawberry Hill.

WHAT THERE IS TO BUY

£820,000 £2.39 MILLION WITH a south-facing rear garden, garage, parking and good A FIVE-BEDROOM house with a south-facing garden, nearby schools, a four-bedroom townhouse in Shaftesbury occupying a corner of a stunning development at Corsellis Way, Strawberry Hill. Featherstone Leigh (020 8012 2666). Square, Twickenham. Call Marsh & Parsons (020 8012 0274).

To find a home in Twickenham, visit rightmove.co.uk For more area guides, visit homesandproperty.co.uk/area-guides 28  WEDNESDAY 28 NOVEMBER 2018 EVENING STANDARD Homes Property | Ask the expert Help me with my bonfire-crazy neighbour

she mean, as my home already has registered title? And anyhow, why do I need to protect it?

PROPERTY fraud occurs when A criminals pretend to be the owner of a property and try to sell or mortgage it without the consent or knowledge of the owner. By Fiona McNulty Some properties are more vulnerable to OUR LAWYER ANSWERS YOUR QUESTIONS fraud than others, such as properties that are not registered with HM Land Registry, or are not mortgaged, or are unoccupied

or tenanted. THE neighbour to the rear of our Your property has registered title so the Q house is forever having bonfires More legal Q&As: letting agent will be referring to Property to burn his garden rubbish. visit homesand Alert, a free property monitoring service These fires are really smoky at the property.co.uk offered by HM Land Registry. Sign up for moment, presumably because the garden the Property Alert service and you will rubbish is very damp at this time of year. receive email alerts when certain activity The smoke always seems to blow into our on certain days each month, so he may be application. Regular bonfires may also occurs in relation to your home. garden and into our house. How can we able to use such a service and therefore amount to a statutory nuisance. Ask the So if a fraudster pretended to be you and put a stop to our neighbour’s antisocial have less to burn in his garden. Environmental Health department to tried to take your identity and then behaviour? If a satisfactory solution proves assess the situation. If appropriate they attempted to sell your home or take out a impossible and the bonfires continue could issue an abatement notice requiring new mortgage secured on it, you would NEIGHBOUR disputes are often WHAT’S on a regular basis, spoiling your the cessation of the bonfires or limiting receive email notification from the Land A costly, time-consuming and YOUR PROBLEM? enjoyment of your property, this their frequency. If your neighbour ignores Registry of the application. acrimonious, and they tend to Email legalsolutions@ may amount to a nuisance, in the notice he could face criminal As the application would not have been destroy the possibility of any future good standard.co.uk or write to Legal which case you could apply proceedings and a fine. made by you, then you would know it was relations, so it’s worth trying to resolve the Solutions, Homes & Property, to the County Court for an fraudulent and you could take the action issue amicably. Evening Standard, 2 Derry Street, injunction to prevent your I HAVE just rented out my home necessary to prevent the fraud. Tell your neighbour about the problems W8 5EE. Questions cannot be neighbour lighting bonfires, Q as I am moving abroad for a Be sure to provide the Land Registry his smoky fires are causing you and answered individually, but we will try and for damages. Check couple of years. My letting agent with your up-to-date contact details. They remind him that he could dispose of some to feature them here. whether you have legal mentioned in passing that I should will accept three addresses for you, one of of his garden rubbish at the local tip. Also, Fiona McNulty is a solicitor expenses insurance covering protect my property by using the service which can be an address abroad and an some local authorities collect green waste specialising in residential the costs of such an offered by the Land Registry. What does email address. property. 30  WEDNESDAY 28 NOVEMBER 2018 EVENING STANDARD Homes Property | Inside story There’s no problem that a bagel can’t fix

— particularly where developers are great first impression and there’s a regenerating previously overlooked buzz about the area. Finishing at 9.30 Diary of an pockets of London, or establishing in east London means I’m late home new neighbourhoods. These new and I make do with blowing a kiss to apartments are part of a stunning new my sleeping children. Estate Agent community with an abundance of leisure facilities and culture on the THURSDAY doorstep, and great transport links. Fashionable Marylebone’s my first MONDAY call, to see a new show flat. The At 6.30am I’m rousing two sleepy TUESDAY builders are still working on the other children and getting them into their In a smart street, I’m waiting to meet flats so there is quite a bit of dust and uniforms, curtailing any protests with a potential buyer with £20 million to noise in the communal areas. a swift bagel in the mouth, before the spend on the perfect property. The Stepping into the show home, all that mad dash to school. From there I flat I show him is immaculate, with falls away. There’s the gentle warmth head to the station for the train to high-spec finishes of course. from fine home fragrances, the tinkle central London, taking the chance to He likes what he sees, but needs to of a Steinway over the audio system, WhatsApp and email my contacts. talk to his family and return for and beautiful couches to sink on to. I send out images of interesting further viewings. Such a big purchase It’s bliss, I think buyers will love it. products, snippets of info and updates is taken very seriously and we expect from our excellent research team. all parties to do further homework on FRIDAY Currently they are producing a series the market. Being a working mother After updating clients on the week’s on the future of our cities, and since has helped me build rapport with developments, I have a couple of residential property is most people’s buyers from across the world. Many viewings, including a first-time buyer single biggest financial investment, have families, and therefore share exploring that first step on to the buyers appreciate insights into the similar concerns about finding the housing ladder, and a young woman factors likely to impact on property best place to live happily. studying in London who is managing values in the future. the property search for her parents. In the office it is the weekly sales WEDNESDAY As I travel home, I suddenly receive meeting. We go through each project It’s a hard hat day, and I have all the a barrage of Parent Mail messages. and run through the plans for an protective gear on to travel up a There’s a Teachers’ Forum Evening on important launch event this week, building under construction. The cage the horizon and it appears that this marking the release of new flats at a judders but the view is breathtaking. weekend I’ll be making a Roman unique riverside neighbourhood in You can take a 360-degree tour shield with my son — carpe diem! Docklands. In a competitive market, around the block and view London we need to make sure there’s a clear landmarks from every angle. ⬤ Jessica Inch is a director at CBRE identity to each new launch that The launch event tonight is a Residential in central London (020 makes buyers curious to know more success, the show apartment makes a 7182 2943). EVENING STANDARD WEDNESDAY 28 NOVEMBER 2018 33  Letting on | Homes Property

£650 a week: a character-packed two-bedroom warehouse flat in Shad Thames, SE1, is available to rent long term and unfurnished through Hamptons International (020 8012 2917).

Interior design? I love a bit of beige

brighten a dull living room by investing in a green rug. The last The accidental time I saw it, the tenants had shoved it under the sofa. Even if you think you have got excellent taste in home Landlord décor, there’s no guarantee your tenants will agree and I think those viewing rental homes are far more likely to be put off a furnished Victoria Whitlock property than wowed by something the landlord thinks is fabulous. has given up My target market is metropolitan millennials and I realised recently trying to guess when showing a few couples round my soon-to-be vacant one-bedroom what style of flat in south London that I have absolutely no idea what is cool. The furnishings her current tenants, City types in their mid-twenties, have furnished it with metro-millennial what I consider a hideous mish- mash of ludicrous objects and I was tenants would so worried their furniture would put viewers off that I even considered call cool. They waiting until they had moved out before showing the place to anyone. get a bed, a sofa — But the would-be new tenants all gushed over the oddly shaped and a chance to carved wood dining table, raved about a kitsch cocktail cabinet I’m put their stamp sure must have come out of a skip, and wanted to know where they on the place could buy the giant bean bag that set my teeth on edge. The flat looked entirely different a year ago, as the previous tenants, also in their twenties, had gone for OST self-styled property modern Scandi furniture, all from gurus will tell you that if Ikea. So you see, it’s pointless to try you furnish a rental to second-guess what they might home, you will find like. In my experience, a furnished tenants faster than if you property doesn’t attract a higher M leave it empty — and that you will rent than one left empty and tenants probably get more rent. don’t seem to expect any furniture, However, if you’ve got rubbish taste except possibly a bed and like me, or indeed, no taste at all, I occasionally a sofa, so I favour would urge you to leave your providing only the bare essentials — properties empty, or at least provide if they ask for them. only the basics and leave the flat as a ⬤ Victoria There used to be a tax advantage largely blank canvas for tenants to Whitlock lets four to letting out a property fully furnish themselves. properties in furnished as landlords were given a My idea of interior design is to south London. 10 per cent wear-and-tear allowance, throw a few bland, mainly beige items To contact but since this was removed in April into a room and hope that the place Victoria with 2016, there’s really no point in going looks inoffensively homely. Usually your ideas and to the trouble and expense. Let the effect is just “meh”. I once views, tweet them put their stamp on it. After all, decided to be a bit more daring and @vicwhitlock it is always interesting. 34  WEDNESDAY 28 NOVEMBER 2018 EVENING STANDARD Homes Property | New homes Watch paddleboarding from your balcony

“UP AND COMING” for more than scheme. One of the development 20 years without really making a partners is Canal and River Trust, Smart moves mark, Brentford’s fortunes are rising which invests half of profits back into at last with a wave of regeneration British waterways. Commercial and transforming the tired high street leisure space, new moorings, By David Spittles and opening up the waterfront. Even pontoons and a footbridge have the local football club is in on the act, been created, the towpath widened building a new stadium complex that and Art Deco warehouses includes 648 new homes. refurbished. This section of the canal While fast road links to Heathrow is now used by a local canoe and and a lovely Georgian quarter called kayaking club, while Active360 runs The Butts are a draw for some stand-up paddleboarding sessions buyers, Brentford’s main allure is its directly in front of the development. position at the confluence of the Three-bedroom flats at Chalico Rub shoulders Thames, the River Brent and Grand Walk, below, one of the waterside Union Canal. New projects are blocks, start at £679,950. New four- focusing on waterside living. bedroom townhouses with terraces With 700 homes, Brentford Lock and two parking spaces cost from West is part of an 11-acre canalside £925,000. Call 020 3504 6403. with the Queen

RESIDENTIAL revival in a these bespoke homes are for rent, micro district next to starting from £725 a week, with Buckingham Palace is underground parking and concierge making it easier and services. Call JLL on 020 3892 4676. cheaper to become a close Ten Broadway, pictured, on the site neighbourA of the Queen. of what was New Scotland Yard, the The patch around Buckingham Metropolitan Police headquarters, is Gate, immediately west of the Palace, the neighbourhood’s next high- was an aristocratic enclave in the profile development, comprising six 18th and 19th centuries but changed new buildings with 246 flats. character in the 20th century, when Likely to follow this is development blue chip businesses and government of Transport for London’s listed ministries moved in. headquarters above St James’s Park Rolls-Royce had its headquarters Tube station. The Art Deco building there. Today the site is called featuring prized sculptures by Jacob Buckingham Green, a new tower of Epstein and Henry Moore has 64 sleek apartments with views of Big planning permission for conversion Ben and St James’s Park. Unusually, into 89 swish apartments. EVENING STANDARD WEDNESDAY 28 NOVEMBER 2018  35 homesandproperty.co.uk powered by New homes | Homes Property Get Help to Buy and put down five per cent in Zone 1 ELEPHANT & CASTLE is one of the few places in high-priced Zone 1 where Help to Buy homes are on offer. Eighteen one-bedroom flats priced below the £600,000 ceiling have been released at Elephant Park, right, in the heart of the wider £2.3 billion regeneration project. Buyers can take advantage of a 40 per cent equity loan provided by government, meaning they need put down a deposit of just five per cent, or £29,999. Call Lendlease on 020 7675 9955.

BROMLEY IS ON THE FAST TRACK New quarter’s 20-minute commute

BROMLEY in outer south-east London is one of Mayor Sadiq Khan’s “Opportunity Areas”, Thinking of where housing developments and transport improvements are being fast-tracked. moving? St Mark’s Square, left, brings 200 flats to a new quarter that mixes homes, shops, leisure Start your and arts, set around a new public square and performance space. Direct trains to Victoria search on and Blackfriars from Bromley South station, moments away, take less than 20 minutes. Prices start at £340,000. Call CBRE on 020 7519 5900. Also in the town centre is Woodhams Apartments, with 29 flats from £299,000. Call JDM on 020 8295 2525.