Wednesday 26 April 2017 New homes for city Homes& chickens Property Page 15

COMMUTING: THIS SPORTING LIFE P8 EALING HOTSPOT P10 GROUND RENTS SCANDAL P14 SPOTLIGHT ON HARLESDEN P32 delivers for New homes: Page 6 ALAMY ’s best property search news: homesandproperty.co.uk 4 WEDNESDAY 26 APRIL 2017 EVENING STANDARD Homes & Property | News Look inland for the best buys Trophy ORGET about loft conversions home of or a parking space — a view of the week the Thames is a London prop- erty’s priciest feature, a new enrol at the study reveals. And if that view Fincludes a glimpse of Tower Bridge or academy for a St Paul’s Cathedral, expect an extra boost in price. cool £13 million The report, published by Cluttons property consultants, compares relative £12.95 million: this six- cost of homes overlooking the river with bedroom Kensington flat is similar nearby “inland” properties. part of Academy Gardens, a An average riverfront home overlook- former ladies college and ing Tower Bridge will now cost you now one of London’s most bedrooms, a kitchen/ has an en suite dressing £1,285,000. An inland home with all exclusive apartment breakfast room and dining room and bathroom, while the same features but no river view buildings, close to room, all set around a each bedroom has doors to costs an average of £667,500. Kensington Gardens and spectacular glass domed private patio space. The biggest price premium was found Holland Park. reception room with highly Underground parking to be around Borough, at 93 per cent. As one of the largest homes polished parquet floors, spaces, a residents’ gym, Premiums are almost as high at Shad £2.4 million: this £767,000 — and on the South Bank, in the building, it covers a huge wall space to display swimming pool and 24-hour Thames — where an average £1.45 mil- three-bedroom where you’ll pay £1,367,000 as against vast 5,369sq ft across two works of art and doors that concierge are among the lion buys a river view home, 89 per cent flat at Cinnabar £737,500, or an 85 per cent difference. floors. There’s a magnificent open to a beautiful private perks. For sale through more than a non-waterfront home at Wharf West in Generation Rent is also willing to pay entrance hall, plush garden. The master bedroom Savills (020 8012 3125). Wapping High over the odds for a view. A home at Street has much Shad Thames with water views, per- to offer but its haps with a backdrop of Tower Bridge Editor: chief selling and St Katharine Docks, costs an aver- Lifechanger Janice point is its view, age £730 a week. This is £240 or 49 per Morley which takes in cent more than a non-riverfront rental. of the week Tower Bridge and So over the course of a year, gazing at barn with pool, VISIT homesandproperty.co.uk/ the Shard. This the river would cost a renter in Shad rules for details of our usual can be expected Thames well over £12,000. paddocks, plus promotion rules. When you to add about 42 On the South Bank a rental with a respond to promotions, offers or per cent to its river view costs an average £710 a week, a holiday let to competitions, the London Evening price. Through 43 per cent more than a home without Standard and its sister companies Cluttons (020 the view at £495 a week. Around Bor- pay your bills may contact you with relevant 3504 7515) ough, renters pay a 39 per cent pre- offers and services that may be of mium for a water view — £680 a week £1.1 million: this barn interest. Please give your mobile versus £488. conversion in a glorious number and/or email address if “In a congested city like London, country setting, in the you would like to receive such riverside homes with balconies com- Bedfordshire village of Great offers by text or email. pensate for lack of garden space and Billington, scores highly in space throughout sitting and gardens and more than three offer river views and outdoor space, the charm stakes with plenty dining halls, a bespoke acres of paddocks. Leighton Editorial: 020 3615 2650 perfect for entertaining,” explains of 16th-century character. kitchen/breakfast room and Buzzard with its scenic Advertisement manager: James Hyman, Cluttons’ head of resi- Vaulted, beamed ceilings, five bedrooms, including two railway, farmers’ markets Ann Finan dential agency. “Homes around South exposed brickwork, lovely en suite. There’s a separate and shops is just three miles Advertising: 020 3615 0266 Bank command the highest premiums big fireplaces and stone tiled two-bedroom holiday home away. For sale chain-free Homes & Property, Northcliffe as they offer the most interesting views floors make this a stunning you can let out, a heated through Hunters (01525 House, 2 Derry Street, Kensington, across the City skyline.” home and there’s a mass of swimming pool, sweeping 625015). London W8 5TT. O Find Ruth Bloomfield’s full story at homesandproperty.co.uk London buy of the week grand flat in a great central location with a choice of Royal Parks £570,000: newly launched Parker House is a grand converted Victorian building that now offers 19 flats in Cuthbert Street, Paddington, perfectly sandwiched between Regent’s Park and Hyde Park. This first-floor pad is due for completion towards the end of the year and will be finished to a fine level, with high ceilings and large sash windows in spacious living areas that include a bright, 17ft living/dining room, open-plan to a bespoke bicycle storage will be kitchen showcasing stone included. Colourful worktops and integrated and appliances. Edgware Road Tube are on The bedroom has plenty of the doorstep. Through built-in storage space and Hamptons International (020 doors to a sun terrace, while 3451 1544). the bathroom features underfloor heating. A lift to all floors, CCTV security and By Faye Greenslade EVENING STANDARD WEDNESDAY 26 APRIL 2017 5 homesandproperty.co.uk powered by News | Homes & Property Ready to roar back, a £35m glam Twenties hotel Katy proves it. Bayswater beauty California Gurls bought for £13.5m É IT ISN’T every day that a 60-room, into a creative space displaying the can’t have too ÉSTUART RODEN,N, seven-storey townhouse opposite works of contemporary artists boss of London Hyde Park comes on to the market. Gordon Cheung, Jon Rafman, Lee many mansions hedge fund The Averard Hotel, above, opened Marshall and Royal Academy Schools É POP singer Katy Perry, right, has Lansdowne in the Roaring Twenties but has stood graduate Sean Steadman. Now the invested in a Beverly Hills mansion. Partners, has paid empty for a decade, apart from being 25,000sq ft landmark building near The American star, whose hits include £13.5 million used as a gallery earlier this year Lancaster Gate Tube is for sale at Chained to the Rhythm and, aptly, for a six-bedroom

when Slate Projects, who loved its £35 million. It would make elegant California Gurls, reportedly splashed home in Craven Hillll GETTY faded grandeur, turned the ballroom flats — or another glamorous hotel. out £14.8 million in an off-market deal Gardens, above. The white stucco for the five-bedroom, 5,500sq ft Bayswater townhouse was once an mansion, above and above right, in the annexe to The Hempel hotel. Coldwater Canyon complex, a celebrity Guests at the five-star boutique favourite. retreat included the Beckhams and Perry’s new place comes with an actress Chloë Sevigny, inset, while infinity pool set in designer outdoor the Zen garden was used for the final space. She bought from Cody Leibel, wedding scene in the 1999 hit movie, son of Canadian developer Lorne Notting Hill. Leibel. Cody stands to make a healthy The 8,353sq ft house was first sold profit, having paid £7.02 million in to Yiannis Misirlis, son-in-law of the 2007. Los Angeles-based Perry will President of Cyprus, who has been add the home to her collection — she investing heavily in central London also owns two Hollywood Hills property. He listed it with Hyde Park By Amira Hashish mansions. Agencies who secured the sale. It has a 118ft terrace and is the only O For more celebrity gossip, visit home on the square with access to Got some gossip? Tweet @amiranews homesandproperty.co.uk/gossip the private gardens there. A full

GETTY restoration of the house is planned.

Picture yourself in royal artist’s home

É PRETTY as a picture, Bourne down-to-earth nature and revealed Mill Cottage, right, in Tonbridge, that he was on such comfortable Kent, is the former home of royal terms with the royals that the portrait artist Bernard Hailstone, Queen once asked him to adjust a left, who died in 1987. TV aerial so she could watch the The artist worked so quickly that horse racing while she sat for him Prince Charles once nicknamed at Buckingham Palace. him “the fastest brush”. His sitters Hailstone’s three-bedroom included Sir Winston Churchill, Georgian cottage was both his Hailstone having painted the last sanctuary and his studio. Tucked commissioned portrait of him in away in lovely gardens that feature 1955, the year Churchill resigned as a magnificent magnolia tree, the prime minister. Hailstone’s son, Grade II-listed home is on

PA Donovan, praised his father’s Humberts’ books for £925,000. 6 WEDNESDAY 26 APRIL 2017 EVENING STANDARD Homes & Property | New homes homesandproperty.co.uk powered by ALAMY From £915,000: Paddington Exchange, 123 flats in high-rise Canalway Cavalcade: narrow boat fans gather at Paddington Paddington Cube: new offices and a blocks with communal roof terraces (020 3866 0934) Basin, near the junction of Regent’s/Grand Junction Canals restaurant near the station entrance Paddington shapes up nicely The promise of a 17-minute Crossrail commute to the City is bringing a new armada of buyers to the canalside neighbourhood around Paddington station, discovers David Spittles

ROSSRAIL, launching next but still close to the West End and Hyde year, has triggered a second Park, and enjoys undeniably superb wave of regeneration in Pad- transport links. dington, boosting its ambi- tion to become a top central FLOATING PARK AND LondonC address. SUMMER FESTIVALS The new east-west Elizabeth line is Alongside hundreds of new homes and eagerly awaited because it will allow a relaxed California-style office campus City professionals to live in west Lon- with rooftop basketball court is the don while enjoying a quick and pain- capital’s first floating park, a 45 metre- less 17-minute commute to their desks long green “oasis” created in a canal in . basin moments from the upgraded The number of passengers using Pad- train station. Various events and festi- dington station is forecast to double vals are planned for the summer over the next two decades, thanks in months including a Dragon Boat part to the new line. Regatta and a Canalway Cavalcade of Brunel’s original terminus has been barges and other vessels. given a major facelift with a new Eliza- Homes are being built on land previ- beth line station being knitted into this ously earmarked for a new medical neighbourhood. centre for St Mary’s Hospital, which Like other mainline station districts, was abandoned after spiralling costs. Paddington started to decline in the At the moment, the new restaurants mid-20th century. The Victorians had and bars around the basin are used built handsome garden squares and mainly by local residents and office imposing stucco terraces to fill the workers. Marks & Spencer, , acres between the station and Hyde Visa and Microsoft are among the high- Park. But after the Second World War, profile companies to have relocated many of the grand townhouses were there, joining small businesses that converted into cheap bedsits and back- operate from barges moored on the packer hotels. canal, one offering yoga classes and By the Seventies, Paddington had the “pamper puff” manicures. fastest population turnover in London, and was a place of “bewildering cosmo- Buoyed by the Elizabeth line’s direct From £825,000: Paddington Gardens is a sleek canalside scheme of 271 new homes politanism”, according to author Peter links to Canary Wharf and Heathrow, Colour: traditional narrow boats are Ackroyd. this new business hub will help under- joined by new homes at Paddington pin property values as the area In its heyday, the district hummed along matures, says Diana Alam of property PADDINGTON’S NEW on the back of the industrial revolution. adviser JLL. CANALSIDE HOMES The junction of Regent’s Canal and Local estate agents report that prices Merchant Square is a cluster of canal- Grand Junction Canal is close to Pad- have slipped by up to 15 per cent since side apartment blocks amid attractive dington Basin, which was a major the overzealous market of 2014. As with landscaped areas with “sculptural” gateway for bricks and clay, and other other central London postcodes, Pad- bridges across the water, one designed materials needed to build a rapidly dington homes are cheaper than they by Thomas Heatherwick, leading to a developing London. It thrived for years were before the Brexit vote. Now may garden square, performance space and until lorries and petrol engines put the prove to be a good time to buy into the innovative “water maze”. barge horses out to grass. area. Coming soon is North Wharf, while Eighty-acre Paddington Waterside plans for a 599-home skyscraper, nick- was a wasteland, a closed-off industrial GET £1 MILLION OFF zone, for decades. It was relaunched A GRAND TOWNHOUSE as part of the Paddington Regeneration Developer Alchemi Group has slashed Partnership in 1998. It is now once the price of grand townhouses and again humming along, reborn and apartments at its Leinster Square Thinking of thriving, this time as a lively urban scheme — down by more than £1 million quarter sheltered from the hustle and in some cases. But you still need a deep moving? bustle of the train station and the roar- pocket for the garden square proper- Start your ing Westway flyover. ties. Prices start at £3.95 million. Call 020 7499 3881. search on It’s the biggest building project in West- Michelle Collins, 40, director of a minster borough, covering an area the West End fashion retailer, recently paid size of . While some say it lacks £828,000 for a two-bedroom canalside the charm of nearby and flat. “It was a resale and looked really the vitality of Bayswater, this new good value. My plan is to rent it out for neighbourhood has plenty of devotees three or four years and then move in Merchant Square: waterside apartment blocks clustered around a garden square because it is a lower-priced location when all the construction is over.” EVENING STANDARD WEDNESDAY 26 APRIL 2017 7 New homes | Homes & Property

Flagship tower: West End Gate will be a new neighbourhood with 672 homes

named The Cucumber and incorpo- rating a deluxe hotel, have planning consent. Call 020 7298 0800. RENZO PIANO’S GLASS CUBE GOES LOW RISE After an outcry by heritage groups, a proposed 72-storey residential tower dubbed the “Paddington Pole”, which would have required demolition of an Edwardian postal depot in , has been ditched in favour of a glass cube office block designed by Shard architect Renzo Piano. This will create more than an acre of public space, a rooftop restaurant and improve what is still a shabby patch around the train station entrance. West End Gate is a new 672-home neighbourhood being built on a vacant site that blighted the area for decades, directly opposite Edgware Road Tube. Berkeley Homes, the developer, says the scheme is inspired by the hand- some mansion blocks of , though the first phase is a 30-storey tower. Prices from £620,000. Call 020 7720 4000. Paddington Gardens is another sleek canalside scheme — 271 flats set

ALAMY amid a birch grove and wild flower garden. Prices for the first phase of 91 flats start at £825,000. Call CBRE on 020 7205 2167. Paddington Exchange brings 123 flats in high-rise blocks with communal roof terraces. Prices from £915,000. Call 020 3866 0934. Parker House is a refurbishment of a grand heritage building, once a fac- tory, split into 19 high-ceiling flats priced from £570,000. Call Hamptons International on 020 7758 8482. RENTAL RENAISSANCE — AND ROOM FOR ART From £570,000: flats at Parker House, a factory conversion Rental specialist Residential Land says Paddington is surging in popularity as tenants wake up to its improving amenities and transport connections. One-bedroom apartments typically cost £475-£675 a week. Meanwhile, the arrival of a Heal’s homewares store in Westbourne Grove is another example of Paddington’s renaissance, helping to blur the border with Bayswater. And as commuters leave for work they will be able to enjoy Cloud Index, a spectacular artwork printed on the new Elizabeth line Pad- dington station’s 120-metre canopy, creating a real-time picture of the sky From £620,000: West End Gate homes, handy for the Tube according to the light and sun. 8 WEDNESDAY 26 APRIL 2017 EVENING STANDARD Homes & Property | Commuting homesandproperty.co.uk powered by Live for sport Ruth Bloomfield seeks out commuter towns for families who love to cycle, run, surf and hike ALAMY Fun days: Viking Bay, near Broadstairs, is home to Kent Surf School and recommended for the sport their way through weekends

OES sport float your boat? £499,995: a two- Here are some of the top bedroom flat with commuter destinations glorious sea view promising great outdoor in Broadstairs. activities that are guaran- Call Miles & Barr teedD to get those endorphins flowing. (01227 917096) BROADSTAIRS, KENT Outdoors: far right, cycling in SURF’S UP the South Downs According to Surfing Today, Broadstairs National Park in Kent will do just fine for surfers, with a quartet of highly recommended Right: surfies beaches close to the town — Joss Bay, love Broadstairs, Viking Bay, Stone Bay, and Botany Bay. with four And, for would-be surfers, there is an recommended accredited surf school at Joss Bay. surf bays. Centre Aside from the surf and sandy beaches right, join a Broadstairs is a lovely, buzzy little town running club and high-speed trains via St Pancras in historic have whittled the commute down to an Winchester hour and 20 minutes. An annual season ticket costs £5,952. Far right: get “It is a town that attracts second home off the rowing owners, three-day-a-week commuters, machine at the and lots of ‘down from Londoners’,” gym and try the says Simon Backhouse, a partner at real thing, like Strutt & Parker. “The hipster vibe and this south coast value for money have attracted more skiff rower and more young family buyers from London over the past few years. Quite schools are good, the old town’s pretty, a lot of the coast around this part of and the quality of the period housing Kent is pebbly, but here you have sand, stock is top notch. There is a buzz which ideal for kids and dog walking.” will make a move beyond the M25 less Schools, of a universally high stand- of a culture shock for Londoners, and ard, include Dane Court Grammar foodies will be happy with the thriving School, while homes range from classic gastronomic scene, led by modern Brit- seaside Victorian to new build, and ish dining room The Black Rat, recent everything in between. But if you want recipient of a Michelin star. a sea view you’ll have to pay for it. Back- Trains to Waterloo take from 52 min- house sold a five-bedroom Eighties utes and an annual season ticket costs home on the seafront for £1.5 million £4,952. Gareth Anwyl, associate director last year. Two-bedroom flats can cost of Hamptons International, says about £600,000 to £1 million. 40 per cent of his buyers are ex-London- Away from the sea, prices calm down. ers with £1 million to £1.25 million to A three-bedroom fisherman’s cottage spend on a four-bedroom Georgian that’s still a stone’s throw from the front townhouse in the city centre, or about would cost £550,000-£650,000. Fur- £675,000: a new £500,000 on a two-bedroom flat. ther inland a four-bedroom Edwardian four-bedroom “The London demographic has had a house would be £450,000-£550,000. roomy family major impact on the quality of the pubs house in Park and the number of places to eat,” adds WINCHESTER, HANTS Avenue, minutes Anwyl. “Winchester has gone from from the beach being quite provincial to quite sophisti- IN IT FOR THE LONG RUN at Broadstairs. cated.” The suburb of Oliver’s Battery, On the western tip of the South Downs Through Miles & just south of the centre, is more afford- National Park, wide open spaces are on Barr (as before) able. Its mid-century houses are not as this historic cathedral city’s doorstep. Crucially, it is the starting point for one of Britain’s greatest running routes, the South Downs Way, which will take the super-fit 100 miles to Eastbourne. Alternatively you can create your own circuit around the vast chalklands, mar- velling at views from Beachy Head, and of the Seven Sisters. The park is also great for cycling, walking, and horse riding, and after dark boasts unpolluted, star-studded skies — the park is officially an International Dark Sky Reserve. Winchester itself is a quaint and charming city, with the fabulous Gothic cathedral dominating the skyline. The EVENING STANDARD WEDNESDAY 26 APRIL 2017 9 Commuting | Homes & Property ALAMY ALAMY ALAMY ALAMY glamorous as those in town but they are to cycle alongside open farmland or increasing flow of priced-out Londoners better value. A four-bedroom house make a trip down to the south coast. moving to Rochford. Property runs would be £700,000-£750,000. Rochford, highly rated by Cycling from ancient cottages to new build. There are great satellite villages, the Weekly, sits at the head of the River With Southend airport on the doorstep, pick of which has to be Twyford, set Roach and is a great staging post for the some of the homes to the south and prettily among the water meadows of Essex Creeks, named by the magazine south-west of the village get flight path the River Itchen. There’s a school, pub, as one of the best places to cycle in noise but the rest of the town is blissfully café, an excellent shop, a station and Britain. Ride along miles of tiny lanes quiet. Buyers should budget anything suitably scenic homes. A three-bedroom and bridleways, through cute villages, from £200,000 for a two-bedroom new character cottage would cost £750,000 with wonderful views of water and sky. flat to £400,000-plus for a four-bed- to £800,000, with a four-bedroom The Burnham Bends, with sharp, weav- room detached house. detached house about £1 million. ing turns for almost five miles, is a For a more rural feel, the pretty vil- particular challenge. lage of Paglesham is a five-mile drive ROCHFORD, ESSEX Rochford itself is a big village with a east. With river views and almost no clutch of pubs, several cafés and res- modern homes, Paglesham has the FOR FREEWHEELERS taurants, and enough useful shops to back-in-time vibe some Londoners London cyclists used to pollution and keep you going. Southend is three miles want. Wakeling says a two-bedroom the daily battle with motorists will south, with a bigger, better range. period cottage would be priced at breathe a sigh of relief to be unleashed Rochford Primary and Nursery School about £350,000. on the Essex country back roads. With and Waterman Primary School are Buyers in search of a four-bedroom enough climbs to be challenging, but rated “good” by Ofsted, as is The King family home with an acre or three flat enough to be fun, this is a great place Edmund School, for seniors. would need £1 million-plus. Trains to Liverpool Street take from £499,950: a five-bedroom detached 50 minutes. An annual season ticket £849,995: a five-bedroom Art Deco house at Kings Worthy, Winchester. costs £3,772. Craig Wakeling, manager family home in Callis Court Road, Through Charters (01962 830880) of Horizon estate agents, has noticed an Broadstairs. Miles & Barr (as before) 10 WEDNESDAY 26 APRIL 2017 EVENING STANDARD Homes & Property | First-time buyers What the Dickens? Crossrail is reshaping Ealing, bringing shared-ownership homes from £100k. By Ruth Bloomfield

F ALL the London neigh- Big draw: Charlotte’s W5 restaurant in Dickens Yard, praised in Michelin Guide bourhoods given a boost by Crossrail, Ealing must be among the most trans- formed, from a middle- Oleague suburb to a highly desirable district with hundreds of millions of pounds in regeneration cash flowing in to polish up its leafy Victorian charm. New Elizabeth line trains from Ealing Broadway, which already has the Cen- tral and District line Tube, will go direct to the West End and City when the serv- ice launches next year. And the vibe around the Broadway has picked up with new shops, cafés, and eateries. OUT OF BED, ON TO THE TRAIN At the heart of the transformation is The Crossrail boost: revamped Ealing Broadway station is on the Elizabeth line Dickens Yard, with some 700 new homes, 78 of them for shared owner- ship. Developer St George launched the scheme in 2011, when the Crossrail buzz was in its infancy. The site is only 300 yards from Ealing Broadway station, in Zone 3, and there is encouraging evi- dence that St George is trying to “curate” the tenants for the shops and restaurant space at Dickens Yard to make it a des- tination in its own right, in the way Argent did so well at King’s Cross. Dicken’s Yard, which will complete fully in 2019, already boasts the restau- rant Charlotte’s W5, awarded a “bib gourmand” in the new Michelin Guide for its affordable but quality food, while the first shop to open next year will be fashion brand Jigsaw. Just around the corner, St George is redeveloping Ealing’s old Empire Cin- ema which will have a new eight-screen Destination: Dickens Yard is at the New quarter: 700 new homes are Picturehouse, flats, plus more shops heart of Ealing’s transformation planned with 78 affordably priced and restaurants. There are even plans to turn Ealing Town Hall into a boutique of the property they do not own and more restaurants and big chains have hotel with cocktail bar and bistro. service charge of about £165 a month. moved in to capitalise on the change in Two-bedroom flats available to buy Two-bedroom flats start at £140,000 for the market here. There are also a lot privately at Dickens Yard are priced 25 per cent, with rent at £962.50 and more new developments, after Dickens from £960,000, but Catalyst Housing again, £165 a month service charge. Yard set the trend, and it is generally a association is launching the first phase much nicer place to spend time now.” of 78 shared-ownership flats at the site, The most obvious change in Ealing Broad- Property prices around Ealing Broad- from £100,000. This will buy a 25 per way is the improved retail scene, says way grew 10 per cent in the last year, cent share in a one-bedroom flat at the Raj Chauhan, sales manager at Colin and he expects them to rise five to 10 Trafalgar Apartments. As well as mort- Bibra estate agents, who has worked per cent again in the next 12 months. gage repayments, buyers will pay a locally for four years. “The shops are monthly rent of £687.50 on the portion now of a much higher calibre and lots O Visit homesbycatalyst.co.uk

From £100,000: a 25 per cent share of a one- Thinking of bedroom flat at moving? Trafalgar Apartments in Start your Dickens Yard. Through Catalyst search on Housing 12 WEDNESDAY 26 APRIL 2017 EVENING STANDARD Homes & Property | Homes abroad

Super-luxe brand: Amanzoe hotel and villas are perched above the sea with glorious views, near Porto Heli in the eastern Peloponnese

From £2.5 million: new for this year, Amanzoe has fully furnished, two-bedroom, minimalist-style villas for sale

New UK flights to the Peloponnese peninsula are making home buying easier for Londoners, says Cathy Hawker

Five star: Westin Resort at Costa Navarino. Off-plan villas Mainland Greece takes off at Navarino Residences are priced from £1.75 million

HINK of a holiday home in Greece and and take-up was strong enough that this year the you’ll probably imagine a place on a season has extended into October. Along with sun-baked island — Crete, perhaps, or easyJet’s four weekly flights from Gatwick, it Santorini, Mykonos or Corfu. But means that getting to the western Peloponnese Greeks covet holiday homes on the vast is now an easier option for Londoners. PeloponneseT peninsula, south-west of Athens. Much of the reason for this expansion is down The area’s tagline is “Mythical Peloponnese”, a to Costa Navarino, a five-star resort 40 minutes nod to centuries of ancient culture and history. from Kalamata airport, with grounds filled with Homer and Euripides wrote lyrically about it and jasmine, lavender and honeysuckle and a strong must-see sites include Olympia, birthplace of the drive for sustainability. Completed facilities on Olympics, the Palace of Nestor and the amphi- the 3,000 acre-plus site include two hotels — the theatre at Epidaurus. Westin and the Romanos, with 746 rooms in total The Greeks love its landscapes, as diverse at its — 21 restaurants, beach clubs, numerous pools, history. There are mountains, forests, rocky coast- two golf courses and some of the best sports and lines on both the Aegean and Ionian Seas and acres children’s resort facilities in Europe. of silver-grey olive trees. Sixty-five per cent of Costa Navarino has spent £492 million on devel- Greece’s olive production is from this region, opment so far and claims to be the first high-qual- including the famous, prized Kalamata olives. ity, secure beachfront community of this scale in Greece. Navarino Residences are 50 detached WESTERN PELOPONNESE luxury pool villas of 3,230sqft to 10,765sq ft, some The seaside city of Kalamata is the capital of among the olive groves, others beachfront and all Messinia in the south-west Peloponnese, and with wide sea views. Freehold off-plan villas start Kalamata International is one of Europe’s fastest- at £1.75 million and smaller flats, prices not yet growing airports. Last year British Airways disclosed, will also be for sale. launched summer season flights from Heathrow “The Peloponnese is unspoilt with history and plenty to offer,” says Achilleas Dorotheou, Costa Navarino’s general manager. “Unlike many of the Greek islands it is not crowded. We have been working with BA for a while and expect 60 per cent more business from the UK as a result of the new flights.” EASTERN PELOPONNESE Across the wide Peloponnese peninsula on the Aegean coast, two hours from Athens, Porto Heli is a popular holiday base for many part-time sail- ors. Older three- and four-bedroom homes in Porto Heli are from £297,000, several including sea views. while for the last three years, on-trend and ultra-modern Nikki Beach club has sold flats to an international clientele from £254,000. Olive country: the Peloponnese is home to prized Kalamata crop The eastern Peloponnese is also a region beloved by wealthy Greeks. Ex-King Constantine of Greece lives nearby and the King and Queen of the Neth- erlands have an envy-inducing cliff-top villa. Ten minutes inland from Porto Heli, perched above the sea, Amanzoe is a 38-suite hotel from superbrand Aman that opened in 2012. Amanzoe also has substantial villas for sale, all with full access to the hotel’s spa, gym, tennis courts and restau- rants, and 15 have sold to international buyers. New for this year are smaller, fully furnished two-bedroom homes designed by Aman favourite Ed Tuttle in an understated and minimalist style, priced from £2.5 million.

O Costa Navarino: costanavarino.com/residences O Amanzoe: aman.com/resorts/amanzoe/villas Bay of Navarino: ancient Niokastron fortress, above Pylos town O Nikki Beach: portohelicollection.com EVENING STANDARD WEDNESDAY 26 APRIL 2017 13 homesandproperty.co.uk powered by Finance | Homes & Property

INALLY found that dream get some protection, use a Financial currency risk”, says founder and chief holiday home? Thrilled by the Conduct Authority “authorised” firm. executive Rupert Lee Browne. “We increased buying power of These firms are required to place your recently hired a dedicated specialist the pound? It may be your money into a segregated account so team in forward [currency contracts] chance to buy a place abroad that, if they go bust, you have a chance following a 23 per cent increase in their F— but wait. What happens if sterling of getting it back. FCA “registered” demand last year.” takes another dip just as you are set to firms do not have to do this so check complete, or your foreign mortgage the status of the provider carefully MORTGAGE: HOME OR AWAY? suddenly becomes more expensive? UK banks have been reluctant to lend Here are our top tips for buyers battling GET YOUR FIX on foreign properties since the finan- with volatile exchange rates. Buying a property takes time, often cial crisis. This leaves two main options months. Large currency movements, when buying a place abroad: remort- FIND THE BEST EXCHANGE RATE however, happen in seconds. Just last gage your existing UK property, or take Buying abroad is likely to be better year, the pound made headline news out a foreign mortgage. value than buying in London, but you when it dropped 15 per cent against the If you remortgage with a UK bank, you will still need a sizeable chunk of hard dollar in the few days after the Brexit are covered by the FCA, a definite plus. cash for a deposit. In Spain, for exam- referendum result — potentially very It also means you are likely to be famil- ple, it is common for foreign buyers to painful for anyone in the process of iar with the process and the affordabil- put down more than 30 per cent of the buying an overseas home. ity hurdles you need to clear. purchase price as a deposit. Fortunately, it is easy to eliminate the Where this option can fall down is with Once purchased, annual service/ risk of an unwanted currency move. your repayments. Should you choose maintenance charges for absentee Simply speak to a currency broker to rent out the property, or eventually owners are often hefty so you’ll need about a forward currency contract. All sell it on, you will most likely receive the to convert your pounds at the best pos- £251,424: a five-bedroom Charentaise house with a pool and £100k discount at the top brokers offer them. These sim- money in the foreign currency. This may sible exchange rate. Even a one per Néré, south-west France, an hour from La Rochelle airport. Leggett (08700 115151) ple agreements specify how much not equal your sterling repayments due foreign currency you will buy, at what to exchange rate fluctuations. fixed rate and on what date, normally Taking out a foreign mortgage means within the next two years. As always, your rental income, final sale value and do shop around to get the best rate. mortgage repayments are all in the same Don’t fall into the exchange trap Other benefits are that the contracts currency, making things simple. You can be customised to your individual may also be able to get a cheaper deal cent poorer rate when converting requirements, and generally you only by borrowing abroad, particularly in £50,000 costs you an unnecessary Take a lesson in currency rates before you buy need a 10 per cent upfront deposit. So parts of the eurozone where mortgage £500. “The biggest mistake people Sara Yates if you were agreeing to buy £150,000 rates are lower than in the UK. But over- make is when they go straight to their your dream home abroad, advises of euros in six months time, you would seas mortgage brokers are not covered own bank — this is often the most just pay £15,000 today. This additional by the FCA, so if you get poor advice you expensive way to transfer money,” lished. This makes it very difficult to rates are generally much more com- time can be helpful if you are raising may not get compensation. warns Ian Strafford-Taylor, chief exec- work out just how bad a deal you are petitive than you’ll get at a high street the finance from a variety of sources. utive of FairFX. getting. bank. Still, it is worth shopping around The simplicity and flexibility of for- TAKE ADVICE Though banks’ transfer fees may Instead, try a specialist currency as their rates and transfer limits vary. ward contracts means their popularity Buying abroad is complicated. Don’t let appear low, their exchange rate often broker such as FairFX, Caxton FX or Be warned though, online transfer is growing. Caxton FX is receiving your focus on dealing with the exchange includes a substantial profit margin. Moneycorp. Not only are larger trans- companies are not covered by the Gov- record enquiries from “private clients rate crowd out your need to take inde- Unfortunately, these are rarely pub- fers typically fee-free, their exchange ernment’s compensation scheme. To and business looking to manage their pendent legal/financial/tax advice. 14 WEDNESDAY 26 APRIL 2017 EVENING STANDARD Homes & Property | Comment ALAMY Proceed with caution: buyers sign leases with legal advice and if they don’t pay ground rent, no court will be sympathetic

HAT is ground rent for? This is a question many leasehold home- owners are asking as they become aware of Ground rents Wthe onerous annual charges that can come with having a lease. Ground rents — which are different from service charges — are a rent paid are becoming by the owner of a building to the owner of the land it sits on: the landlord. Across the country and especially in London, ground rents have been ramped up in recent years. There is a a national simple explanation for this. Residential property, particularly in the capital, has become one of the best-performing and most secure investment asset classes in the world, and investors want scandal a piece of the action. And thanks to our system of leasehold tenure, which only exists in England and Wales, it is easy for them to hitch would be calculated against the loss of a ride. Sebastian ground rent income. They do so by buying the freeholds to blocks of flats and, increasingly, O’Kelly Once a rarity, some 40,000 new houses freeholds to leasehold houses — often have been sold with leasehold tenure small schemes with shared roads or — often with onerous ground rents — in play areas that have to be charged for. the past five years. These companies can be registered Last week the All Party Parliamentary offshore, with nominee directors. Group on leasehold reform, of which Ground rents on new the Leasehold Knowledge Partnership Being the landlord, or “freeholder”, is the secretariat, described it as “a means these companies can appoint the leasehold homes are national scandal which dwarfs PPI”. management, receive insurance com- Taylor Wimpey, which created leases missions and rake in fees for subletting being ramped up by with doubling ground rents between consents, or charges when leaseholders 2007 and 2011, has undertaken not to — their “tenants” — make alterations to developers. Read build any more leasehold houses from their property. And, of course, they can January this year. Its review into these change ground rents. the small print ground rent terms concludes later this Ground rents are a legally enforceable month. income stream set out in the lease, ground rents. These ground rents can There is mounting evidence that which buyers sign with legal advice. If start low, so as not to frighten off home leasehold properties with high ground you don’t pay ground rent, no court is buyers, but can be increased at regular rent terms have become unsellable as going to be sympathetic and flat owners intervals. Developers all over the coun- mortgage lenders refuse to lend against can, and do, have their properties for- try are now selling leasehold flats and them. The Council of Mortgage Lenders feited. houses where the ground rents double has said: “We are aware that some lend- Only about 65 leasehold properties every 10 years. ers are reviewing their policies to are forfeited every year but annual reflect concern about onerous ground charges have been climbing dramati- The Leasehold Knowledge Partnership rent clauses.” cally with forfeiture routinely threat- was contacted by a buyer who has ened by landlords if tenants protest. placed a deposit on a £400,000 flat in Some lenders have rather overreacted. Manchester with a 150-year lease where The Leasehold Knowledge Partnership Originally, ground rents were simply a the ground rent starts at £300 a year was contacted by a buyer in Windsor nominal rent charged for use of the land, but doubles each decade. who’d had his mortgage application an annual reminder of who owned it; This means that by the final 10 years refused. The ground rent was only £150 £10 a year would not have been unu- of the lease the owner of that property a year, doubling only every 30 years. sual for, say, a nice Edwardian maison- will be paying £4,915,200 a year. That is hardly an onerous ground ette in Tooting. However, that situation The original buyer will be long gone rent. However, the case demonstrates changed during the downturn of by then, of course, but as the property how nervy lenders have become about 2008. ages it is likely to become increasingly the ground rent game getting out of As properties became more difficult difficult to sell. control, and how buyers should rightly to sell housebuilders began discount- If the flat owners here wanted to buy be cautious. ing the headline prices on leasehold out the freehold or extend their lease, flats and houses, knowing they could which they are legally entitled to do, O Sebastian O’Kelly is trustee of the recoup the lost profit by jacking up the the cost would be astronomical as it Leasehold Knowledge Partnership EVENING STANDARD WEDNESDAY 26 APRIL 2017 15 homesandproperty.co.uk powered by New homes (for hens) | Homes & Property Add an eggstension

Londoners crazy for fresh organic eggs are buying new homes — for their hens, says

Lizzie Rivera Happy to share: expect to pay from £389 for an Eglu coop incorporating a run

ONDONERS are falling for for two — as social creatures they always all year round. Eggshells vary in colour chickens. Henhouses are need a friend.” She knows Londoners according to breed, from white, to blue, appearing on rooftops, balco- who keep chickens on balconies and on green or brown. Each hen has its own nies, canal boat decks and in canal boat roofs. “The girls have a show- personality. Sara’s oldest bird, a nine- suburban gardens, largely ing-off cluck when they are laying an year-old Cream Legbar named Pearl, is Lthanks to the Eglu Classic, a cosy home egg, but other than that they’re very “private and elegant”, says Sara. “But for two or more chickens, that at about considerate,” she says. “So neighbours some breeds, like the Pekins, are very £485 including a run, has become a top usually love them and help to look after sweet and happy to be stroked and cud- buy this spring. them when the family goes away.” dled. Hybrids are a bit flightier, they Every hen keeper will tell you that Hens are easy to look after, says Sara. jump and flap a bit more.” nothing beats a fresh breakfast egg from Give water and chicken feed each morn- a contented, well-fed and cared-for hen, ing and they will lay an egg a day. The TO THE RESCUE and Sara Ward knows more about city food, called layer pellets, costs about £1 In commercial farming chickens are chickens than most. Founder of Hen a month per bird and if you go away for replaced every year, but Pearl still lays Corner, at her home in Brentford, west the weekend, just double the amount up to four eggs a week. The British Hen London, she holds day courses for hun- you give them and they will look after Welfare Trust (bhwt.org.uk) rehomes dreds of aspiring London hen keepers themselves. battery hens. “They won’t be in great every year and hosts talks for school- JULIET MURPHY PHOTOGRAPHS: condition at first but as long as they children, or as part of corporate Ranging free: Hen Corner, Brentford, LIVING THE GOOD LIFE haven’t had their beaks cut off they’ll be events. above, where Sara Ward, left, teaches The Ward family’s garden is about an back to full health within a few months,” townies to keep happy, healthy birds eighth of an acre and has an established says Sara. CHICKENS IN THE CITY apple tree for making cider. Sara also When Sara had children — James, now their friends bought her a chicken coop has two beehives, two veg patches, a O Sara is showcasing Hen Corner 16 and Macy, 14 — she began to try to and two hens. “It is possible to keep blackberry bush — and now 18 hens of (hencorner.com) at the Country Living feed her family more sustainably and hens in even the smallest city garden in various breeds. Pure-breed hens start London Spring Fair, at Alexandra Palace organically. So, for her birthday 10 years a coop measuring three metres by one laying around Valentine’s Day, going from tomorrow until Sunday. Get tickets ago, her husband Andy and some of metre,” says Sara. “This is enough space through to November. Hybrid hens lay at countrylivingfair.com/spring

HEN KEEPING: THE EGGSENTIALS chickens for about £20 each, from a newspaper and you’ll only need to Legalities: you don’t need a Chicken coops: you need space for a local breeder. Make sure they’re about clean it once a week. Put the licence to keep hens unless 3m x 1m chicken coop and to let the 16 weeks old and ready to lay eggs — soiled newspaper in the bin or on you’ve more than 50, but it’s chickens roam the garden. Visit omlet. and female of course. You don’t need a the compost heap. advisable to register with the co.uk to see the Eglu range, from £389 cockerel, which can be very noisy. Department for for a starter package including run. Be warned: they’ll trash the Environment, Food and Fox-resistant runs keep hens safe from Caring for your chickens: keep them in garden. You could rotate their Rural Affairs at gov.uk/ predators, and a rain cover will protect their coop for the first five to seven days living quarters between in guidance/poultry- them from the elements. so they know it’s their home. Make sure the garden to give each area registration) which they have enough food and water every the chance to recover. If you will email you with Hens: the British Hen Welfare Trust morning and let them out to roam in the have the room, like expert Sara regulation updates, such asks for a £5 donation per chicken you garden when you are there. Layer the Ward, give them a permanent as warnings and advice

rehome. Or you can buy a couple of tray at the bottom of the coop with space with dust and wood chippings. during a bird flu outbreak. ALAMY 18 WEDNESDAY 26 APRIL 2017 EVENING STANDARD Homes & Property | Crafts We’re a crafty lot in London Designer-makers are in the spotlight all over the capital for London Craft Week. By Corinne Julius

RAFT rules in the capital next week, the third annual London Craft Week. From Wednesday to Sunday there will be more Cthan 230 craft events across the city, with visitors invited to watch and try traditional skills from stone carving and potting to digital craft. This dazzling array of making includes exhibitions, demos and chances to meet emerging and established makers, designers and Shimmering: Iridescences ceramics show by Dimitri Bähler and Maurizio Tittarelli engineers from Britain and abroad. Rubboli for The Michelangelo Foundation at The Hospital Club, Covent Garden

Head east for upholstery. The And at gallery@oxo, over 20 Design the week: I will be curating Bloomin’ Geffrye Museum of the Home in Nation makers, selected by Homes & Jewels at Contemporary Applied Shoreditch hosts Second Sitters, with Property design specialist Barbara Arts in Bankside, a selling show with work by UK-based upholsterers who Chandler, exhibit on the theme of the pieces by 24 studio jewellers on a are redefining their traditional role. Marks and Tools of the maker. Homes floral theme, with a curator’s brunch At Craft Central in Clerkenwell, & Property is well represented during on Saturday. Forest +Found and Bezalel Workshops are running courses in everything from spoon carving to Techniques: right, talk wallpapers weaving. Around the corner the with historian and maker Allyson Goldsmiths’ Centre offers tours of McDermott at interior designer and jewellery and silversmithing antiques dealer Rose Uniacke’s workshops and hosts Inspired, a showroom in Pimlico Road on May 3. selling exhibition of contemporary Below: glassware from Design Nation’s silver and bespoke furniture. Marks & Tools exhibition, with work by more than 20 makers at gallery@oxo In west London, at the Battersea campus of the Royal College of Art, Contemporary British Silversmiths have an open public seminar on Saturday. See silversmithing demonstrations at the Victoria & Albert Museum in South Kensington on Friday, with Cornwall’s Abigail Brown, and Tina Bentzen from the Georg Jensen workshops in Copenhagen. Across the road, Mint interior design store shows RealCraft, a display of collaborations between designers and local craftspeople in Jordan and Colombia. Nearby SEEDS gallery shows work by designer and furniture maker Martino Gamper and Royally risqué: friends, plus work on the theme of artist Philip Time Travel Translation, including Colbert joins tea services and writing implements forces with the in silver by Hong Kong designer Chi Royal School of Wing Lo, and pieces from textile Needlework at artist Elaine Yan Ling Ng. his Shoreditch studio for Craft In north London, tour the Balls Pond Week to complete Studio of Great Pottery Throw Down Royal Nudes, a judge Kate Malone in Culford Mews series of N1 on Thursday, and enjoy an open embroidered studio in St Paul’s Crescent, NW1 portraits on Friday with ceramicist Martin Smith, in conversation with fellow O London Craft ceramicist and London Craft Week Week runs from 2016 medal winner Alison Britton. May 3 to May 7. For a full list of In the south at Oxo Tower Wharf, events, visit SE1, Studio Fusion Gallery shows londoncraftweek. and sells metal works at Metalscapes. com/programme 20 WEDNESDAY 26 APRIL 2017 EVENING STANDARD Homes & Property | Reader promotion

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■The companies listed here are wholly independent of the Evening Standard. Care is taken to establish that they are bona fide but we recommend that you carry out your own checks prior to purchases and use a credit card where possible. To offer feedback on any of these companies, email homesand property@ standard.co.uk Get in TRADE SECRET furniture 75 per cent off the RRP — with “Bargain outlet buys and sells ends sofas, chairs, tables, beds News” in the on the of lines and returns from and more, all available for subject line. respected high street delivery or collection on For more Trade stores at bargain prices. the day. Find it at Unit 6, bargains, visit Its “Every Price Reduced” Twyford Mill, Adderbury, alisonathome.com Secret sale opens to the public this Oxfordshire, visit or homesand Friday with over 3,000 tradesecret.co.uk or call property.co.uk/ stock items down by up to 01295 810110. offers 22 WEDNESDAY 26 APRIL 2017 EVENING STANDARD Homes & Property | Our home homesandproperty.co.uk

Pocket plot pioneers: after five years in the first home they built, Stephen Davies and Laura Lewis, right, did it all over again

Bright and beautiful: the kitchen-diner, which leads out to the garden, left, has a generous skylight. The bespoke birch ply cabinets, white Corian top and hexagonal micro tiles with gold- coloured grouting along the back are seen right Photographs David Butler and Anna Stathaki Good detective work uncovers secret plots From the terrace of their house on a tiny plot, a couple spied the perfect spot down the road for a new project. By Philippa Stockley

RIT, determination and a little plot at the end of a terrace, over- tract until then, and everything would be the look they wanted. Davies went on tramping round the streets looking the Quaggy river, with an old at his own risk and expense. Davies reck- site daily at 7am, and again at night, as in all weathers every garage sitting on it. He traced its owner, ons the process cost about £15,000, not project manager. weekend for 18 months isn’t who was retired and based in Bristol, counting all his own time and work. The big downstairs, with its slate-look everyone’s idea of fun, but and made him an offer in a letter. The His first suggestion to the planners, of ceramic tiles is clean and bright, with that’sG how Stephen Davies found the owner agreed to sell. a workshop-style two-storey house, light from all sides, plus a generous ridiculously small triangular plot of land didn’t fly, but after discussion, he kitchen skylight. In the kitchen-diner in south-east London where he built his With money tight, the couple designed a designed a two-storey brick house, with area, the cabinets are bespoke birch ply first house. And he has just built a second small triangular three-storey house with windows to all sides, two small garden with a white Corian top, made special by one in the same street. two upper courtyards. It completely courtyards, and a flat roof that will even- hexagonal micro tiles grouted in gold Davies, 38, an architect, knew that the filled the plot. Then they took a model tually have sedum. Boxy, done in spar- along the back. All the knobs and search for land would be hard. “Right round to the neighbours. Because of the row grey brick, it is modest, cute, and switches are brass, and the engine- from the start there were bigger players river running alongside, the house had the same height as the adjoining Victo- turned, glowing metal makes a strong than me out there,” he says. But he had to be raised. Their plans quickly got plan- rian terrace. statement against plain white walls. always wanted to build his own home, ning permission, probably helped by the Pocket doors open spaces up further. so he kept plodding on. fact that there was a modern block of Once the plans were signed off, the hous- They both wanted a feature staircase, He came to London from Wales at 25, flats nearby. ing association sold him the plot, but with and created a curved timber stair that one of a group of friends that included That first sturdy little 1,100sq ft house one proviso: the house would have to be rises beautifully in one corner, leading a former school pal, Laura Lewis, also by the river looks a bit like a Toblerone built exactly as the plans said — in other to the oak-floored upper level. now 38. Like Davies she had trained as castle with a moat. Finished in 2009, words he couldn’t suddenly put up three an architect, but she then retrained as a they were happy in it for five years, but storeys. HIS house looks effortless museum education consultant. At the even so, after a year or so they started It took two years to buy the second plot, now, but Davies compares it same time that Davies began his week- dreaming of doing it all again. having made initial enquiries to the hous- to running the marathon — end quests, the pair met up again and From their upper terrace, the couple ing association in 2012. But full planning once past the finish line you started dating. saw, behind a high fence further down permission was granted in January 2014, are exalted, but the race itself Seriously methodical, Davies stuck a the street, a deserted rectangular wilder- work started in early 2015 and finished isT bloody hard work. The couple won the map on the wall and crossed out expen- ness. Davies discovered that it belonged in summer last year, after a 16-month game. Not everyone would have the sive areas. All of north London vanished to a housing association, so he made build. Lewis wanted lots of light, good nerve to invest so much time and energy in this way, so he focused his search contact. The association said it could only volumes to move around in, and the at their own risk. Now they’ve used the south of the river, and on Lewisham in Feature staircase: curved timber stair be sold once he had planning consent for river nearby. The couple agree on most only free plots in their street, they’re particular. One day in 2008, he passed leads to an upper level with oak floors a house. It wouldn’t enter into any con- things, and both worked hard to source thinking about where to build next. EVENING STANDARD WEDNESDAY 26 APRIL 2017 23 powered by Our home | Homes & Property

Triangular plot: the couple’s first build resembles a Toblerone castle with a moat Out of the wilderness: house on an overgrown plot Davies could see from his terrace

WHAT IT COST First house (finished 2011) Plot: £79,000 Build cost excluding all fees: £135,000. Sold in 2015: £695,000

Second house (finished last year) Plot: £204,000 Build cost excluding all fees: £295,000 Value now (estimate): £1.2 million

GET THE LOOK Architecture: by 31/44 Architects at 3144architects.com Groundworks and shell: by Tully Construction (tullyconstruction.co.uk) On trend: slate-look tiles downstairs Getting the light right: the house has windows to all sides and two courtyard gardens Bricks: beaclaysolutions.com Interior and plywood joinery: by Peter Kouprianoff at Honour Woodwork (07854 713603) Staircase and joinery: by James Christopher Joinery (07747 613913) Sliding doors: velfac.co.uk Freestanding bath: from bathstore. com Ceramic kitchen pendant lights: heals.com Honeycomb micro tiles on splashback: toppstiles.co.uk Kitchen hot water tap: quooker.co.uk Brass finger pulls on pocket doors: sdslondon.co.uk Engine-turned brass handles: busterandpunch.com Landscaping: by Jonathon Stollar (landscapesbyjonstollar.com) Space efficiency: pocket doors open up the downstairs space Clever shelving: in place of a headboard, there’s storage 24 WEDNESDAY 26 APRIL 2017 EVENING STANDARD Homes & Property | Outdoors Drought warning If you are planning a trip to the garden centre this bank holiday weekend, make sure you choose plants that will thrive in dry conditions

HIS is a very dry spring. Nonetheless, this is the time Pattie when many of us rush to the Barron garden centre and grab plants by the trolley load, Tsettling them in one weekend and leav- ing them to their own devices until the next weekend, by which time they are on foliage. There’s no need to panic on a drought-ridden, downward spiral. and turn the hosepipe on the whole They won’t get off to a flying start — or garden, however. “Any plants that are any kind of start — unless they have established — a tree or large shrub more initial and frequent waterings, which than two years, a small shrub more is especially important during dry than a year — should be fine. The spells such as this one. resources of winter rain should keep It’s easy, too, to get caught out with them going until June or July, which is perennial plants in containers that have consoling,” reassures RHS horticul- been fine left to their own devices tural adviser Jenny Bowden. through winter, but now need regular “If I dig a foot down, I would find watering. Japanese maples in pots are moisture. Stick your finger into con- GAP PHOTOS/FRIEDRICH STRAUSS GAP PHOTOS/FRIEDRICH particularly susceptible because the tainers an inch, and if the compost is BERGDAHL GAP PHOTOS/PERNILLA Resilient: Hydrangea Annabelle thrives in dry conditions wind is so drying, causing scorching dry to that depth, then it needs a good Drought lover: Scarlet bottlebrush Callistemon citrinus water. Seeds you have sown will need to be kept constantly moist, however, and so will soil that you have treated with nematodes to control slugs.”

On lawns that are not irrigated, Bowden cautions against using the usual spring- time fertiliser and moss treatments. “Growth has definitely slowed down this spring. My lawn is usually romping away by now. If you put down any treat- ment, you’re promoting growth, but there’s little moisture in the lawn to support that, so do nothing for now. Grass roots are resilient, and when it does rain, the lawn will green up almost

overnight.” HOLMES GAP PHOTOS/NEIL New plants need a proper initial soak- ing, stresses Bowden. “It’s important Easy-growing: and all the Rosa rugosas, which are that watering is thorough and goes once established, especially good in poor, dry soils.” straight to the roots, rather than drib- butterfly bush Foxgloves, aquilegias, forget-me-nots, bling it on the surface with the watering Buddleja x annual poppies, Verbena bonariensis, can. And in the case of young box weyeriana astrantia and other self-seeders are plants, water on the foliage makes them Sungold will good news, because they will invariably more susceptible to box blight. It’s a flourish despite find little pockets in which to make good idea to look at alternatives to box, long periods themselves at home, regardless of such as Ilex crenata, Lonicera nitida without water whether those odd corners are inhos- and Euonymus microphyllus. pitably dry or wet. “Clematis roots go straight down, so a cut plastic water bottle pushed in by ‘Watering “Hardy geraniums have a strong rate of the side of the plant is helpful for direct- must be growth and are always on the move, ing water. With trees and shrubs, the whatever the conditions,” says Bowden. roots spread outwards, so you need to thorough “In my garden, Geranium maccrorhi- water the whole root zone.” and go zum is looking wonderful right now. It has oily leaves and like bergenia and What are the plants that will thrive straight to bearded iris, it is rhizomatous, so has through long periods of dry weather? the roots the ability to store water.” “We can’t choose plants for conditions Whatever your soil type, Bowden on the last few weeks, especially if, like rather than recommends incorporating organic many Londoners, you have clay soil, dribbling it matter. “Digging in well-rotted manure which cracks up but also gets water- on the or garden compost always improve the logged in prolonged rain,” says Bow- soil structure, because it regulates the den. “Most drought-loving plants with surface’ soil, creating air pockets that hold oxy- silver and grey leaves don’t like the wet, gen and moisture.” so be wary of planting these if you have heavy soil that holds water. Our gar- HERE is one big plus, she dens need to have plants that will toler- points out, with the lack of ate both extremes.” rain these past few months: Her recommendations for resilient “There are fewer slugs and shrubs include bottlebrush Callistemon snails decimating our gar- citrinus, Hydrangea Annabelle, Fuch- denT plants, because they don’t like dry sia magellanica, viburnums, deciduous conditions. They’re still around, in as well as evergreen, and Buddleja damp places, hidden under containers davidii cultivars. and in compost heaps, but for the first “Instead of planting hybrid roses, Gardening time ever — hooray! — they’re not on problems? consider the species roses, which are my lettuces.” tougher,” says Bowden. “There are Email our RHS some real beauties, such as the early expert at: expert flowering yellow Canary Bird, scarlet gardeningadvice O For outdoor events this month, visit Rosa moyesii Geranium, Rosa glauca @gmail.com homesandproperty.co.uk/events 28 WEDNESDAY 26 APRIL 2017 EVENING STANDARD Homes & Property | Inside story Diary of Raising a toast an estate to London life agent

MONDAY is very taken by the long history of the Covent Garden before selling, and Tucking into scrambled egg and building — it’s a former film company would like to see some of our newer avocado — that’s how I start my day, in HQ — and also by the residents’ gym, schemes. I give her my advice on add- a café in Long Acre, before heading to which is very unusual in this area. I love ing a modern twist; it’s amazing how a the office, where my very first phone that there is such a diversity of bou- coat of paint brings your property back call is to touch base with the buyers I tique schemes on our central London to life. A light grey in the bedroom will met with on Saturday. Then I look over patch, and my buyer agrees. But it make it feel bright and light. My interi- new enquiries from the weekend and makes his choice a lot harder. ors advice is clearly working, as she congratulate another buyer on their promises to instruct us on the sale once completion, arranging to meet them WEDNESDAY the makeover’s done. with a card and bottle of bubbly. They There is great buzz in the office this finally got the keys to a penthouse just morning after a busy day of viewings FRIDAY off Carnaby Street, after a long search yesterday. I had an offer come in from As we tie up the week, I spend the to find the perfect home in Soho. a young woman I viewed with last morning catching up with my clients By this afternoon I’ve a few viewings week. After looking around the area, a and gathering feedback from the team lined up around the West End. Thank- beautiful one-bedroom flat in a prime for our weekly viewing reports. This is fully it’s a lovely day for walking development in Kingsway was the one followed by two back-to-back viewings around. Who could fail to fall in love for her. At under £1,800 per square foot in the afternoon in Holborn and Fleet with London when the sun’s shining? for a new development in the West Street. I love that this part of London End, she couldn’t resist a good deal. still feels quite undiscovered. You asso- TUESDAY This afternoon, I take a first-time ciate it with lawyers’ offices, so it’s a What a contrast — it’s a grey, dreary buyer to view a two-bedroom flat in thrill to walk through a discreet door morning so I treat myself to a muffin Covent Garden, close to the bustling into a luxurious hidden home. before my first meeting with a buying Piazza and the area’s amazing restau- The planned trip back to Carnaby agent and her client. We head straight rants. The loft-style, interior-designed Street to congratulate my penthouse out to our first property, a beautiful flat is made for parties, and I’m prom- buyers brings Friday to a close. They two-bedroom apartment in Wardour ised an invite to his housewarming, so crack open the bubbly while I’m still Street and the buyer is blown away by I’m confident he is going to offer. there, and together we raise a toast to the exposed brickwork, ironwork London life. period features and gorgeous interior THURSDAY design of this warehouse conversion. Interiors are up for discussion first O Emily Poole is a sales negotiator We then head to another amazing flat thing, when I meet with a client who is with CBRE in Covent Garden in the same street. This time the client looking to refurbish her property in (020 7240 2255). 32 WEDNESDAY 26 APRIL 2017 EVENING STANDARD Homes & Property | Property searching

Jubilee Clock: erected in the High Street for Queen Victoria’s 1877 Golden Jubilee, renovated in 1997 Spotlight on Harlesden More than 30,000 new homes are coming to a neighbourhood poised to become one of London’s best connected, says Anthea Masey

ITH long-established board is Oaklands, a £750 million 605- Irish and Caribbean Start your property home development in Old Oak Com- communities and mon Lane, a joint venture between newer arrivals from search on housing association Genesis and Brazil, Portugal and rightmove.co.uk Queens Park Rangers Football Club, WSomalia, the north-west London sub- which at one point earmarked the land urb of Harlesden is one of the most for a new stadium. Some 40 per cent diverse in London. of the homes will be affordable with A great fan of this cultural melting pot some shared ownership. The develop- is broadcaster Louis Theroux, who ment breaks ground soon and it will be settled in Harlesden 15 years ago and ready to move into in 2019. likes to bang the drum for his neigh- Next up is Old Oak Park on a 47-acre bourhood at every opportunity, Harlesden stands on the edge of Lon- site in Hythe Road with a frontage along whether celebrating improvements to don’s largest regeneration project, Old the . A joint venture the town centre or opening a new clinic Oak and Park Royal. With its own devel- between Cargiant and London & at The Mayhew Animal Home in Tren- opment corporation, it is promising to Regional Properties, plans for 6,500 mar Gardens. build a new town on the site of an homes, including a 45-storey tower Harlesden was the home of British industrial wasteland currently criss- block, will go before the planners this reggae in the Sixties and Seventies and crossed by railway lines. time next year. still thrums to the beat in Craven Park South of Harlesden town centre, a Harlesden is on the Harrow Road, the Road, where Hawkeye is the area’s last major new transport hub will open at A404, between Kensal Green and reggae record shop. On the side of the the point where HS2 and Crossrail Wembley with Willesden Green to the Methodist church hall in Tavistock Road meet, making it one of London’s best- north and White City and Shepherd’s is a plaque to The Cimarons, the first connected new neighbourhoods with Bush to the south. Six miles north-west British roots reggae band, who came as many as 25,500 new homes and of central London, it attracts families together in the hall and whose guitarist, 65,000 new jobs planned over the next who cannot afford a house in far pricier Locksley Gichie, still lives locally. Now 20 to 30 years. First off the drawing Queen’s Park and Kensal Green.

£405,000 £875,000 £595,000 A ONE-BEDROOM fully furnished flat IN QUIET Glynfield Road, Harlesden, this A TWO-BEDROOM flat in a secure gated with a balcony in Lakeside Drive, NW10. three-bedroom house has a lovely scheme in Acton Lane, Harlesden. Through Dexters (020 8896 2112). garden. Call Foxtons (020 8090 9800). Through Foxtons (020 8090 9800).

To find a home in Harlesden, visit rightmove.co.uk For more about Harlesden, visit homesandproperty.co.uk/harlesden EVENING STANDARD WEDNESDAY 26 APRIL 2017 33 homesandproperty.co.uk powered by Property searching | Homes & Property

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STATS CHECK WHAT HOMES COST BUYING IN HARLESDEN (Average prices) One-bedroom flat £315,000 Two-bedroom flat £450,000 Two-bedroom house £520,000 Three-bedroom house £663,000 Four-bedroom house £920,000

RENTING IN HARLESDEN (Average rates) One-bedroom flat £1,289 a month Two-bedroom flat £1,534 a month Two-bedroom house £1,733 a month Three-bedroom house £2,044 a month Four-bedroom house £2,537 a month Source: Rightmove

FOR MORE, VISIT homesandproperty.co.uk YVONNE WHITE YVONNE O Use our School Checker to find Local celeb: TV’s Louis Theroux lives in Harlesden and cut the catchment areas and inspection ribbon to open The Mayhew Animal Home in Trenmar Gardens Don’t stop the reports for local schools carnival: above, O The best Harlesden shops and specialist artist restaurants and costume maker Lakshmi O Local arts, leisure and sport Kanbi at O Harlesden’s best roads — and an Mahogany up-and-coming spot to watch Carnival Design in High Street

Green Flag: left, view of Wembley Stadium arch TRANSPORT from popular WILLESDEN Roundwood Park JUNCTION is the main station serving Harlesden Tropical tastes: town centre, with Afro-Caribbean Tube supermarket trains to central London and Blue Mountain Overground trains to Richmond, Peak, left, in Clapham Junction, Euston and Craven Park Stratford via Highbury & Islington. Road reflects the The station is in Zone 2/3 and an rich diversity of annual travelcard is £1,296. Harlesden the area, selling and Stonebridge Park are also on the exotic fruit, Bakerloo line and there are trains to vegetables, Euston. The stations are in Zone 3 and spices and an annual travelcard costs £1,520. seasonings The most useful commuter bus is the No 18 which goes to Euston via Baker Street. The No 226 takes shoppers to Photographs: Brent Cross. Daniel Lynch

THE PROPERTY SCENE scheme of nine flats. Two-bedroom flats start at £548,000. Call Hamptons (020 3451 1544). There HARLESDEN has many roads of attractive three- is one remaining two-bedroom shared- and four-bedroom Victorian terrace houses, ownership flat at award-winning Canal Quarter while in the roads off College Road and All Souls in Hillside at New Stonebridge Park, part of a Avenue there are Twenties terraces and Thirties £225 million regeneration of the Stonebridge semis. Stonebridge Park, a large area of social Estate. The price is £154,000 for a 40 per cent housing west of the town centre, has gradually share of a flat with a market price of £385,000. been rebuilt over the last 20 years, with Sixties Call Hyde New Homes on 0345 606 1221. tower blocks demolished and replaced with lower-rise houses and blocks of flats. ■ WHO RENTS HERE? The rental market in Harlesden isn’t large, and ■ NEW-BUILD HOMES it is predominantly made up of one- and two- There are two new four-bedroom houses built in bedroom flats in converted houses, with three traditional style in Letchford Gardens. Prices times as many flats available to rent as there are start at £1,175,000. Through Camerons Stiff (020 houses. There is a large supply of studio flats at 8459 1133). The Stay Club in Nicoll Road which can be rented for the short or long term. The Stay Club Est 1979: Popsie Dear in his Starlight ■ AFFORDABLE HOMES has three London developments that offer a Records shop in Craven Park Road. Help to Buy is available on some units at student vibe with on-site cafés. The others are Reggae legend Bob Marley was one of Honeywood Heights in Honeywood Road, a in Camden and Colindale. Popsie’s friends and regular customers EVENING STANDARD WEDNESDAY 26 APRIL 2017 35 homesandproperty.co.uk powered by Ask the expert | Homes & Property Smoky BBQ takes away my appetite Fiona WHAT’S I RECENTLY purchased a house as a cash YOUR buyer. Since moving in I have discovered McNulty PROBLEM? Qproblems with an RSJ installed previously IF YOU have a when a wall was removed. I have now found OUR LAWYER ANSWERS YOUR QUESTIONS question for there is neither building regulations consent nor Fiona McNulty, indemnity insurance for the work. I have been chasing please email my solicitor about it but she is ignoring my calls. It WE MOVED into our legalsolutions@ seems I now have to pay for a structural surveyor to house a year ago and from standard.co.uk come and see what the problems are. Should my Q March to September, as or write to Legal solicitor have arranged indemnity insurance? long as it isn’t raining — Solutions, Homes and sometimes even when it is — & Property, INDEMNITY insurance is possible for lack of our next-door neighbours get their London Evening building regulations consent but gives no barbecue going. The smoke billows Standard, 2 Derry Areassurance as to the safety of the works. Your across and fills our house, along Street, W8 5EE. solicitor should have provided you with the with the cooking smells. We regret that Property Information Form in which the seller should have This happens almost every night questions cannot disclosed all works to the house. The building regulations when the neighbours return from be answered completion certificate for the removal of the wall should work, and their weekend barbies individually, but have been obtained from the seller. If it was unavailable can last all day and well into the we will try to and no certificate was revealed in the local authority evening. Last summer we had to feature them search, your solicitor should have raised enquiries of the keep our doors and windows here. Fiona seller’s solicitor. closed and if I have washing out, it McNulty is a Your solicitor should have advised you to have a survey. A makes no difference to the pests legal director report from a structural engineer would have been another next door. I suffer with asthma and in the private option. Ask your solicitor’s firm for details of its complaints the continual smoky atmosphere to both your property and theirs to statutory nuisance. If the problem is wealth group of procedure and explain in writing what has happened and does me no good. What can I do? see whether there are any not resolved amicably you could Foot Anstey your concerns. If your complaint is not dealt with restrictions on barbecuing. raise the issue with your local (footanstey.com). satisfactorily you may go to the Legal Ombudsman. You SPEAK to your next-door If your neighbours continue to environmental health officer at the may have a claim if your solicitor failed to advise you neighbours, explaining that disregard your complaints entirely, council. properly. You could also request a copy of her file, so that A you suffer from asthma and you may have a claim in nuisance. The council will look at the amount you can see what steps she took. that the smoke from their Look at your buildings and/or of smoke caused, how frequent the If the sellers failed to disclose the removal of the wall,

barbecue is causing you health contents insurance to see whether barbecuing is, how long it lasts and if there may be a claim for misrepresentation against them. issues. The barbecue may be very you have legal expenses insurance the activity is unreasonable. Smoke close to the dwellings, which could that could assist you with a claim. caused by cooking is unlikely to be a More legal O These answers can only be a very brief commentary on be a fire risk. Perhaps they could Your local council can investigate statutory nuisance. However, if you Q&As the issues raised and should not be relied on as legal advice. barbecue further away at the end of complaints about smoke from feel it is excessive, the council may Visit: homesand No liability is accepted for such reliance. If you have similar their garden. Look at the title deeds residential premises that cause a look into this for you. property.co.uk issues, you should obtain advice from a solicitor. 38 WEDNESDAY 26 APRIL 2017 EVENING STANDARD Homes & Property | Letting on

Y GREAT-AUNT, who lives in France, asks me to “pop along” to her rental flat in north Tell that bruiser London to inspect it Mfor any damage before the tenant leaves. Auntie, who is too tight to pay for a professional check-out service, tells me the tenant is being “a bit of a of a boyfriend drama queen” by insisting on being present when the flat is inspected. I can’t see that this is a problem — until I meet her. Both the tenant and her large, rather he can back off intimidating boyfriend follow me from room to room while I check for damage. The tenant walks so close to Victoria Whitlock tries to inspect a rental me that we keep bumping into each other, and I keep having to ask the flat for damage — closely shadowed by the boyfriend to move out of my way. When the two of them cram into scary tenant and her even scarier partner the tiny kitchen behind me, there isn’t enough room for me to open the oven door to check that it has been deducting money from the tenant’s cleaned. “Excuse me, could you… deposit without proof that she is to make a little room?” I ask, indicating The blame for any damage, so this is just a that I need space to drop the door. waste of my time. “It’s been cleaned, twice,” the tenant accidental snaps and doesn’t shift from her Fortunately, aside from the sort of £625 a week: a three-bedroom terrace house in popular Drayton Road, Harlesden position next to the sink. landlord wear and tear you’d expect after a NW10, moments from Roundwood Park and with a secluded rear garden and “That handle was already broken,” two-year tenancy, including some good-size rooms, is available on a short let through Foxtons (020 8012 6807). she says as I reach to open the fridge moved into the flat and although it’s mould in the bathroom, the odd stain door. The handle, stuck to the door obvious she is trying to intimidate on the carpet and scuffed walls, I with tape, comes off in my hand. me, I have no proof that she is lying don’t find anything of concern. The insisting that the tenant broke it, but she’s too mean. But this is a dangerous because my tight old aunt didn’t flat isn’t very clean but of course, my I wouldn’t be surprised if her game to play and she could end up the All three of us head into the bedroom, bother to provide an inventory at the great-aunt didn’t bother to get it memory has deceived her. loser. I recommend every landlord where the tenant and her boyfriend start of the tenancy. professionally cleaned before the does a check-in report. stand over me while I crouch down Without a check-in report to show tenant moved in. I advise auntie to get professional to inspect underneath the bed. I feel the state of the flat and all of its I tell the tenant everything seems cleaners in and suggest she repairs the O Victoria Whitlock lets four it’s all getting a bit weird. The tenant contents when the tenant arrived, fine and call my great-aunt to suggest damaged items and arranges for an properties in south London. insists that every mark or stain I note I’ve got nothing to refer to and my she returns her deposit in full. She inventory to be taken before the next To contact Victoria with your ideas down was already there when she aunt won’t be able to justify grumbles about the fridge handle, tenants move in. I know she won’t — and views, tweet @vicwhitlock 40 WEDNESDAY 26 APRIL 2017 EVENING STANDARD Homes & Property | New homes

From £406,000: flats with roof terraces at Harrow Square From £470,000: Clissold Quarter apartments in N4, with Help to Buy available Chicago-style flats tempt young buyers to Harrow SmartSmartmoSmSSmamartmartmmarartmovartrt momovov HARROW, in Zone 5, is a 20 storeys, part of a new family favourite thanks to high street commercial By David Spittles its handsome Georgian hub that includes a new conservation quarter, its library, shops, offices and many big interwar houses upgraded public spaces. built at low densities, green Many of the homes are open spaces, famous dual-aspect, while there Harrow School and quick are also communal roof train links to central terraces, and solar panels London. help generate cheaper Now a Heart of Harrow electricity for residents. Top-class houses regeneration project is Prices from £406,000. Call transforming the town Barratt on 0844 811 4321. centre and attracting young O Lexicon occupies the singles and couples. site of the old town centre at Stokey school There’s already a youthful library — 230 flats priced buzz about the place with from £490,000 for two University of Westminster bedrooms. Call 020 3432 CHANCE to buy into the perimeter, close to the vibrant High From £865,000 to £1.45 million: main Media, Arts and Design 9106. Want family-friendly Stoke Street and Stoke Newington Church picture, above and above right, a campus. O A former Kodak Newington community Street, with its quirky boutiques and collection of nine period houses at Up to 5,000 new homes printworks has been to buy has arisen with the cafés. Interiors of the houses retain Grange Hall, Stoke Newington, N16 are on the way with Help to bulldozed to make way for a new conversion of a some original features, such as arched Buy properties included. 1,800 homes. Harrow Ahandsome listed school building into windows and vaulted ceilings, and acres of Clissold Park, is Clissold O Roxburgh House View West, the first phase build a courtyard complex of nine houses. each home has a private garden and Quarter, with 158 apartments in replaces former Harrow of 600 homes, has family West Hackney Parochial School, in parking space. three crisply designed blocks that are Building Society’s houses with gardens set in home? the heart of Stoke Newington, dates Prices from £865,000 — for a two- clad in warm brick and bronze. headquarters and brings 18 leafy avenues. Prices from back to 1837, the year Queen Victoria bedroom apartment over three floors There are one-, two- and three- flats priced from £325,000. £640,000. Call Persimmon came to the throne. The school — to £1.45 million. The Grange, the bedroom apartments, duplexes and Call 020 8912 0006. on 020 8432 1019. closed during the hard times that largest house in the complex, has penthouses, with prices from O Harrow Square is a O Redrow’s Lyon Square accompanied the district’s 20th- four bedrooms, three bathrooms and £470,000 to £925,000. Call 020 8003 higher-profile scheme of has 310 flats priced from century decline, first morphing into a occupies the entire front of the 4801. Clissold Park is fabulous for 318 flats designed by £505,000. Concierge, snooker hall and ending up as a original building. Call EastHaus on summer, with its tennis pavilion, Chicago-based skyscraper underground parking and storage warehouse. 020 3176 1270. ornamental lakes, butterfly dome, specialists SOM architects. gym are in the package. Now it is reborn as Grange Hall, Stokey also does new build. Not far paddling pool, market garden and Four blocks rise from six to Call 020 3553 3765. individual houses within a walled from Grange Hall, alongside the 54 listed villa turned into a café. EVENING STANDARD WEDNESDAY 26 APRIL 2017 41 homesandproperty.co.uk powered by New homes | Homes & Property

From £505,000: St Martin’s Walk apartments, Gospel Oak From £425k: lofts at The Metalworks, Clapham Old Town Forward-looking Gospel Oak LOFT homes with a sense of heritage LIVING IN CLAPHAM ARCHITECTURAL north of Mansfield Road historian Nikolaus Pevsner running up to Hampstead described St Martin’s in Heath. It’s an under-the- ARTS AND CRAFTS pioneer Gospel Oak, NW5, as “the radar location but plugged William Bainbridge craziest of London’s into the Overground. Reynolds, famed for the Victorian churches”, due Bacton, a council housing Kitchener chapel gates at Malins Group, whose mainly to its incomplete- estate, is getting a facelift by St Paul’s Cathedral, plied previous projects include looking tower and William award-winning Karakusevic his trade from a Clapham Apple Apartments, the Morris stained-glass Carson Architects who have Old Town metalworks. former Beatles HQ in windows. also designed a new block Now the factory is being Marylebone, is keeping The Grade I-listed church of 21 private flats priced split into 24 loft flats set aspects of the original sits in a pocket of London from £505,000. around a cobbled architecture and creating that was zapped in the Called St Martin’s Walk, courtyard and a garden new industrial design Sixties by Camden council it is an elegant architectural with lit walkways, copper elements, such as copper planners to build low-rise intervention with planters, evergreen splashbacks and walnut estates. Apart from the distinctive brickwork shrubs, hazel and acer doors. Prices from £425,000 church, all that remains of frontages, big windows and trees. At The Metalworks, to £1 million. Call 01932 Victorian Gospel Oak is the recessed balconies. Call boutique developer The 356043. pleasant cache of streets Savills on 020 3320 8220.