A Brave Auction Buy and a Clever Conversion

Wednesday 15 January 2014 Cupboard love Homes&

Statement storage Property Page 12

TEN NEW SUPER-SUBURBS P4 RENT OUT YOUR CLUTTER P8 THE YEAR-ROUND GARDEN P27 SPOTLIGHT ON KINGSTON P32

A brave auction buy and a clever conversion One young couple tell their story: Page 24 SIMON MAXWELL London’s best property search website: homesandproperty.co.uk 2 WEDNESDAY 15 JANUARY 2014 EVENING STANDARD

Homes & Property Online homesandproperty.co.uk with This week: homesandproperty.co.uk news: Property Don’t move, improve — and in partnership with get free advice from an expert search Full of ideas: the Slim House, far left, and the London buy of the week Tower House, left, two winners one L of a place in Peckham of Don’t Move, Improve! awards £750,000: if you’re looking for something special, this award-winning home off leafy Peckham Rye Common, SE15, is a must-see. Wenge wood doors and hardwood AS HOUSE prices continue to rise, this is the year to stay floors rescued from a sugar factory are a sweet touch in put and improve the property you own. So why not the extended L-shaped living/dining room — lit by a wall of prepare to start your project with free expert help? glass doors to a garden fragranced by eucalyptus trees. You can get a 25-minute session of free advice from an Both double bedrooms have en suites, while one sits below architect who specialises in home projects, on Saturday a huge skylight. Through Wooster & Stock. January 25 at the Building Centre in Store Street, W1, in association with New London Architecture, Heal’s, and O homesandproperty.co.uk/buypeck the British Institute of Interior Design. Twenty architectural practices, all shortlisted in NLA’s recent Don’t Move, Improve! awards, will be on hand with guidance at the event, which runs from 11am to 4pm. Out of town buy of the week To inspire you further, tour the exhibition of 46 winning and shortlisted Don’t Move, Improve! London projects. immerse yourself in a hot Bath property

O Read Philippa Stockley’s full story at homesandproperty.co.uk £750,000: take a derelict Georgian high-spec kitchen is open-plan to stable block in Bath, convert living and dining areas that are made beautifully into a boutique collection for entertaining. There’s a separate of six mews houses, set around a studio/garden room that you could hot homes: along the ‘new central courtyard, and you have either let or use as a home office, and homes that are hot to trot. This one Bath’s historic treats are a few north-east Overground route’ has three bedrooms — two en suite — minutes’ stroll away. £399,950: a a third shower room and a fabulous split-level, two- decked roof terrace. The impressive O homesandproperty.co.uk/outmews bedroom period ﬂat near the planned new Turkey Street Life changer get behind the Overground station in Enﬁeld counter and develop an idea

O homesand £795,000: change tack and become a shopkeeper, or even property.co.uk/ a developer, at Southdown House in the Surrey Hills village forty of Churt. The five-bedroom character home is a perfect blank canvas with 2,400sq ft of living space — in need of TRANSPORT for London’s plans for 25 new Overground updating — that includes a self-contained shop with prime stations next year put north-east London firmly in the village frontage. And there’s a bonus. You have planning property spotlight. Join our property tour as we follow a permission in place to build a pair of upmarket cottages at planned new route on the network that will include the end of the garden. Through Hamptons. Enfield, Cheshunt and Chingford. O Visit homesandproperty.co.uk/lifechangershop O To join our tour, visit homesandproperty.co.uk Faye Greenslade

Editor: Win a clever Combimate Janice …and don’t let limescale leave you out in the cold Morley ARE you one of the millions of home VISIT homesandproperty.co. owners living in a hard water area in uk/rules for details of our the South-East? If so, you could usual promotion rules. When benefit from being the winner of a you respond to promotions, Combimate, courtesy of water offers or competitions, the experts Cistermiser. This very clever London Evening Standard and and neat little device attaches to your its sister companies may cold water mains pipe and prevents contact you with relevant limescale build-up — a leading cause of offers and services that may boiler breakdown and poor-running be of interest. Please give showers. your mobile number and/or The Combimate has been safe- email address if you would guarding homes from limescale and like to receive such offers by helping cut fuel bills in hard water text or email. areas for more than 25 years. We have one Combimate, usually Editorial: 020 3615 2524 priced £150, to give away. Or you can Advertisement manager: enjoy a 10 per cent discount by Be a softie: prevent Mark Wood visiting combimate.co.uk and using limescale build-up Advertising: 020 3615 0527 code COMLES01. with a Combimate Homes & Property, Northcliffe House, 2 Derry Street, TO ENTER Kensington, London W8 5TT. For a chance to win a Combimate worth £150, visit homesandproperty.co.uk/ offers before the end of January 24. Usual rules apply, see homesandproperty.co.uk/rules EVENING STANDARD WEDNESDAY 15 JANUARY 2014 3 homesandproperty.co.uk with News Homes & Property Join the Hollywood Linley’s secrets in an £8.5m home set at Shepperton ÉFOR townies with country living in mind, Kylemore House, right, in É CELEBRITIES are frequently Kingston upon Thames, is a new spotted in the neighbourhood seven-bedroom beauty 800 metres around Shepperton Studios, where from Richmond Park and close to blockbusters including The Omen, Coombe Wood Golf Club. Alien, Shakespeare in Love, Thor On the market with Savills for sequel The Dark World and, more £8.5 million (visit homesand recently, the Muppets sequel property.co.uk/kyle), it is on the

were shot. GETTY hugely desirable Coombe Hill estate, Next year, the new Avengers home of tennis player-turned- movie will be made there, turning market with Jackson-Stops & Staff in broadcaster Annabel Croft. house’s striking kitchen with hand- Surrey into a Hollywood hotspot Teddington for £3.25 million. The neighbourhood has long painted walnut units and secret again with a big-name cast The Fifties-built, riverside house attracted the rich and famous. drawers was designed by David including Scarlett Johansson, was home to Sixties TV personality Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood Linley, right, son of Princess pictured, Elizabeth Olsen, Chris Barbara Kelly and her husband, the lived opposite the entrance to Margaret and Lord Snowdon, and Hemsworth, Robert Downey Jr, actor and writer Bernard Braden. Coombe Park, and media mogul chairman of Christie’s UK — all good Samuel L Jackson and Mark Ruffalo. Later, John Gregson, who acted in Rupert Murdoch’s TV gossip for kitchen suppers with the If you fancy getting in on the 40 films between 1948 and 1971, executive daughter well-heeled neighbours. glitterati action, invest in including the classic Genevieve, Elisabeth also

six-bedroom Creek House, on the lived there with his family. lived locally. The O See Spotlight Kingston: Pages 32-33 FEX FEATURES

By Amira Hashish

Got some gossip? Tweet @amiranews SPLASH NEWS By George. A guide to open-plan living As seen on TV, Khloé’s

É TV PRESENTER and model Mullholland Park pad George Lamb is spreading the word É KHLOÉ KARDASHIAN is selling her about the joys of open-plan living. marital home in California. His 1,200sq ft Hackney home is a The reality TV A-lister wants to part-converted factory with exposed recover from her break-up with brick walls, red firehoses and steel basketball player Lamar Odom after pipework, giving it an industrial feel. four years and thinks that leaving the The sleeping area is screened off with home she shared with him will help. antique doors but the rest of the The custom-built, seven-bedroom space has an urban, airy look. spread, with a bling home gym, has “I love open-plan living. To make been seen on TV in Keeping Up with the this work you’ve got to think about Kardashians and spin-off series Khloé how you store things and carve up & Lamar. On the market for areas for different activities,” says the £2.7 million, the glamorous property is 34-year-old, who has teamed up with located in the upmarket Mulholland

furniture brand Hygena to create a GETTY Park area of Los Angeles. guys’ guide to modern living.

BATHROOM SALE/C.P. HART NOW ON EST. 1937

4 WEDNESDAY 15 JANUARY 2014 EVENING STANDARD

Homes & Property New homes homesandproperty.co.uk with

From £264,995: for ﬂats (above and top) at London Square, Ruislip. The low-rise blocks in the scheme surround communal gardens. Call 0333 666 2636 for details

HIS new year heralds a new era for the suburbs, after a 10-year focus on central London and inner-city Seize the day: the super-suburbs regeneration. Attention is Tnow turning to commuter territory, with planners taking a keen interest in The inner city once stole the headlines but community buildings, allotments, patterns triggered by London’s growing the 86 acres of green belt land in cycle sheds and transport. night-time workforce. Greater London that could become now outer London is the big story with 10 Leo Hollis, a self-proclaimed “urban- There is a huge shortage of new housing and parkland. ist” and author of Cities are Good for homes in outer boroughs, with the big- Spiralling property prices and growing new zones planned — all offering homes, You, warns against “over-design” and gest shortfalls in Richmond, Merton, demand for homes make the suburbs a suggests spending less time planning Kingston, Redbridge and Enfield. natural hunting ground for the new transport and jobs, says David Spittles iconic but sterile new structures and Property prices are therefore likely to buyer seeking good value. The welcome more on the spaces between them. continue rising. Based on current news is that several factors are converg- “This is where we find the energy, crea- policies and housing targets, Paul ing to make outer London a better, more jobs, education and culture — a diversity GARDEN SUBURBS tivity and vitality of the city. Designs Cheshire, professor emeritus at Lon- accessible place to live. that has not always been catered for by Also envisaged are modern garden must be open-ended, with an element don School of Economics, estimates Mayor Boris Johnson has set up an builders. The commission will focus on suburbs, based on the principles of of unpredictability to allow neighbour- that prices could be 75 per cent higher Outer London Commission to revitalise large tracts of industrial land, so-called green belt towns such as Letchworth hoods to evolve over time.” than now in real terms by 2025. suburbs with new transport and busi- “brownfield sites”. Up to 10 designated and tree-lined streets such as Bedford London has 19 outer boroughs, some ness initiatives, together with more housing zones, with tax breaks and Park in Ealing. Much of the Greater JOINED-UP COMMUTING extending into the home counties, adventurous housing projects that cater relaxed planning rules, will be created. London green belt is at present unused Transport strategists are looking where commuter towns were created for the mix of people living there. Old Oak Common in west London, scrubland. beyond Crossrail to help cope with the by railway expansion. Though stereotyped as a place for Cricklewood in the north, Croydon in This vision feels like a Fifties flash- swelling number of suburban commut- In general, house prices tend to families, outer London is enormously the south and Upper Lea Valley in the back, but in those days middle-class ers. One objective is better integrated, decline steadily as travel times varied in terms of wealth, ethnicity, east are possible locations. homebuyers chose to relocate. Many or joined-up, transport — rail, Tube, lengthen, though Savills has identified of today’s movers are forced to uproot 25 “super-suburbs”, including Esher, because of the shortage of affordable Kingswood, Chigwell, Chislehurst, housing. “Whereas in the past, differ- There is huge shortage of Totteridge and Winchmore Hill, where ent income groups lived in the same new homes in outer £1 million-plus homes are not uncom- neighbourhood or adjacent ones, cen- boroughs, so prices are mon. Yet in many other well-connected tral and inner London will increasingly suburban areas new family houses are become the preserve of the wealthier,” likely to keep rising there in the £300,000 to £600,000 price says Margarethe Theseira of the Centre bracket, and flats start at less than for London independent think tank. bus and even river taxis all connecting £250,000. So the capital will be more economi- with each other to make journeys easier cally segregated, with less-affluent and quicker. WHERE TO BUY people, including young professionals Transport for London will next year Outer west London will be a big Cross- and aspiring middle-class families, take over the West Anglia train route rail winner and is a good area to buy living on the outskirts. But will a less from Liverpool Street to Stansted air- into before the line opens in 2018. The integrated London be a worse London? port and Cambridge. Part of the deal Hammersmith to Heathrow M4 corri- Stephen Howlett, chief executive of the involves upgrading 23 stations along the dor has traditionally been a key com- Peabody charitable housing trust, way. With a 5,500-acre portfolio, TfL is mercial zone, popular with global warns against “sleepwalking” into a one of the capital’s biggest landowners corporations such as GlaxoSmithKline Parisian-style housing divide with a and has identified 75 sites for property at Brentford. Over the years, airport “doughnut” of uninspiring new sub- schemes. It is also throwing open sta- expansion has boosted the growth of urbs surrounding the capital. tions to grocery and coffee-shop chains satellite towns including Hounslow, What is needed is well thought-out, and electronics retailers, and expects Hayes, Slough and Staines but they high-quality housing with imaginative to introduce a 24-hour Tube service on have lacked sparkle as places to live.

GRAHAM HUSSEY architecture and what he calls “social its main lines at weekends, partly in Now, change is afoot. Prime example: Bedford Park, Ealing, is a template for new London garden suburbs infrastructure” — open space, shops, response to changing commuter National Grid and developer St James EVENING STANDARD WEDNESDAY 15 JANUARY 2014 5 New homes Homes & Property

From £277,500: for ﬂats at Kidbrooke Village, left and right, a new garden suburb with a 15-minute commute to London Bridge from a new transport interchange at Kidbrooke station in Eltham, SE3

are the good-value future

From £401,500: for homes at Stanmore Place, north-west From £435,000: ﬂats with roof terraces and panoramic London, set in landscaped grounds. Call 020 8952 2835 London views in Saffron Square, Croydon (020 8774 9888)

have unveiled one of the capital’s big- 8952 2853. Nearby Canons Park station gest new neighbourhoods, 3,750 Croydon — London’s ‘third is in Zone 5 on the Jubilee line. homes to be built on a former gas works city’ — got the bit between its Croydon has got the bit between its bordering the Grand Union Canal in teeth following agreement to redevelop Southall. As well as new housing, there teeth after permission for the drab Sixties Whitgift Centre into a will be a primary school and a small the new £1bn Westfield mall £1 billion Westfield shopping mall. The business village, while the develop- local council has announced plans for ment will integrate with a new Crossrail 9,500 new homes and is trumpeting station at Southall. and more than 10,000 residents. Called Croydon as London’s “third city” (after Another project is Drayton Garden Kidbrooke Village, the development the West End and Square Mile), a key Village, 775 homes at a former Royal is split into four attractively landscaped business location on the edge of the Air Force base less than three miles neighbourhoods and borders Sutcliffe capital, with 27 trains an hour into the from Heathrow, while in Ruislip, devel- Park, which has a lake and wetlands. centre and a through-the-night service oper London Square is bringing some- Properties are a step up for the area to Gatwick airport. thing fresh to an area dominated by with smart, space-efficient interiors. With the town’s commercial heart interwar housing — a scheme of 60 flats From £277,500. Call 020 8150 5151. getting sorted out, residential develop- in low-rise blocks surrounding com- On the site of an old industrial estate, ers are stepping in with smart new munal gardens. Prices from £264,995. Stanmore Place is a new 798-home schemes such as Saffron Square, Call 0333 666 2636 community at the edge of north-west under way near the Whitgift Centre A new transport interchange at Kid- London, in award-winning landscaped site. It has 756 homes in five low-rise brooke station in Eltham, SE3, provid- grounds with lake, cycle paths and play blocks and a 43-storey tower, with res- ing a 15-minute commute to London areas. There is a gym, car club and 24- taurants, galleries, shops and a new Bridge is part of a “new garden suburb” hour concierge. Prices from £401,500. public plaza. From £435,000. Call that will eventually have 4,000 homes Call developer St Edward Homes on 020 Berkeley Homes on 020 8774 9888. 6 WEDNESDAY 15 JANUARY 2014 EVENING STANDARD

Homes & Property Commuting homesandproperty.co.uk with REGENERATION HOTSPOTS

ARGE sums are being invested in commuter belt towns, transforming them through new business opportunities and revitalisedL shopping centres with the aim of drawing young Londoners to the home counties to start family life. We find three well worth watching.

REDHILL SAVE IN SURREY THE planned £50 million revamp of Redhill railway station will include a new town square, shops and 150 flats. Meanwhile, Reigate and Banstead borough council plans to spend £4.1 million on cutting congestion in the centre of this Surrey town and another £1.4 million improving Redhill Memorial Park. A further From £172,000: £4.1 million will go towards upgrading two-bedroom the Donyngs Leisure Centre. ﬂats at Victory The average house price in Redhill Pier, Gillingham, is £277,237, up 2.44 per cent in the about a mile last year, says property website from the station Zoopla. With trains to Victoria in with trains to under half an hour and services to St Pancras in London Bridge taking from 34 41 minutes minutes for an annual season ticket costing £3,352, the town clearly ticks a lot of commuting boxes. Families are attracted by high- You CAN afford to start a family quality schools. Almost all Redhill primaries get strong reports from the Ofsted government watchdog and the Ruth Bloomfield finds prime commuter belt locations for young Londoners two senior schools — The Warwick and St Bede’s — are rated “good”. Redhill centre, though not very monthly cost of mortgage plus season School is one of several locally rated pretty and a bit of a clone town, is ticket is just over £900. “good” by Ofsted. well-stocked with shops, a theatre Harlow is very much a town of two For older pupils Burnt Mill and cinema. A regular street market halves. Pretty, picturesque Old Academy is rated “outstanding”, adds a little atmosphere and Redhill Harlow is full of historic pubs and while Stewards Academy, a specialist £400,000: this Common is a great local resource. cafés and lovely houses, while the science school, and Passmores detached four- Mike Chapman, residential sales new town is an exercise in postwar Academy are both rated “good”. bedroom house manager of Connells, says value for dreariness, with poor-quality Harlow College is England’s most in Gillingham money is driving demand, with housing and some rough areas. successful further education college. is available three-bedroom Victorian houses in However, major improvements are Its journalism training course has through Haart the town centre to be had from about planned in the shape of a £67 million alumni ranging from Guardian editor estate agents £320,000, some 25 per cent cheaper scheme to bulldoze three council Alan Rusbridger to newspaper man- than in neighbouring Reigate. estates and replace them with 361 turned-television chat show host O homesand new homes in a development also Piers Morgan. property.co.uk/ HARLOW featuring parks, play facilities and a Paul Brooker, managing director of gill STAR VALUE IN ESSEX community centre. Work is due to estate agents Howick and Brooker, start next year with the first residents said Harlow’s strength lies in its huge This Essex town was recently named moving into their homes in 2016. range of property to suit all budgets one of London’s best-value commuter A key reason to move to Harlow is — town centre flats from £80,000, choices. A study by property consul- its excellent communications. Trains detached executive family houses for tancy CBRE found that, with an average to Liverpool Street take half an hour, about £850,000, or period town £325,000: for a house price of £154,324 and monthly and the M11 and Stansted airport are houses with four to five bedrooms two-bedroom travel costs of £356.30, the typical nearby. Holy Cross Catholic Primary priced at about £400,000. apartment in Victoria Court, GILLINGHAM Royal Earlswood WATERSIDE KENT Park, Redhill. Through Mann If living by the water is your choice, Countrywide flats at the Victory Pier scheme (homesandproperty.co.uk/ O homesand victory) in Gillingham, Kent, offer a property.co.uk/ cost-effective way of enjoying a court tranquil view of the River Medway coupled with swift links to London. information. Victory Pier is about a centre. Kent regeneration is not When the Berkeley First scheme is mile from Gillingham town centre pegged to Victory Pier. Peel Land and completed around 2019, it will and station, where trains to Property recently won consent for a include 775 new homes, shops, St Pancras take from 41 minutes. £650 million scheme to redevelop offices, a hotel and student An annual rail season ticket costs Chatham Docks with 950 homes, accommodation. £3,784. plus offices, shops and open space. So far a block of student digs and 211 The town centre is useful, although Average property prices in flats have been completed — and fine dining and cool bars are in short Gillingham currently stand at almost all have been sold — while a supply. But Bluewater is just 20 £203,709, up 5.54 per cent in the last former lightship has been converted minutes away for retail therapy, and year according to Zoopla. into an arts centre. there is plenty of green space For £300,000 to £400,000 you The next phase launches later this including the 114-hectare Capstone could buy a four-bedroom period month, with two-bedroom flats Farm Country Park. house or, for beneath the £250,000 starting at £172,000 and three- In summer the outdoor pool at the stamp duty threshold, you could £849,950: a four-bedroom semi-detached house in Churchgate Street, Harlow, bedroom homes from £265,000. Strand Leisure Park is popular, and consider a three-bedroom period on the market with Savills in Bishop’s Stortford. Call 01279 246001 for details Visit berkeleygroup.co.uk for more there is an indoor ski and snowboard terrace house. EVENING STANDARD WEDNESDAY 15 JANUARY 2014 7 homesandproperty.co.uk with Affordable homes Homes & Property

ORE homes will be built in Wandsworth than any other London borough during the next decade Wandsworth works its magic — affordable properties asM well as pricier ones. As many as 16,000 apartments are in New homes galore the pipeline at Nine Elms, where a new riverside district is emerging around and shared-ownership Battersea Power Station. Wandsworth town centre, where the Ram Brewery deals are making the is poised to become a new quarter with borough a hot ticket 669 homes, bars, restaurants, shops and loft-style offices after being inac- for young Londoners, cessible to the public for generations, is another construction hotspot. says David Spittles By 2018, the borough will have two new Northern line stations, and council leader Ravi Govindia has ambitions tax in the UK, another plus for low- for a further extension to Clapham budget buyers. The borough takes in a Junction, which is getting a facelift. wide swathe of south-west London — Wandsworth used to be predomi- Putney, Balham, Tooting and Streatham nantly a district for family houses, but — and has more than waterfront living the trend for riverside living is adding to offer. Ever-resourceful developers a new wave of flats. Where wharves are squeezing boutique flats into and distilleries once stood are now crowded corners, while tired-looking gleaming developments with that all- council estates are being spruced up important river view — including and homes offered for sale. Watch this space: popular ﬂats at shared-ownership flats that are much The Schoolyard in Eltringham Street This Space in Wandsworth Road, a cheaper than the borough’s average is a scheme of 119 flats in crisp, contem- development of 231 new homes property price of £569,792. porary-design low-rise blocks, close to Battersea Reach is a line of glass- Wandsworth Town station, the com- fronted, riverside blocks facing across mon and Nappy Valley highlights such new artists’ studios and a lodge house wide average of 19 to one and a national £345,000 are launching soon at The the Thames to Fulham’s Hurlingham as Northcote Road shops and Michelin- have been built in the grounds. Prices figure of eight to one. Flow, a new apart- Old Dairy, Streatham. Call Bellway on Club. Notting Hill Housing is selling 40 starred Chez Bruce restaurant. Prices from £410,000. Call Henley Homes on ment scheme close to Balham High 0845 548 3016. per cent shares starting at £87,000 (full from £335,000. Call 0844 406 9288. 020 7401 8777. Road and the Tube station, has flats Nine Elms is framed by the river and market price, £217,000 for a studio). Annie McCall Maternity Hospital Balham is popular with young metro priced from £390,995 to £725,995. Call a snaking railway viaduct where adjoin- At nearby Riverside Quarter, £71,250 in Jeffreys Road was the first in Britain types who fill the bars, gastropubs and Bellway on 0845 548 3007. ing land has been colonised by car buys a 25 per cent share of a one-bed- to have an all-female staff. The Victorian delis along the lively High Road. Haart Coming soon to Tooting High Street mechanics and scrap metal dealers. A room flat, while at Putney Point, hospital closed 30 years ago and was estate agency says the SW12 postcode is The Broadway, with studio, one- longer-term council objective is to refur- prices start at £90,000 for a 25 per cent taken over by artists and craftspeople. is attracting more people than ever, with and two-bedroom apartments. Call bish and open up derelict railway arches share. Call 020 8357 4444. Now the reborn listed buildings are 46 registered buyers for every home on Crest Nicholson on 020 3375 2241. Two- and upgrade the area east towards Wandsworth has the lowest council being turned into homes, while brand- the market, compared with a London- bedroom apartments priced from Wandsworth Road, a patch already being targeted by bargain-hungry home- New quarter: buyers. This is where one of the two new historic Ram Northern line stations will be. The other Brewery in is at Battersea Power Station. Wandsworth Redevelopment of a Sixties-built col- town centre is lege into 231 flats, called This Space, earmarked for is a hit with young buyers. Nearing 669 new homes, completion on the same lively strip is shops, offices Stewarts Lodge — 33 flats priced from and restaurants £315,000. Call 020 7401 8777.

From £87,000: for 40 per cent of a Battersea Reach studio. Part of the development, Horizon House, far left

From £71,250: for a 25 per cent share of a one-bedroom ﬂat at the Riverside Quarter development, left 8 WEDNESDAY 15 JANUARY 2014 EVENING STANDARD

Homes & Property Online rental revolution homesandproperty.co.uk with Make money from your buying mistakes Dig out those gadgets you never use and put them online. Someone will pay good money

to hire them, discovers Richard Warren GRAHAM HUSSEY

OMEWHERE, I have a food £360 million on kitchen appliances that “Rent” a mate: munity will be created by encouraging speed flatmating events which are blender and camera tripod had a similar fate. The irony is, there speed ﬂatmating trust between lenders and borrow- based on the speed dating con- that I must have had for at are many people who don’t own a food events, based on ers. Their system has a name — cept, whereby multiple landlords least 10 years. I’ve never used blender or power drill but could speed dating, aim collaborative consumption. and lodgers meet socially to find either of them. You probably certainly use one. to match lodgers out whether they would be happy living haveS similar “stuff” that you bought The solution, says RentMyItems, the and homeowners WASTE NOT, WANT NOT together. with enthusiasm but then quickly for- goods rental enterprise that commis- with a room to let RentMyItems has listings for dozens of got about. My worst purchase was one sioned the ICM study, is for people who different types of tools, appliances, OWNERSHIP IS OLD HAT of those worktop roasters. They were own underused gadgets to rent them furnishings and other domestic goods Hutchinson says it is important for a fad for a while. Mine ended up at a out to those who need them. RentMy- That lived-in available for rent from individuals. people to meet each other before a car boot sale. Items is one of dozens of websites set look: rented These range from a John Lewis sofa that spare room is shown to anyone. “The According to market research com- up by social entrepreneurs for renting, furniture can can be rented for £25 a week (maybe people are more important than the pany ICM Research, in 2012 Britons swapping, lending and exchanging make a property to make a home you are selling look flat,” says Hutchinson, “because they spent £240 million on DIY tools they goods and services, an online market- you are selling more lived-in) to a Bosch electric drill shape the way you live and how you have yet to use and an astonishing place where they hope a sense of com- appear homely at £20 a week. Patio heaters are offered feel when you get home.” at £6.88 a day, handy for anyone hold- Half of the flatshares agreed on Spare- ing an evening barbecue. Room are in London and the home “We have a wide array of items on the counties, a reflection of how the capi- website, with tools being the most tal’s private rented residential sector popular,” says founder Warren Heal. is the largest in Britain. A quarter of “One lady put hair rollers on there.” Londoners rent privately. According to Nesta, a charity promot- Heal says the growing popularity of ing collaborative consumption, the renting household items is tied in with types of services exchanged may the expansion of the private rented include lessons in French in return for sector, which has changed attitudes to tutoring in the art of sushi making. ownership. Social networks such as Land Share A shift to renting is supported by the have matched up 60,000 hobby gar- increasingly transient nature of deners with 60,000 garden owners. London’s population. According to Gardeners get to pursue their passion, London School of Economics and garden owners receive help with research, central London has a 17 per maintenance tasks. It’s a good way cent “churn” in its population each to make new friends, too. year. Caius Howcroft, who set up peer- People who are in a location to-peer goods and property rental only temporarily prefer to rent homes WINTER SALE website RentNotBuy in 2008 in the US Hot trend: a and possessions rather than buy. “You and Britain, says the system is green, patio heater can don’t want to take a big children’s car because it cuts out wastefulness. be rented for seat with you on the plane, so it is NOW ON “We see a lot of overconsumption in about £7 a day — better to be able to rent these things,” the US and UK, and it’s mad really,” he great for the odd says Howcroft. “It is a well-trodden says. “People have a lot of junk they barbecue path in America.” just don’t need. I have a saw and have used it exactly twice.” It isn’t only household items that are rented out online. There are also deals to be done on cars, holiday homes and empty offices. The ParkatmyHouse. com website is claimed to have enabled “tens of thousands” of Britons with unused garages or driveways to rent them out to vehicle owners in need of a parking space. On the SpareRoom.co.uk website, a You’ve got the flatshare is agreed every three minutes, power: if you’ve ESHomesAndProperty

according to director, Matt Hutchinson. got a drill or It puts people with a spare room in other power Find us on touch with people looking for some- tools lying idle, facebook where to rent. make them earn BISQUE Our radiators will warm the cockles More people are taking in lodgers says their keep with Hutchinson. “Renting out the spare collaborative Showroom: 244 Belsize Road, London NW6 4BT T: 020 7328 2225 room is simply the biggest source of consumption — www.bisque.co.uk income you’ve got without actually that means rent working,” he adds. SpareRoom runs them out 10 WEDNESDAY 15 JANUARY 2014 EVENING STANDARD

Homes & Property Homes abroad homesandproperty.co.uk with

TEPPING from the water taxi A WORLD OF CRAFTSMANSHIP: into Venice is like breaking MERCHANTS OF VENICE through the canvas of a Tintoretto and walking back through history. The setting andS scale of this ancient city state are defined by its canals. The rich and diverse architecture tells the story of a centuries-old maritime community of Take the silk route rich merchants in a city stupendous in its scale, quality and quantity of public buildings and private palaces. Venice has never had a big population — today only 60,000 people live there — but it has always been staggering in through Venice its riches and keen to display them. For lovers of design and style there is no The Rubelli family are among the Italian city’s oldest silk merchants. more satisfying place to visit, or to buy a home confident in the knowledge Janice Morley visits their Renaissance palazzo to share their passion that you will have a lifetime of pleasure and discovery. Curious and keen for hobbies and Chandeliers drenched in gold and hung interests, more home buyers are leav- with a million crystals are the lighting ing the coast for cities of interest. And of choice for every interior, even the for lovers of textiles and craftsmanship smallest anteroom. How could you not Venice, often called La Serenissima, learn about proportion, steal ideas and will not disappoint. capture style? On any scale there is a Craft has long been used as lesson to be learned. evidence of wealth and power in reli- gious, royal and military circles. The GOLD, SILVER AND JEWEL HUES weavers’ art defined entire eras. The Rubelli family — parents, brothers, Velvet made the fortunes of bankers sisters and aunts — are among the oldest and merchant states. For centuries, and most respected silk merchants in cities such as Lucca, Florence, and Venice. They welcome visitors by the maritime republics of Genoa and appointment to view their magnificent Venice dominated world textile mar- archive of more than 5,000 textile kets with their velvet, influencing the records in pattern books going back to prices of raw materials, commercial the 15th century. Among the oldest of treaties, fashion, technology and new documents housed there are fragments discoveries. of silk velvets with a raised pattern and richly glacéed in gold. IN GRAND TRADITION For five generations this family has Silk weaving was well-established designed, spun, dyed and woven fabric around the Mediterranean by the from their own mills. Enviably, they beginning of the 15th century, and work from a stunning Venetian head figured silks, often silk velvet and office, Palazzo Corner Spinelli, a little silver-gilt, became the must-have gem of a Renaissance house built in 1490 choice of Italians, whose skilled work- that was the home of a silk merchant. ers produced stately floral designs and The fresh and exciting collections they patterns that were exported across produce here sell worldwide. Europe. Inspired by their past, passionate Fortunes made from this fabric built about preserving these antique heir-

Venice. Silk is a story told through ALAMY loom textiles, their industrial craft Venetian chapels and chattels. Their Serene: majestic Santa Maria della Salute beside the major artery, the Grand Canal survives in an easy alliance of ancient drawing room furniture, their carpets and modern. No one makes a more happy salvaging old looms as he is and curtains, their bedchambers and baroque buildings, with carved doors, tales of classical tragedy and triumph. infectious ambassador for the brand building new ones. chairs all draped in luxurious, intri- crafted furniture, gilded panels, Never an opportunity is lost to trompe than Nicolo Rubelli, 49, the warm and Outstanding in the Rubelli collection cately patterned, jewel-coloured cut twirled, scrolled and painted ceilings. l’oeil a door or gild a throne, to fill a friendly chief executive and sales are its gilt and silver textiles. In the same velvet. Craftsmen and architects Visiting today, your neck aches staring richly carved alcove with berry-bright director. He lives a short walk from the way iridescent taffetas and lustrous devoted their lives to the embellish- up at luminous pastels of winged Murano glass blown into fruit bowls, palazzo, in a house with an impressive velvets worked to light up dark interiors ment of grand Gothic, Byzantine and angels and chubby cherubs telling perfume bottles, vases and glasses. collection of antique maps and is as of Venice past, they work today in our

!# "# " SALE

- 2 #++$##-#((# $###$$ #)#.,#%'# ##$#) # $#%.*% #%'# ###) +#'(# %10#$##+)#+ /&%2(.&-/&/0 EVENING STANDARD WEDNESDAY 15 JANUARY 2014 11 homesandproperty.co.uk with Homes abroad Homes & Property

Left: Shimmering Donnafugata, Faber, Vello d’Oro and Candalu’ fabrics from the Rubelli 2014 collection

Right: sumptuous Gritti fabric from Rubelli’s new collection, A Stiller Life, launching today From £492,800: modern, minimalist century Palazzo Papadopoli, now a ﬂats inside restored Palazzo Molin del magnificent Aman hotel (stop for a Cuoridoro. Through Sotheby’s cocktail maybe), visit Palazzo Mocenigo, the Venetian textile and costume museum reopened in Novem- ber. Rubelli supplied all the fabrics for the rooms: from light blues to Pompeian red. Drink cappuccino in Italy’s oldest Caffè Florian, and enjoy Rubelli’s flame red — and flame-retard- ant — velvet there in the Room of the Illustrious Men. And book your visit to the Gran Teatro La Fenice, one of the most famous opera houses in Europe, £3,735,000: a four-bedroom where Rubelli silk damasks decorate penthouse in a prime area of the city the magnificent Sale Apollinee, and its with three terraces and fabulous velvets upholster the auditorium. views. Through Knight Frank Far left: It is a charming silk route with the Candalu’, Carlo, Rubelli family, whose history is part of Bloody Mary and the warp and weft of Venice. Buying in Venice Donnafugata HUGE demand from tourists coupled fabrics from the FACT FILE AND CONTACTS with a shortage of high-quality flats to 2014 Rubelli O The 2014 Rubelli collection, A Stiller let mean the right property can easily collection Life, launches in London today. View bag 30 weeks’ rental a year with and order it at the family’s showroom in possible yields of five or six per cent. Chelsea Harbour, run by Vivienne Prices peak along the Grand Canal Left: Rubelli Griffin. Fabrics start at £90 per metre. and around Le Zitelle. Knight Frank has textiles have O In Venice, view the collection by prior a one-bedroom 620sq ft flat on always “dressed” appointment at Palazzo Corner Spinelli, Giudecca for £290,000 and a two- The Gritti Palace San Marco: rubelli.com (+39 041 241 7329) bedroom restored flat nearby at hotel. Call + 39 O Palazzo Mocenigo, Santa Croce: +39 £563,000. Sotheby’s has canal-front 041 794611 041 721798 flats in restored 15th-century Palazzo O Palazzo Reale, Piazza San Marco: +39 Molin del Cuoridoro near Piazza San international cities where tall buildings centrepiece. It creates atmosphere and sponsors in the analysis and restora- 041 271 0138 Marco from £492,800 to £4 million. steal our sunshine. Their metallic makes a statement. So much more tion of complex soft furnishings, O Caffè Florian, San Marco: +39 041 O Sotheby’s: venicesothebysrealty.com; double weave reflecting the light, these space-efficient than adding a large piece matching the colours of original drapes 520 5641 (39) 041 522 0093 fabrics are loved by Londoners. Glinting of furniture. with highly elaborate and elegant O Gran Teatro La Fenice, Campo San O Knight Frank: knightfrank.com; 020 gold, with brush sweeps of silver and The Rubelli family are generous as shading and tonal effects in landmark Fantin: +39 041 786511 7629 8171 the highlights of tonal colour, this is restorers in their home town. Their buildings across the city. Walk through O The Gritti Palace hotel: +39 041 not fabric as a background but as a team is involved as suppliers and the Palazzo Reale, the flamboyant 16th- 794611 Cathy Hawker

WHOOP-DEE-DO!

LOAF.COM Get your skates on! Sale ends 31st January 12 WEDNESDAY 15 JANUARY 2014 EVENING STANDARD

Homes & Property Design homesandproperty.co.uk with

► SUFFOLK- BASED artist Kate Noakes re-veneers old furniture cupboard love using her own process which inlays applied metal designs with gesso (a plaster/resin mix), that can be DesignDesesiesignign t trtreree coloured to order. The result is by Barbara Chandler durable, functional and UPBOARDS have come out decorative. The of the closet. Now their Stripes record doors flaunt lavish décor, cabinet, right, is becoming flat platforms W81cm x D42cm for a gamut of clever x H140cm and Ceffects, from traditional lacquers and costs £850 at veneers to new experiments with katenoakes.com, metal, leather, wood, mirrors, prints or call 01440 and even traditional French straw 783076. See more marquetry. of her work at The Push-open catches eliminate Old Cinema, 160 the “interference” of handles — in Chiswick High effect making the doors a blank Road, W4 (020 canvas. The cost can be high for 8995 4166). one-off pieces that are claimed to be art, but most of them will keep their value. Meanwhile, other designers have fun “upcycling” old furniture with full-frontal makeovers.

▲ THE Barcelona mosaics of Art Nouveau architect Antoni Gaudi (1852 –1926) inspired this fab drinks cabinet costing £10,330. Portuguese brand Malabar has covered the hand-painted doors with ceramic fragments, lined with lashings of gold leaf. Available in London through thelongeststay.com (020 7349 9057).

◄ IKEA’S Stockholm cabinet with two ▲ ZOE MURPHY hand- prints. Her pieces are made drawers costs £250, in a sleek new prints second-hand wooden to order, with chests of painted finish offset by walnut veneer furniture with zingy images drawers starting at £1,025 and stained solid ash. No handles — inspired loosely by her home and sideboards from £1,595. push to open. It measures W90cm x town of Margate. Find her work at Liberty, W1, D40cm x H107cm. Ikea has stores in She also lines cupboards call 07780 574314, or visit Tottenham, Wembley, Lakeside and and drawers with colourful zoemurphy.com. Croydon, or shop on line at ikea.co.uk. EVENING STANDARD WEDNESDAY 15 JANUARY 2014 13 homesandproperty.co.uk with Design Homes & Property

■ RUFFED-UP and oozing period ▲ ARCHITECT Simon Moorhouse ► POP art gets an update, screen drama is Elizabeth’s Cabinet, designed his Incunabular cupboards printed on to white lacquer for the handmade in England by around the pleasing proportions of Viola cabinet with three internal Mineheart of Cambridgeshire. A standard paper sizes — “with the shelves, on a solid oak base. This will be historic portrait with a surreal square root of two maintaining the at Habitat from next month at £395 twist is printed on to lacquered, aspect ratio of each element”. and measures W66cm x D40cm x push-open handleless doors in a Even if you don’t do the maths, they H134cm. Stores are at 196-199 satin finish. Priced £2,660, it are very pretty. Tottenham Court Road, W1 (08444 measures W120cm x D45cm x The Incunabular Wideboy in blue 991122); 208 King’s Road, SW3 (08444 H82cm. Call 0845 467 4580, or with oak carcass and steel legs costs 991144), and 255 Finchley Road, NW3 visit mineheart.com. In the Clouds £2,800 and measures W126cm x (08444 991116). wallpaper is £98 a roll (90cm wide D35cm x H75cm. Call 020 7183 3062, x 2.5 metres), also at Mineheart. or visit invisiblecity.co.uk. ► ITALIAN-BORN designer Andrea Felice, based in SE21, has applied a carved wooden fly to his copper-clad Beelzebub cabinet. Each piece of wood was individually selected for grain and colour, then turned, shaped and carved by hand to provide an accurate fit for the impressive 3D marquetry. A door at the side of the piece conceals a mirrored lining with glass shelves and a dovetailed drawer. Similar commissions would cost £20,000 (af-designs.co.uk; 07931 871 928).

◄ THE hand-made Pyramid mirror drinks cabinet has raised, faceted silver mirror pyramids sitting on MDF and measures W100cms x D60cms x H180cms. Inside is a single, central glass shelf and two LED lights which come on when the doors are opened. The cabinet can be made to a specified size and prices start at £2,995. The choice of finishes includes veneer, high gloss, spray paint, mirror, antique mirror, and gilt. Visit hydehouse.co. uk, call 01284 330 098 or email sales@ hydehouse.co.uk. 16 WEDNESDAY 15 JANUARY 2014 EVENING STANDARD

Homes & Property Reader promotion homesandproperty.co.uk with Snuggle up in Jacquard stripes WINTER’S cold calls for cosy nights r in with Alison at Home’s new Connaught bed linen. This hotel quality line is made from 300 thread Picture the sale bargains count cotton percale, and finished in a subtle Jacquard triple pinstripe. ALISON AT HOME’S than five of each item Readers get 25 per cent off, making clearance sale offers remain. The handmade the single set £41.25, double £56.25, everything from candles to photo frames shown here king £63.75 and super-king £71.25. cashmere. Sophisticated would make an elegant gift. Each set consists of duvet cover and table runners, charming To see more items or to matching housewife pillowcase(s). bistro sets and world maps buy, visit alisonathome. Visit alisonathome.com or call Plump for tribal print cushions are available for a limited com/clearance. While stock 0800 472 5533 and use code BED15 period with discounts of up lasts. Allow five to 10 days before January 29. Allow five to 10 ACCESSORISE with comfort, and with punchy to 70 per cent — but fewer for delivery. days for delivery. cushions from the vibrant graphic prints, these Jamestown range at statement cushions are Arhinarmah, the lifestyle perfect for giving sofas or brand specialising in beds a fresh look. Each homewares and soft item is handmade to order. furnishings with an African Readers get 20 per cent off influence. the Jamestown range, The collection features reducing the starting price six pieces in a mix of pink, to £32. Visit arhinarmah. lavender, dark purple and co.uk or call 0845 257 8477 zesty lemon and orange. and use code AAES1 to The goose down filling claim your offer before provides the ultimate in January 29.

Alison Shut the door on Cork winter draughts REPLACE those draughty old windows and doors with made-to-measure timber ones. Sofas to sit back and savour A specialist in the replication of period windows and doors, Ayrton WILLOW & HALL sofas and weeks. A free return and Bespoke is offering readers a 15 per sofa beds, handmade in the 100 per cent refund policy cent discount on all windows, which West Country, offer quality, is included. feature contemporary updates such as comfort and style in more Readers get five per cent energy-saving double glazing. All than 70 fabrics and extra off all sale prices, products are fully finished in any paint leathers. meaning discounts of up to colour and come with insurance- All items have a five-year 35 per cent. backed locks and a 10-year guarantee. wood frame guarantee. For free fabric samples To claim your discount, call 020 8877 Sofa beds come with a or to order, call 0845 468 8920, visit ayrtonbespoke.com, email 14cm-deep, open sprung, 0577 and quote ES1214 or [email protected] or visit pocket sprung or memory visit willowandhall.co.uk the showroom at 406 Merton Road, foam mattress and delivery and enter the same code Specialist ﬁt: Ayrton Bespoke doors Wandsworth and use code is free for most parts of the at checkout before and windows are made to measure AYRES150114 before February 9. UK mainland within four February 1.

O The companies listed here are wholly independent of the Evening Standard. Care is taken to establish that they are bona fide but we recommend that you carry out your own checks prior to purchases and use a credit card where possible. To offer feedback on any of these companies, email [email protected] with “Bargain News” in the subject line. For more bargains, visit alisonathome.com or homesandproperty.co.uk/offers. 24 WEDNESDAY 15 JANUARY 2014 EVENING STANDARD Homes & Property Our home homesandproperty

HERE is always an element of risk in buying a property and most first-time buyers want, understandably, to play it as safe as possible. Not Ben RidleyT and Susanne Ghonouie, who bid for their home at auction, tackled the planning quagmire of modernising a listed building, camped out for months in the resulting building site — and still came up smiling. On a shoestring budget, the couple transformed their sad little studio in Barnsbury, north-west London, into a glorious one-bedroom apartment with an impressive high-spec finish. Part of the reason Ben and Susanne were willing to take on such a project was that Ben, 29, is a partner at Architecture for London (architectureforlondon.co. uk) and specialises in renovating period and historic buildings. Susanne, 33, who runs events company The Dig, lived a life of stark contrasts during the project. At work she orchestrated high-end parties and weddings. At home she boiled break- fast eggs in a kettle for want of a hob. “Considering we had never lived together before it proved quite a good test,” she says. “If we could cope with all that, we would find living somewhere normal easy.” When the couple decided to buy a property they were each renting with Original features: the studio’s ﬁne sash windows had survived friends in Hackney. They began house OUR £27,000 MINI MARVEL hunting in 2012 and after a couple of pay rent and a mortgage while funding Though the negotiations were time-con- Practical, with a These first-time buyers took a risk potential homes fell through they a refurbishment. “The property was suming the necessary Listed Building touch of luxury: decided to try their luck at auction. dirty, and we didn’t have an oven or a Consent was granted in May. Ben esti- Ben and Susanne at auction then, on a shoestring The flat they settled on was within a fridge,” says Ben. “We had an electric mates the process cost about £500, not in their kitchen/ splendid 1892 terrace and was laid out kettle and kept food fresh by leaving it including the hours of time he spent on living room, with budget, transformed a dark studio as a studio with a bedroom/living room, outside. it. Work began on the 10-week project, MDF cabinetry flat into a bright and spacious new a compact bathroom and a small “It was our first place together and we at a cost of £27,000. But while the budget sprayed white kitchen. came with nothing. To say it was an wasn’t vast, the couple didn’t want to and Carrera home, says Ruth Bloomfield Ben says:“It was in quite a bad state. It adjustment to have to live like that is an skimp completely on luxury. Thus their marble worktops had lino floors and quite a serious asbes- understatement.” kitchen, designed by Ben, combines tos problem in the bathroom, and all the Another problem was that the property cabinets made of MDF sprayed white, rooms were painted in three different was Grade II-listed, though Ben and and Carrera marble work surfaces. colours. Most of the original features had Susanne believe that may have been an been stripped out, the fireplaces were advantage in the auction room. “There ARBLE can be expensive bricked up and there were cheap were only two of us bidding,” says Ben. but after extensive modern doors.” “None of the developers there were research, Ben and On the plus side the location was excel- interested because they knew they Susanne bought theirs lent, some original features — notably wouldn’t be able to get a quick turnover from Marble Granite fine sash windows — had survived, and with a listed building.” CraftsmenM (marblegranitecraftsmen. at 387 square feet the flat was just about The couple didn’t mind playing a long co.uk), which also supplied the stone for large enough for Ben to believe it could game and in spring last year, after the fire surrounds. The couple took be turned into a workable one-bedroom lengthy pre-application negotiations advantage of the high ceilings to design apartment. with Islington council, they lodged their extra-high cabinets for storage. Buying at auction can be full of stresses. request for consent to make alterations. Islington council insisted the original They only had a week to get their surveys Ben’s plan was to swap the rooms floorboards be retained, so they were done, consider the results, and decide around, installing a kitchen/living room sanded down and treated with Swedish to bid. They also had to get their mort- where the studio room was originally, floor soap, giving a bleached effect. gage agreed, though it had been leaving the bathroom in place, and using Replica doors came from M Bespoke approved in principle in advance. the small kitchen as a bedroom. Joinery (mbespokejoinery.co.uk). Once the hammer fell the flat was theirs The council was keen that every aspect Because the flat was small, Ben and — the process is quicker than buying in of the project, from the door handles to Susanne did not want clutter but they the conventional way. “And we thought the flooring, was in keeping with the age did want a cluster light and after shop- there was a better choice of run-down of the building. This meant the couple ping around found a great design from and weary properties at auction that had to inspect neighbours’ original a firm in China. Priced at £260 it was were possibly being sold below market doors and cornicing so they could com- around half the price of similar fittings value,” adds Ben. mission replicas. They also planned to for sale in the UK. They paid £290,000 for the flat in unbrick the fireplaces and the council “It was a bit of a risk,” warned Ben. Photographs:: October 2012 and moved straight in wanted the replacement fire surrounds “Ours was fine but a client ordered one SIMON Talking point: herringbone tiling and a bath set into the wall because they had no money left over to to be in an appropriate period style. from the same firm and it didn’t show MAXWELL EVENING STANDARD WEDNESDAY 15 JANUARY 2014 25 y.co.uk with Our home Homes & Property

Lights out: Ben and Susanne used Farrow & Ball Off-Black in the bedroom, right. “I love it and I’ve never slept so well,” says Ben

Listed building restrictions: the council insisted on ﬁre surrounds of appropriate period style, and that the original ﬂoorboards must be retained

up.” In the bathroom they opted for a herringbone design. The bathroom is tank was replaced with a smaller combi- Ball’s Off-Black, while a wall of built-in room at all.” Today the apartment is roll top bath but disliked its “fancy” feet small but the roll top, lifted off the floor, boiler, also to save space. wardrobes is clad in grey-tinted mirror. worth an estimated £400,000, which and replaced them with simple wooden makes it appear bigger. To avoid the In the bedroom, Ben and Susanne Only the bedspread and a green chair add Ben puts down partly to local property supports, painted yellow. The room’s need for a radiator they invested in ignored conventional wisdom about a couple of pops of colour in the room. price rises, and partly to the fact that it real talking point, however, is the tiling. heated mirrors, which have the advan- decorating small rooms in light colours. “I love it and I don’t think I’ve ever slept is now a one-bedroom home rather than Rather than conventional squares tage of never fogging up, and even The walls, ceilings, skirting, window so well,” says Ben. “It feels really cosy a studio. they bought strips of slate which their inserted the bath slightly into the wall to frames, radiator, shutters and even the and at night you have no idea where the “That has made a big difference,” builders painstakingly arranged into a win back space. The flat’s large water window box are painted in Farrow & room ends. You can’t tell it’s a small he says. “It is so liveable-in.”

& " %$ #' $ $ ! $ & $ $ !

& ! $ $! $ &"

www.boconcept.co.uk

PAY LESS. EXPECT MORE.

26 WEDNESDAY 15 JANUARY 2014 EVENING STANDARD

Homes & Property Interiors homesandproperty.co.uk with

Good interior design Pale and interesting: linen from Holland & Sherry (£56.25 a metre; makes every inch of hollandandsherry.co.uk; 020 7352 4798) lines the walls in the living space earn its keep room, with a white leather sofa from Knoll (£10,000 at knoll-int.com; 020 in this Notting Hill 7236 6655) and other custom-made furniture ﬂanking the mirrored apartment, says chimney breast (similar conversions Kate Burnett would cost about £8,000).

HIS flat — stylish and com- space, and added dark wooden floors pact in equal measure — is to create a bit of drama.” Bastings is tucked away in a typical quick to praise Bruinsma’s professional Notting Hill stucco house, focus. “He is a master of detail and anonymous on the outside cleaned up a lot of fussy edges in the Tbut filled with light and character various rooms to create clean lines inside, despite its diminutive propor- throughout the flat.“ DONALD tions. The owner, Arthur Bastings, C Uninterrupted pale-coloured walls chose interior designer Rients give a sense of height and the light- Bruinsma to help him transform the toned built-in storage continues this flat into a home that makes the most of visual effect. The only dark walls are the available space but is also ready for in the study area where the wood adds entertaining. a sense of masculinity and seriousness

Rather than being restrictive, M JAMES ALL PICTURES BY to the flat’s own mini business district. Pale marble brings a cool and airy feel to the bathroom, with nickel detailing adding a slick of retro sophis- The little flat that knows how to party tication. Again, a large mirror multi- tasks as both focal point and space-giver. As elsewhere in the flat, commissions like these are challenges the cupboard shelves are not generous that most interior designers relish and but deep enough to be useful — 10cm Bruinsma has deployed several clever is enough in the bathroom, with a gen- design ideas. Mirrored surfaces, and erous 35cm in the study, making the in particular the mirror on the most of every centimetre of vertical chimney breast, not only make the and horizontal surface. room seem bigger but also bounce light More clever storage lines the walls of around the space, as do most reflective the bedroom concealing not only surfaces, doing away with gloomy clothes but also speakers, as Bruinsma corners. explains. “Above the small fireplace is The dark-stained oak floors are a hidden TV. We mounted the speakers important to the whole: “A dark floor on the back of the cupboard doors that, gives a room a solid base,” Bruinsma when opened, face the bed. This ena- points out, “while light-coloured rugs bles surround sound in the bedroom [custom-made from the Rug Company] without having to see the speakers.” can emphasise different areas in a Using lighting, furniture, rugs and single room — the dark floor acts as a colours to subtly create functional zones picture frame.” within the main living space, Bruinsma Bruinsma and his client worked has created a kind of mini theatre for a closely together throughout the three Divide and rule: an island creates a Plain and simple: Bruinsma found a Bathroom secrets: the flat’s washing client that loves to entertain. The first phases of the project. “It was very useful division between the kitchen and Scottish tweed at £56.25 a metre from machine and dryer are cleverly tucked act in the kitchen, the second around important to create the right space in living spaces. With entertaining in mind, Holland & Sherry (as before) which away in the bathroom, where nickel the dining table and ending up in the the flat,” acknowledges Bastings. Bruinsma has managed to squeeze in has been used to cover the walls and details complement the Statuario living room. Small spaces don’t need to “Rients came up with a fantastic idea two undercounter fridges beneath the the cabinets in the bedroom. A marble walls and floor. The mirror is be a barrier to entertaining and with to fashion a mid-century fireplace that Thassos marble countertop (£4,000). headboard was designed by Bruinsma custom-made in polished nickel good design the space doesn’t have to incorporates a mirror which has added The kitchen cost about £22,000 to fit around the stylishly sleek (£1,700) and the taps are sourced be an issue at all. a lot of light and optical space. He also (cabinetry £7,000, splashback £1,500, Charles bed from B&B Italia (£3,900 in from PE Guerin in New York (£726 for increased significantly the height of the appliances (mostly Miele), sink and taps white leather at bebitalia.com; 020 the three-piece set (peguerin.com (+1 O For Rients Bruinsma, visit rients.com doors, again to create the sense of £4,000, and design £5,000. 759 18111). 212 243 5270). (020 7608 2900).

cassina.com/london

“Toot” by Piero Lissoni and Cassina. Design ﬁ rst.

WINTER SALE. Quickship available on a selection of products Cassina Showroom 238-242 Brompton Road, London SW3 2BB T: +44 (0) 20 7584 0000 E: [email protected] EVENING STANDARD WEDNESDAY 15 JANUARY 2014 27 homesandproperty.co.uk with Outdoors Homes & Property Never say never to evergreens They give year-round structure to London gardens, but be inventive with your planting

VEN if we are only looking through the window at a Pattie storm-tossed garden, a vista of greenery is far more Barron appealing than a bleak view

Eof bare branches. “In cities, people MARCUS LYNNE MARIANNE MAJERUS/DESIGN: are looking at gardens more and more as exterior rooms, and they don’t want Left: rosemary Miss Jessopp’s Upright to look out on a blasted, barren patch provides a contrast in texture and through the winter,” says Matthew shape to a border of box domes. Wilson, managing director and prin- Above, a standard tree of Photinia cipal garden designer of London’s fraseri Red Robin is underplanted Clifton Nurseries. with square-cut box “When the sun comes out randomly, it’s lovely, even on a cold day, to enjoy either side of the lawn, he planted a a coffee in the sunshine. If the garden’s camellia hedge. “One of its advantages inviting you’ll go out there. That’s over yew, say, is that it has a glossy leaf where evergreens have real value.” that reflects light, and of course has More Clifton clients — especially those early flowers. It will take clip- eastern Europeans and Russians, who ping like crazy, which also helps so value out-of-season greenery — are remove any sooty mould.” demanding evergreens, says Wilson, Wilson reserved his trump card for because they deliver colour, form and the bottom of the garden, with a triple-

interest right through the year. MARIANNE MAJERUS decker evergreen hedge that provides “You can get seasonal change using Cloud formation: a cleverly clipped contrasting texture and colour: a base

bulbs, annuals and perennials, but you conifer makes an effective feature ROWE CHARLOTTE MARIANNE MAJERUS/DESIGN: of clipped box, about a foot high and need that year-round structure. In a wide, then a yew hedge behind, rising small London garden you should be ture is that increasingly the European a standard or a pleached tree, so you greens score again because they’re to a height of five to six feet, then looking at a high percentage of ever- growers are coming up with new ways can plant beneath it, grow it as a more clippable than deciduous plants. above that, a third layer of pleached greens — 40 or even 50 per cent.” of presenting evergreens. Originally a high-level hedge or as a container “Clients in a Chelsea garden, which hornbeam, providing a fresh, lime- So how do you stop the landscape large shrubby tree, Magnolia grandi- specimen.” is under five metres wide, wanted the green leaf in spring and holding on to looking like a series of dull green, flora can now be bought with a clear Topiary, always a town stalwart, is garden to be as green as possible, its dead foliage in winter. never-changing blobs? The message stem, making it a real gem for a small becoming more organic. “In the past so everything had to take to being “If you just used leylandii, it would is to be inventive, both with plants and space. My colleague, Maia, installed few years we’ve seen more of the controlled. I planted evergreen jasmine be difficult to live with and depressing. planting. “Think of using more unu- 22 clear-stemmed magnolias around cloud- and pad-pruned Ilex crenata, Trachelospermum jasminoides around This way, you get a lively green screen sual evergreens, such as daisy bush three sides of a garden in Holland which has a darker, glossier leaf than the dining area near the house to make that is as dynamic as it is effective.” Olearia, the underrated Arbutus Park, so that all the foliage appears box,” says Wilson. “Just one of these a green flowering hedge, clipping it unedo, with white, bell-shaped flow- from the top of the fence, making a large statement topiary trees — or a close to the walls to maximise on space. ers and strawberry-like fruits, or the striking green screen with the bonus pad-pruned olive — will totally trans- In summer, it will have a mass of wonderful wall shrub Itea ilicifolia, of perfumed flowers in spring. form a small city courtyard.” scented white flowers and in autumn, Gardening problems? which has amazingly long catkins. “Photinia fraseri Red Robin, an ideal In a small garden you need order, not fantastic leaf colour.” Email our RHS expert at: “One of the big changes in horticul- town garden shrub, can be bought as chaos, points out Wilson, and ever- Near the centre of the garden, on [email protected] buy it Buy it: beehive boot store See it: tropical butterflies at RHS Wisley

SMALL urban gardens need a place to BANISH winter gloom by visiting a stash away boots and gardening shoes so colourful paradise of exotic butterflies at that they don’t muddy the hall floor or RHS Garden Wisley this weekend. clutter up the back door. Hundreds of butterflies, including the Sparrow & Finch’s boot store is the ideal exquisite Blue Morphos, will be released solution — elegantly shaped like a into the spectacular glasshouse to flutter beehive, tastefully coloured in Farrow & among the tropical planting so that you Ball’s Pigeon or French Grey and, with a can see them in their natural habitat, as lift-off lid and internal drainage, it makes well as observe their lifecycle in a a practical choice as well as a handsome puparium. Giant chrysalis sculptures will one. What’s more, measuring 62cm high, be on display, and just for this coming 42cm in length and 38cm wide, it will hold weekend, children can help create a giant several pairs of muddy boots and shoes at butterfly willow sculpture. a time. The wood is treated for outdoor Butterflies in the Glasshouse runs from use and is Forest Stewardship Council Saturday to March 9. For more details, to registered. The boot store costs £125 plus buy timed tickets and beat the queues, £9.95 p&p from sparrowandfinch.co.uk and to book a butterfly-themed afternoon (01892 861202). Give it some wellie: the tastefully coloured beehive boot store tea, visit rhs.org.uk/wisley. Flights of fancy: the Butterﬂies in the Glasshouse event 30 WEDNESDAY 15 JANUARY 2014 EVENING STANDARD

Homes & Property Inside story homesandproperty.co.uk with Take a smart flat and add an eaterie for a tasty deal

MONDAY THURSDAY The year is already off to a flying start, Today’s first task is to meet a really with a busy first couple of weeks. We Diary of friendly buyer who is looking for a begin the day with our usual morning penthouse in W1. With about £7 million meeting when, as a surveyor, I look an estate to play with, I have something in Soho with my colleagues at team targets for that I think will be perfect but it is very the week, month and year ahead and much off-market. Introducing your go over what we already have in the agent contact to their dream property is pipeline. We all agree this is going to particularly satisfying, especially after be a particularly enterprising year as and he bought the entire fourth floor working with them for over a year. He we launch some of the most exciting eight months ago off-plan for himself loves the buzzing location and the huge schemes in London. After the meeting and his family. He’s happy with his range of restaurants on the doorstep. I catch up with my top investors and purchase, especially as it’s a five- As a bit of a foodie, he’ll be a regular at everyone who is on the waiting list for minute walk to Maroush, his favourite Bone Daddies and Honest Burgers. the 2014 launches, and book in four restaurant. meetings with keen buyers. FRIDAY WEDNESDAY This morning I have a meeting with a TUESDAY I discuss the new developments I saw private wealth management firm to This morning I plan to visit the sites of yesterday with my keen buyers — discuss a Russian client who expressed three new instructions in W1, SE1 and Chinese and Middle Eastern clients interest in Fulham Riverside. If their E1. All very different but equally good who are eager to invest and want to get needs can be met, this should hopefully investments. I am meeting two UK buy- in early. In my experience, interna- tie up the sale of more than 15 units — ers looking for penthouse apartments tional buyers tend to be much keener fingers crossed. Fridays are always in W1, and two international investors to buy off-plan. I currently have one busy as people are more flexible to who want to be first through the doors who wants to purchase a block or a view, and generally appear more at new launches. One client is flying in selection of apartments. He is mainly relaxed, so I will be out of the office for from Hong Kong at the end of the week after one-bedroom properties that are much of the day. My main aim is to get so I need to know the sites inside out easy to rent out, the higher the yield all offers tied up and ready for Mon- by then. In the afternoon I meet with the better. I spend the rest of the after- day’s queue of buyers and investors. one of my Middle Eastern customers noon selecting the best units to recom- to show him around the flats he bought mend to him while he gets his legals in O Cameron Smith is a surveyor with through me at Seymour Street. It’s a place, with the aim of having reserva- property experts CBRE (020 7182 boutique British Land development tion fees paid by Friday. 2000; [email protected]).

auction 87 commercial investments for sale by auction to include (unless previously sold or withdrawn)

Lot 3 Lot 7 Lot 54 Lot 60 Lot 65

150/164 Evelyn Street, Deptford SE8 91, 93 and 95 Church Road, Hendon NW4 777/783A High Road, Finchley, London N12 Busy Bees Day Nursery, Farnborough 1 Wolsey Road, East Molesey

Lot 64 108/110 Church Road, Northolt 19 Frimley Road, Camberley Queensgate Shopping Centre, Lot 48 Lot 11: Barclays Bank plc at £26,150 p.a. Lot 49: Let to Co-Op expiring 2028 with Orsett Road, Grays 4 flats sold off above. RPI linked reviews. Total rent £62,631 p.a. Lot 57: Shopping Centre and offices 11 Limpsfield Road, South Croydon 66 Rye Lane, Peckham SE15 let at £209,736 p.a. Lot 13: Barclays Bank plc at £16,250 p.a. Lot 51: Let to Paddy Power plc at £65,000 p.a. 230A Borough High Street, Expires 2028. Expiring 2025 with consent for three flats. Southwark SE1 1-15 Corner House Parade, 30 Winchester Road, Lot 65: Estate Agents let at £21,500 p.a. Expiring 2022. Epsom Road, Ewell Village Four Marks, Alton, Hampshire 1 Wolsey Road, East Molesey Lot 27: Attractive parade comprising 8 shops Lot 53: Let to Southern Co-Op on a new and 9 flats (sold off). Total rents £68,499 p.a. Lot 66: Let to Barclays Bank at £24,600 p.a. Roseberry House, 55 East Street, Epsom 15 year lease with RPI linked reviews. Kwik Fit Depot, 12 Kingston Road, Wimbledon SW19 61-63 (Odd) Old Bethnal Green Road, Total £65,200 p.a. Expiring 2026. RETAIL London E2 777/783A High Road, LEISURE MOTOR TRADE 298 & 300 Elgin Avenue, Maida Vale W9 Lot 29: Double fronted shop & 2 flats let Finchley, London N12 150/164 Evelyn Street, Kwik Fit Depot, 12 Kingston Road, at £11,500 p.a. Lot 5: NatWest Bank and residential ground Lot 54: Parade of 5 shops, 5 flats Deptford SE8 Wimbledon SW19 rents let at £32,800 p.a. Bank lease expires 2025. 72 Heath Street, Hampstead NW3 and an advertising hoarding. Lot 3: Drive Thru let to Scotco Restaurants Ltd Lot 48: Let to Kwik Fit at £70,000 p.a. Expiring 2029. Total rents £189,160 p.a. 91, 93 and 95 Church Road, Lot 30: Leasehold vacant shop. (t/a KFC) at £57,750 p.a. Expires 2022. 78 Lancaster Road, Enfield Hendon NW4 17B High Street, Wealdstone 63/79 High Road, Basildon 150-152 High Street, Tonbridge Lot 2: Let to Barclays Bank plc at £27,500 p.a. Lot 7: NatWest Bank and residential ground Lot 43: Ladbrokes at £37,500 p.a. (Gross). Lot 55: Parade of 4 shops, 3 flats and Lot 50: Let to ASK Restaurants at £65,000 p.a. Reversion 2027. car park. Total rent £63,400 p.a. rents let at £42,800 p.a. Bank lease expires 2025. Lease expires 2021. plus 4 newly converted flats with NURSERY 100 High Street, Maldon Vacant Possession. 79 Church Road, Ashford 5 High Street, Weybridge Busy Bees Day Nursery, Unit Q170, Lot 8: Shop trading on Costa Coffee Lot 46: Shop let to Woking Hospice Lot 56: Let to Peacocks Stores Ltd OFFICE O’Gorman Avenue, Farnborough at £19,000 p.a. until 2028. at £48,000 p.a. until 2018 at £50,350 p.a. Lease expires 2023. Roseberry House, Business Park, Farnborough 48-50 Church Road, Stanmore 8/10 High Street, Walton-on-Thames 35-39 Week Street, Maidstone 55 East Street, Epsom Lot 60: Let to Busy Bees Day Nurseries Lot 9: Shop let at £40,000 p.a. until 2028 plus Lot 47: Well located Santander Bank Lot 56A: Let to Carphone Warehouse Ltd Lot 64: Some 25,241 sq ft residential (Trading) Ltd until 2027 (no breaks) vacant upper floors with residential planning. let at £67,750 p.a. at £150,000 p.a. Reversion 2024. development opportunity in town centre. at £75,077 p.a. rising to £82,892 p.a. Tuesday 4th February 2014 Full property details are available online: The Park Lane Hotel, Piccadilly, London W1J 7BX www.allsop.co.uk/auction 32 WEDNESDAY 15 JANUARY 2014 EVENING STANDARD

Homes & Property Property searching homesandproperty.co.uk with

ASHION and homeware chain CHECK THE STATS entrepreneur Cath Kidston caused a stir in Kingston ■WHAT HOMES COST: when her signature white dots appeared at Christmas Spotlight BUYING IN KINGSTON Fall over the town’s landmark artwork (Average prices) Out of Order, a set of tumbling red phone boxes by sculptor David Mach One-bedroom flat £243,000 Kingston in Old London Road. Some felt it added Two-bedroom flat £391,000 to the gaiety of the season, others dis- Two-bedroom house £466,000 missed it as crass commercialism. Three-bedroom house £619,000 Kingston, in south-west London, has Four-bedroom house £1.3 million been a town of great significance since Source: Zoopla.co.uk Saxon times. It is said that in the tenth century seven Anglo-Saxon kings were Saxon town RENTING IN KINGSTON crowned there including Athelstan in (Average rates) 925, who, after he conquered North- umbria, could rightfully claim to be the One-bedroom flat £1,208 a month first king of all England. Two-bedroom flat £1,627 a month The Coronation Stone on which these on the Thames Two-bedroom house £1,702 a month kings were crowned sits forlornly in Three-bedroom house £2,207 a month front of the Guildhall, but not for much Four-bedroom house £3,702 a month longer. Following a Heritage Lottery Source: Zoopla.co.uk Fund grant, Kingston plans to celebrate that makes its place in English history with a new heritage centre — called Where England GO ONLINE FOR MORE Began — at All Saints Church in the town O The best schools in Kingston, centre, and to restore the stone to its both private and state original home there. families feel Kingston upon Thames is 10 miles out O Where to find the top shops and of central London on the “Surrey” side popular restaurants of the river. Now a London Royal Bor- O Local open spaces to enjoy ough, until 1965 it was Surrey’s county O The lowdown on the local rental town and is still home to the county at home scene, and characteristics of the council HQ. town’s different postcode areas O Smart maps to plot your property WHAT THERE IS TO BUY Homes ranging from millionaire mansions to search The town has a mix of mainly Victorian and interwar houses and modern riv- flats, top schools, the uni and super shopping For all this and more, visit erside flats. The most expensive homes homesand are on the Coombe estate between will float your boat, says Anthea Masey property.co.uk/ Kingston Hill and Coombe Lane West, spotlightkingston where detached houses on large plots houses selling for £650,000-plus and parks make Kingston the type of place built between the wars sell for £2 mil- four-bedroom detached houses for families are reluctant to leave once they lion-plus. However, many are now close to £1 million. have put down roots. being knocked down and rebuilt as Semi-detached two- and three-bed- Best roads: the large houses in the larger, modern mansions. room Victorian houses with side Coombe area are the most expensive HAVE YOUR SAY The most expensive Coombe prop- entrances characterise the area south and the best roads are the private ones, erty currently for sale is a nine-bed- of the town centre. Prices start at about including Warren and George Roads. KINGSTON room Edwardian house in George £475,000 for a two-bedroom semi, The houses backing on to the golf Road, at £10 million through Robert with larger, three-storey Victorian course are especially desirable. In Holmes (020 8947 9833) and Savills houses near the university achieving North Kingston, Durlston Road, St (020 8971 8111). The most expensive £750,000-plus. Albans Road and Latchmere Road have new house is a seven-bedroom three Price per square foot is between £460 pretty, detached Victorian houses, and storey mansion, also on George Road, and £500 for flats, terrace and semi- east of the town centre, the area around on the market with Coombe Residential detached houses, and about £550 for Canbury Avenue, Elm Road and Beres- (020 8947 9393) for £9 million. detached houses. Kingston home ford Road is popular. North Kingston is another favoured prices generally rose about eight per What’s new: house builder Redrow area, with attractive streets of three- cent in the last year. has two developments north of the and four-bedroom Victorian semis that The area attracts: families make a town centre overlooking the river at sell for between £600,000 and beeline for Kingston for the high- Canbury Gardens. Kingston Riverside £750,000 when extended, and achieving schools both state and in Henry Macaulay Avenue in sought- detached Victorian villas that fetch private. There is also a strong local after KT2 offers a total of 210 one-, estate agent Kinleigh Folkard & between £750,000 and £1.2 million. demand for student accommodation, two- and three-bedroom flats and pent- Hayward, tips Norbiton, to the east of The Thirties mock Tudor houses in with parents — from overseas in houses with river views and a commu- the town centre. It has its own railway the “Henry VIII” roads, with names particular — buying or renting flats for nal garden. Prices range from £415,000 station, together with shops, and larger such as Cardinal Avenue and Wolsey their offspring attending Kingston to £1,575,000. Call 020 3581 2003 for Victorian houses that are cheaper than Happy Sundays: winter river walks Drive, are also sought after. Close to the University. more details. Residents are already equivalent properties in north King- — or summer picnics in the park popular Latchmere and Fern Hill pri- Staying power: the schools, the com- moving into Kingston Riverside, and ston. “Anywhere in the KT1 postcode mary schools and Tiffin Girls’ School, prehensive range of shops, proximity the development is scheduled for com- is cheaper than KT2, so there is some @UrbanSandL great shopping both these streets offer three-bedroom to the Thames and the large nearby pletion this time next year. catching up to do,” says Donaldson. in the mall and out Behind it, River Walk has 137 one-, two- and three-bedroom flats, includ- @YourUrbanSpace #Richmond Park ing 56 affordable homes, with prices via #Kingston Gate. Lovely picnic spot ranging from £280,000 to £475,000. up on the hill Housing association Affinity Sutton is selling 18 shared-ownership flats to @soulfoodstudio great place to live, Kingston residents with prices starting brilliant schools, fab river and parks, at £90,000 for a 25 per cent share of a Rose Theatre, massive redevelopment two-bedroom flat valued at £360,000. happening The development will be completed this autumn. Call 020 3538 2511 for @SaxonKings @potterybar more information. Contact Affinity Fantastic food from The Pottery, Sutton on 0300 100 0303. TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE reason 1001 to love Kingston on Two town centre developments are a Sunday morning! in the pipeline — one involving the Why can some of the nation’s most- semi-derelict Regal Cinema building, borrowed library books be described while the decommissioned gas holder as having been “born in Kingston”? NEXT WEEK: Penge. Do you could be used for a much-needed new There’s a clue in the picture. Find the live there? Tell us what you primary school. answer at homesandproperty.co.uk/ think @HomesProperty Up and coming: Claire Donaldson, spotlightkingston Waterside: sought-after Charter Quay has Thames views, homes and restaurants manager of the Kingston branch of EVENING STANDARD WEDNESDAY 15 JANUARY 2014 33 homesandproperty.co.uk with Property searching Homes & Property

£749,950 A THREE-BEDROOM house with high ceilings, fireplaces and a garden in Glenthorne Road. Through Hamptons. O homesandproperty.co.uk/glen

Makeover: the market square is getting a £5 million facelift

£1.75 MILLION AN ELEGANT five-bedroom house with a self-contained annexe in Kenley Road. Through Foxtons. O homesandproperty.co.uk/kenley

Browse awhile: John Cobbold runs Kingston Antiques Centre £1,495,000 A NEW house with four double Picture postcard: LEISURE AND THE ARTS the Minima Yacht Club and the Thames are two golf clubs on the Coombe estate bedrooms overlooking a wooded an attractive mix The Rose Theatre, founded by Sir Peter Sailing Club, which claims to be the — Coombe Wood and Coombe Hill. island on the Coombe Hill estate. of historic and Hall, opened its doors in 2008, pro- oldest river sailing club in the country, Travel: trains from Kingston station to Through Coombe Residential. more modern duces its own shows and hosts visiting and rowing at the Kingston Rowing Clapham Junction take about 20 min- O homesandproperty.co.uk/hill buildings sits companies. The Rotunda leisure com- Club, where Rebecca Romero took up utes, with the journey to Vauxhall (on on the bridge plex has a 14-screen Odeon cinema, a the sport before winning Olympic silver the Victoria line) taking 25 minutes and tenpin bowling alley and a David Lloyd and switching to Games cycling. The to Waterloo, 30 minutes. Kingston is in Gone dotty: gym with a 20-metre swimming pool. council-run Albany Park Canoe and Zone 6 and an annual travelcard to David Mach’s The Kingston Museum in Wheatfield Sailing Centre also offers river sports. Zone 1 costs £2,288 from this Sunday. town centre Way includes the collection of Ead- Council-owned Kingfisher Leisure Council: the Royal Borough of King- artwork, with a weard Muybridge, the Kingston-born Centre in Fairfield Road and private ston upon Thames is Tory-controlled Cath Kidston photographer who pioneered the mov- Virgin Active health club in Richmond and Band D council tax for the current makeover ing image with his pictures of galloping Road have swimming pools, and there financial year is £1,682.04. horses and running men. The Stanley £315,000 Picker Gallery at Kingston University CLOSE to Kingston station is this on the Knights Park Campus shows To find a home in Kingston, visit Victorian two-bedroom conversion Photographs: modern art. flat. Through Featherstone Leigh. Graham The Thames plays a big part in King- homesandproperty.co.uk/kingston O homesandproperty.co.uk/tedd Hussey ston’s sporting life. There is sailing at

Call for entries The 23rd annual London Evening Standard New Homes Awards will celebrate and commend innovation and excellence in today’s new homes.

For more information and to request an entry form email [email protected] or call 01753 880 390 or visit www.homesandproperty.co.uk/nha Closing date for entries Friday 14th February 2014 36 WEDNESDAY 15 JANUARY 2014 EVENING STANDARD

Homes & Property New homes homesandproperty.co.uk with The word on the street David Spittles SmartSmarSmart m Olympic Park is still on a winning New pearl in the South Bank string streak ONE TOWER BRIDGE, being built jets and colour-changing lights TRATFORD is a mini city in right next to the iconic London allowing residents and visitors to the making, and the next landmark, is shaping up to become a choreograph their own water display. decade there is likely to be as sparkling addition to the so-called Berkeley Homes, the developer, is momentous as the years that “string of pearls” along the South offering luxury flats with smart preceded the 2012 Olympics. Bank cultural quarter. technology that is new to London. SAlready one of the capital’s best- The cluster of nine architecturally Residents will have “keyless” entry to connected areas — two Tube lines, distinctive buildings faces the Tower their apartment and be able to overland rail, the DLR plus Eurostar of London on the opposite bank of remotely control heating and lighting trains, with City airport nearby and the Thames and includes a 20-storey through an iPhone, while a touch- Crossrail coming — it is emerging as a skyscraper with just one apartment screen command will deliver their new commercial centre for east on each floor, the top one a car from a stacker system London, linked by green spectacular triplex penthouse with underground. infrastructure and boosted by roof garden and glazed enclosure. Sandringham House, above, is Europe’s fastest-growing cluster of But the development of 356 flats is the latest phase, 44 apartments in a digital and technology companies. about the urban realm as much as sleek-design block clad in glass and The 500-acre Queen Elizabeth river views. One Tower Bridge is not stone. Classy interiors have Olympic Park is the largest gated and will integrate seamlessly herringbone-pattern wood flooring, recreational space to be created in with the riverside promenade and a built-in coffee machines and wine Europe for 150 years. More than From £265,000: athletes’ village has been turned into a public park alongside City Hall. coolers and a home automation £9 billion of public money was apartments at new rental district called East Village, A listed Victorian school on the site system controlling blinds, lighting, pumped into the area and the Games Glasshouse and a further 8,000 new homes are is being converted into a boutique heating and audiovisual equipment. “legacy” benefits are still unfolding. Gardens, two planned in five new neighbourhoods hotel and a performance space will Residents will also have use of a Stratford City, which includes the new eco-skyscrapers around the park. be created, while high-quality private spa and be able to play Westfield shopping mall, is the biggest in Stratford’s The International Quarter is a joint landscaping will include an virtual golf. Prices from £950,000. retail-led regeneration project ever International venture between developer Lend interactive fountain clock with water Call 020 7871 0011. undertaken in the UK. The former Quarter Lease and London Continental % %" %" " # %" %" %" %$ % %" ! EVENING STANDARD WEDNESDAY 15 JANUARY 2014 37 homesandproperty.co.uk with New homes Homes & Property

Cheers: Portugal supporters ﬂock to watch football at Bar Estrela, a Portuguese restaurant in South Lambeth Road. Tagus Apartments, below, also in Little Portugal, are close to Stockwell Tube station ALAMY A LITTLE PIECE OF PORTUGAL

STOCKWELL struck lucky in the Street are moments from Stockwell early 19th century when an estate of Tube station and named after the river Regency villas was built. that runs through the Portuguese Just enough survive to provide some capital, Lisbon, as this part of the gracious streets, though not enough to south-west London district is known as make Stockwell a fully fledged Little Portugal. The contemporary- gentrified inner suburb. design block has eight space-efficient The area is about 20 per cent cheaper flats with custom-made German than its near neighbour, Clapham, kitchens, underfloor heating and large despite being that bit closer to the windows. All have outside space — one West End, and has more in common flat has an 883sq ft roof terrace. with edgy Brixton. Prices from £425,000. Call Jackson- Tagus Apartments in Lingham Stops & Staff on 020 7664 6649. Buy blue — it’s the new green in energy-efficient Battersea COSTLY winter fuel bills the story. The way in (CLT) building system at are a compelling reason which new homes are several schemes across to at least consider built can make them up London, including buying an energy- to 50 per cent more Cobalt Place, Battersea, efficient new home. You energy-efficient — not left. CLT reduces the could save more than only cheaper to run but amount of energy £35,000 during the more comfortable to needed to heat a home lifetime of a 25-year live in, too. by 40 per cent. It also mortgage, according to Good old-fashioned improves air quality and Zero Carbon Hub, an timber construction is cuts noise pollution. independent research making a comeback due Apartment blocks at group. to its thermal and other Cobalt Place have an Railways. Glasshouse Gardens, the Even bigger savings — qualities. Developer outer layer of brick and first phase, launches this week and £1,840 a year — are fore- Lend Lease is proving slot unobtrusively into is due for completion in 2016. The cast after 2016 when all that wooden homes do the trendy Battersea flats are in two green-architecture new homes will have to not have to look like the Village neighbourhood. skyscrapers separated by lush be “carbon neutral”. inside of sauna by Blue is the new green, gardens. Prices from £265,000. Call Superior insulation building contemporary- you might say. Prices Jones Lang LaSalle on 020 3002 and better heating design apartments using start at £400,000. Call 6787 for more details. systems are only part of a cross-laminated timber 020 8879 9099.

%% % % % % $%%"! %% %% $ % $%" % % % % ### !%" !" ! %% % !% % ! 40 WEDNESDAY 15 JANUARY 2014 EVENING STANDARD

Homes & Property Letting on homesandproperty.co.uk with

£530 A WEEK In Prince Albert Register tenants’ Road, Primrose Hill, NW1, opposite Regent’s Park, deposits or pay John D Wood has this spacious first-floor one- bedroom flat them a shedload available to rent

O homesand property.co.uk/ rentprince of compensation Rental property deposits are a vexed topic for many a tenant, but landlords can also lose out financially, warns Victoria Whitlock

HIS week I have been nagging my friend to register his new tenant’s The deposit. And now I have had to tell him that if he accidental Tdoesn’t do it within the next three days, he risks falling foul of the law. landlord It could end up with him being forced to pay his tenant a shedload of compensation. He keeps saying: a copy of the Deposit Protection “Yeah, yeah, don’t worry.” But I AM Certificate — which must be signed worried. by you — together with a leaflet It has been a legal requirement providing details of the deposit since April 2007 for landlords to protection scheme and how they register any deposits within 30 days should go about getting their of receiving the cash. These days, deposit returned at the end of the however, it’s really vital not to let it tenancy. slip your mind, as tenants are being You also need to provide tenants encouraged to make claims against with something called Prescribed those who fail to comply with the Information, and it is this last bit law. that landlords might overlook It’s also vitally important to provide because this is information that is your tenant with all the correct specific to each tenancy and not paperwork from the outset. If you all of it will be included on the don’t, you could still end up having certificate. to compensate them — even though Prescribed Information includes you have registered their deposit and such things as contact details for kept it safe. every tenant (including phone Since the law regarding deposits numbers, email addresses and an was tightened up in May 2012, nasty alternative postal address where they firms have spotted an opportunity to can be reached at the end of the make money out of dopey landlords tenancy), and reasons why the by offering to fight tenants’ claims for deposit might be withheld at the end compensation on a no-win, no-fee of the tenancy. basis. For this latter part you can refer the Quite right, you might be thinking — tenant to specific clauses in the except these legal parasites are tenancy agreement, if you’ve issued encouraging tenants to take action one, otherwise you’ll have to list all against landlords who have protected the reasons why they might forfeit deposits, if they think there’s a their deposit. chance they might have slipped up in not providing all the correct URTHER details are paperwork. available from each deposit They are even pursuing landlords protection scheme. If you who have already returned deposits don’t follow the process to tenants who’ve left properties since precisely, not only do you May 2012 if they believe they weren’t Frisk a compensation claim from your given all the right bits of paper for the tenants, you also won’t be able to deposit at the start of the tenancy. issue a Section 21 notice to evict One firm boasts on its website of a 92 them if they break their lease per cent success rate. In some cases, agreement. tenants will have received up to three Landlords, you have been warned. times the amount of their deposit in Don’t give these greedy ambulance compensation. chasers a bumper new year. So, what should you do to avoid falling prey to bloodsuckers? First, register the deposit with one of four Mother-of-two Victoria Whitlock lets government-approved schemes three properties in south London. To within 30 days of receiving the cash. contact Victoria with your ideas and Secondly, you must send your tenant views, tweet @vicwhitlock

Find many more homes to rent at homesandproperty.co.uk/lettings 42 WEDNESDAY 15 JANUARY 2014 EVENING STANDARD

Homes & Property Ask the expert homesandproperty.co.uk with Were we hung out to dry over flooding? WHAT’S there was a flood risk. If there was, Fiona YOUR your solicitor may have McNulty PROBLEM? recommended a more detailed flood OUR LAWYER ANSWERS IF YOU have a report. YOUR QUESTIONS question for Your solicitor could also have Fiona McNulty, suggested you contact the please email Environment Agency and look at the A LARGE part of our legalsolutions@ Land Registry flood indicator, village is flooded. standard.co.uk although both of these are only Q Currently the water is or write to Legal concerned with river and coastal quite a way from us but it Solutions, Homes flooding. is still rising and we are concerned & Property, Since May last year, the Property about our house. We have been London Evening Information Form (form TA6) which told that even if our home does Standard, 2 Derry a seller must complete contains not flood, there could still be a Street, W8 5EE. questions relating to flooding. Prior detrimental effect when we try to We regret that to that date, a buyer’s solicitor had sell it in the future. Shouldn’t this questions cannot to raise additional enquiries have come up when we bought the be answered regarding the issue. place just over a year ago? individually but Most solicitors are not qualified to we will try to give advice on flood risk or to IT ISN’T always obvious that feature them interpret technical flood reports. a property may be at risk of here. Fiona However, your solicitor should still A flooding. Many people do not McNulty is a have advised you regarding flood risk realise that their home does partner in the and its consequences, and at an early not need to be by the sea or a river, or residential stage in the transaction should have even on low-lying ground to be at property, farms advised you to look into buildings risk, as the most common causes of and estates team insurance so you could make sure flooding are surface water, ground at Withy King LLP cover could be obtained on water and overflowing sewers. (withyking.co.uk). acceptable and affordable terms. If a property is at risk of flooding then insurers can decline cover, or with insuring a property can affect enquiries of the seller, or by having a O This answer can only be a very brief charge higher premiums and whether or not it may be mortgaged. survey done. commentary on the issue raised and excesses, and impose conditions or And if a property cannot be When you bought your house, your More legal should not be relied on as legal advice. unusual or stricter requirements. mortgaged, that can reduce its value. solicitor should have had an Q&As No liability is accepted for such reliance. Having buildings insurance in place Flood risk can be investigated by environmental search carried out Visit: homesand If you have a similar issue, you should is a mortgage condition — so issues carrying out searches, raising which would have indicated whether property.co.uk obtain advice from a solicitor. Call for entries The 23rd annual London Evening Standard New Homes Awards will celebrate and commend innovation and excellence in today’s new homes.

For more information and to request an entry form email [email protected] or call 01753 880 390 or visit www.homesandproperty.co.uk/nha Closing date for entries Friday 14th February 2014