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London’s new city: Olympicopolis Page 6

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Lifechanger of the week perfect business venture ISABEL INFANTES Making a stand: comic Russell Brand backed mothers who could be the cat’s whiskers occupied empty ﬂats on the Carpenters Estate in Newham Trophy home of the week stamp of Ghost estate approval for stunning £9m new build £8.95 million: things are so easy little land tax, and only then starting when you’re rich. Take this yet-to- the build, the new owner saves be-built house on the exclusive £360,000 in stamp duty. disgrace in St George’s Hill estate in Weybridge. Stick with the present plan and you Planning permission has already get a 20ft-high reception area, five been granted and the architects are bedroom suites, a private cinema, a ready to go with their detailed spec, gym and an amazing swimming pool Newham which you are free to adapt. But by and spa. Through John D Wood buying the plot first and paying a (01932 485020). HE saga of a ghost ported in their stand by estate in London comedian Russell Brand. £1.1 million: there’s more than where hundreds of The process of rehousing enough room to swing a cat in this homes have lain tenants and buying out own- property — which is just as well, London buy of the week spacious empty for almost a ers has been going on since given that it has been a successful and bright a mile from the common decadeT — in a borough with 2005, after the council cattery for more than 30 years. more than 16,000 on the decided to demolish the The house, in the village of housing waiting list — could estate. Regeneration plans Keston in Kent, has a versatile £499,950: this be coming to an end. were on hold due to the reces- layout, with two to four reception Streatham Vale home, After a failed attempt to sion and Newham has been rooms, one with windows looking in a well-kept modern reinvent Carpenters Estate paying since for maintenance out on to the garden, pictured. street, comes with in Stratford as a smart uni- of the estate — a location for It also has a sleek kitchen 1,000 sq ft of living versity campus, plus years 2011 film Attack the Block. leading to a conservatory and space and a 50ft-long of delays blamed on the The council hopes to find three bedrooms upstairs. lush green garden. recession, Newham council a developer to co-fund a A detached garage — used as a Inside is open-plan at is this week expected to joint venture. It wants to storeroom — has a fully fitted ground level, with approve plans to revamp the build 2,000 new homes on kitchen for preparing kitty ample reception and site, where just 54 house- the site, plus shops and cuisine, while the cattery can dining areas. It has holds currently live among potentially a new school. house 50 moggies. Should you pale walls and wood 700 boarded-up homes. But Joe Alexander, of the need staff living space, planning floors leading into a Upstairs, there are leading off the second Local residents protested Greater Carpenters Neigh- consent is in place for an annexe. white kitchen fitted three decent-size bedroom. Streatham against the situation, includ- bourhood Forum, said the Through Alan de Maid (01689 with stone worktops bedrooms with an Common is a stroll ing a group of mothers who regeneration plans would 499706). By Faye and high-spec, en suite to the master away. Through Foxtons occupied flats and were sup- “destroy the community”. Greenslade integrated appliances. bedroom and a balcony (020 8150 5400).

O Find Ruth Bloomfield’s full story at homesandproperty.co.uk Facebook: ESHomesAndProperty • Twitter: @HomesProperty • Pinterest: @HomesProperty

Only the best will do Editor: Win a £900 range cooker THE countdown has begun for Janice developers great and small to submit Morley We have a Leisure Cookmaster to give away their projects for the Evening STYLISH range cooker brand Leisure Standard New Homes Awards 2016. VISIT homesandproperty.co.uk/ is passionate about making The most coveted in the rules for details of our usual entertaining at home a simpler and housebuilding industry, our awards promotion rules. When you respond more enjoyable task. With a selection let developers and architects to promotions, offers or of colours and sizes available — from showcase homes and achieve competitions, the London Evening 60cm to 110cm — there is a model to recognition from the buying public. Standard and its sister companies suit any kitchen. The brand is offering Judging is independent, decided by 360-degree view: The Penthouse in may contact you with relevant readers the chance to win one of its a panel of property experts and Wapping, this year’s Grand Prix winner offers and services that may be of most popular 100cm cookers, right, Evening Standard readers with interest. Please give your mobile worth £900. recent buying experience. Across Show off entries with high-quality number and/or email address if you Providing plenty of space to cook 13 categories, the awards embrace photography and clear descriptions. would like to receive such offers by up an entire feast on the seven-burner the spectrum, from first-time buyer Tell us about the architectural text or email. hob — including a wok burner — flats to one-off luxurious mansions; ambitions and the construction the Leisure Cookmaster CK100F232 city centre high-rise developments to challenges that have been overcome. also features two ovens, a separate dual fuel. The ultimate in low conversions in the countryside, and Winners will be announced at a gala dedicated quick-heating grill and a maintenance, this model also has from boutique apartment schemes to luncheon at The Dorchester hotel in Editorial: 020 3615 2524 convenient storage compartment. easy-clean technology to burn off dirt large-scale regeneration projects. Mayfair on May 20, and the closing Advertisement manager: Offering the ideal centrepiece to any and grease, giving you more time to Refurbishments and restorations date for entries is Friday, February 12. Jamie McCabe kitchen, it is available in black, cream, concentrate on honing your culinary qualify, as well as new builds. For more information, or for an Advertising: 020 3615 0266 red or blue and in electric, gas or skills rather than arduous cleaning. Housing associations are encouraged entry form, call 01568 708163 or Homes & Property, Northcliffe to enter, and we look forward to email [email protected]. House, 2 Derry Street, Kensington, TO ENTER submissions for shared-ownership London W8 5TT. For a chance to win this popular Leisure Cookmaster model worth £900, visit and affordable housing initiatives. Twitter: #nha2016 homesandproperty.co.uk/cooker before December 6. Terms and conditions apply. EVENING STANDARD WEDNESDAY 18 NOVEMBER 2015 5 homesandproperty.co.uk powered by News | Homes & Property Van-tastic! Live in Bennett’s street É THE film adaptation of Shepherd arrived in 1974. Alan Bennett’s play The Bennett is played in the film Lady in the Van has opened by Alex Jennings, seen left in cinemas to rave reviews. with Dame Maggie Smith as It tells the true story of Shepherd. The tree-lined the author’s turbulent street is in Primrose Hill friendship with homeless conservation area, and the eccentric Mary Shepherd, Grade II-listed house for who lived in her van on the sale, right, is on the books driveway at his London of Savills St John’s Wood home. He said she could for £4.25 million. park temporarily but she The property has five stayed until her death 15 bedrooms — all en suite — a years later. kitchen, double reception Now a house is for sale in room and front and back Gloucester Crescent, where gardens, but — perhaps

Bennett lived when Miss fortunately — no driveway. GETTY

Got some gossip? Pretty Woman sells Tweet @amiranews her penthouse O Find more É JULIA ROBERTS has sold her celebrity gossip home in Greenwich Village, New at homesand York, after a bidding war. property.co.uk/ The Hollywood star of Eat Pray gossip Love and Pretty Woman, above, put the apartment on the market just a By Amira Hashish few months ago for £2.9 million, but it went for nearly £650,000 more than the asking price. Financier Nicolas de Croisset, husband of Vogue special events associate Phoebe de Croisset, was Buy Michelangelo’s Tuscan home determined to secure the deal and outbid others who were interested. ÉMICHELANGELO, the The three-bedroom penthouse star of the Italian features a roof terrace, below, with Renaissance, whose spectacular views over the Big staggeringly beautiful Spy chief’s £15m house Apple’s skyline. works include the statue of David and the ceiling of the ÉRALPH FIENNES, right, the influence behind Sistine Chapel, bought a has a pretty swish Ian Fleming’s character. Tuscan home in 1549 that apartment for his role as C and his team remained in his family for ÉMI6 This boss is Msome in Bond text moviethat goes ontravelled and between more than 300 years. onSpectre, and is but not 21 meant Queen to mean number 21, above, and It has been restored by its anythingAnne’s Gate, and the is all about that swathethe MI6 HQ in nearby current owner and is now ofWestminster text thing that home the of othere the textBroadway, using for sale at £5.36 million. includes“real-life andM” for ends 47 likeyears, this. is secret underground The original deed held by Thismore is than some a matchtext that when goes it on andpassages on that Michelangelo, in which he andcomes is not to glamour. meant to mean anythingstill exist. was described as a “dear andEccentric is all about retired that naval swathe of textNow number 21 is sculptor and Florentine back to the 11th century. thingcommander that the Mansfield othere text includesbeing restored as a citizen”, will be passed on There are eight bedrooms andSmith-Cumming ends like th took on the single home by to the new owner. and the original Thisrole isof some MI6 chief text inthat 1909 goes on anddeveloper on Atelier. It is Set in six acres above architecture stands strong. andwhen is thenot agencymeant towas mean anythingbeing and sold for about rolling hills, the living On sale with Handsome isfounded all about and that became swathe known of text thing£15 million and should space is contained in three Properties International, thatas C. the This othere name text stuck includes for all andbe ends ready by spring buildings, including a it is a glittering prize for an likefuture this. spy chiefs and was 2017. tower believed to date art lover.

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6 WEDNESDAY 18 NOVEMBER 2015 EVENING STANDARD Homes & Property | New homes

Stratford gains Zone 2 status as it launches an £850 million cultural quarter with thousands of new jobs and homes. By David Spittles

From £560,000: new apartments at Stratford Plaza, a From £500,000: two-bedroom ﬂats high-quality development complete with a roof terrace, are at Stratford Riverside, a 27-storey perfectly positioned close to Canary Wharf and the City tower on the banks of the River Lea The new world in Zone 2: Olympicopolis

TRATFORD’S post-Olympics building within three years. It will com- progress will scale new heights plement the growing number of com- Coming from January when the east mercial businesses relocating to the soon… London district gets upgraded 500-acre Queen Elizabeth Olympic from travel Zone 3 to Zone 2. Park. The former 2012 Games press and SThe aim of the reclassification is to broadcast centre is being turned into spur economic growth in the area and Here East, a cluster of creative and give momentum to the new cultural digital companies, while relocation of quarter, dubbed “Olympicopolis”, Transport for London and the Finan- where an £850 million mega project cial Conduct Authority to Stratford’s will include a new Victoria & Albert International Quarter is bringing 5,500 Museum, London College of Fashion more jobs. campuses and a 600-seat theatre and All three of Stratford’s train stations choreography school for Sadler’s Wells. are being re-zoned. These are: Stratford America’s revered Smithsonian Institu- International — which serves high-speed tion of museums and research centres commuter trains between Kent and St has also set its sights on Stratford for a Pancras, and could get Eurostar services London outpost. if the Mayor has his way; Stratford, and More than 10,000 jobs will be created Stratford High Street. Crossrail, opening in the area, boosting local businesses in 2018, will boost transport links with and house prices. London Mayor Boris two Tube lines and the Docklands Light Johnson says he wants to “squeeze out Railway, plus overground services. every drop of potential” from the 2012 Olympics site. A NEW CITY IN THE MAKING “Moving Stratford into a new trans- Up to 10,000 homes are being built in port zone recognises the shifting eco- Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, while nomic map of London,” he says. high-rise apartments continue to The Olympicopolis vision takes its sprout up on the fringe. Fifty-acre Fish inspiration from history. Prince Albert, Island — a former industrial tract sepa- husband and consort of Queen Victoria, rated from the park by canals, and used the proceeds of the 1851 Great home to 600 artists’ studios — is set to Exhibition to create a focused 86-acre become a new neighbourhood, with Setting their area of museums and cultural venues hundreds of homes. sights on in South Kensington, still flourishing A good way to see the awesome Stratford: from today. Similarly, this new Stratford hub changes taking place is to visit the roof the top, Sadler’s — part-funded by the Treasury and the garden at Stratford Plaza, one of the Wells with a sell-off of council land — will showcase town centre’s new skyscrapers, from new theatre; the arts, history, science, technology where there are sweeping views of the campuses for and design. An architectural competi- park and sporting arenas, and of West- London College tion is under way and the goal is to start field Stratford City, with its 300 shops of Fashion; the Victoria & Albert Museum, and University College London. America’s Smithsonian Institution plans to establish a London outpost in Stratford

From £430,000: the 333 ﬂats at Glasshouse Gardens are in two contemporary tower blocks EVENING STANDARD WEDNESDAY 18 NOVEMBER 2015 7 homesandproperty.co.uk powered by New homes | Homes & Property

Drinking it all in: flats in Glasshouse Gardens will have superb views of the new cultural quarter. Call 020 3002 6787 GRAHAM HUSSEY and 50 bars and restaurants. You can its developer, calls it a “thing of From £615,000: progress on four schemes, with up to also take in the network of train tracks, beauty”. Prices start at £615,000. While apartments at 250 homes aimed at young profession- along with building sites and still-der- construction takes place, a marketing Manhattan Loft als working in Shoreditch and the elict land. Telford Homes has been suite with a show apartment is open at Gardens, left, City who would never choose to live in building in Stratford since 2005 and Bankside, which Handelsman put on aim to raise local the new-build villages in the Olympic has four projects on the go, with flats the map 20 years ago with a scheme of price levels and Park itself. from £750,000, with cheaper homes factory lofts. Call 020 7620 3803. take the area The area is not for the faint-hearted. on their way. Call 020 3538 9273. Coming in January is the second upmarket; Despite being close to the park’s splen- Zone 2 status will cement the changes phase of 850-home Chobham Manor, shoppers are did meadows, Fish Island is corralled by enticing more businesses to the area one of five neighbourhoods being built well catered for by a semi-derelict waterfront, while the and helping them to attract staff, who in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. This with Stratford 15-minute walks to the nearest train will pay less to commute. Others will phase will include family houses. Call Centre, above, stations — Pudding Mill Lane, Bow choose to live in the area. Analysis by Taylor Wimpey on 020 3435 9269. and Westfield Road and Hackney Wick — are through property company CBRE shows that Stratford Riverside, a 27-storey Stratford City at a gritty, formidable urban landscape. the average price of a Zone 2 home is tower on the banks of the River Lea, Olympic Park Westfield’s smart shoppers are an £723,000, compared with £488,000 has two-bedroom flats from £500,000. example of the area’s changing demo- for a Zone 3 property. Call Weston Homes on 01279 873300. graphic. Before long, there will be a Stratford prices are typically £500 to Glasshouse Gardens has 333 flats in New community: legion of white-collar workers. At least £700 per square foot, up from £450 in two towers priced from £430,000. Call January will 20,000 more jobs are coming to the 2012, putting the starting price of a 020 3002 6787. herald the area in the next five years or so, which one-bedroom flat in a swish new devel- Hackney estate agent Currell has second phase of will help to mop up all the new homes opment at about £350,000. The area opened a Discover East resource Chobham Manor, being built. And the infrastructure is is at least 30 per cent cheaper than centre that is worth visiting, showing the first of five good enough to cope with the extra nearby Canary Wharf, also Zone 2. the regeneration projects in and around neighbourhoods demand. Manhattan Loft Gardens seeks to Fish Island. Call 020 3826 4888. being built in The regeneration agencies involved raise the local price level and architec- Peabody’s Neptune Wharf will pro- Queen Elizabeth hope to forge a genuinely mixed com- tural standard. This shimmering 42- vide 578 homes. L&Q housing associa- Olympic Park. munity of locals and people new to the storey skyscraper has 248 flats and tion is poised to unveil a scheme of Call Taylor area — more affluent types as well as open-air sky gardens carved from the canalside homes in Stour Road, while Wimpey (020 first-time buyers, singles, couples and building’s form. Harry Handelsman, developer The H Group is making 3435 9269) families living side by side.

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Priced out of Silicon bespoke university-style campus where Magnet: Central Working Whitechapel large and small companies can sit side Roundabout, young offers co-working space for start-up by side and learn from each other.” The ventures. The “coolest ideas in London Innovation Centre, due for completion London techies are tech” are discussed daily in the café next summer, is the hub within Here East that’s dedicated to flexible co-work- moving to cheaper ing spaces and incubation services. Official marketing starts in the new year, live/work areas, says with Poole promising the spaces will be Cherry Casey “very competitively priced”. STRATFORD: WHERE TO LIVE The swathe of new developments in ITH property prices Stratford means supply is high, but so near Old Street and is demand, which has increased 60 per City Road in east Lon- cent over the past year. don increasing 43 per The E20 district, or East Village, cent since 2012, an oft- which incorporates the Olympic Park, Wrepeated complaint about Tech City, is particularly sought after, and the new set up in 2010 to support the emerging Glasshouse Gardens development cluster of technological businesses in dominates this area. Homes are still the area, is that it has become a victim available here, starting at £430,000 for of its own success. a one-bedroom apartment. Start-ups businesses, particularly Telford Homes’ Stratford Plaza is those moving out of “incubator” stage, also here, where one-bedroom flats can are being priced out and forced to be rented for £1,950 per month. move further afield, creating smatter- The Triathlon Homes development ings of tech hubs across London. Here, in E20 offers affordable housing. There we take a look at two of them and point are no more units for sale, but one- to more affordable property nearby for bedroom flats are available to rent for young Londoners. £1,500 a month. Keep an eye open for Prospect East, a similar development due to launch in January with one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments, plus four-bedroom townhouses. Shared-ownership options Finding homes for young techies will be available. There are a cluster of developments WHITECHAPEL: WORK coolest ideas in London tech are dis- Road (Peach Properties) for £410,000. STRATFORD: WORK near Pudding Mill Lane station, such cussed on a day-to-day basis.” Similar properties are available in as the new-build Stratford Riverside, Minutes from the City, alongside Bethnal Cooper Close and Mile End Road. A huge park, enviable transport links, with three-bedroom flats from Green and on the Tube, Whitechapel’s WHITECHAPEL: WHERE TO LIVE Whitechapel Vision, the 15-year East Village and, of course, Westfield £680,000. Central House, the 15-year- affordability has made it home to one Buyer demand for Whitechapel homes regeneration project from Tower Ham- — it seems there is little that post-Olym- old development also along the canal of the newest tech clusters. Decent has soared 53 per cent in the past year, lets, aims to deliver 3,500 new homes pics Stratford cannot boast about. And is good for first-time buyers, with one- office space can be had for about £35 a and Crossrail’s arrival in 2018 looks set in the area, so big-scale developments now it’s a tech hub, too. bedroom homes available for about square foot, says estate agent Michael to boost it further. are certainly in the pipeline, with plan- Competitive price points are a draw, £340,000. Pain, partner at Carter Jonas. The area around Aldgate, so close to ning being submitted for new builds with Stratford being one of only three Rental property around this area is Arguably more important to start-ups the City, is dearest, but two-bedroom around Raven Row, Varden Street and London sub-markets offering refur- also more affordable, and The Lock than cheap rent is a hub of like-minded period conversions can be found Cambridge Heath Road. bished office space for under £40 per development currently has a one-bed- firms — collaboration is vital when try- around Whitechapel station for about East Thames housing association also square foot, alongside Docklands and room flat for £1,275 per month. ing to get off the ground. In Whitechapel £500,000. Foxtons has one in Myrdle has a canalside development, East One, East City Fringe, says Carter Jonas. By moving towards West Ham Park, the “magnets” are Central Working and Street, E1, for £595,000. Nearby Mount where two-bedroom homes are avail- Neighbouring Hackney Wick and Fish buyers will find the cheapest homes, Barclays Accelerator. View has similar attractive properties. able to buy outright for £440,000, with Island are already popular with start- with one-bed, pre-owned flats from At The London Escalator building in One- and two-bedroom ex-local shared-ownership options available. ups but Stratford’s main tech business £180,000. Mile End Road, Barclays Accelerator is authority flats make up most of magnet is Here East, with 1.2 million a programme for FinTech start-ups, Whitechapel’s stock and can be picked AVERAGE PRICES square feet of commercial space AVERAGE PRICES while Central Working Whitechapel up readily for £300,000-£400,000. Houses and flats in Whitechapel remodelled in the former London Houses and flats in Stratford offers co-working space for start-ups More affordability is found further east One-bedroom flat £577,437 Olympics Media Centre and holding One-bedroom flat £295,553 such as Kano, which makes computer towards Stepney Green. There is an ex- Two-bedroom flat £707,816 claim to the most advanced digital Two-bedroom flat £394,924 and coding kits. Kano chief executive local authority studio flat for sale in Two-bedroom house £800,000 infrastructure in Europe. Two-bedroom house £411,573 Alex Klein says: “We’ve been here Tilman Street for £249,000 (easyprop- Three-bedroom house £1.35 million “Here East offers space in a form that Three-bedroom house £466,662 about a year and love it. There’s a café erty.com) and a three-bedroom renova- Four-bedroom house £1.6 million doesn’t exist anywhere else,” explains Four-bedroom house £555,476 in the entrance where some of the tion project is available in Ben Jonson Source: rightmove.co.uk chief executive Gavin Poole. “It’s a Source: rightmove.co.uk EVENING STANDARD WEDNESDAY 18 NOVEMBER 2015 9 homesandproperty.co.uk powered by Finance | Homes & Property

How lenders’ fees BOOKING FEE MORTGAGE ACCOUNT FEE Application fee, generally For setting up, maintaining and stack up non-refundable, which may be closing your mortgage account. included in the arrangement fee. If charged, there shouldn’t also be ARRANGEMENT FEE £99 to £250 an exit fee. Sometimes known as a product or £100 to £300 completion fee. OWN BUILDINGS £0 to £2,000+ INSURANCE FEE EARLY REPAYMENT CHARGE Sometimes charged if you sort out Applies if you come out of the fixed- VALUATION FEE your own buildings insurance, rather rate or discount period before it ends. Varies with property value, often than buying from lender. One to five per cent of loan waived on remortgages. £25 £150 to £1,500 EXIT FEE CHAPS FEE Also known as a mortgage completion Key add-ons: there can be a sting For transferring mortgage funds to or deeds release fee. For closing your in the tail for many borrowers, once your solicitor. mortgage account. mortgage lenders’ fees are factored in £25 to £50 £75 to £300

ALAMY Sources: Money Advice Service; MoneySuperMarket.com Cheap home loans that are anything but EMORTGAGING has surged as borrow- Lenders who lure you with ers seek to take advantage of low fixed rates that offer interest savings running into thousands of pounds and protec- a low fixed rate can charge tion against an eventual base rate rise. fees that eat your ‘saving’, ManyR lenders have two-year deals at under two per cent for mortgages of up to 75 per cent of the warns Steve Lodge value of a property. But borrowers searching for the best deal to switch to should watch out for additional fees that be added to the loan, this means paying interest ! eat into the interest savings. on it. Where a lender charges a property valuation The mortgage deals with the lowest headline fee, this can also be a significant cost, ranging up rates often have high fees, which can make them to more than £1,000 for high-value homes. much less competitive overall. Fees have a greater impact on the cost of smaller ! Set-up fees of £2,000 or more on some loans and shorter-term loans. And they can add up for mean borrowers may be better off choosing a loan borrowers who routinely switch when deals end. ! with a higher interest rate but lower fees, say “Borrowers choosing a two-year fixed rate will ! ! experts. have to remortgage again relatively soon, which For example, the Post Office offers an ultra-low could see them paying out yet another hefty fee,” two-year fix at 1.15 per cent for mortgages of up says Moneyfacts’ Charlotte Nelson. to 60 per cent of a property’s value. But for many However, Boulger warns that borrowers who borrowers, a higher fixed rate of 1.59 per cent are put off a low-rate offer just because of its high from Chelsea Building Society could work out fees could also end up worse off. substantially cheaper. With larger or longer-term loans, the size of fees The Post Office charges a hefty arrangement can be relatively unimportant, he says. fee of £1,995 and borrowers also pay a valuation Among five-year fixes, HSBC offers a cut-price fee of hundreds of pounds, while there are no rate of 2.19 per cent which, even with a booking arrangement or valuation fees with the fee of £499, plus hundreds of pounds of other Chelsea offer. set-up costs, still works out cheaper than rivals Even with its higher rate, the overall cost of the with no fees, according to MoneySavingExpert. Chelsea deal would be about £1,000 lower over com. the two-year fixed-rate period for a £250,000 The site has a free “mortgage best buys” tool, repayment loan, according to calculations by which compares total loan costs, including financial website MoneySavingExpert.com. arrangement and other set-up fees. It includes Financial adviser Justin Modray, of Candid deals available through mortgage brokers, as well Money, warns that lenders can use up-front fees as those only available direct from lenders. to make their mortgage rates look more attractive A good mortgage broker will also be able to than they really are. A high initial fee means they find the right deal based on your circumstances. can cut the headline interest rate without affect- Brokers will often have details about lenders’ ing their profit,” he says. criteria, which can help with applications — and Ray Boulger, of independent mortgage and the process should be quicker. remortgage adviser John Charcol, adds: “There’s However, it’s not just fees charged at the outset an element of taking advantage of borrowers’ of a mortgage that borrowers should consider. naivety — lenders are disguising the real cost of David Hollingworth, of broker London & Country their deals.” Mortgages, says most fixed-rate mortgages have Most mortgages have arrangement fees, but their early repayment charges during the fixed term. size varies widely and can be as high as £2,800, These are generally a percentage of the loan according to researchers Moneyfacts. The average and can amount to thousands of pounds, making is more than £900 — three times the level of a dec- it important to think about how long you should ade ago. And although in many cases, the fee can tie yourself in for.

INTEREST RATES — THE REAL DEAL Total Lender Mortgage rate Set-up fees annual cost ! Post Office 1.15 per cent fixed for two years £2,495 £12,670 Chelsea Building Society 1.59 per cent fixed for two years £0 £12,130 ! HSBC 0.98 per cent two-year discounted variable £1,810 £12,170 Saffron Building Society 1.49 per cent two-year discounted variable £685 (+ cashback of £800) £11,930 HSBC 2.19 per cent fixed for five years £810 £13,140

Based on a £250,000 remortgage on a £500,000 property. Set-up fees include arrangement/booking and valuation fees. Total annual cost comprises fees, averaged over length of fixed/discount term, plus mortgage payments Source: MoneySavingExpert.com, November 13, 2015 10 WEDNESDAY 18 NOVEMBER 2015 EVENING STANDARD Homes & Property | Architecture the awards 2015 London, built on clay, is set to scoop awards for its innovative use of modern bricks, says Philippa Stockley Boxing clever: 3a Spencer Park is seen as London’s best new one-off brick home

HAT could be a more Perfect ﬁt: appropriate building Darbishire Place, material than brick for Whitechapel, a city built on clay? left, is made from Brick formed the build- Marziale brick, ingW blocks of London for centuries, until which helps to the arrival of steel and big glass made it blend the new look dull by comparison. development of Yet today, brick is back in favour, seen 13 family homes as an antidote to ubiquitous glass tow- with surrounding ers, with London architects embracing buildings the material with enthusiasm. The best of their recent work features in the 39th annual Brick Awards, with winners Something extra: announced tonight. in Clonbrock London features strongly in the hous- Road, Hackney, ing development category, where four right, a cleverly very different schemes are shortlisted. conceived Trafalgar Place in Elephant & Castle, silver-white by de Rijke Marsh Morgan, is set on a brick extension big triangular plot with lots of green by Lipton Plant space. It has 235 new homes, each with appears to a balcony, garden or terrace, in blocks create an of up to 10 storeys. The mix of brick, entirely from Ibstock and Michelmersh, creates Eye-catching refurb: Brooksby in N1 teams unusual white bricks and plenty of glass new building clever patterns across the façades. Chester Balmore in Camden, by flat has a deep balcony. Also made from A NEW-BUILD ONE-OFF FABULOUS BRICK REFURBS a new extension that incorporates the Rick Mather Architects, is a beautiful lovely Marziale brick, it has created Just one London project has been The refurbishment category has three shape of the old one, like a shadow. development of 53 council homes in a homes for 13 families. shortlisted in the one-off homes cate- terrific London homes shortlisted. Inside, the fresh new yellow Sheerwa- soft, elegant, dove-grey Marziale brick In Tulse Hill, Groves Natcheva has gory. Big, bold and boxy 3a Spencer Clonbrock Road, Hackney, adds an ter bricks are left exposed — even in the by Wienerberger — the biggest brick created Warren House — a striking Park in SW18, by MG Architects, uses extension to a 1957 house so cleverly it bedroom — which works very well. company in the world. Mather has industrial-looking set of nine private lots of glass as well as brick to create a seems to create a whole new building. Brooksby in N1, by Llowarch made the blocks look really harmoni- apartments next to the station. defiantly modern, light-filled house. Done by Lipton Plant on a tight budget, Llowarch, makes the best of a boxy ous with neighbouring terraces. The crisply retro building is clad in Like so many new projects, it makes it uses a distinctive silver-white Ibstock back extension by using white glazed In Whitechapel, Niall McLaughlin has distinctive glazed black-and-white use of the pale bricks that are currently brick to good effect. bricks by Wienerberger, along with filled an empty Peabody housing site Ibstock brick, which has helped to so popular, this time a version called House of Trace, by Tsuruta, in SE23 plenty of glass. The project showcases with Darbishire Place, where each make it a local landmark. Terca by Wienerberger. took an old brick extension and made the value of using unusual bricks.

ASTUNNINGCOLLECTIONOF1,2,3&4BEDROOMAPARTMENTS &TOWNHOUSESONTHEEDGEOFKENNINGTON,SE11.

A development by 12 WEDNESDAY 18 NOVEMBER 2015 EVENING STANDARD Homes & Property | Homes abroad

MILAN: from next month, priced from £359,500 budget airline Ryanair ﬂies (pomaseiuno.it) to the Italian fashion capital from as little as £18 one TORONTO: right, WestJet way. Modern apartments at ﬂights start at £163 one way;

Poma Seiuno, above, are new ﬂats are from £149,000 ALAMY

ALAMY Flights of fancy VALENCIA: new BA ﬂights will take you to Spain’s ﬁesta-mad, third-largest city, above. This three-bedroom beachside penthouse Super-affordable airfares are bringing new holiday homes with two terraces, right, is £323,500 well within Londoners’ budgets, reports Cathy Hawker through Lucas Fox (lucasfox.com)

HIRTY years on from the arrival of from Heathrow to Salzburg, with prices from low-cost airfares to Europe, our £40 one way. travel expectations have changed. An hour from Salzburg, Saalbach-Hinterglemm As well as the single long summer has just become Austria’s largest linked ski area holiday on a foreign beach, we now with 170 miles of slopes. Adler Residences in addT weekend breaks to anywhere and upmarket Hinterglemm are 40 one- to four- everywhere, from Amsterdam to Madrid to bedroom fully furnished apartments attached Dubrovnik. Cheaper flights and more routes to the family-run Adler Hotel, priced from also broaden the choice of holiday home £287,000 through Mark Warner Property destinations — here’s our pick of some of the (markwarnerproperty.com). hottest. NEW: CANADA FOR £163 EACH WAY NEW: VIBRANT VALENCIA Fancy a budget-balanced trip to the great BA starts flights this month from outdoors? Low-cost carrier WestJet has Gatwick to Valencia, Spain’s third- announced new routes from Gatwick to six largest city. Costing from £43 one way, the Canadian cities from May. service will run three times a week in winter WestJet will fly daily to Toronto and to St and six times a week in summer (ba.com). John’s, Newfoundland, with up to six flights a The mild Mediterranean climate, vibrant week to Calgary, gateway to the Rockies, culture mixed with international sporting Vancouver, Edmonton and Winnipeg. Single events and an enthusiastic love of fiestas are all fares start from £163, the lowest on offer across part of Valencia’s charm. Property prices the Atlantic on launch, says WestJet, and remain 40 per cent below their pre-recession include one piece of checked luggage. peaks, and modern seafront penthouses and Additional luggage and hot meals on board cost historic country villas are on offer. Estefanía extra (westjet.com). Roig of Lucas Fox (lucasfox.com) says: “A two- Rather like London, Vancouver and Toronto bedroom apartment with sea views in Valencia have experienced property prices spiralling will cost between £135,000 and £176,000, while beyond the reach of local families, rising 11 per a good-size villa 10 minutes from the centre is cent in the 12 months to July this year. Yet at the between £137,000 and £216,000.” same time, the British pound buys more in Canada, as falling oil prices contribute to the NEW: SEE MORE OF ITALY Canadian dollar recently recording its heaviest Brace yourself for that irritating Ryanair fanfare two-year fall on record. because the budget airline has announced two Chestertons International is selling off-plan new routes from Stansted. From December, it one- to three-bedroom apartments in central will fly to Milan, Italy’s financial and fashion Toronto, priced from £149,000. Set in two capital. From spring, it will fly three times a landmark modern buildings with rooftop pools week to Verona, the gateway to Lake Garda. and gyms, these apartments appeal to investors Prices from £18 one way (ryanair.com). and to parents with children at Toronto In Milan, 105 sleek one- to four-bedroom universities, says Stephanie Patterson of apartments at Poma Seiuno, east of the centre, Chestertons (chestertons.com). are nearing completion. The modern homes, many with roof gardens or balconies, will have an in-house gym and — unusually for Milan — a concierge and a rental management team. Prices start from £359,500 (pomaseiuno.it). NEW: SPEED TO THE SLOPES Winter sports fans have even more options to reach the slopes this winter. EasyJet is flying from Luton to Innsbruck in Austria, ideal for the Arlberg ski region and its super-smart resorts of Lech and St Anton. Pure International is selling Arlberg Apartments in St Anton priced from £215,000 for one to five bedrooms, with guaranteed rental returns of up to 5.19 per cent (pureintl. AUSTRIA: new easyJet ﬂights to Innsbruck bring com). Meanwhile, from next month to the end Arlberg Chalets, 20 minutes from Lech, within of March, British Airways will fly twice weekly easier reach. From £140,200 (pureintl.com) EVENING STANDARD WEDNESDAY 18 NOVEMBER 2015 13 homesandproperty.co.uk powered by Design| Homes & Property

◄ Amplicomms PowerTel 710 ◄ DP 01 Punkt Sufferers of impaired sight or hearing Designed by Jasper Morrison and with loss will find this cordless phone a 10 exclusive ringtones composed by blessing. The Amplicomms PowerTel electronic musician Robin Rimbaud, 710 talks to you and can record up to 13 aka Scanner, this contemporary, friends’ names to be announced when cordless digital phone is produced by they ring. Calls are loud and clear, too, Swiss design-led technology company and there’s a 90-decibel ringer. It also Punkt. The DP 01 can sit horizontally features large buttons to make dialling on its base or the whole thing can be easy and the display screen is a good wall mounted. The design is simple and size. Hearing aid-compatible, it is modern, and comes in white, black or £99.99 or VAT-free at £83.33 for blind red, left. Features include an answering and partially sighted customers, or for machine and a high-quality speaker. someone buying on their behalf Priced at £199 (selfridges.com). (shop.rnib.org.uk).

By Caramel Quin

DesDeses

▲ BT Elements 1K SALES SUITE NOW OPEN If you live in a house with thick stone walls, have a super-long garden or have trendtretrendreenddsds struggled for years to get a decent signal from other cordless phones, this is the perfect digital home phone for home phones you. BT Elements 1K is rugged — being both waterproof and dustproof — and has a range of up to a kilometre, ► Panasonic KX-PRW120 making it ideal for a weekend home in For a premium feel, give the cordless the sticks. Features include answering digital Panasonic KX-PRW120 a try. machine, speakerphone and text It connects, through wi-fi, to your messaging. Priced at £79.99 with a smartphone and takes a copy of your single handset, or £119.98 with a pair contacts book. It can also make and of handsets (shop.bt.com). receive landline calls for free via an app on your smartphone — Android and iOS. Features include answering machine, speakerphone and text messaging. Priced at £79.99 (panasonic.com).

▲ Philips M8 The most stylish of the current bunch brilliantly ergonomic and looks good by far, the cordless digital Philips M8 sitting on a table. Features include feels lovely in the hand and is perfect answering machine, speakerphone and for those BFF calls that last for hours. privacy modes — including one that It’s lightweight, feels slim and has blocks late-night calls, apart from legible and tactile buttons for dialling. selected friends and family. Priced at The curved “banana” shape is quite £99.95 (johnlewis.com). 14 WEDNESDAY 18 NOVEMBER 2015 EVENING STANDARD Homes & Property | Interiors

S EVER, über-chic Italian brand Roberto Cavalli is bang on trend in the fashion — and now interiors — stakes with the “glam luxe”A look. Florence-born designer Cavalli, whose style has become stead- ily more flamboyant over his long and illustrious career, is now concentrating on furniture, personally steering each design from sketch to prototype, then to manufacture by a bevy of devoted craftspeople. The end result is extremely opulent and absolutely fabulous — as long as you love glitz and animal prints. “People now see interiors as an extension of fashion,” says Theo Mance, exclusive dealer for Cavalli furniture in London and whose new showroom, Kings of Chelsea, opens tomorrow. An art historian who trained at the V&A and has a strong background in antiques, Mance has been a buyer for Liberty, a consultant to Harrods and has helped several other international brands set up shops in the Spot on for home glamour: strewn with overblown ﬂower heads that contrast capital. He certainly knows his furni- with leopard print, Roberto Cavalli’s lavish Orchidee design is shown here on ture, and believes that London has bed linen at £831.60 for the set. It’s machine washable, with a 300 thread count become an international centre for fashion and design.

“We are not simply selling a label,” ■ he explains. “Cavalli furniture is an intrinsic part of the fashion brand, not an add-on. The furniture features the same exclusive prints at the same time as, or even before, its fashion launch.” These prints are the stars of the show. For example, a luscious, large-scale red rose fabric is stretched across cup- pure board doors and sealed under a layer Pick of the bunch: a Roberto Cavalli Chelsea in 2011. Compared to Cavalli, of clear glitter resin. Handles are jew- three-seater Manhattan sofa, his style for furniture is restrained and elled and fashioned from brass and £10,500, and a Golden Bridge side understated. platinum. Cabinet interiors of shiny table, from a set of three, £12,000, “This season it is the East that lacquer or leopard print sport bronze from Kings of Chelsea in King’s Road enchants me,” he says, introducing glass shelves. More red roses — in giant cabinets and tables in pared-down single flower heads — are scattered over tops in clear bevelled glass reveal sculp- shapes in stained dark timbers, with huge sofas made for lounging at leisure. tural supports — chunky columns or flashes of crimson and jade. Sophisti- For those of fainter heart, the roses also ribbon twists of nickel-plated metal. cated Venetian fabric house Rubelli — come in grey. More restrained, but London has already seen Cavalli also showcased at the Harbour — has equally dramatic, is an abstract pattern homeware, with printed bed linen, worked with Armani for 10 years, and of jagged shards in a kaleidoscopic snake-textured gold cutlery and towels its latest collaboration takes up the glam effect, again in grey or pink. in a safari of animal prints, but these oriental theme, with interlacing pat- “Londoners are aspirational,” says latest pieces elevate the brand. terns derived from Japanese armour Find giant blooms in reds and purples, animal Mance, “and if they see quality and that seem almost etched into quilted exclusivity, they are prepared to pay.” At Design Centre Chelsea Harbour, silks and wool. prints and precious metal shades of bronze, Sofas and headboards feature frames ■ fashion maestro Giorgio Armani Both Cavalli and Armani are exploiting of twisted leather, while chair backs continues to celebrate his 40th the glittering heritage of Venetian silver and gold as fashion houses sashay their are pleated like a dress, with studding anniversary this year. He opened Murano glass in Italy, where a master as a “belt”. White leather for a cocktail homeware shop Armani Casa in New glassmaker and his two assistants use way into homes, says Barbara Chandler bar is quilted like a handbag, and table Bond Street in 2006, but decamped to their skills to make Cavalli’s opulent

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Image-driven: it is not only fashion brands that are moving into luxury interiors. Mercedes-Benz has designed a cool yet sumptuous look, inspired by its cars, for six new Kensington apartments. Visit frasershospitality.com to rent one EVENING STANDARD WEDNESDAY 18 NOVEMBER 2015 15 homesandproperty.co.uk powered by Interiors | Homes & Property

Pretty pleats: right, relax in comfort in the Roberto Cavalli Sharpei chair, which features leather upholstery

Raise a glass: Oscar de la Renta’s mouth-blown glass decanter, below, with tortoiseshell pattern, £246; wine glasses £50 each. From amara.com

Opulent: below centre, silk Papillon cushion by Roberto Cavalli, 40cm square, £136 from amara.com. Other colourways are available

Golden touch: Roberto Cavalli has used his own ornate monogram, below right, entwined with ﬂowers, for this napkin ring in gold-plated brass — £122 from amara.com

chandeliers and Armani’s table lamps leather Italian craftsmanship married in bronze with dove-grey glass with cutting-edge design. shades. Its particular protégés are design duo Draga & Aurel, who both studied art in Glamour is a rite of passage in Florence before turning to furniture. ■ Hollywood, Miami and Beverly One fabulous piece can upgrade a Hills, where labels such as Oscar de la room, so try the couch in white Mon- Renta, Diane von Furstenberg and golian sheepskin by Paola Navone, Ted Baker have moved seamlessly into Italian design doyenne. homeware. But Ralph Lauren is unquestionably the king. His home- CONTACTS ware brand offers a timeless layered O Kings of Chelsea: King’s Road, SW10 look, which mixes lacquer and vintage (kofc.co.uk; 020 7751 4586) leather with tweed, tartan, cashmere, O Armani Casa: Design Centre herringbone and animal prints. Browse Chelsea Harbour, SW10 (armanicasa. an inspirational set of room settings in com; 020 7368 7530) New Bond Street for a glamour fix. O Ralph Lauren: New Bond Street, In Mayfair, Russian-born Anna Grace- W1 (ralphlaurenhome.com; 020 Davidson has a showcase shop, Anna 7535 4600) Casa, offering more Italian glam-luxe O Anna Casa: Hay Hill, W1 Elegant simplicity: the Liquid Lunch dining table is by Draga & Aurel for Italian luxury brand Baxter. The base is walnut- including Baxter, famous for fine (annacasa.net; 020 7629 0045) stained, and the top is decorated by hand with layered resins. From Anna Casa, Hay Hill, W1 (020 7629 0045; annacasa.net)

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ComputergeneratedimageofalivingroomatDraytonPlace.*PricescorrectatthetimeofgoingtoprintNovember2015 20 WEDNESDAY 18 NOVEMBER 2015 EVENING STANDARD Homes & Property | Reader promotion Rustle up a magical kitchen makeover RENOVATE your kitchen with Alison Kitchen Magic, which is offering 30 per cent off all orders. Kitchen Cork Magic will replace your unit doors, drawer fronts and worktops, completely updating your space. Choose from a selection of more than 400 colours and styles, as well no-obligation quote, call 0800 169 as a large range of sinks, taps and 4748 or visit kitchen-magic.com. To kitchen appliances to complement claim, use code ES/BH/18/11 before the new look. For a free brochure or December 25. Elegant chair is so versatile

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London Evening Standard New Homes Awards

For more information and to request an entry form email [email protected] or call 01568 708 163. Closing date for entries: Friday 12th February 2016 #nha2016 22 WEDNESDAY 18 NOVEMBER 2015 EVENING STANDARD Homes & Property | Shopping Living in a material world ALK down Archway Fabrics queen and Selvedge editor Polly Leonard champions Road in north London and you will find skilled weavers from Wales to Nepal. By Liz Hoggard Selvedge. This textile shop is filled with fabricsW created by skilled weavers from across the world, and each item has a story to tell, from Scandinavian linen dishcloths produced by Swedish company Växbo, which grows, spins and weaves the flax, to Alpaca blankets and cushions made by French designer Thibault Van Der Straete. There are also wool blankets by London designer Eleanor Pritchard, who has them woven at a small mill in Carmarthen- shire in Wales. Inside the shop, young assistants help customers choose a fabric, quilt or throw, while tucked round the back in her office, owner Polly Leonard is going through the proofs of Selvedge magazine, which has helped to put textiles back on the fashion agenda. Leonard is a champion of under-the- radar designers and producers. If she

RICHARD NICHOLSON finds something that isn’t easily avail- Textile background: Polly Leonard lives and breathes able in the UK, she will feature it in the fabrics through her Selvedge magazine and shop in N6 magazine, then sell it as part of her online boutique. Running an “upmarket haberdashery” store means Leonard, who studied em- broidery and weaving at Glasgow School of Art before becoming a lecturer and editor, has seen fascinating developments in textiles for interiors. In a world of digital technology, she has spotted a !"' ' # new yearning for authenticity. Instore or online: Polly Leonard’s “I’m noticing lots of crochet in interi- treasure store of fabrics in Archway, ors and in fashion, possibly because it’s above; left, her magazine, Selvedge, more flexible than knitting,” she says. with Vivienne Westood on its cover, * “You can create a garment without a give textile design a new boost # seam with crochet and, perhaps - . because it’s a more immediate tech- She also has the support of her hus- % ( nique, you can learn it much more band, who funded the first-ever issue

quickly.” of Selvedge. She is particularly impressed by the Leonard insists her house is no show works of Dalston designer Naomi Paul home. But it is testament to her love of (naomipaul.co.uk), who recently exhib- the handmade. Her staircase carpet ited big crocheted lampshades at inte- from Roger Oates, which sells vibrant riors show Decorex. flatweave 100 per cent wool runners, A flashback to the Seventies are is a pleasure to look at every day. Her macramé-style wall hangings. “They sofa is upholstered in fabric from Welsh are big on texture, so you can actually wool mill Melin Tregwynt, and rugs see the path of the yarn through the throughout the house are by Stitch by structure,” explains Leonard. “You see Stitch (stitchbystitch.eu) — a textile it in weave and crochet, and you’re design studio that works with artisans getting images of it in print, too.” from India and Nepal. There is also a huge interest in natural The team at the shop are now gearing dyes. “Whenever we do anything with up for the Selvedge Christmas fair next month, where you’ll find more indigo, it’s sold out instantly,” says than 100 artisans and small businesses Leonard. She mentions new company selling vintage haberdashery, festive A Rum Fellow (arumfellow.com), which decorations, homewares and antique is taking fabrics from artisans around textiles. the world and reupholstering Fifties, Leonard originally launched Selvedge Sixties and Seventies furniture. to encourage “the fashion people to Leonard believes that textile stories talk to the interiors people and show can be found in all cultures. “If you them how they could look at their look back in history, it was the inven- materials in different ways”. Today, tion of the sail that initiated global interior designers often ring the shop trade,” she adds. “It was the invention asking where they can get a piece of loom technology that started the upholstered. Light touch: Industrial Revolution.” Leonard’s strong design sensibilities Naomi Paul, left, When she launched bi-monthly originated in Yorkshire, where she grew has created a magazine Selvedge in 2003 — offering up. She remembers the plain, bare range of crochet an overview of textiles across different landscape of the moors. Even now her lampshades, sectors — it revolutionised the way colour palette is quite simple. “One day, including the materials are presented. I’d like to have a shop where I just sell elegant Vex True to form, the name is inspired by red, white and blue things,” she says. shade, above. fabrics, with “selvedge” meaning the *! #! Products are edges of a piece of cloth as it comes O Selvedge presents Artisan %' !#'% " '% ) '"' made to order out of the loom, while the square for- Christmas: December 3-4, Chelsea (naomipaul. mat of the magazine is based on the Old Town Hall, King’s Road, SW3. ' .&, & - co.uk) woven grid. It’s clear that Leonard eats, Advance tickets £5 (£7.50 on the door) ! + ' !%( % $&, breathes and sleeps textiles. She lives from selvedge.org near the shop with her 16-year-old son, O The Selvedge shop, 162 Archway Phoenix, and daughter, Liberty, 13. Road, N6 (020 8341 9721) 26 WEDNESDAY 18 NOVEMBER 2015 EVENING STANDARD Homes & Property | Our home homesandproperty.co.uk

Monochrome style: black bricks contrast with white and grey marble to give this north London home a modern and distinctive look

A BRILLIANT LITTLE HOUSE Young architects David and Sophie were so broke they had to count every brick they bought, says Philippa Stockley

OUNG and broke, award- “roped David in” to build her parents’ winning architects David conservatory. So began both partnership Liddicoat and Sophie Goldhill and marriage. had to count the number of Then, while they were working for big bricks they could afford architectural practices, Sophie inherited beforeY they built their first home on a £75,000, which lit the touchpaper to derelict plot in a street at the back of finding a building plot. “We were obses- King’s Cross station. sive,” says David, “but in reality it was Small plot, big offer and bought the plot using all of that was modest in height and sat well “Sophie was the hod carrier — I just still so little money that we had to find plans: Sophie Sophie’s inheritance at the end of in the space. walked around with a clipboard,” says something no one else wanted.” and David in 2006. Their budget was so tight that the house David, one half of the married architec- A keen cyclist, he scoured London, their minimalist Although Sophie was sitting her final would be made entirely out of brick and tural partnership, Liddicoat and looking over walls and checking the land kitchen, where a exams at the time, the couple spent timber, but with unusual detailing in Goldhill, about building their first home, registry. “We drove around with a big large globe every available minute doing drawings marble and granite, to show the planners a small and boxy black-brick house in A-Z full of biro marks,” say Sophie. At pendant light of what to build. “It was both exciting that they intended to make it high- Camden. last, in a street behind King’s Cross sta- makes a style and scary,” Sophie says candidly. “Eve- quality and in keeping with the nearby At just 35, these rising stars have tion, they saw a dilapidated double statement above rything we had was in this horrible little houses, with plenty of glass. worked hard to get where they are. When gateway and, peering over it, a rotting the dining table plot with planning refusals on it.” “The planners liked the fact that we they met in 2003 at the Royal College of single garage. They tracked down the However, a neighbour offered them a wanted to do something special — but Photographs: Francesco Art, doing an MA in architectural design, owner, and found that two planning tiny extra piece of land at the back of the we had so little money that we calculated they were penniless but determined to applications to build a house had been plot for £20,000 — just enough to make the number of bricks,” says David. “We Guidicini, complete the long training programme rejected, because the planners consid- a difference. They came up with a plan worked out how we could complete the Tom Gildon and then find a plot to build on. Although ered the site too small. But that was a red to build a semi-basement, plus an build using just one truckload — 30,000 and Keith Collie just friends at college, in 2005 Sophie rag to Sophie and David, who made an upper floor, in a boxy, flat-roofed house bricks — because we couldn’t afford two

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Glass with class: centre left, a huge picture window illuminates the exposed black engineered bricks in the master bedroom

Industrial chic: the ceilings are exposed in all of the rooms, with bare light bulbs hanging from coloured ﬂexes in the kitchen area, left

Welcome: shrubs bring a pretty sprinkling of colour to the entrance of the house, right

Vivid contrast: the stark white concrete stairs, right, work strikingly well against the black brick walls

truckloads.” Once they got planning exposed brick, the electrics are surface- white-and-grey marble, which was split WHAT IT COST All special glass bespoke from permission, they started at the end of mounted for an industrial look, which and box-matched. It was a costly, bra- Plot (+ extra bit) in 2006-7: £95,000 structural glass specialists Firman 2009. Then calamity struck: it was so continues in the simple kitchen — made vura purchase, but every scrap was used Build costs (no fees for architects or Glass at firmanglass.com cold that the bricklayer couldn’t lay on-site by the joiner — which has light for lining the windows, a little caddy for their labour): £210,000 Roof made of glass reinforced bricks. The team restarted in April, and bulbs hanging down over the counter. the loo roll, and even a chopping board. Value now: £850,000-£930,000 plastic (GRP) from flatroofsystems. got the whole job done by winter. There’s a lavatory under the stairs, with And the artistic gesture adds tremen- co.uk The house is fairly straightforward: a the washing machine tucked in a cup- dous luxe. GET THE LOOK Translucent wash on timber bespoke double skin of black, glazed Dutch board behind it. The main bathroom, Having done much of the work them- Architects (and part builders) Sophie stair by sadolin.co.uk bricks, with insulation inside. The lower upstairs, has a small Japanese soak bath, selves and fallen in love with their new Goldhill and David Liddicoat at Poured concrete floors by concrete floor holds one big main room with a and a striking ribbed glass wall. Light home, the couple, expecting their first liddicoatgoldhill.com specialist Lazenby at lazenby.co.uk fabulous picture window at the end and floods in from a wide band of glass that child, knew they would have to sell up Black glazed “Eton” bricks from Light bulbs from Urban Cottage another window on the side. Its ceiling spans the roof. It’s a lovely, bold touch. to create funds for their next step. But Daas Baksteen at daasbaksteen.nl Industries at urbancottageindustries. is of exposed, deep joists, that enhance More light comes from a big picture building this brilliant little house had Bricks laid by Frank Pagnello via com the sense of height. All the floors are window in the master bedroom. taught them what you can do with inge- [email protected] White goods from duravit.co.uk polished poured concrete with under- To decorate the front of the house, the nuity, guts and dedication — even when Franke steel sink in kitchen from except for downstairs loo, which was floor heating. Because the walls are couple used an exotically veined slab of the planners think you can’t. franke.com salvaged from a skip

28 WEDNESDAY 18 NOVEMBER 2015 EVENING STANDARD Homes & Property | Outdoors

ATIONAL Tree Week, at the end of this month, cel- ebrates the start of the winter tree-planting season. There is no better timeN to plant a tree, but on your own plot, you need to be creative. Plant with a purpose. In London gardens where space is limited, a tree has to make a major contribution. Con- sider, for example, a line of high-level pleached hornbeams to screen out a neighbour’s intrusive windows; an Amelanchier lamarckii just beyond the kitchen window to mark the seasons with spring flowers, summer fruits and autumn foliage; a group of silver-barked birch trees to light up a shady corner, or an ornamental cherry such as Prunus serrula, with glossy red bark and a fine show of blossom, to make magic in the front garden come springtime.

SPIRIT OF THE MED Stark silhouette: the white bark of a Instead of a climber that takes time to multi-stemmed Himalayan birch cover, you might instantly transform a looks striking all through the year wall with a series of vertical green columns. Pencil cypress trees summon suggestions, along with bay and large- the spirit of the Mediterranean and, leaved Portuguese laurel Prunus lusi- provided you keep them in containers, tanica, that you can gradually clip will take up little space, but have great yourself to form a leafy parasol, or buy presence. They are also content to stay One for the pot: a tree fern, content to stay in a container, adds a strong design element to a shady urban courtyard ready mop-headed. in pots for years, as is a fig tree, another Grown as a tree, the everyday winter- Med habitué. It will bear most fruit flowering shrub Viburnum tinus when planted against a warm, south- Pattie becomes rather less humdrum, while a facing wall, or make a great focal point multi-stemmed mahonia resembles an in the centre of a sunny courtyard. Barron exotic palm, even when it isn’t laden Don’t shy away from a fig just because with those extraordinary date-like it loses its leaves in winter. That pale- trusses of navy blue berries or fragrant barked, curvy silhouette can look yellow flowers in the middle of winter. equally as striking bare as when it is It’s worth paying more for a show clothed with giant-fingered leaves. And stopper that will make a pivotal feature there are the figs — as tasty as any in the and set the pace for the surrounding Med after a good summer. A tree planting. A hardy palm, Trachycarpus fortunei dictates a green urban jungle, YEAR-ROUND GREENERY with dramatic, sword-like foliage. An If you want an evergreen tree that will is not olive tree calls for the lavender, san- block a view or simply provide year- tolina and iris of its homeland. A multi- round foliage, you might consider stemmed, white-barked Himalayan strawberry tree Arbutus unedo. It is a just for birch, Betula jacquemontii simply compact tree with reddish bark, scarlet needs a scattering of white crocuses stems, shapely leaves and white, bell- and shade-loving white martagon lilies shaped flowers in autumn, at the same at its feet to convert a dark and dismal time as the hanging, strawberry-like Christmas Leafy lollipop: shrub Photinia Red Robin makes a stylish evergreen tree corner of the garden into an enchant- round red fruits. It will grow happily in ing woodland glade. a container, which restricts any tree’s of light and, uniquely, need only a thin shaped leaves emerge. For a stylish, growth and so widens your choices. Plant with purpose, layer of soil to do well. small evergreen tree that you can grow Photographs: Marianne Majerus The inventive landscape designer My number one choice for a con- in a pot or in the ground, think shrub Amir Schlezinger planted a windproof for privacy or simply tainer tree would be the stunning Chi- — because a tree is, after all, a shrub with O For outdoor events this month, visit Scots pine on a roof terrace and added nese red bud, Cercis chinensis a clear, woody stem. Photinia Red Robin homesandproperty.co.uk/events glamour to an urban courtyard with a for beauty — support Avondale, which has clusters of deep with its scarlet young foliage, berrying fat-trunked tree fern — an ideal choice magenta flowers studding its bare pyracantha and white-blossomed O Garden queries? Email our RHS expert: because tree ferns thrive in low levels National Tree Week branches in spring before the heart- Osmanthus burkwoodii are just a few [email protected]

32 WEDNESDAY 18 NOVEMBER 2015 EVENING STANDARD Homes & Property | Property searching homesandproperty.co.uk powered by Spotlight Purley This leafy suburb full of hidden gems is just a few minutes drive from Croydon and its exciting £1.5bn regeneration, says Anthea Masey

T FIRST glance, Purley is Webb Estate resident is Status Quo an unremarkable suburban rocker Francis Rossi, who has lived in town on the southern edge two houses there. of London, where drivers Many residents in Purley’s avenues on a day trip to the coast are up in arms at the proposed develop- haveA the choice of taking the A23 to ment of a long-derelict site in the town Brighton or the A22 to Eastbourne. On centre. The island site in the middle of closer inspection, however, the leafy the gyratory traffic system is owned by streets of Purley — a few miles south of the local Baptist church, which is pro- Croydon and about 13 miles from posing, in partnership with developer central London — contain a hidden gem, Thornsett, to build a new church with in the shape of a pioneering garden community and leisure facilities, a new suburb developed in the early years of public square and more than 200 the 20th century by an unassuming homes. Some of the homes will be in a estate agent called William Webb. 16-storey block, which campaigners é Well before the better-known Eben- estate was awarded conservation area — including the local Conservative MP ezer Howard was developing his idea status. His vision lives on in the names Chris Philp — claim is not in keeping of a garden suburb, Webb was hard at of the roads and the restrictive cove- with the area. work on his vision of creating an estate nants that have kept the Webb Estate with the focus on the garden. free from overdevelopment since. WESTFIELD’S ON THE WAY In 1888, Webb bought 260 acres of Exclusive Rose Walk has wide rose Much more significant for Purley, farmland south of Foxley Lane. Before beds running down its length. Originally according to Toby Bassett of local estate Tuning up: mechanic Martin Jones any building started, he set up a planted with 6,000 roses in 400 varie- agent Walter & Mair — which specialises gets stuck in with motorcycle repairs nursery to grow the hedging plants, ties, it received an annual visit from in selling houses on the Webb Estate — is at AllBikes in Godstone Road trees, shrubs and flowers needed to Queen Mary, the Queen’s grandmother, the new £1.5 billion Westfield and Ham- create an enormous garden. Only then while Silver Lane is lined with silver merson shopping, leisure and housing did he start selling building plots for birch trees and spring bulbs. development that aims to regenerate bowling alley, cafés and restaurants, WHAT THERE IS TO BUY development. The home in Rose Walk of former the centre of nearby Croydon and prom- will be a game changer for the area. Purley has a mix of Victorian, Edward- Eventually, 225 plots were sold and Crystal Palace Football Club owner, the ises to create 5,000 new jobs. “Croydon will become a much better ian and Twenties and Thirties houses, most of the houses were built between late Ron Noades, was used in the ITV Bassett reckons the project, which place to live and we will see people plus modern flats in the town centre. 1903 and 1925. In 1919, Webb presented series Footballers’ Wives, and has just will replace the Whitgift and Centrale buying a first home there, then moving The most expensive houses currently his ideas in the book Garden First in been sold to the club’s winger Wilfried shopping centres with a sparkling new on to family houses in the surrounding for sale are on the Webb Estate. They Land Development, and in 1983 the Zaha for £2.5 million. Another famous Westfield mall, 600 homes, a cinema, areas, such as Purley,” he adds. range in price from £1.75 million for a five-bedroom house built in 2006 and covering 5,000sq ft, to £3.5 million for Amberhurst, a seven-bedroom house with 6,817sq ft in Silver Lane. Woodcote Park Estate, next to Webb Estate and west of Smitham Bottom Lane, also has large detached houses. The most expensive property for sale there is a five-bedroom detached house on a corner plot in Verulam Avenue at £1,425,000. A lot of Purley’s streets are perched on the hilly slopes of the North Downs. The Riddlesdown area south of the town centre has roads that follow the contours of the hills, with steep pedestrian routes offering a shortcut to the high street. A three-bedroom terrace Arty-crafty: Lisa Downham, owner of Get Fired! paint-it-yourself pottery studio; Purley High Street, centre; Manuela da Silva and Eduardo Moca of Las Fuentes tapas bar house in Downs Court Road, which

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empty Baptist church site has been an eyesore for years. There is a branch of Laura Ashley Home and a smattering of restaurants. STATS CHECK These include steakhouse Buenos Aires WHAT HOMES COST in Russell Hill Road, which is next door BUYING IN PURLEY to Speroni — co-owned by Crystal (Average prices) Palace goalkeeper Julián Speroni — that One-bedroom flat £208,000 serves a fusion of Spanish and Italian Two-bedroom flat food. £280,000 There is a branch of PizzaExpress in Two-bedroom house £353,000 Brighton Road, while Las Fuentes in Three-bedroom house £457,000 High Street is a popular tapas restau- Four-bedroom house £660,000 rant, and Dexter Burger is renowned for its hamburgers. Croydon, a major Source: Rightmove shopping hub, is only a couple of miles RENTING IN PURLEY from Purley — so just a short bus or car (Average rates) journey away. One-bedroom flat £859 a month Travel: Purley is served by four train Two-bedroom flat £1,163 a month stations — Purley, Purley Oaks, Two-bedroom house Riddlesdown and Reedham. The first £1,150 a month three have services to Victoria and Three-bedroom house £1,625 a month Buzzing coffee bar: Luca Costa and Marina Perez happy at work in Station Approach London Bridge that take about half an Four-bedroom house £2,245 a month hour. Reedham has direct trains to Source: Rightmove Court, on the site of the former Astoria square foot. This compares with as Victoria and London Bridge that take Cinema in High Street. More typical is much as £2,000 a square foot for about 45 minutes, although it can be FOR MORE, VISIT a two-bedroom apartment in classical similar houses in Hampstead. Walter quicker to change trains at Purley. The homesandproperty.co.uk former Purley Town Hall, round the & Mair’s Toby Bassett is right to call this stations are all in Zone 6 and an annual corner in Brighton Road and on the Purley estate a hidden gem. travelcard costs £2,344. O Use our School Checker to find market for £300,000. Council: Croydon is Labour controlled catchment areas and inspection Up and coming: houses on sale for SHOPS AND RESTAURANTS and Band D council tax for this year is reports for schools in the area £3.5 million can never be described as Purley town centre is dominated by a £1,466.39. O The lowdown on the local affordable, but larger properties on the large branch of Tesco Extra. Elsewhere, rental scene Webb Estate sell for about £350 per there is little to recommend and the Photographs: Daniel Lynch O All the latest new homes offers fine views over the valley from a developments raised terrace, is for sale at £550,000. Town centre flats range in price from about £225,000 for a one-bedroom To find a home in Purley, visit rightmove.co.uk home above commercial premises in Russell Hill Road to £750,000 for a For more about Purley, visit homesandproperty.co.uk/spotlightpurley four-bedroom penthouse at Astoria

TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE £825,000 £900,000 £750,000 £550,000 THIS four-bedroom family house A MODERNISED five-bedroom period NEAR good rail links, this five-bedroom WITH valley views, a modernised Why would it be a waste of time to go with a smart, modern kitchen in the house in West Purley that manages to house in Purley Bury Close, CR8, has a three-bedroom house in Downs Court metal detecting in this Purley street? Hartley area is for sale through retain plenty of original character, is for large garden and patio. Through Mark Road, CR8, for sale through Hamptons Find the answer at Walter & Mair (020 8012 3772). sale through Walter & Mair (as before). Youll (020 8012 3924). International (01883 338514). homesandproperty.co.uk/spotlightpurley

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" ! $$ "$! ' +%% ( % % #% +% ! %# +% & ' %%$ * % ''% ! ' ' % !%$ !%$ ( (%$ (% % + !% # ! %# ( %# +% ' $" ' ) %# +% ' $" ' +% %# + +% ) %% %# '' % # % % !$ % # # # !'"$' $$ ! &$ ' ' $ $& % $ % " $ $ !'$ $$ ! ! $ ( 36 WEDNESDAY 18 NOVEMBER 2015 EVENING STANDARD Homes & Property | Ask the expert Can we make Dad leave us the house? Fiona WHAT’S I RECENTLY inherited a property from my YOUR grandmother. It is in a poor state of repair, McNulty PROBLEM? but several of her neighbours have shown IF YOU have a interest in it and one has made an offer, OUR LAWYER ANSWERS question for whichQ I’ve accepted — all without an estate agent. YOUR QUESTIONS Fiona McNulty, However, my solicitor is now going on about an please email Energy Performance Certificate and sneers that if I MY PARENTS own a house legalsolutions@ had used an estate agent, I wouldn’t have to trouble with no mortgage in their standard.co.uk myself with this. What do I have to do to get one of joint names. If my father or write to Legal these certificates? Is it essential? passes away first, as Solutions, Homes Qmatters stand the whole house will & Property, WHETHER you have an estate agent or not, you go to my mother and she will leave London Evening must provide an Energy Performance Certificate it to me and my brother on her Standard, 2 Derry for the property. It is true that an estate agent death. Street, W8 5EE. would have done this for you, but as a private However, if my mother dies first, We regret that Aseller you can still organise it yourself. then the whole house will go to questions cannot The certificate must be issued by an energy assessor my father — and he will most be answered who is accredited to produce them for the category of probably leave it, or half of it, to individually, but building concerned. his relatives in India. we will try to It contains information about a property’s energy use My mother really wants the feature them and typical energy costs, and includes recommendations house, or her half at least, to go to here. Fiona about how to reduce energy use and save money. It us and knows that my father will McNulty is a provides an energy efficiency rating from A to G, with not leave it all to us on his death. legal director G being the least efficient. The certificate will then be What can be done to make him in the private valid for 10 years. leave a share to us? One idea is for wealth group of Your buyer’s solicitor will ask you to produce an me and my brother to have our automatically inherit, overriding the may be able to challenge this if you Foot Anstey Energy Performance Certificate and indeed, you can be names put on the deeds, if our provisions of any will. are dependent on him, but this (footanstey.com). fined if you do not produce one. Visit the Government parents agree. Can you make any If, instead, the joint tenancy is would necessitate an application to website epcregister.com to find a domestic energy suggestions as to what we can do? severed and your parents each own a court. Even if you own part of the assessor. 50 per cent divided share under a property as tenants in common with There are some exemptions and for certain buildings UNDER the law of succession tenancy in common, they can each your parents, you will not be able to you do not need to provide an Energy Performance

in England, your parents dispose of their own share by will, prevent your father from giving away Certificate — for instance, if your property is listed. have complete freedom to enabling your mother to leave her his share. dispose of their property as share to her children if she dies first. Do remember that a gift of a share More legal O These answers can only be a very brief commentary on Athey see fit. However, if the property Your father will still be able to leave in the property to you may have tax Q&As the issues raised and should not be relied on as legal advice. is held under a joint tenancy as you his share of the property to other implications, so you should seek Visit: homesand No liability is accepted for such reliance. If you have similar believe, then the survivor will family members, if he so wishes. You tax advice. property.co.uk issues, you should obtain advice from a solicitor. 38 WEDNESDAY 18 NOVEMBER 2015 EVENING STANDARD Homes & Property | Inside story If I only had a… home cinema MONDAY After a Sunday spent clearing up autumn leaves, dog walking and play- Diary of ing football in the garden with the kids, I walk to the bathroom to get ready for an estate work today doing a fine impression of the Tin Man from The Wizard of Oz. agent The first challenge of the day will be putting on my shoes to get to the kicks in, I come to appreciate the whole office. set-up. I also reflect on how insignificant The early morning sales meeting tells my television is at home. Now I know me Christmas is approaching. Buyer what I want for Christmas. registration is down and there are fewer viewings but, interestingly, the WEDNESDAY ratio between viewings and offers is I am viewing a new development of five much higher — proof that those in the luxury apartments today. I enter the market are intent on buying. show home and one push of a button turns the place alive, with mood light- The walk up the red carpet rubbing can’t see the staircase, only a ladder This has been booked by a solicitor TUESDAY ing and music springing into action. shoulders with the cast is an incredible casually tied to some scaffolding taking dealing with the beneficiary of a The highlight of today is a valuation in After a 20-minute wait — and just as I experience, even though nobody asks you up three floors. “You’ve got to be relative or friend who has passed away. one of the most prestigious roads in am settling in to watch Homes Under for my autograph. kidding,” I mutter under my breath as I tend to wince when people say estate Gerrards Cross. the Hammer — both of my viewers pitch a burly builder holds my hand while I agents act on the “three Ds” — debt, With my shoes freshly polished, I head up at the same time. Juggling my atten- THURSDAY negotiate the rungs — an image that will death and divorce — but today seems off to a magnificent Georgian-style tion between the two, I leave one of the The morning starts with a site meeting stay with me for years to come. to prove the point. house set over four floors. The client couples busily taking in the lounge at a development of townhouses due The business day concludes with a takes delight in asking me to take a seat while I lead the other to the study. It’s to be launching in the new year. FRIDAY text from my wife to say she has booked in the media room so that I can experi- all going swimmingly until little Johnny Having had a late night, I completely I am invited to value a house this morn- tickets for the new James Bond film. I ence the quality of the sound system. I decides to use one of the loos that isn’t forget to pack my wellies and jacket. ing for a couple sadly separating. As we wonder whether this will be a good am thinking all I need now is the pop- yet connected. “No problem,” I assure The rain is absolutely tipping down and sit down to discuss the price, you can opportunity to let her know about my corn and I am set up for the afternoon. his mum and dad, “I’ll sort it.” the site can only be described as a cut the atmosphere with a knife. A plans to convert our lounge into a The room is very atmospheric, with Inwardly, I am groaning. mudbath. I tiptoe to the safety of the valuation of this kind is never a nice surround-sound media room… the most comfortable theatre seats and The afternoon definitely improves as entrance, but the developer has other experience, but is now a huge part of specially designed walls for soundproof- I am invited by one of my clients, who plans. “To appreciate the property our business. Trying to smooth the O Simon Roberts is a partner at Strutt ing. As the opening scene to Gladiator has become a friend, to the Hunger fully, Simon, you need to see the other atmosphere is exhausting. Emotionally & Parker in Gerrards Cross (01753 starts to play and the magnificent sound Games premiere in Leicester Square. floors,” he says. Looking around, I drained, I leave for the next valuation. 891188).

Ask Martin.

Ask free on 0800 302 9396 or visit martinco.com/askmartin 40 WEDNESDAY 18 NOVEMBER 2015 EVENING STANDARD Homes & Property | Letting on

£500 a week: a spacious two-bedroom, two-bathroom ﬁrst-ﬂoor apartment in a period property in Dorncliffe Road, just off Fulham Road in SW6, is available to rent through Bellman (020 8012 6091) I’m a landlord — not Postman Pat Victoria Whitlock’s new tenants ring in the middle of the night trying to use her as their delivery service

HORTLY after an Aussie couple moved into my rental The flat, I went on a business trip to a different time zone, stressing they should only accidental Scall me in an emergency. Midway through my trip I was landlord woken in the middle of the night by my mobile vibrating under the pillow. My heart leapt to my throat tenants with an address in England when I saw the tenant’s name on the or Wales where they can serve notice, screen, thinking there must be a for example if they want to terminate serious problem at the flat. their tenancy. If the tenant isn’t given There wasn’t. She had woken me at an address for their landlord, they 2am to ask if I could go to my local can legally withhold their rent. mail sorting office to collect her new However, landlords don’t have to credit card, which for some reason give their home address, it can be an she had asked her bank to send to my office from where they run their home address. business or an address for their I was temporarily speechless. Why letting agent or solicitor. As I don’t was she getting her mail sent to my have an office, an agent or a solicitor, home address? Did she really think it I debated whether I could open a PO was reasonable to use me as a delivery Box, but the law on this isn’t clear. service? It doesn’t state that landlords have I wanted to yell: “How is this an to provide a bricks-and-mortar emergency, you idiot?” Instead, address, but it seems that a PO Box I snapped that I was thousands of might not be acceptable as tenants miles away and, even if I was at couldn’t then physically serve notice home, there was no way I would be on a landlord. able to find a missing letter in the sorting office. LSO, if a tenant asks for the “Couldn’t you just go and ask them landlord’s actual address, to look for it?” she said. She must the landlord must provide have thought Her Majesty’s Royal it within 21 days. It’s a Mail was run by Postman Pat. I told criminal offence not to, her no, she would have to ask her Aapparently. I am not sure why, it bank to cancel the card. doesn’t seem right, but they could find God knows why this tenant had out from the Land Registry anyway for given her bank my home address. I just £3. imagine that, as she’d just arrived So who knows what tenants might from Oz, she was feeling a bit topsy- send to my home next. Fingers turvy. But it made me really crossed, it’s a Christmas hamper. uncomfortable. I started to wonder if there was a way for landlords to avoid disclosing to their tenants O Victoria Whitlock lets four where they live. properties in south London. Landlords are required under the To contact Victoria with your ideas Landlord and Tenant Act to provide and views, tweet @vicwhitlock 42 WEDNESDAY 18 NOVEMBER 2015 EVENING STANDARD Homes & Property | New homes Apartments to lure young By David Spittles bankers into the suburbs Smart moves Room to grow in a new village

THE Jubilee line has one used station on the Jubilee OWNHILL from the leafy include pedestrian routes and big advantage over the line — a boon for anyone slopes of Blackheath, cycleways. capital’s other Tube routes living at nearby Stanmore there is no trace of the Flats and townhouses with roof — it cuts through the centre Place, a new scheme of 798 former Ferrier council terraces overlook this green expanse, of the city to Canary homes where an industrial estate. The asbestos- and now the result of the £1 billion Wharf, which is already a estate once stood. riddenD concrete tower blocks and regeneration project is in full view major employment hub The development is a houses have been bulldozed to make as home buyers look at this once- that is set to expand during welcome arrival in the way for Kidbrooke Village, right. blighted district with fresh eyes. the next decade. style-starved suburbs of Residents can benefit from nearby Eventually, there will be 4,000 This explains why so north-west London, shops, cafés and restaurants, a homes and a community of more many bankers live in offering award-winning school, health centre, plus a new than 10,000 people living here. St John’s Wood — and why landscaped grounds plus a transport interchange at Kidbrooke Homes have smart, space-efficient, developers are building gym and 24-hour concierge. station, offering a 15-minute low-energy interiors, while The further down the line, Royal Crescent, above, commute to London Bridge. Square, the latest phase, has offering affordable homes the latest phase, has It is within a surprisingly green apartments ranging up to 1,353 sq ft for young, Docklands- two-bedroom apartments setting, bordered by Sutcliffe Park in size, bigger than many new-build bound commuters. priced from £457,500. in Eltham Road, with a lake and properties. Prices from £345,000. Canons Park in Zone 5 Call St Edward Homes on wetlands, while newly landscaped Three-bedroom houses cost happens to be the least- 020 8952 2853. areas across the 276-acre estate £765,000. Call 020 8150 5151.

EVENING STANDARD WEDNESDAY 18 NOVEMBER 2015 43 homesandproperty.co.uk powered by New homes | Homes & Property Make the River Café your local restaurant

THE River Café has helped to put a west London backwater on the map. Turn off Fulham Palace Road towards the Thames and you will discover an orderly grid of roads between Bishop’s Park and a once-unloved commercial zone with warehouses and wharves — one of which is now occupied by the renowned restaurant. It is run by Ruth Rogers, wife of architect Richard Rogers, whose adjacent headquarters will soon be redeveloped into a block of 57 flats and work studios. The Lanchesters, left, a resourceful remodelling of a low-rise Eighties business estate, is part of this neighbourhood. It provides well-designed, spacious flats with large terraces for buyers who cannot afford a home in one of the area’s swish riverside developments. Prices start at £675,000. Call Hamptons International on 020 7384 1001.

DESIGNED WITH CREATIVES IN MIND

ROBERT SONING likes to make an mailboxes. At a scheme of flats in entrance. Believing first impressions Clerkenwell, a piece by New York- count, the boss of design-led based video installation artist Marco developer Londonewcastle places Brambilla transforms the experience special importance on the foyer areas of taking the lift. and common parts of the apartment Queen’s Park Place, left, is a schemes his company builds. scheme of 116 apartments attracting A lobby, he says, should set the tone buyers priced out of Notting Hill. It for the whole development, so he has a dramatic double-height glass- commissions architects to come up clad entrance lobby, with artwork and with original designs, while he a bespoke concierge desk. Interiors personally cherry-picks art and have been designed by Elle Decor’s furniture to introduce a bit of fun and Tamzin Greenhill. Prices start at attract creative-sector buyers. £535,000 and rise to £2,095,000 Graphics and signage are carefully for a penthouse. Call estate agents considered, even for the lobby Aston Chase on 020 7724 4724.

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