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Homes& Property Wednesday 11 January 2017

Hoover my house, PAL Trends Page 14

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The family home packed with surprises Page 20

JULIET MURPHY

House of fun

WEDNESDAY 11 JANUARY 2017 EVENING STANDARD

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Homes & Property | News £820,000: this three-bedroom Harlesden house has scope for a loft extension. You may want to improve rather than move, given that the area enjoys London’s fastest price growth. Brian Cox (020 8012 4436)

powered by Trophy home of the week walk the walk in a luxury flat on the river

Harlesden has the last laugh

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NCE troubled by gun crime and gangs, Harlesden was considered for years to be London’s answer to the Bronx in New York. It is still resolutely ungentrified — but it is having the last laugh. Over the past 12 months, and despite its lack of gastropubs and artisanal delis, the cosmopolitan north London neighbourhood has seen the capital’s biggest house price growth — almost 15 per cent— compared with a London average of 6.1 per cent. A home in Harlesden today costs just over £485,000 on

average, up from £423,000 a year ago, according to research from Hamptons International which has identified the 20 best-performing areas of the year. Prices in Greenhill, 10 miles north-west of central London, leapt 14.1 per cent in the last year, to an average of £443,000, equalled only by Wo o lw i c h C o m m o n i n Greenwich, where prices rose to an average of just over £345,000, and Crystal Palace, on £406,000. The best-value spot in today’s league table is the Boleyn ward of Newham, at just under £331,000.

O Find Ruth Bloomfield’s full story at homesandproperty.co.uk

Editor: Janice Morley VISIT homesandproperty.co.uk/rules for details of our usual promotion rules. When you respond to promotions, offers or competitions, the London Evening Standard and its sister companies may contact you with relevant offers and services that may be of interest. Please give your mobile number and/or email address if you would like to receive such offers by text or email.

Editorial: 020 3615 2524 Advertisement manager: Ann Finan Advertising: 020 3615 0266 Homes & Property, Northcliffe House, 2 Derry Street, Kensington, London W8 5TT.

London buy of the week a period conversion with modern good looks £425,000: get the year off to a flying start in this bright, airy flat on the first floor of a handsome, double-fronted period conversion in Streatham Hill, SW16. The flat offers high ceilings, huge bay windows and wood floors in a reception room that’s open-plan to a smart kitchen, fully equipped with integrated appliances and wood worktops. The master bedroom has ample storage space, while the second bedroom is ideal for guests or as a study. There’s off-street parking and the location is handy for shops at both Streatham and Brixton, and for Streatham Hill train station. Through Foxtons (020 8012 6800).

By Faye Greenslade

£4,625,000: this prime Pimlico pad is not to be sniffed at. A three-bedroom apartment in the Riverwalk development, it’s a showcase of luxury right on the Thames at Millbank, SW1. The kitchen is a bespoke Boffi affair with high-spec integrated appliances, while marble walls line the en suite bathrooms. Floors are underheated for chilly months and in summer, comfort cooling is controlled at the touch of a button, along with mood lighting and high-spec audio

systems. There’s a balcony and roof terrace for divine views over the river, along with a residents’ fitness suite, secure underground/valet parking and round-the-clock concierge services. Near Westminster’s heart and Tate Britain, it’s for sale through Knight Frank (020 3858 3536).

Lifechanger of the week B&B business at the gateway to glorious Wensleydale £799,950: the bracing air of North Yorkshire — and this Georgian B&B in the small, picturesque market town of Masham in breathtakingly beautiful Lower Wensleydale — could be just what you need to start afresh in 2017. Grade II-listed Bank Villa commands a prime spot a

short walk from the popular market square and has been a successful B&B since 2002. The ground floor has sitting, drawing and dining rooms, plus a 21ft kitchen/breakfast room complete with an Aga.

Seven guest bedrooms span the upper floors, while outside there are outbuildings and an acre of landscaped gardens. For sale through Carter Jonas (01423 429055).

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EVENING STANDARD WEDNESDAY 11 JANUARY 2017

News | Homes & Property

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Trumps and the Obamas will be neighbours

Homes gossip By Amira Hashish O For more celebrity gossip, visit homesandproperty.co.uk/gossip

GETTY

Develop a deal for top snapper’s pad in Chelsea at £3.5m

ÉTHE TRUMPS are starting to buy in Washington DC. Donald’s daughter Ivanka has splashed out £4.4 million with her property mogul husband, Jared Kushner, on a home in the US capital. The couple, seen left with the President-elect, are preparing to move with their three children to the city from New York for Kushner to work as a senior adviser in his fatherin-law’s administration when Trump takes office on January 20. Kushner met UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson on Sunday and is initially set to focus on trade policy

How cosy: Ivanka Trump and her husband are said to have bought this 1923 house near the Obamas

and the Middle East. The modernist six-bedroom house Kushner and Ivanka are said to have bought is in upmarket Kalorama, two streets away from the home Barack Obama’s family will rent when he hands over the reins.

Starry rental by Ringo’s office

É AWARD-WINNING photographer David Montgomery, above, is selling his home of 25 years. London-based, New York-raised Montgomery, internationally famed for his iconic portraits of celebrities and heads of state including the Queen, Bill Clinton, the Rolling Stones, Clint Eastwood, Jimi Hendrix and Pierce Brosnan, has regularly contributed to Vogue. He has works on permanent display at the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh, US, with many more on show at the five-bedroom, four-storey terrace house he is selling in Langton Street, Chelsea. With a good-size garden, it’s for sale through Aylesford International at £3.5 million.

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Could this be TV royalty’s palace? É RUMOURS that Victoria stars Jenna Coleman and Tom Hughes, left, are a couple in real life surfaced late last year when they were spotted house hunting together. The pair, who played Queen Victoria and Prince Albert in the hit ITV drama, were seen viewing a five-bedroom terrace house near Kentish Town. They haven’t sealed a deal yet and the threestorey family home, above, is on the market at £2 million with Keatons. Overlooking peaceful gardens, it is in need of a refurb but boasts striking period features. Potential buyers may have to compete with London’s new acting royalty if they put in an offer.

REX

Got some gossip? Tweet @amiranews

É BEATLES fans can rent a threebedroom, fourstorey property in Ovington Square, Knightsbridge, where they’ll find Apple Corps, the music company owned by Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney, left, and the estates of John Lennon and George Harrison. The square is an A-list hotspot, where Bill Gates and Woody Allen have both rented. Available for short-term lets via One Fine Stay, the elegant house, left, comes with hotel-style services including 24/7 concierge and housekeeping — but will cost you £1,615 a night.

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Homes & Property | New homes

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Where railway lines go, home buyers turn up. It happened with the recent Overground upgrades and it is happening with Crossrail and Tube extensions. One live project is the Northern line extension from Kennington to Battersea, opening in 2020.

ANY Londoners looking to move home in 2017 will need to scan the capital with fresh eyes if they are to achieve their goal of finding a nice place to live, in a good — or at least “improving” — area with strong potential for capital growth. Rather than a single overarching property market, our fast-changing city has many micro markets, each of which has its own dynamics. Urban renewal is constant in London: nowhere is “undiscovered”, but areas are continually being rediscovered. Often this is due to co-ordinated regeneration schemes, such as at Earls Court, but sometimes it is down to an unplanned confluence of people and “undervalued” homes that makes a place newly special. The spur might be business-led — such as the tech sector sprouting in Shoreditch — or a cultural stimulus such as the opening of Tate Modern at Bankside. New “tribes” settle, hastening gentrification and pushing up prices.

While rising prices have put central and parts of inner London out of reach of many buyers, forcing them to consider longer commutes and areas that aren’t their first choice, London is bulging with building projects, transport upgrades and cultural and employment shifts that are creating new hotspots and buying opportunities, whatever your budget. If you want to prosper in property, it pays to search out areas benefiting from large investment of one type or another. Often places that are not in the immediate spotlight but next to regeneration zones benefit, too, through the ripple effect. Walworth, bordering Elephant & Castle, is a good example. Though some projects are longer term, they quickly become part of a property story, embedded in buyers’ decision-making. If you buy smartly today, you will reap financial rewards when you eventually sell. And with the prospect of Brexit ushering in a period of market caution, there may be genuine bargains available right now.

TRAINS AND BOATS AND PLANES Better transport links — rail, river and air — provide the biggest and most obvious boost to an area’s reputation.

KENNINGTON With dramatic change taking place around it, Kennington itself has been stuck in time. Less than a mile from Parliament, the district’s Victorian terraces and Georgian squares act as a block on big development projects. It has been gentrifying for decades, but hasn’t reached the heights of fashionability. However, the Northern line spur may accelerate its popularity. Alongside refurbished Kennington Park is a rare new-build scheme, St Agnes Place, with Georgian-style houses priced from £1,375,000. Call 0333 0033 660. Kennington also butts up against the Thames, right where ancient Lambeth Palace stands, and where an ugly office block has been bulldozed to make way for Palace View — 55 apartments with full-height glazing to maximise the vista. Prices from £880,000. Call Taylor Wimpey on 020 3866 0901.

ABBEY WOOD

Meridan Water, Enfield: up to 10,000 new homes will be served by a new station with trains to Liverpool Street in just 25 minutes. Call Barratt (0844 8114334)

NEW HOMES HOTSPOTS FOR 2017

How to plan your new year buying strategy David Spittles zones in on new homes with that all-important X factor

In Hackney Wick: warehouse-style Carpenters Wharf flats pick up on the area’s industrial heritage

Another important new link is an Overground extension from Abbey Wood to Barking Riverside, scheduled to open in 2021. Abbey Wood is already the location for a new Crossrail station yet currently is one of the cheapest places to live in London. Developer HUB has submitted plans for the area’s first significant new homes scheme, a 29-storey skyscraper with 208 flats.

BARKING At Barking, an ambitious waterfront project is under way, with up to 11,000 homes. Caspian Quarter is the latest phase. Prices from £234,995. Call Bellway on 01245 989989. Barking town centre, in Zone 4 on the District line, is getting a facelift, too. Right next to the station is 360 Barking, a collection of curvy residential towers with sky gardens. Flats are priced from £280,000. Call 020 3369 0157.

ROYAL DOCKS AND BEYOND London City airport in Royal Docks is a big plus for the area. Already the airport serves more than 40 UK and Euro-

Pier pressure: Royal Wharf, above, a new neighbourhood of 3,385 homes in Silvertown, E16, is earmarked to get a new pier for Thames riverbus services pean destinations, and New York, making it convenient for Canary Wharf execs, while government-approved expansion is unlocking more opportunities for longer-haul destinations and creating more than 2,000 jobs for locals. What had been a fairly desolate area is now morphing into a noted London district and business zone. Certainly, this is a great area to search if you’re looking for big skies, dramatic riverscapes and good-value property. Royal Albert Wharf, with 1,500 homes, lies alongside the airport’s spectacular island runway and a boat yard. Apartment blocks overlook a dock and a handsome Edwardian pump house, while a new bridge across the water will link with shops, cafés and offices. Flats from £350,000. Call 020 8357 4579.

From £425,000: apartments with concierge, gym and parking at London Square Streatham Hill, SW2

Find a home in one of London’s newest developments

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EVENING STANDARD WEDNESDAY 11 JANUARY 2017

New homes | Homes & Property

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Prices from £1,375,000: Georgian-style houses at St Agnes Place, right, beside new-look Kennington Park

ALL ABOARD FOR A THAMES COMMUTE With a record number of Londoners getting to work by boat, Mayor Sadiq Khan plans to expand riverbus services beyond Woolwich. Almost a million people a year commute along the Thames, and 11 new piers are planned to cope with the growing demand. This will open up the service to thousands more commuters from as far afield as Barking and Dartford. One of the new piers will be built at Enderby Wharf, Greenwich, where a 770-home riverside development is under way. Prices from £430,000. Call 0844 811 4334. Another pier is earmarked for Royal Wharf, a new 3,385-home neighbourhood at Silvertown. James Wright and his wife, Kathryn, have moved there from Kent, where they had lived for 15

From £280,000: apartments with sky gardens at 360 Barking, beside the station

Continued on Page 6 ±

Handy for a Canary Wharf commute: at Royal Wharf, right, flats start at £335,000, with townhouses from £1,050,000

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Homes & Property | New homes HOTSPOTS 2017

‘It’s the new darling place’ Continued from Page 5 ± years. James, who works at Canary Wharf, cites the area’s “fast-improving transport links and investment prospects” as the main reasons for relocating. The couple bought a four-bedroom townhouse. One of their sons is soon to start work at Canary Wharf, while another who is studying at The Hague, Netherlands, regularly uses London City airport. Flats start at £335,000, with houses from £1,050,000. Call 0800 1601200.

HOT PROPERTY AREAS WITH UPSIDE FISH ISLAND, HACKNEY WICK This little-known backwater, once part of a thriving industrial suburb where in 1865 the Gas Light and Coke Company established a small factory town, now a conservation area, has been thrown into the spotlight by the transformation of Stratford. For the last 20 years, the decaying 50-acre site bordering Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park has offered cheap studio space to hundreds of artists, but the underused land and buildings are now part of a masterplan to create a new neighbourhood with more than 5,000 homes, live-work dwellings, workshops

Masterplan: Fish Island in Hackney Wick will be part of a new neighbourhood with thousands of homes and workspaces

Good investment and close to work: Canary Wharf worker James Wright and his wife Kathryn bought a fourbedroom townhouse at Royal Wharf, Silvertown and small business premises. Once a furniture and shoe-making factory, Carpenters Wharf is the first of the new canalside apartment schemes. Architects Studio Egret West have picked up on the area’s industrial heritage by designing an exposed-frame and timber-clad warehouse-style building with a central atrium and a residents’ roof garden. The ground floor houses an exhibition space and café. Flats from £415,000. Call 020 7519 5917.

STREATHAM Shamed a few years back by claims that its high road was Britain’s scruffiest, the council and businesses have combined to collect rubbish, wash pavements and increase policing in Streatham. “It’s become the new darling place to move to in south-west London,” according to estate agent John D Wood. London Square Streatham Hill, a development of 214 flats under way, is a step up for the area and comes with a concierge, gym and underground parking plus an on-site theatre and a Marks & Spencer food store. Prices from £425,000. Call 0333 666 2131. Home buyers priced out of the centre are injecting fizz into outer travel zones, too. London’s population is rising fastest in these areas, with waves of buyers looking for properties in the £250,000 to £800,000 bracket, which accounts for the bulk of demand in the capital. Check out Meridian Water, Enfield, which will have up to 10,000 new homes and a new train station offering 25-minute commutes to Liverpool Street. The first phase of 725 homes and the station will be ready by 2018. Call Barratt on 0844 8114334.

SOUTHALL

From £415,000: apartments with residents’ roof garden at canalside Carpenters Wharf, Fish Island (020 7519 5917)

Boosted by a new Crossrail station, Southall, in Zone 4, is attracting buyers from other parts of London who want an affordable home with quick connections to the West End — Bond Street will be 17 minutes away. A former gas works is being transformed into Southall Waterside — a 3,750-home estate alongside Grand Union Canal. Its linear central park lined by apartment blocks will be longer than Regent Street, and as well as the Crossrail station there will be a primary school, shops, a cinema and a small business village. To register, contact St James on 020 7587 2052.

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EVENING STANDARD WEDNESDAY 11 JANUARY 2017

Commuting | Homes & Property

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EARLY 66,000 Londoners in their thirties quit the capital last year — enough to pack the Royal Albert Hall a dozen times over. Most headed for the home counties. If you plan to join their ranks and you want the best value for your money, there are places where you can still get a family house for the price of a London flat.

WALTHAM ABBEY, ESSEX

Average house costs £355k: Waltham Abbey in Essex offers a charming town centre and a half-hour London commute

You’ll have to leave to start a family The commute: trains from Waltham Cross, a mile and a half east of Waltham Abbey, take 28 minutes to reach Liverpool Street. An annual season ticket costs £1,872. Who would it suit? Waltham Abbey is a good-looking refuge for City workers. The pedestrianised town centre is cute, with lovely halftimbered buildings around the market square. And the downsides? Although the town centre is charming, most of Waltham Abbey’s housing is interwar and rather dull. Its current crop of housing developments are not lifting standards much.

Join the London families quitting their flats for houses they can afford, a do-able commute away. By Ruth Bloomfield

SANDY, BEDFORDSHIRE

ALAMY

What it costs: the average property is priced at £231,193, up almost 25 per cent in the past two years. A typical house would cost £194,000, while an average flat would set you back almost £98,000, says Savills. Top schools: there’s not a sink school in sight, and Everton Lower School and Wrestlingworth CofE VC Lower School get top marks from the Government schools watchdog. Sandye Place Academy, for seniors, gets a “good” Ofsted report. The commute: from 47 minutes to King’s Cross. An annual season ticket costs £4,764. Who would it suit? Small town types. Sandy is a market town with a high street full of old-school independent shops. “It has got a really nice small town, community feel,”

Small town star: Sandy, Bedfordshire, for great little shops and good schools

says Matthew Drew, office manager at local estate agents Kennedy & Co. “It is quiet and peaceful — there are some nice little pubs but if you are looking for extensive nightlife you won’t find it here.” The local countryside is pretty, particularly Sandy Hills, a former sand quarry which is now an open space with marvellous panoramic views. And the downsides? There are a few Victorian cottages dotted around Sandy but most of its housing stock is post war, so you are far more likely to find yourself living in a Nineties estate house than a cottage with roses around the door.

SOUTHEND-ON-SEA, ESSEX What it costs: the town’s average sale price is £198,777, up almost 19 per cent in two years. Houses sell for an average of £204,000, and flats for £128,000, says Savills. Top schools: Southend High School for Girls, and for Boys, are both “outstanding” by Ofsted’s standards. Bournes Green Junior School also gets a top report. The commute: from 55 minutes to Fenchurch Street. An annual season ticket costs £4,648. Who would it suit? Those who love the sea air and are willing to overlook the fact that the town centre is slightly down-at-heel. However, Southend is finally getting the regeneration investment it needs, including a £50 million seafront facelift, and is becoming increasingly popular with ex-Londoners. Leighon-Sea, three miles west of the centre, is getting a nice urban village feel with boutiques and bars. And the downsides? Prices are generally affordable but if you want to live on the seafront there are no bargains — you will have to pay well over £1 million for a house.

ALAMY

DANIEL LYNCH

What it costs: expect to pay an average £304,415, up an impressive 29.4 per cent since 2014. An average house in the town costs £355,000, and a flat would typically cost £196,000 (source: Savills). Top schools: four of the five primary schools, and King Harold Business & Enterprise Academy, for seniors, get a “good” Ofsted rating.

Bright and breezy: Southend-on-Sea in Essex, where the seafront is getting a £50 million facelift, the average house price is £204,000 and the commute to London just slips in under the reasonable hour

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Homes & Property | Finance are paying a three per cent interest rate on a £300,000 mortgage and have 20 years left, you could save over £6,000 in repayments in two years by switching to a fixed-rate mortgage at 1.2 per cent. However, before you jump, check for early repayment charges and product fees, as these can swamp the savings made by moving your deal.

Money: treat it like you love it!

2 DON’T LET ENERGY BILLS BURN A HOLE IN YOUR POCKET According to the Competition and Markets Authority “70 per cent of domestic customers could save as much as £300 a year by switching to cheaper deals”. Make sure you don’t miss out. Read your energy bill — Ofgem requires your provider to tell you

Are your New Year’s Resolutions already in tatters? Forget the gym, here are your important financial exercises, says Sara Yates where you could get a better deal. Alternatively, spend the few minutes it takes to input your details into one of the many online comparison sites. It is worth doing. Switching couldn’t be easier. You just need your postcode, a recent bill and access to a phone or energy comparison price site. And remember, all you are changing is the company that bills you. Your energy supply remains the same and is not interrupted. If you are on a fixed-rate plan, do check if there are exit penalties to move. Otherwise, you could move to the cheapest provider every 28 days, if you wish.

3 REMORTGAGE WHILE THE OFFERS LAST HSBC scrapped its market-beating 0.99 per cent mortgage last month and hiked the interest rate on many of its other products. Many other providers also swerved the Christmas cheer and withdrew or increased the cost of their mortgages. Whether or not this marks the start

Get back in shape: rebalance your books after the big spend with a zero-interest credit card, a new energy provider and mortgage deal — and get the saving habit of a turnaround in interest rates, it is a good reminder that low rates won’t be here forever. If you haven’t remortgaged for a few years, get on the case now. Yorkshire Building Society is still offering a variable mortgage with an interest rate of less than one per cent — the 0.98 per cent two-year dis-

counted variable mortgage, maximum loan-to-value of 65 per cent. If you prefer the certainty of a fixed mortgage rate, Leeds Building Society has a twoyear fixed product with a rate of 1.19 per cent if you have at least 25 per cent equity in your property. Remortgaging now could save you thousands. If you

ALAMY

Credit card debt hit a record high in the run-up to Christmas, according to the Bank of England, with £572 million added in November alone. Now is the time to tackle this. Consolidate your credit card debts on to one interest-free balance transfer card, so that you pay off the debt without accumulating interest charges. Picking the best card means working out what you need most. If you can only afford small monthly repayments, opt for a card with an über-long interest-free period, even if it means paying a modest transfer fee. Barclaycard Platinum and Lloyds Bank Platinum provide up to 40 months of zero interest on balance transfers for less than a two per cent fee. Both cards also offer zero per cent on purchases for six months, helping you to keep your future debt pile under control. If you can afford to pay off your debt faster, try Halifax’s nought per cent balance transfer fee offer. This card charges no fee for balance transfers, provides 25 months of zero interest on the existing balance and offers six months of zero interest on all new purchases.

Regular savings soon add up to a decent nest egg. Of the regular saving accounts, Nationwide tops the charts. Its Flexclusive Regular Saver Account for current account customers — or switchers — offers an eye-catching five per cent Annual Equivalent Rate, allows monthly deposits of up to £500 and permits withdrawals within its 12-month lifespan, so it’s perfect if the big event you are saving for is not too far away. HSBC, First Direct and M&S also offer five per cent regular saving accounts for their current account customers, though the amount you can save each month is limited to £250-£300. And as these heavily penalise early withdrawals, you need to leave your money in for the full 12 months. But don’t leave it in any longer. Note the anniversary of your deal and be ready to switch before your rate plummets. Another option is to create your own accessible regular savings account by simply setting up a standing order to a savings account such as Tesco Bank’s Internet Saver. Although this pays less than many of the regular savings accounts at just one per cent, including a 0.6 per cent bonus, there are no limits on how much you deposit each month and withdrawals are unlimited.

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1 NEUTRALISE THOSE CHRISTMAS DEBTS

4 SAVE, SAVE, SAVE

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Homes & Property | First-time buyers

£250,000 is my MAX First-time buyers on a tight budget can still find a flat in London with strong price-growth potential and good transport links. Ruth Bloomfield picks her top four locations FOREST HILL CONNECTED IN ZONE 3 Where is it? Next to über-cool East Dulwich, in south-east London. How do I get there? From anywhere along east London’s “Ginger” 0verground line. This Zone 3 district is also about 30 minutes from Cannon Street or London Bridge by regular trains. An annual season ticket costs £1,520. First-time buyer facts: 40 per cent of homes sold in this area are to firsttimers, paying an average £302,500, says Hamptons International. What can I buy for £250,000? A well-located studio flat or a onebedroom flat with a 10- to 15-minute walk to Forest Hill station. If you want to live closer to transport links, budget £300,000-£350,000 for a one-bedroom flat. What’s it got to offer? Forest Hill is surprisingly leafy, and the Horniman Museum and Gardens are a familyfriendly delight. The housing stock is mainly Victorian, with plenty of period conversions, and there are quality primary schools and a smart leisure centre. “Forest Hill is one of the highest points in south London and the views are amazing, particularly from Canonbury Road,” says Javaid Ahmed, sales manager at

£250,000: two-bedroom ground-floor flat in Leytonstone, near two stations. Call DaboraConway (020 8989 1234)

Kinleigh Folkard & Hayward. “On bonfire night and New Year’s Eve it is a car park with people coming out to see the fireworks.” To Ahmed, the area is a bit of an undiscovered gem, with local pubs improving. The Signal, a gastropub with live music, is a welcome new addition. What’s the compromise? It lacks good shops and doesn’t have much of a café culture, though the St David Coffee House is a bit of a local hangout. Never mind, trendy East Dulwich is five minutes away by bus.

LEYTONSTONE PLENTY OF GREEN SPACE Where is it? This is deepest east London, almost on the cusp of Essex. How do I get there? It’s on the Circle line, in Zone 3. First-time buyer facts: about a third of homes are sold to first timers, paying an average £394,778, says Hamptons International. What can I buy for £250,000? You could get a studio flat in a period house, or a larger flat — possibly with two bedrooms — above a shop. Smart one-bedroom conversion flats cost from £300,000 and you’d generally need £400,000 for a two-bedroom flat. Bush Wood, near Epping Forest, is the poshest part. You will get more for your money closer to Stratford. What’s it got to offer? This spot is increasingly popular with buyers priced out of Hackney, prompting much-needed “gastropub-isation” of some of the old boozers, and the opening of new cafés and restaurants. The green open space of Wanstead Flats is on the doorstep, there’s an annual summer festival, a weekly food and crafts market, good-quality Victorian terrace houses and good schools. “People come across to Leytonstone because the type of period houses are similar to homes

they are renting in Hackney,” says Foxtons sales manager Simon Hart. What’s the compromise? The High Road is shabby, and there’s not a lot to do at night.

FOREST GATE RIPE FOR A PRICE BOUNCE Where is it? Just east of Stratford. How do I get there? Trains from Forest Gate to Liverpool Street take 16 minutes. An annual season ticket costs £944. First-time buyer facts: almost a third of homes are sold to first-time buyers, who pay an average £325,227, says Hamptons International. What can I buy for £250,000? The best value is to be found towards East Ham where you could get a onebedroom period conversion. Budget about £300,000 for a two-bedroom flat in this area. Closer to Stratford one-bedroom flats go for about £300,000, and two-bedroom flats at up to £375,000. What’s it got to offer? Forest Gate is on the Elizabeth line, and will get Crossrail services to the City, West End and Heathrow late next year. A price bounce might well follow. Proximity to Wanstead Flats and West Ham Park is a plus, the schools are very good and there are plenty of handsome period houses. The arrival of coffee shops and smart boozers like the Forest Tavern gastropub and Wanstead Tap suggest “Forest Great” — often listed as one of the most deprived parts of London — is on the up. “The number of independent cafés, and quirky bars under the railway bridges, show how it’s changing,” said Foxtons’ Simon Hart. What’s the compromise? It gets endlessly confused with Forest Hill — and having Westfield Stratford City so close has done nothing to help local shops in the run-down high street.

£250,000: a lower ground-floor flat moments from Forest Hill station, with a large double bedroom and a private entrance. Through Pedder (020 8012 3400)

£249,995: a two-bedroom conversion flat in Forest Gate, close to Maryland station. Woodland (020 8554 5544)

£255,000: just a little more buys a onebedroom flat near Woolwich Arsenal. Call Henry Wiltshire (020 3740 7697)

WOOLWICH GO FOR THE FARMERS’ MARKET

route, Woolwich has had £750 million regeneration thanks to the Woolwich Arsenal development by Berkeley Homes. This monster project has brought new homes, restaurants, bars and a regular farmers’ market. A walk along the river to admire the Thames Barrier is great, and the area passes the green space test thanks to Plumstead Common and Barrack Field. Julia Stone, director of London Stone estate agents, says: “The town itself is busy with lots of little shops and with the DLR, trains, river boats and Crossrail you have four different forms of transport, as well as buses.” What’s the compromise? Regeneration has its downsides: Woolwich Grand Theatre closed in 2015 to be redeveloped into flats. Some local post-war social housing is very ugly, and you won’t go short of betting shops in the town centre.

Where is it? Head east to the south bank of the Thames, opposite London City airport. How do I get there? Trains from Cannon Street, London Bridge and Charing Cross all take just under half an hour to Woolwich Arsenal. An annual season ticket costs £1,860. First-time buyer facts: a third of homes go to first-time buyers, who pay an average £224,319. What can I buy for £250,000? Nothing at Royal Arsenal Riverside, with its £400,000-plus one-bedroom flats. Further from the river and moving toward Shooters Hill you could buy a one-bedroom flat in a period house for £250,000, or a twobedroom ex-council flat. What’s it got to offer? On Crossrail’s

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Homes abroad | Homes & Property

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OR tourists and property buyers in 2017, the sun is already shining in Spain. Following dramatic falls of 50 per cent from the hyperinflated prices of a decade ago, the economic indicators in our favourite holiday destination are looking positively rosy. More than 70 million international visitors arrived in Spain last year, including 12 per cent more from the UK in September alone. The value in the property market is also compelling. Prices in general still lag behind those 2007 peaks, while figures from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development show Spain as one of the world’s most undervalued housing markets. For buyers, location is crucial. Potential rental income is an important consideration and remote homes are less in demand. Consider ease of access to airports that offer a wide selection of year-round flights, and look for nearby sporting and cultural activities, restaurants and beaches.

Spain’s super-hot this year £217,000: this two-bedroom flat sits above the smart new marina in Puerto Adriano, Majorca (Engel & Völkers)

£1.4 million: a four-bedroom villa with private gardens and pool in east Marbella, Costa del Sol (Savills)

BARCELONA: THE CITY OPTION Why buy? Wonderful weather, a historic old town with atmospheric tapas bars, plus easy escape routes to the mountains or the ever-smart Costa Brava make Barcelona the perfect city by the sea. One of the world’s mostvisited cities, it boasts stunning architecture, wide boulevards and beautiful, spacious period apartments and houses of outstanding value. Joanne Leverett of Cluttons estate agents says: “The Barcelona market is

strong, with prices up 7.5 per cent this year. Properties are moving fast with typical sales prices of £294,000 to £462,000.” Where to buy: most in demand are two-bedroom refurbished apartments in historic buildings, offering good original features such as Catalan vaulted ceilings, wooden floors and

balconies, especially in Eixample and the Gothic Quarter, says Leverett. A restored 710sq ft one-bedroom flat in an 1850s building in the Gothic Old Town is £334,000. Nearby in El Poble Sec, a three-bedroom apartment on the fourth floor of a classic building offers interesting period detail and is on the market for £457,000.

COSTA DEL SOL: THE COASTAL CHOICE Why buy? At Europe’s most southerly point, the Costa del Sol’s long, sunkissed summers and mild winters make this a year-round favourite. It is served by efficient rail, road and air networks, while there are 42 golf courses within 30 minutes of Marbella, shimmering marinas to enjoy, and it’s a short drive inland to Andalucía’s fabulous Pueblos Blancos — the “white villages”. Sale prices last year averaged £425,000 for apartments and townhouses, and from £680,000 for villas, according to local Savills associates, Panorama. Where to buy: popular locations include the Golden Mile from east of Puerto Banus to the west of Marbella. In the mountains, Sierra Blanca is an exclusive community with access to good international schools. “Buyers want a comfortable, modern lifestyle with an absence of headaches — and that means the market has gravitated towards larger apartments and smaller villas,” says Christopher Clover of Panorama. “There is a continuing trend for minimalist, contemporary styling with an emphasis on big windows and plenty of light.” A spacious, carefully renovated twobedroom apartment west of Marbella in the gated community of Las Brisas is newly reduced, down from £488,500 to £420,500 through Savills. There is a communal pool and this property

offers good views of the sea, dramatic La Concha mountain and surrounding golf courses.

MAJORCA: FOR ISLAND LOVERS Why buy? Along with neighbouring Balearic island Ibiza, Majorca has resolutely bucked any market slowdown for years. Even in the dark days of 2012, one in every four Spanish properties sold to foreigners was in Majorca — most went to Britons or Germans. Majorca combines 24 golf courses, 32 marinas and 40 five-star hotels with an enviable mix of rustic charm, natural beauty and modern infrastructure. Where to buy: Alejandra Vanoli, managing director of Majorca Sotheby’s Realty has noted increased interest, particularly in the prime south-west and the capital, Palma. Son Vida is also a firm favourite with international buyers for its careful landscaping and three golf courses, all within 10 minutes’ drive of Palma. In Port d’Andratx a delightful fourbedroom townhouse with no outdoor space is £415,500. A five-bedroom house with a pool in substantial grounds, just 15 minutes from Palma and looking over the bay and the Tramunt ana mount ains, i s priced £1,428,000 through Sotheby’s.

O Cluttons: cluttons.com (020 3813 9191) O Savills: savills.com (020 7016 3740) O Majorca Sotheby’s Realty: mallorcasothebysrealty.com (+34 971 674 807)

Cathy Hawker

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Homes & Property | London hotspots

THE great Hackney property boom hits its apex in Clapton, with asking prices up 142.4 per cent to an average of almost £640,000. In 2006 Clapton’s main claim to fame was its “murder mile”, scene of a series of shootings. Now gentrification has brought coffee shops and delis to join the Caribbean supermarkets and Indian restaurants, and on sunny days Hackney Downs is packed with middle-class sunbathers.

DANIEL LYNCH

7 South Lambeth and Nine Elms THIS swathe between Vauxhall and Battersea Park is seeing the biggest central London building project since the Great Fire. Average asking prices have leapt 128.5 per cent to £901,035, partly due to new development. In the short term there is trouble afoot in SW8, with price cuts in a bid to shift the glut of new flats. Long term it looks solid, with a new Northern line station to come.

THIS quintessential north London urban village isn’t hip; it’s a wealthy, leafy enclave loved by professionals. With Regent’s Park on the doorstep, it offers glorious villas — many now with basement complexes beneath — and a high street full of expensive boutiques that’s strangely dead at night. The American School makes it very popular with buyers from across the Pond, and so prices keep rising, at a rate to match those in Clapton, up 142.2 per cent to an average of almost £1.5 million.

9 Camden Town

8 South Tottenham

comparatively affordable period architecture, urban village vibe and friendly, community feel.

Thinking of moving? Start your search

ALAMY ALAMY

ALAMY

Brockley ASKING prices have climbed 134.5 per cent in a decade to an average of almost £1.7 million in Notting Hill, and this thoroughly gentrified spot, the only part of prime central London to make today’s list, still has mileage left. However, residents bemoan the loss of independent shops as chain stores take over Portobello Road, and disputes about mega-basements cloud the community atmosphere.

THE market’s a mainstream tourist draw and there is plenty of nightlife, but Camden is noisy and its street sweepers face a mountain of rubbish. Off the main drag are beautiful period homes in surprisingly quiet streets. Asking prices average more than £1.1 million, up almost 123 per cent, and the area is now more likely to be populated by execs than the musicians and writers it was once famous for.

10 Whitechapel

5 Notting Hill

FABULOUS train links to central London — just 14 minutes to London Bridge — have helped Brockley to reinvent itself as the place where buyers head when they’re priced out of neighbouring Peckham or East Dulwich. Average asking prices are now £582,016, up 143 per cent in the last year. Brockley converts rave about its

ROCK band Klaxons formed in New Cross in 2006, when it was genuinely edgy with a thriving music and arts scene. It still has that authentic feel but its lovely Victorian terraces and conversions are no longer affordable to struggling musicians. Average asking prices have mushroomed 134 per cent to almost £489,000.

GETTY

4 St John’s Wood

Clapton

New Cross:

A WORK in progress, South Tottenham is in the early stages of a regeneration that includes a £90 million upgrade of the London Overground, bringing faster services and bigger, lesscrowded trains. To be blunt, the area’s grotty, but asking prices have grown 123.5 per cent in 10 years to an average £494,528. It’s diverse but deprived and lacks amenities. Hopefully, as buyers discover “SoTo”, this will change.

TEN years ago, people would have assumed the “City fringe” was a trendy hairdo, while Whitechapel was a faintly depressing urban underachiever. Then young Londoners rebelled against transport costs, began walking to work and living in and around the Square Mile. Asking prices are up 119 per cent to an average of £642,420 and the glitzy Goodman’s Fields scheme, with 700 new homes, is sure to attract new bars and eateries. O Visit homesandproperty.co.uk/ houseprices for more on London’s property hotspots of the decade

DANIEL LYNCH

ALAMY

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Ruth Bloomfield finds the top 10 districts that made the biggest price gains in 10 years 3

FROM industrial wasteland to multimillion-pound warehouse apartments, Wapping’s rebirth is sealed by the £1.5 billion reboot of “Fortress Wapping”, the 15-acre former News International HQ which will eventually provide 1,800 new homes. Accordingly, asking prices have grown a stonking 154.8 per cent in a decade to an average of £901,031, which means it is now a location full of City types and overseas owners, while born-and-bred east enders have taken the money and run — or been priced out.

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KEITH WALDEGRAVE

1 Wapping

What a difference a decade makes

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VERY gambler dreams of backing a rank outsider that goes on to outpace the oddson favourite. Residents of 10 London locations have done just that, investing in areas which would have appeared in most cases to be unlikely property hotspots a decade ago. Nonetheless, these are the neighbourhoods that have seen the most dramatic rise in asking prices in the past 10 years, according to research from Rightmove.

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Homes & Property | Interiors

Design Desig ign trends ig tre re end nds s Fresh looks for 2017 By Barbara Chandler COLOUR & PATTERN Going for green: the Wallis sofa by Pinch in Designers Guild Varese velvet, £2,499; Rodan oak table, £996; Eleanor Pritchard rug, £425; Lines merino throw, £260; cushions, £75, all at Heal’s, W1 (020 7896 7451; heals.com)

Bold prints: Encyclopaedia floral double duvet set from Ted Baker’s In Bed with Ted range, £85 (houseoffraser.co.uk)

Pantone, the US colour pundits whose colour numbering system is used worldwide, tell us that Greenery is the colour for this year — “a fresh, yellowgreen shade of early spring”. Interior designer Daniel Hopwood, judge of The Great Interior Design Challenge on BBC2, says: “Green is calming and reassuring at a time of turmoil, when politics are polarised. A vital leaf green is good with battleship grey. And foliage, of course, is a natural living way to use this colour — people so love plants at the moment.” Society designer Nina Campbell says: “I see green as nature’s neutral. It’s all around us outside, we know this colour, we are happy with it. Use it as the background for tropical pinks, turquoise and orange. It is a good accessory on a statement chair, or on a shelf or table setting.” Polly Mason, lead designer at the Liberty of London studio says: “Let the shade spread out in the room. Take up the story choosing from opulent emerald hues to sumptuous shades of jade

Mayfair magic: above, in natural and ebonised oak, stools, £900 each, and the Maker’s Trestle table, in various sizes to order from £4,500, by Lola Lely. Change the table’s height using the brass pegs. At The New Craftsmen, North Row, Mayfair W1 (020 7148 3190; thenewcraftsmen.com) How cool is that: right, the Hub “smart” robot by LG nods when you instruct it, then controls other home gadgets and appliances. A camera recognises different family faces. It’s a fount of information, from recipes to news, weather and traffic reports, and it plays all your music (LG.com)

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Interiors | Homes & Property

homesandproperty.co.uk powered by Material matters: Tom Dixon’s Stone pendants, right, launching this month, are sufficiently waterproof to hang in the bathroom. Wall fitting £185, pendant £195 (tomdixon.net) In-your-face pattern: award-winning interior designer Nicky Haslam tips a burst of pattern in our homes in 2017, and loves super-size motifs on dark backgrounds. Far right, Limerence wallpaper from House of Hackney, seen here at bathroom specialists CP Hart, comes in this inky-dark version and a lighter rose quartz. From about £145 a roll (houseofhackney.com; CP Hart, Hercules Rd, SE1, call 020 7902 5250)

and olive.” London’s Nicky Haslam, named interior designer of the year at the Design Museum last month, predicts: “Pattern will bomb into homes in 2017.” He loves dark backgrounds, super-size motifs and smack-in-the-eye colour. “Pattern will go boldly into bathrooms, on to fitted carpets — yes, a comeback — the sofas, as well as up the wall and on windows.”

Craft tech: Hampshire furniture maker Charles Dedman’s veneered Zapotec cabinet, right, available from Mint in Kensington SW3 (mintshop.co.uk)

Glass is joined in sheets with lightcured glues, moulded or mouth-blown. Copper and marble will remain the darlings of design. London designer Tom Dixon launches stone pendant lamps for bathrooms this month.

CRAFTS “Handmade” will have a powerful appeal and we’ll hear more about expensive “luxury” crafts in 2017, from the likes of The New Craftsmen, of Mayfair. Craft will be more apparent in the high street, too, with West Elm, Habitat and even Sainsbury’s and Ikea selling beautiful china, glass and rugs made in craft workshops abroad. Technology has permeated craft, enabling new ways of making by hand. Young Hampshire furniture maker Charles Dedman calls it craft tech. His Zapotec cabinet’s doors feature an elaborate geometry of laser-cut, colourful veneers, applied in strips by hand.

DESIGN Londoners want the benefits of new technology in production methods, in materials and in our homes, with builtin durability, eco-cred and beauty. “The internet has changed the game,” says Sir James Dyson, the supremely entrepreneurial engineer. “We all have smartphones and now they can control our homes.” Young London designer Benjamin Hubert of Layer says: “Designers have a responsibility to solve problems with products that benefit society, maybe using technologies tailored to a user’s needs, such as digital sensors or customised 3D printing.” Robots will be big this year. Dyson has a robot cleaner patrolling his new Oxford Street showroom. Sebastian Conran’s new agency Consequential Robotics has devised a helpmeet table, and a companionable robotic dog.

MATERIALS Buzzword for designers is “materiality,” with new fibres, plastics, and surface coatings. But old materials will hold their own, including woods of all grains and shades, solid and veneers.

SHOPPING TRENDS

Robots are big this year: left, the REEM-C humanoid robot from PAL Robotics stands 5ft 4in, weighs 12st and can lift and carry up to 22lbs. Aimed at furthering research and development, it is able to recognise its environment, the people around it and objects within its reach, and its battery system keeps it fully operational for six hours

Internet shopping will expand. “The website IS a shop,” says Jason WilaryAttew, new buying director at The Conran Shop. Shoppers want exclusivity, even on the high street, says Pip Prinsloo, design manager at John Lewis. “In-house design studios will continue to expand, and you’ll get more specially commissioned authentic design.” Heal’s chief executive Hamish Mansbridge can’t imagine a world without Twitter and Instagram. He says social media “instantly creates trends for designers and buyers alike”.

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Homes & Property | Reader promotion Alison Cork Versatile day bed is great value Store it all away TREAT yourself to everything from made-tomeasure sliding-door and walk-in wardrobes to hinge doors with Bluefield Wardrobes. Specialising in elegant design solutions for your home, Bluefield uses accent colours for wardrobes and matching drawer units, and helps you make the most of awkward spaces while maximising storage. Quote Blue25 at bluefield wardrobes. co.uk or when calling 0800 610 2020 by January 31 to get 25 per cent off. For a free no-obligation design and planning service, email sales@ bluefield wardrobes. co.uk. Includes 10-year guarantee and no-hassle installation.

RELAX and unwind with this gorgeous metal day bed from Within Home. Featuring an additional trundle underneath and two comfort care mattresses, it can be used as a sofa, a single bed, separated as twin beds or used together as a large double. Normally £650, it is now just £299 in cream. To order, visit withinhome. com/metal3 or call 020 3455 7731 before 18 January.

Bargain news Retro sofa’s right on trend Perfect new ‘period’ windows THE Portland three-seater sofa, above, shows why retro furniture is always popular. With sleek armrests, deep buttoning, and at 211cm long with plump seat cushions, it’s the best way to stretch out in front of the TV. Readers get £200 off with code Portland200, slashing the price from £599 to £399, including free two-man delivery. Order at outandout.com or call 0344 417 1419 before February 1.

AYRTON BESPOKE specialises in the accurate replication of period timber windows and doors. Double glazing saves energy, blocks sound and provides extra security — and new windows add value to your property. Visit ayrtonbespoke.com

or call 020 8877 8920 to arrange a free home design appointment. Or head for the showrooms in Crouch End and Wandsworth. Guarantee of up to 30 years is included, and readers get a seasonal 10 per cent discount until January 31 with code AYRES1101.

UK-made quality furniture START the new year in style with Willow & Hall’s handcrafted British furniture. Choose from sofa beds with 14cm-deep mattress options — such as the Buttermere, above, from £1,128 — to chaises with hidden storage and more, all available in over 100 fabrics. Free delivery to

most of the UK mainland within around four to five weeks and 14-day free returns. Visit willowandhall.co.uk or call 0845 468 0577. Use code BN1217 by February 1 to save an extra five per cent off prices already 30 per cent less than the high street.

■ 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

WEDNESDAY 11 JANUARY 2017 EVENING STANDARD

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Homes & Property | Our home

homesandproperty.co.uk

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HIS commuter belt dream home happened by accident. In 2012, architect Matt White and his wife Sophie, the managing partner of their London practice, were living in a house they’d built in Shepherd’s Bush. They were staying with friends in Sussex for the weekend when Matt tried out a new property app, and the first thing that popped up was a tiny Victorian gamekeeper’s lodge nearby. “It was a Saturday, so we just went and had a look,” he says. “On the Monday we put in an offer. Sophie was raised in the country, and fell in love with the cottage. But we never thought we would hear back from the owners. Then the phone went and they said if we were serious, it was ours.” Matt, 44, and Sophie, 43, call their new family home The Barn. It is a magical and stunning extension of the cottage, full of fun and secret passages, and links to the original lodge which becomes a perfect place for guests. It sits in three acres in Horsham, West Sussex, overlooking the rolling hills on the edge of the South Downs National Park, a three-storey building of diaper black brick below and chocolatey zinc. From the panoramic glass doors in their new sitting room, the couple and their children Mia, 10, Daisy, eight, and Arthur, six, can see the seasons change — it’s like watching a huge television. When they moved in, Matt, who used to work with starchitect Norman Foster, was sure they would get planning permission to extend. They lived in the small cottage with the low ceilings and basic kitchen for a year while the process went on. At first he and Sophie discussed a conventional extension but realised it would destroy the cottage atmosphere. Then they had the brainwave of an attached building resembling a barn. They submitted plans, and Matt visited all the neighbours to tell them his ideas. His enthusiasm was so persuasive that that they all wrote letters of support. The plan was refused at first but went to committee, where Matt took models and explained the scheme. Permission was granted — and since the new extension doesn’t muck about with the cottage at all, it’s a brilliant solution. “I do the architecture, Sophie does the interiors,” Matt says. “We had a lot of fun here.”

A BIG BOX OF TRICKS

Tap the app: the Whites found the cottage on a property app and added an imaginative modern barn extension at the back

Family space: the “mirror” above the fire is a two-way glass from which the children can appear from a hidey-hole behind

Secret stairs, a two-way mirror, a rotating bath and a fireman’s pole get local kids queuing for a playdate in a house designed by parents to be the perfect playground, discovers Philippa Stockley

WELCOME TO

The ground floor, with a boot area, a small office and a loo with pretty wallpaper, has hexagonal terracotta tiles, while exposed joists in the kitchen-dining area give a country feel. The marble kitchen bar-cum-island is extra high, a chandelier of wineglasses hangs above the huge deal table, and there’s a snug with green love seats to one side. The first hint that this house is a big box of tricks comes when you spin the kitchen’s handy bookcase of cookery books to reveal a corkscrew stair that runs right to the top floor. There’s a lot more magic to come. Using the slope of the land, the huge sitting room with its views and lovely wide boards is a few steps down. Above a roaring fire, what looks like a circular mirror turns out to be two-way glass into a “priest’s hole” — as Daisy, climbing up and waving, demonstrates.



There are more surprises up the cheery staircase with its multicoloured treads. The children all have same-size bedrooms, each with access up to a loft space — in Arthur’s case, via a fireman’s pole, while the girls have ladders. Each loft space has a large flap into the shared playroom, while — yet another joyful touch — another revolving bookcase leads to the spiral staircase. “When we

Keep it country: terracotta floor tiles and exposed joists preserve a cottage feel are old, we’ll put a lift there, so it’s very practical,” adds Matt. The couple’s own bedroom, above the sitting room, is lined with beautiful Chinoiserie wallpaper, and has massive sliding windows that disappear into a pocket to leave a glass balustrade. Sophie opens two

doors with gilded backs to reveal a hidden bathroom with a rotating bath, making it possible to bathe surveying the magnificent view. For their final touch of fun, a small room in the loft has a polycarbonate dome for surveying the countryside.

Above: a fun hanging chair in Daisy’s bedroom

Photographs: Juliet Murphy and Will Pryce

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Our home | Homes & Property

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Left: Matt and Sophie White and their Sussex barn; above, stair treads can be fun

OUR HOUSE OF FUN

Heaven for a stargazer: the viewing dome in the loft; above right, one of two revolving bookcases in action All the local children are lining up for a playdate. The imagination and invention in this colourful, wonderful house are amazing and uplifting, and justify the 18-month build. Work is just finishing with the connecting passage between barn and cottage, plus a side

passage to house the guinea pigs. “My 80-year-old mother visited and went straight down the fireman’s pole,” Matt laughs. “When we have friends staying, we’ll hear a faint thud, and it’s one of them having a go. “Nowadays with laser cutters and 3D

printers available, we can all operate like film directors when we design our homes — you can design as far as you can imagine. “We’re only here once, and people should have more fun. That’s what it comes down to.”

WHAT IT COST The cottage was bought for £756,000 in 2012. The barn extension cost about £840,000 to design, win planning permission for, build and fit out. The property is today worth an estimated £2.6 million

Get the look O Architecture and interiors: by Matt White, Elizabeth Owens and Sophie Hobbs at mattarchitecture.com O Builder: James Chalmers at chalmersandco.co.uk O Zinc: vmzinc.co.uk O Black bricks: wienerberger.co.uk O Windows: by Velfac at velfac.co.uk and Fineline at fineline-windows.co.uk O Floor of 40cm-wide Douglas Fir: purnatur.com/flooboards O Handmade terracotta tiles: from firedearth.com O Wineglass chandelier: from stockists such as wayfair.co.uk or try ebay.co.uk for similar O Green sofas in snug: made.com O Fornasetti II design wallpaper in the snug: cole-and-son.com O Velvet sofas in the living room: from Graham & Green at grahamandgreen. co.uk O Circular mirror in living room: by Matt Architecture (as before) O Polycarbonate viewing dome in the loft: made by Talbot Designs (talbotdesigns.co.uk) O Cacoon hanging seat in Daisy’s room: from Cacoon (cacoonworld.com) O Rubber stair treads: from DRF (drfrubberflooring.com) O Nonsuch Chinoiserie wallpaper in master bedroom: from Fromental (fromental.co.uk) O Garden design: by Garden Sage on 01273 041785 (website under construction) 

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Homes & Property | Outdoors

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GAP PHOTOS/ANDREA JONES. DESIGNER: MATT KEIGHTLEY

These babies love a challenge For a gorgeous, low-maintenance London garden, choose tough plants that bloom for months even where space and light are tight AKE this year the best yet for your garden, with Pattie can’t-fail plants that look the business but perform Barron

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Brighten the gloom: plant something to cheer you through winter, such as elegant camellia transnokoensis

Blooming lovely: Erysimum Apricot Twist is in flower for most of the year sory Service, believes the Peruvian lily, Alstroemeria Indian Summer, deserves a place in every garden. The dazzling, flame-toned flowers, set against contrasting bronze foliage, brightened her borders from June through to November last year. She says they don’t usually need staking, suit containers and, in October, she was cutting them to bring summer indoors. They are sold as plug plants at thompson-morgan.com.

Go for grasses this year. Their swish and sway adds movement and atmosphere to an otherwise static border, and they are easy to grow. My suggested starter plant is the indestructible, silky and oh-so-strokeable Stipa tenuissima. For London gardens, Pauline McBride of Sussex Prairies recommends Pennisetum orientale Shogun, a glamorous three- to four-footer with glaucous blue foliage and blush pink flowers, as well as shorter moor grass Sesleria autumnalis, which has bright, lime green leaves, shimmery, silver-grey flowers and holds its sculptural form through

GAP PHOTOS/TOMMY TONSBERG

Clematis viticella Madame Julia Correvon throws out her sumptuous, deep plum blooms from July to November even in part shade, looks glorious scrambling through a pink climbing rose and is suitably compact for London gardens, reaching 10ft max.

GAP PHOTOS/DIANNA JAZWINSKI

against the odds — little light, lack of space, and city pollution. No roses are blackspot-proof, but soft pink classic climber New Dawn, scarletflowered, slender-hipped Rosa Geranium, sugar pink floribunda Bonica and all the rugosa roses come close. The entire David Austin range of English roses, including the wonderfully deep, sultry shades, are bred to be disease-resistant. And if you like to cut roses for indoors and find you can only float the heads because the stems are too short and weak, bag yourself a Boscobel, with flop-free, gorgeous coralpink blooms on stems strong enough to hold the heads upright. Clematis, with their ability to provide cascades of colour through summer, are essential for London gardens but can be tricky to prune and many are susceptible to potentially fatal clematis wilt. Eliminate both problems by growing a viticella variety, which just needs cutting down to a low pair of buds in early spring, and is unaffected by wilt.

Disease-resistant: compact, robust Rosa moyesii Geranium shrugs off blackspot winter. Just comb it through with your fingers to freshen it up in spring. Find space for herbs, however small your garden, by growing them in the border as long-lasting evergreens or in roomy terracotta pots. The essentials — for ornamental and culinary value — are purple sage, golden oregano, shrubby thyme and slim, columnar rosemary, Miss Jessopp’s Upright. All of these, if not clipped too rigorously, produce masses of flowers from late spring through summer, with the exception of Miss Jessopp, which, like most rosemaries, is seldom out of bloom. Box blight and box caterpillar show no signs

of quitting, so welcome a more resistant Japanese holly into your garden. Ilex crenata is widely considered by garden designers to be the best alternative for topiary. With small, glossy green leaves similar to box, it is eminently clippable, ultra tough and shade-tolerant. The longest-flowering perennial title is still held by wallflower Erysimum Bowles’ Mauve, although relative Apricot Twist, with masses of bright orange flower stems, is a strong contender and, amazingly, is still blooming its head off in my front garden. Plant problem solver Jenny Bowden, of the RHS Advi-

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ALVIAS are sensational. The lipped flowers on tinted stems keep going for months on end, and the colour range of cobalt and sky blues, lipstick reds and vibrant magentas, is exceptional. New variety Amistad, with velvety, purple flowers on tall blackcurrant stems, blooms for six months from early summer. Specialists Dysons Nurseries say if you only have room for one salvia, make it electric pink Cerro Potosi. I say, buy both. To be seduced by more salvias, see dysonsalvias.com. In the meantime, plant something with flower and fragrance to cheer you through the bleak midwinter, such as Mahonia Winter Sun, shrubby honeysuckle Lonicera fragrantissima or perhaps, in a pot, dainty white-flowered Camellia transnokoensis. The first snowdrops are just a heartbeat away.

O Garden queries? Email our RHS expert at [email protected] O For outdoor events this month, visit homesandproperty.co.uk/events

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Homes & Property | Events 1

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Four things to see in January 4

By Barbara Chandler 1. THE DECORATIVE ANTIQUES & TEXTILES FAIR

3. JOSEF FRANK PATTERNS-FURNITURE-PAINTING

January 24-29, Battersea Park, SW11 (020 7616 9327; decorativefair.com). Free if you register in advance on the website, or it’s £10 on the door.

January 28 to May 7, Fashion and Textile Museum, 83 Bermondsey Street, SE1 (020 7407 8664; ftmlondon. org). Tickets: £9.90 adults, £7.70 concs, £6 students.

TOP of the sourcing list for interior designers, this fair lets you share their secrets. Up to 140 dealers reveal one-off “pieces with provenance”. Join the hunt for fine, formal, country, Art Deco or mid-century furniture, plus upholstery, lighting, mirrors, glassware, ceramics, textiles and art, priced from about £50 to £50,000-plus. This year’s foyer display goes Gothic, inspired by newly restored Strawberry Hill House, though the mood is mostly delicate and light, offset by heavier pieces in carved timbers. There’s a champagne bar and delicious homecooked food. Upstairs, on the same ticket, is the London Antique Rug and Textile Art Fair (larta.net), where 17 dealers offer thousands of fine and decorative rugs, runners and kilims.

THE exuberant patterns of Swedish designer and artist Josef Frank (18851967) have never wholly reached the British market, though Liberty held the pattern books at one point. Now comes a rare opportunity to enjoy more than 100 examples of Frank’s seductive designs for furniture, lighting and textiles, in inspirational room settings. Hear talks by leading UK textile designers/makers, including Neisha Crosland, Sarah Campbell, Zandra Rhodes, Roger Oates and Sanderson, and create pattern yourself in workshops for block printing, silk painting, dyeing, draping, pattern cutting and drawing. The museum also has a great café and shop, where you can buy this Josef Frank tray for £29.

2. NEW OLD: DESIGNING FOR OUR FUTURE SELVES

4. AFE LONDON ART ANTIQUES INTERIORS FAIR

Tomorrow until February 19, The Design Museum, Kensington High Street, W8 (020 3862 5900; designmuseum.org). Free pop-up exhibition.

January 13-15 at ExCeL, Halls 20-22, Royal Victoria Dock, 1 Western Gateway, E16 (0844 581 0827; afelondonfair.com; Prince Regent DLR). Tickets are £15 on the door, £12 in advance.

OVER-60s outnumber under-16s in the UK, and this show radically rethinks attitudes to ageing. To quote the motto of The Age of No Retirement movement, contributors to the show: “Our goal is simple: to create a world where age does not define us.” Masterminded by Jeremy Myerson, chair of design at the RCA’s Helen Hamlyn Centre for Design, this thought-provoking, futuristic and fun exhibition explores with enthusiasm, imagination and sometimes wit, how design could help people lead fuller, healthier, more rewarding lives in an ageing society — whether at home, at work, or out and about. Specially commissioned projects and products include power-assisting clothes by Yves Behar, and this robotic dog (pictured) by Sebastian Conran.

THIS new selling fair, called Antiques for Everyone, demystifies antiques, demonstrates how they can furnish a home — and positively welcomes firsttime buyers. Meet 120 dealers offering ceramics, glass (pictured), paintings, prints, photography, furniture of all periods, silver, metalware, jewellery, vintage textiles, clothing, sculpture, bronzes, carpets, tapestries, lighting, clocks, watches and barometers. Prices start at £20 soaring to £20,000 and there’s plenty of popular Art Deco, Art Nouveau and 20th-century contemporary art and design. On hand with talks and seminars are celebrity experts including Judith Miller and Mark Hill.

WEDNESDAY 11 JANUARY 2017 EVENING STANDARD

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Homes & Property | Property searching

Spotlight on Poplar First-time buyers are discovering the best-value homes in Zone 2, just a hop from Canary Wharf. The schools are good, too. By Anthea Masey

S £36 million facelift: Poplar Baths, reopened after 28 years

Head coach: Adam Spelling, Lansbury Amateur Boxing Club

Poplar Baths Leisure Centre & Gym: duty manager Karim Kerbouche, also head of Algeria’s national ice hockey squad

TARCHITECTS and glossy projects are celebrating Poplar once more — an area of east London that re-emerged from the ashes of the Blitz to help host the Festival of Britain in 1951. As part of London’s docklands, much of Poplar was destroyed in the war. In 1951 its new Lansbury Estate, named after local hero George Lansbury, who’d led the Labour Party from 1932 to 1935, was chosen as the site of the festival’s Live Architecture Exhibition, designed to demonstrate the power of architecture and town planning to transform the country in the post-war years. Chrisp Street Market, a legacy of the festival, with its distinctive clock tower, was designed by Sir Frederick Gibberd, and remains to this day one of London’s most vibrant street markets. Along with a group of fine buildings clustered along the East India Dock Road, it forms the heart of this solidly working-class neighbourhood. There is the classical beauty of All Saints Church, the Art Deco magnificence of recently reopened Poplar Baths, the statue of local shipowner and philanthropist Richard Green, and a new library called the Idea Store,

Start your property search on rightmove.co.uk

designed by architect David Adjaye who was knighted at new year. Poplar, with its estates of social housing, stands just a few hundred yards north of Canary Wharf’s gleaming towers. Private developments such as New Providence Wharf on the Thames opposite the O2 arena, and London City Island, on a bend in the River Lea, have been sold mainly to incomers and investors, but two large estate regeneration schemes will have a greater impact on local people. The rebuilding of the Aberfeldy Estate in East India Dock Road will take place in six phases over the next 10 years. Now called Aberfeldy Village, this joint

£650,000

£400,000

A TWO-BEDROOM house in St George’s Square on three floors with a garage. Call Franklyn James (020 8012 3936).

IT’S EASY to commute to Canary Wharf from this two-bedroom flat in Follett Street. Call Foxtons (020 8012 6727).

venture between Prime Place, part of builders Willmott Dixon, and local housing association Poplar Harca, will involve building 1,000 homes, a new health centre, shops, a public square and a linear park. Blackwall Reach, close to Blackwall station, involves the controversial demolition of Robin Hood Gardens, designed by esteemed brutalist architects Alison and Peter Smithson. A 10-year campaign to save the estate, which dates from the early Seventies, was supported by renowned architects Lord Rogers, the late Zaha Hadid, Robert Venturi and Toyo Ito. However, it finally failed last year when housing association Swan got the go-ahead for demolition. Robin Hood Gardens will be replaced with 1,575 new homes over the next 10 years. There are also plans afoot for the regeneration of Chrisp Street Market. Both the market itself and the Festival of Britain architecture will be retained but joint venture developers Telford Homes and Poplar Harca propose the creation of 650 new homes and a new supermarket, along with a muchneeded cinema.

Brutalist landmark: Carradale House, one of three Sixties Poplar residential blocks, now listed, by Ernö Goldfinger

£775,000

To find a home in Poplar, visit rightmove.co.uk

For more about Poplar, visit homesandproperty.co.uk/poplar

A FOUR-BEDROOM townhouse in Clemence Street with two bathrooms, wood floors, a paved rear garden and a roof terrace that boasts wonderful views of the City at night. It’s on the market with Estates and Lets (020 8012 1660).

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EVENING STANDARD WEDNESDAY 11 JANUARY 2017

Property searching | Homes & Property

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STATS CHECK

WHAT HOMES COST BUYING IN POPLAR (Average prices) One-bedroom flat £447,000 Two-bedroom flat £615,000 Two-bedroom house £463,000 Three-bedroom house £679,000 Four-bedroom house £725,000 Legacy: Chrisp Street Market, built for 1951 Festival of Britain

RENTING IN POPLAR (Average rates) One-bedroom flat £1,557 a month Two-bedroom flat £2,280 a month Two-bedroom house £2,082 a month Three-bedroom house £2,435 a month Four-bedroom house £2,965 a month

Source: Rightmove

FOR MORE, VISIT

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Handsome devils: Poplar retains some fine terrace streets with coveted family homes, like these in Woodstock Terrace

HAVE YOUR SAY: POPLAR

TRANSPORT

LOCALS TWEET THEIR TIPS @NiallRIngham Check out @QuilomberoLDN, an awesome new restaurant. Also @RepublicLDN creative office campus with outdoor lane pool and triathlon centre coming in September @Chrisp_Street has the best grub in the East End! Grab some pie ’n’ mash at Maureen’s or Eastenders, or the all-day breakfast at JP’s Café @SwingEast Poplar’s got the most rockin’ swing festival in east London. It is held every summer at @Chrisp_Street

DLR stations are at Westferry, Poplar, Blackwall, East India, All Saints and Langdon Park, with City and Canary Wharf trains. Canary Wharf Crossrail station opens at West India Quay in December next year, with a more direct link to Poplar and 39-minute services to Heathrow from December 2019. All stations are in Zone 2. An annual travelcard to Zone 1 is £1,296.

SMALL enclaves of Victorian terrace houses feature around All Saints and St Matthias Churches, but Poplar is dominated by former “right to buy” flats on social housing estates. Some of the cheapest homes in Zone 2, these are popular first-time buys. Brutalist Balfron Tower, designed by Ernö Goldfinger, is to become luxury flats in a venture between Poplar Harca housing association, Telford Homes and Londonewcastle. Other luxury schemes include New Providence Wharf, with a threebedroom penthouse in Providence Tower on sale for £3.2 million.

NEW-BUILD HOMES Manhattan Plaza by Telford Homes, off Poplar High Street, has 170 one- to three-bedroom flats plus townhouses,

THE PROPERTY SCENE being sold off-plan for completion late this year or early next. Fifty homes are “affordable”, through Notting Hill Housing. One-bedroom flats start at £550,000, with two-bedroom flats from £680,000. Call 020 3538 0719. London City Island, by Ecoworld and Ballymore on the River Lea, has 1,700 homes in multicoloured tower blocks. A new pedestrian bridge links the 12-acre site with Canning Town station. From £398,000 for a studio to £730,000 for a three-bedroom flat. Call 020 7118 0400. Leven Wharf by Vision Homes has 96 one- to threebedroom flats in a nine-storey block overlooking the River Lea, ready for

O Use our School Checker to find catchment areas and inspection reports for local schools O The best shops, restaurants and leisure facilities serving Poplar

occupation in June. One bedroom from £495,000, two-bedroom flats from £560,000. Call Chase Evans (020 7723 1284). Lansbury Square in Rifle Street, with one-, two- and threebedroom flats by Bellway, launches in spring. Call 01689 886431.

AFFORDABLE HOMES Housing association Genesis has twobedroom shared-ownership flats at New Providence Wharf in the Jessop building, full market price £444,250. Call 020 3468 4955. Help to Buy will be available at Blackwall Reach in the spring when housing association NU living launches shared-ownership flats there. Call 020 3151 7049, or NU living on 020 3675 9933.

Photographs: Daniel Lynch

WEDNESDAY 11 JANUARY 2017 EVENING STANDARD

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Homes & Property | Ask the expert

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Is moving in with my girlfriend the answer? WHAT’S YOUR PROBLEM?

Fiona McNulty

IF YOU have a question for Fiona McNulty, please email legalsolutions@ standard.co.uk or write to Legal Solutions, Homes & Property, London Evening Standard, 2 Derry Street, W8 5EE. We regret that questions cannot be answered individually, but we will try to feature them here. Fiona McNulty is a legal director in the private wealth group of Foot Anstey (footanstey.com).

OUR LAWYER ANSWERS YOUR QUESTIONS

Q

TWO years ago I bought my first flat. Since then the cost of living has gone up so much that I am struggling with the bills. My plan is to move in with my girlfriend, sharing her bills, and to rent out my flat. However, people are telling me that being a landlord can be a nightmare. How should I set about it, and what can I do to avoid costly mistakes?

A

IF YOU have a mortgage, tell your lender about your plans because it’s probably a residential mortgage and not a buy-to-let mortgage — the latter being more usual when letting a dwelling. Notify your buildings and contents insurers that the property is to be let. Consider specialist landlord insurance to cover things such as tenant disputes or lost rent. If gas is supplied to the property, a gas safety certificate is necessary. You are also responsible for the safety of electrical wiring and appliances throughout any tenancy, so get those checked. You should

enter into a tenancy agreement — such as an assured shorthold tenancy agreement — with your tenant and arrange a detailed inventory to record the condition of the property at the start of the tenancy. An Energy Performance Certificate is required when letting any home, so be sure to get one of those. Any deposit paid by the tenant must be

placed into a recognised Tenancy Deposit Scheme, and you cannot simply pocket the rent. You have to pay income tax on rental income and capital gains tax may be payable when you eventually sell the property. A reputable letting agent won’t come cheap but could make life a lot easier for you by finding a tenant and managing the letting.

More legal Q&As Visit: homesand property.co.uk

Q

MY GRANDMOTHER has lived in the same ground-floor flat for years. As she grows older she finds it increasingly difficult to get around her home, so we would like to take down some walls to make her bathroom larger, and add a garden room or conservatory to her kitchen. The property is leasehold — so is this allowed?

A

YOUR grandmother’s lease will include various restrictions, covenants and stipulations affecting the property. It should also confirm the extent of the demise. Establish if there is an exclusive right to use the garden, or if the garden is part of the demise, meaning that your grandmother has a leasehold interest in the flat and garden. Most residential leases include a covenant stating that structural alterations should not be made to the property without the prior written consent of the freeholder. Even if your grandmother owns a share of the freehold, formal consent should still be obtained from the freeholder. If your grandmother does own the garden and the freeholder’s consent is needed for alterations, establish the requirements of the freeholder for granting consent. You should have plans drawn up, agree to pay the landlord’s legal and surveyor’s fees, and obtain planning permission, building regulations approval, and listed building consent where appropriate. A deed of variation may be needed to vary the terms of your grandmother’s lease. Remember, it is possible the terms of the lease may say that the garden can only be used as a private garden and not for any other purpose, and may stipulate that it cannot be built on.

O These answers can only be a very brief commentary on the issues raised and should not be relied on as legal advice. No liability is accepted for such reliance. If you have similar issues, you should obtain advice from a solicitor.

WEDNESDAY 11 JANUARY 2017 EVENING STANDARD

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Homes & Property | Inside story

Waxing on about a flaming fire risk MONDAY We’re all back after the Christmas break. I’ve worked in West End property for 20 years — and every week is different. My first appointment is to view a big two-bedroom luxury flat at the back of Oxford Street, finished to a super-sleek standard. The walls are hung with what appears to be very expensive artwork and there is a large, fabulous roof terrace with a wonderful view. The owner can’t decide whether to let or sell.

TUESDAY First up for me today is a lettings valuation at a flat owned by a Church charity in Gordon Square, in the heart of Bloomsbury’s academic quarter. It’s a simple, well-presented one-bedroom place with lovely views of a church tower from all windows. This flat is special, as so much of this part of central Bloomsbury is taken up by academic buildings owned by UCL, with residential properties few and far between. I spend the afternoon at the office on the phone to several of our landlords. The day ends with a good offer on a nice two-bedroom flat we have in Fitzrovia, and I’m pleased to tell the landlord.

WEDNESDAY Our property manager fills me in on the inspection she carried out yesterday afternoon. She arrived at the flat to find

Diary of an estate agent nearly all the light bulbs had blown and the tenant was using tens of candles to light the rooms. She quickly informed the tenant about the danger of candles and gave her a crash course in changing light bulbs. Crisis averted. Tonight I attend a charity dinner supporting ex-servicemen and their families. Hudsons has a table and it is great to spend an evening with the team raising money for such a good cause.

THURSDAY My hair-raising task this morning is to ascend the 34 floors of the iconic Centre Point tower in a builders’ hoist to see the stunning show flat. It’s a clear, sunny day and the panoramic views across London are spectacular. The tower has been re-invented as a prime central London address, with the forthcoming Crossrail station at Tottenham Court Road in mind. Safely back on terra firma, I am off to meet a potential new landlord for lunch at dim t restaurant in Charlotte Street.

homesandproperty.co.uk powered by He was recommended to Hudsons by a landlord client with whom we have worked for years. My lunch companion tells me he is currently having a lot of trouble with his flat on a well-known subletting website. This is unfortunately an increasing problem for some landlords throughout the West End. We have a good chat and I discover he has several properties throughout Fitzrovia and Soho — hopefully some new instructions are on the horizon.

FRIDAY Rounding off the week with a valuation on a flat in Marylebone, I am welcomed — well, knocked over, actually — at the front door by a very enthusiastic English bulldog named Daisy. She proceeds to follow me around the flat, constantly nudging me with her favourite toy. It takes all my multi-tasking skills to deliver a thorough appraisal while stroking Daisy and throwing the toy for her to fetch. The flat is great, as is the location. We’re finding an increasing number of professionals are drawn to the wonderful Marylebone area, with its boutiques and restaurants. Back at the office, I find I have received an email confirming our instruction of the two-bedroom flat near Oxford Street, so we can start marketing it before the weekend. Then it’s time to take the team for a very well-earned drink at the newly reopened Fitzroy Tavern to celebrate a successful week. So far, at least, 2017 is looking good. O Robert Burwood is lettings director at Hudsons in Charlotte Street, Fitzrovia (020 7323 2277).

WEDNESDAY 11 JANUARY 2017 EVENING STANDARD

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Homes & Property | Letting on

O

NE of the infuriating things about tenants is the amount of junk they leave behind. They think nothing of abandoning unwanted furniture, kitchen cupboards full of chipped crockery, piles of porn mags, wardrobes full of old clothes and, piled outside the back door, bags and bags and bags of general household rubbish . I used to write to tenants asking them to remove all their belongings and rubbish when they left, but most of them ignored me. Too lazy or disorganised to get rid of furniture they no longer wanted, one or two even pretended that they had left the items as gifts for the next tenants. It is almost worse when tenants saunter off leaving bags of rubbish piled high outside a property, as the refuse collectors in some London boroughs won’t take anything that’s not inside a wheelie bin. That means I have to drive their smelly bin bags to the tip myself, or try to sneak it all into my neighbours’ bins.

After making countless trips to the dump, I started to threaten tenants with financial penalties for abandoned items. Now I write to them a couple of weeks before they move out, warning them that they will be charged £20 for each item or bag of rubbish not left in a bin. The charge might sound steep but having driven for miles to a municipal dump and then had to sort through a tenant’s bin bags and separate plastic from paper from potato peelings, I

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Get this: I am not your unpaid refuse collector Victoria Whitlock has started fining tenants who abandon everything from piles of porn mags to battered microwaves when they leave

The accidental landlord think my service comes cheap. What makes me fume even more is that, technically speaking, I am not actually allowed to automatically chuck away anything a tenant leaves behind. The law says landlords have to store a tenant’s belongings for a “reasonable” time before disposing of them. As far as I’m aware the law doesn’t specify how long is “reasonable”. You’ve also got to give tenants written notice if you are

going to chuck anything away and you can’t go ahead and sling it until the notice has expired. Crazy. Where are we supposed to store this stuff? What if they leave behind a threepiece suite? Or a chest freezer? I don’t want their rubbish in my house for months, so now I insert a clause in the tenancy agreement stating that items left behind will be disposed of after two weeks. Also, I impose a storage charge of £5 per item per day. These financial penalties have worked with most of my tenants — but when one woman moved out, she wrote to say that she was going to charge me for some of the things she intended to leave behind. She wanted £100 for

£490 a week: this two-bedroom flat in Boardwalk Place, Canary Wharf, comes with two bathrooms, a porter service and this spectacular view from a private balcony. It is available to rent through Chestertons — call 020 8012 3891. a second-hand vacuum cleaner, an iron and ironing board and a microwave. It was a bargain, she said, like she was doing me a favour by selling me things I didn’t want. I had to laugh at her cheek, but she didn’t see the funny side when I deducted the disposal fee from her

deposit. Perhaps next time she moves she will take her belongings with her — all of them. O Victoria Whitlock lets four properties in south London. To contact Victoria with your ideas and views, tweet @vicwhitlock

WEDNESDAY 11 JANUARY 2017 EVENING STANDARD

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Homes & Property | New homes Chiswick garden square is a top choice for families

By David Spittles

Flats at Helena’s family seat

From £614,995: flats at Chiswick Gate. Townhouses, above, are also in the mix at this Berkeley Homes development CHISWICK draws families with its good schools and its boutiques and bistros on the boulevard-like High Road from Hammersmith to Kew. New homes are appearing where office blocks once stood in this west London suburb. Chiswick Gate is a development of 44 townhouses and 79 flats set back behind the busy A4. The layout of the gated site is a reinvention of a traditional London garden square, having an open central landscaped area lined by period-style brick houses and apartment blocks. A vast underground car park

allows townhouse residents to step out of their vehicles and straight into their homes via a separate basement entrance. Prices from £614,995. Call Berkeley Homes on 020 3725 8999. Slotting neatly into the streetscape, 500 Chiswick Road’s 71 new homes include penthouses with generous-size roof terraces, contemporary-design townhouses and flats, some of which qualify for Help to Buy. This Zone 3 location has three nearby Tube stations. Flats from £420,000, townhouses from £2.6 million. Call 020 3430 6920.

Want to buy your first home?

Smar Smar Sma marr H

EAD south from suburban Bromley and you quickly reach the wooded valleys of the rolling Kent Downs, barely 15 miles from Charing Cross. William Pitt, who became Britain’s youngest prime minister at just 24, had a country estate in this part of the world and it was here in 1788, while gazing across the vale of Keston, that he and philanthropist William Wilberforce agreed to fight for the

abolition of the slave trade. There remains a rich legacy of historic houses, some of which are being converted to grand flats aimed at prosperous downsizers and affluent City traders. Helena Bonham Carter’s ancestors had a family seat at Keston until the Thirties. The actress, inset right, is the great-granddaughter of former prime minister Herbert Asquith. The family’s Victorian mansion, above, has been split into seven flats, while

four townhouses are being built in its grounds. Known as Ravensbourne Collection, prices start from £1,245,000. Call estate agent Alan de Maid on 01689 813333. Water’s Edge at Keston Ponds is a scheme of 13 flats in a restored Tudorstyle manor house that was built by the Earl of Dartmouth. Prices from £395,000. Call Millgate Homes on 0118 9348046. Keston has a common and a medieval village and is a great start and end point for country walks.

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EVENING STANDARD WEDNESDAY 11 JANUARY 2017

New homes | Homes & Property

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STRIKE COTSWOLDS GOLD CLASSIC-STYLE COTTAGES THE picture-postcard golden stone villages of the Cotswolds may seem a million miles away from London. However, the M4 motorway provides a quick route to and from the capital, putting Gloucestershire and delightful Cheltenham within a two-hour drive of west London — perfect for

First-class lofts in old mail depot STAMP DUTY refunds are part of a new year sale at Islington Square, right, a former Royal Mail depot that’s now a first-class address in the heart of the borough, around lively Upper Street. What was a closed-off complex of Edwardian warehouses is poised to become an attractive quarter of 263 homes, with a grand double-arched entrance leading to a new shopping arcade and civic square created behind the impressive façade. Built in 1904, in its heyday the depot was the main sorting office for

north London. The buildings are being transformed into loft-style flats, plus there are new homes above original loading bays. About a third of the flats are designated “affordable”, for rent and shared ownership, with an acre of green communal space on the rooftops. A new pedestrian route from Upper Street runs via a “floating” glass-roofed internal garden to the covered retail mall and an open-air tree-lined route with cafés. Prices start at £715,000, with stamp duty savings from £23,500. Call 020 7409 8756.

people who want a reachable second home — while train commuters can get to Paddington in 90 minutes. Crossways, left, a scheme of 20 classic-style honeycoloured stone cottages, is in the pretty market town of Stow-on-the-Wold. Prices from £445,000. Call Knight Frank on 01789 206967.