Homes& Property Wednesday 19 November 2014 Über loos Celebrate World Toilet Day Page 22 THE CROSSRAIL EFFECT: EAST LONDON P8 £100-A-MONTH RENTALS P11 SHOP POP-UPS P16 SPOTLIGHT ON CROYDON P28 It’s a game changer Camden is first council to build homes to sell Page 6 London’s best property search website: homesandproperty.co.uk 4 WEDNESDAY 19 NOVEMBER 2014 EVENING STANDARD Homes & Property Online homesandproperty.co.uk with This week: homesandproperty.co.uk news: give 90,000 kids the best Christmas present — a home Silvertown Reach: 1,100 new homes are planned in Canning Town, just two stops from Canary Wharf. A third of them would be affordable SHELTER says 90,000 children will be homeless in the UK this Christmas and is calling on the next government to bring in new laws making it easier for more affordable homes to be built. The homeless charity wants to see more land released at lower prices, which can then be used by housing associations and small to medium developers to build cheaper homes. Pete Jefferys, the charity’s senior policy officer, says: “It is essential housing gets into Cabinet and it is now essential that the UK builds 250,000 houses every year for the next 10 or 20 years. It is going to be a big electoral issue and we have to push it up the agenda.” Property search Trophy buy of the week get glass with class in Pimlico £2,995,000: an acquisition of the Regency sort awaits in the desirable Pimlico location of Westmoreland Triangle. This handsome home has had its five floors transformed into a light, glassy affair of fabulous living. Spanning the lower level is a vast kitchen/dining room lit by a partly glazed ceiling up to an equally bright double reception room. The upper floors hold five spacious bedrooms and four chic bathrooms. There’s a private roof terrace, too. Through Douglas & Gordon. O Visit homesandproperty.co.uk/trophypim London buy of the week behind the Victorian façade is a super-slick surprise £625,000: the white picket fence and traditional Victorian façade of this Peckham flat don’t prepare you for its sleek, up-to-the-minute interior. Bought as a shell in 2011, the owner had it remodelled with a kitchen and living space extension. Polished porcelain tiles — warm underfoot — run the entire space, the kitchen area O Read Philippa Stockley’s full story at homesandproperty.co.uk HomesAndProperty.co.uk/luxury £1 million: up sticks and invest in Bellropes in Bradwell-onSea, Essex. This family home does a roaring trade with its six self-contained holiday apartments, a two-bedroom cabin and two guest suites in the main house. Owners’ space includes a master bedroom and balcony, two more bedrooms, dining and living rooms, a study, playroom and kitchen/breakfast room, plus two acres of gardens (Beresfords Country Homes). O Visit homesandproperty.co.uk/lifechangerbrad ESHomesAndProperty • Twitter: OFF ALL BIG Autumn SALE Memory Foam Mattresses By Faye Greenslade @HomesProperty • Pinterest: @HomesProperty Editor: Janice Morley FROM ONLY £99.99 SAVE UP TO £670 † A Good Night’s Sleep Guaranteed ESSENTIALS OTTOMAN BED AND MATTRESS DEAL NOW ONLY £259.99 SAVE UP TO 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. ABOVE ALL IMAGES 10 % O Visit homesandproperty.co.uk/peck Life changer a big family space that’s a nice little earner Visit our new online luxury section Facebook: has great gadgets and a breakfast bar, while the lounge and dining areas open to a lush garden through a wall of folding glass doors. There are two double bedrooms — one with a built-in glass desk and the other with glass doors to a courtyard (Wooster & Stock). £660 † Ottoman bed frame offers lots of extra storage space 60 Night Trial Guarantee † Off typical high street value. Editorial: 020 3615 2524 Advertisement manager: Mark Wood Advertising: 020 3615 0527 Homes & Property, Northcliffe House, 2 Derry Street, Kensington, London W8 5TT. Hot tip: the little bit the boom forgot HYDE PARK — all 625 acres of it — has long been at the epicentre of prime central London’s residential property market. Homes on its edge are in constant demand and command huge premiums. Yet price growth in one area to the north-west corner of the park has fallen well behind its flashy neighbours, making it a hot tip for buyers, according to new research by Knight Frank. Find out where it is by visiting: homesandproperty.co.uk/areawatch. 5 EVENING STANDARD WEDNESDAY 19 NOVEMBER 2014 News Homes & Property This is the headline that goes like this É SUGABABES singer Keisha Buchanan, 30, was first in the queue after we unveiled new homes at Nine Elms Point, SW8, far right, last week. The pop star, right, was spotted at the launch of the Zone 1 Barratt tower chatting about starting prices and the best investment flats. Her invitation would have followed her registration of interest, or her having signed up to Barratt’s database. Prices are from £802,000 for twobedroom flats, with studios and one-bedroom options available. A five-minute walk from Vauxhall Tube, the first completions are due in summer 2016. Twilight heart-throb downsizes to neat LA bachelor pad N1 house with Gwynnie glam É ISLINGTON’S Mildmay Park is a hotspot for fashionistas, and this five-bedroom Victorian townhouse in the area, above, has featured as the backdrop in high-end shoots, including a Gwyneth Paltrow Vogue shoot with Mario Testino at the helm, right. Actress Kristin Scott Thomas and presenters Lisa Snowdon and Myleene Klass have also been pictured in the house, which has been completely refurbished in recent years. The result is a dream home, with the focus on expansive glazing, natural light, vast lateral space and contemporary design merged with period features. It is on the market with Fyfe Mcdade in Islington for £2,695,000. By Amira Hashish O Visit homesand property.co.uk/gwyn Got some gossip? Tweet @amiranews É ROBERT PATTINSON has spent £1.38 million on a neat Hollywood bachelor pad, above. The Barnes-born Twilight actor, below, sold the home he shared with ex-girlfriend Kristen Stewart, his co-star in the vampire film franchise, in Los Feliz, Los Angeles, for more than £3.8 million this year. He is now dating English singer-songwriter FKA twigs. His new home has two bedrooms, a pool, ample living space and a cosy music room. It may not be as bling as Pattinson’s previous house but it marks a fresh start for the 28-year-old Londoner. REX Nine Elms Point tops Keisha’s chart REX homesandproperty.co.uk with Spot the star quality in Ben’s Rotherhithe riverside residence REX O Visit homesandproperty.co.uk/ben said to love relaxing in the sumptuous flat. In addition to taking the lead in Lord Lloyd-Webber’s West End revival of Jesus Christ Superstar, 33-year-old Forster has starred at the Dominion Theatre as Agustin Magaldi in Evita, and is due in Dublin over Christmas to play Buddy the elf in ELF the Broadway Musical, previewing at the Theatre Royal, Plymouth. REX É MUSICAL theatre star Ben Forster is selling his penthouse overlooking the Thames. The 1,500sqft duplex apartment in Rotherhithe has three en suite bedrooms as well as a roof terrace and balcony. Located in Tudor Court, a smart SE16 gated development, the stylish home is for sale at £950,000 with Kinleigh Folkard & Hayward. The singer, right, shot to fame after winning Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Superstar talent contest on ITV in 2012, and when he’s not on tour he is 6 WEDNESDAY 19 NOVEMBER 2014 EVENING STANDARD Homes & Property New homes homesandproperty.co.uk with A FIRST IN BRITAIN GAME CHANGER FOR CAMDEN Camden council is leading the way, going into business as a house builder selling sleek, Scandi-style flats, says David Spittles C In the pipeline: below, the redeveloped Bacton Low Rise estate at Gospel Oak will have homes for private sale, shared ownership and affordable rent Stylish conversion: below right, master bedroom of a Carlow House loft-style apartment AMDEN council is making its debut as a house builder, launching new homes for sale on the open market under its own name. The move, a symbolic break with the past, is likely to be embraced by other councils struggling with housing shortages. A torchbearer of long standing for architect-led public housing, Camden tomorrow launches 273 flats for sale at the revitalised Maiden Lane Estate in King’s Cross. This is the first batch in a project set to bring 3,050 new homes to the borough, including in Bloomsbury and Holborn. The “Scandi-style” apartments are well-crafted, restrained, crisp and contemporary, with big windows and balconies, while the buildings are ecofriendly and energy efficient, with “living” roofs that encourage biodiversity. A 24-hour concierge service is promised, and cafés and low-cost office space for start-up businesses are part of the mix. Prices start at £450,000 and rise to £685,000. Shared-ownership options are also available. Call 020 3320 8220. The Government is encouraging councils to examine their land and housing assets and has relaxed rules outlawing residential development. Camden and Hackney are the first councils in the country to build and manage homes for private sale and shared ownership. Camden’s Community Investment Programme allows it to sell off land and bulldoze estates to raise £403 million. Proceeds from private sales are ploughed back into neighbourhoods in the form of new low-cost housing, better public and green space, new shops and community facilities. The new projects hark back to “iconic” housing designed by Camden’s celebrated architects’ department in the Sixties and Seventies, when modernism ruled. Maiden Lane Estate was an avant-garde, low-rise scheme of concrete houses and flats on the northern boundary of the vast King’s Cross railway complex. The location, then joyless and isolated, is now part of a swish new business district and cultural quarter. The estate quickly became run-down and was nicknamed Alcatraz. The architecture was blamed but that was an easy target — a not-dissimilar scheme in Hampstead overseen by borough architect Sydney Cook, of Brunswick Centre fame, is listed and coveted as a place to live. Some residents, including those who exercised the Right to Buy, claim the estate’s demise was due to council neglect and poor management. Architect PRP’s new design seeks to recapture the spirit and aesthetic of the original Seventies estate, with sleek, white, linear blocks of varying height to complement the cluster of buildings at neighbouring King’s Cross Central. Due for completion next summer, the homes are being sold by Savills, which has named the scheme XY, a reference to Maiden Lane’s position on the “x and y co-ordinates” between King’s Cross and Camden stations. “It’s all about connections and a coming together — past and present,” says the firm’s Peter Sloane. Other private sale projects in the pipeline include Bourne Estate in Clerkenwell, Tybalds Estate in Holborn, Abbey Road, just north of St John’s Wood, Bacton Low Rise estate at Gospel Oak and Agar Grove, From £450,000: Camden council launches flats for sale tomorrow at revitalised Maiden Lane Estate, King’s Cross Camden Town. Homes are also being created at redeveloped Centre Point, the Sixties West End office tower. With an average house price of £806,414, Camden is the third most expensive London borough. The new council-built homes are being sold for market value but they are pitched firmly at “ordinary” middle-income Londoners. Properties at Maiden Lane are likely to be a big hit with buyers, firstly because of the design quality and secondly because of the hot location. When complete, King’s Cross Central will have 23 new and refurbished office buildings, 20 new streets and 10 new public spaces, a community of 45,000 people, enlivened by the site’s Central St Martins university campus. CANAL TREATMENT Regeneration is rippling out all the way to Camden Town. Lively Caledonian Road, known as “The Cally”, is the spine of this area. An imaginative redevelopment of a factory workshop and stable block, called 400 Caledonian Road, has created 23 low-energy homes plus office studios. Compulsorily purchased as part of the Eurostar tunnelling project, the premises had been empty and decaying for several years. A pair of adjoining Victorian townhouses have also been restored. Prices start at £400,000. Call Currell on 020 7354 6705. This patch butts up against Barnsbury conservation area, a pretty enclave of garden squares, cottages and ivy-clad 7 EVENING STANDARD WEDNESDAY 19 NOVEMBER 2014 New homes Homes & Property homesandproperty.co.uk with pubs, much of which is excluded to through traffic. For many years, Regent’s Canal and its linked industry was a drawback for Camden Town, as was the area’s close proximity to King’s Cross. Today, however, both the waterfront and train tracks have become positives. Canalside regeneration has prettified the area while the Eurostar terminal has put Paris two hours away. This district is one of the few places in London where bohemian prosperity and urban edginess happily co-exist. Its colourful street markets attract 25 million visitors a year and there is a wider development plan for the creation of Canal Lock Village, which will From £500,000: flats at Carlow House, converted from a London Underground warehouse near Camden High Street Green’s grand: Carlow House atrium. The development of 85 homes also features glass-walled winter gardens include flats and a covered market with rooftop pavilions linked by walkways. The council has also agreed an overhaul of Camden High Street, while overcrowded Camden Town Tube station is to get a £200 million facelift. Locals working in the creative sector, including fashion, film, theatre, music and web design, are prepared to pay the price for good-quality architecture and thoughtful interior design, an incentive for developers to push up standards. Carlow House, a handsome conversion of a former London Underground warehouse, will have 85 loft-style apartments with glass-walled “winter gardens” for year-round use. Prices from £500,000. Call developer Galliard on 020 7620 1500 8 WEDNESDAY 19 NOVEMBER 2014 EVENING STANDARD Homes & Property Commuting homesandproperty.co.uk with On the map: with the advent of Crossrail, Ilford will appear on Tube maps for the first time and the station is getting a new façade and forecourt. The cross-London link will put Tottenham Court Road 23 minutes away and Heathrow 51 minutes away C ROSSRAIL is set to have just as much impact on east London as has the recent extension of the Overground through Hackney and the Jubilee line to Stratford. “Home values within a 10-minute walk of the east London Crossrail stations have jumped six per cent more this year than those in surrounding areas,” says Johnny Morris, research director at estate agents Hamptons International. “Increasingly, buyers are searching in travel Zones 3 and 4 for more affordable areas with upside. The prospect of better transport connections is perhaps the biggest dividend of all.” Both inner and outer east London already have quick connections to the City via Liverpool Street, and Crossrail brings something more — equally fast links to the West End plus a direct route to Heathrow and the M4 commercial corridor, an important hub for businesses. For the first time, Ilford will be on the Tube map. Districts between Stratford and Ilford continue to benefit from the 2012 Olympics legacy. For many years these goodvalue areas have been associated with the bottom rung of the property ladder, a staging post that leads to somewhere else. But steady improvements are encouraging buyers to settle. They may not be the most elegant places in London but they border huge green swathes — Hackney Marshes, Wanstead Flats and Epping Forest. Artists priced out of Shoreditch are also moving in, a sign of an area on the up. Street cafés and late bars are open- PART 6: STRATFORD TO ILFORD Crossrail Faster travel links in Zones 3 and 4 will keep the Olympic flame burning in east London for a new crowd of arty young buyers, says David Spittles ing, signalling the arrival of a new wave of young home buyers who have brought their lifestyle with them. Investment-wise, it looks a decent bet. Values are still among the lowest in London, with pockets of reasonably priced Victorian and Edwardian housing, though there are far fewer new developments than in Stratford, now a “minitropolis”. STATION STORIES There was a fear that after the 2012 Olympics, STRATFORD might struggle to live up to its post-Games plan. After a brief plateau, though, the area is picking up again, with an increasingly settled community of young families and professionals attracted by the already impressive transport links and the new amenities and sporting facilities. The UK’s largest indoor ski facility is the latest addition. Over £9 billion of public money has been pumped into the area. Nowhere else in the capital has anywhere near as much new infrastructure, and it is the nerve centre of Newham borough. The 500-acre Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park is the largest recreational space to be created in Europe for 150 years. Stratford City, which includes Westfield shopping centre, is the biggest retailled mixed-use regeneration project ever undertaken in the UK. Previously, Stratford was associated with bad architecture and a high crime rate. It has a hard urban face and lacks metropolitan-village charm. But pleasing new neighbourhoods are being built and big businesses are relocating there. Crossrail, it seems, can only enhance Stratford’s fast-improving status as a decent place to live as well as visit. From 2016, the area will be MINUTES SAVED ON JOURNEYS TO AND FROM TOTTENHAM COURT ROAD BY CROSSRAIL Stratford 5 From £275,000: flats at Stratford Riverside tower, with a residents’ roof garden on top of a connected seven-storey block Ilford 12 Forest Gate 12 Maryland 12 Shenfield Reading Heathrow Inner er London Abbey Wood Manor Park 12 Fast-improving neighbourhood: Stratford Riverside, in Stratford High Street 9 EVENING STANDARD WEDNESDAY 19 NOVEMBER 2014 Commuting Homes & Property homesandproperty.co.uk with From £560,000: two-bedroom apartments in 36-storey Stratosphere, right, in the new Stratford “mini city” From £425,000: “Milan-modern” apartments at Manhattan Loft Gardens, left, a double-cantilevered tower with three sky gardens in Stratford reclassified as Zone 2. Stratosphere, a new 36-storey tower, has 307 flats. Two-bedroom apartments start at £560,000. Call Telford Homes on 020 7538 2591. Stratford Riverside, another tower, has 202 flats plus a seven-storey connected block, on top of which is a residents’ roof garden. Prices from £275,000. Call Weston Homes on 01279 873300. Manhattan Loft Gardens is a shimmering 42-storey tower with 248 apartments that incorporates a hotel and three open-air sky gardens. It is a step up in quality for the area. Homes ranging from studios to penthouses are double-height spaces with expensive interior design that spells class, a look that might be described as “Milanmodern”. Prices from £425,000. Call 020 7531 2512. Stratford resales start at £220,000 for conversions and about £330,000 for modest houses. Increasingly, it is a place for renters, attracted by purpose-built homes such as those in East Village, the former 2012 Athletes’ Village, where flats start at £395 per week. The deal on offer there includes free broadband and furniture packs. Call 020 3714 8083. Rents in the high-rise Stratford Halo tower, overlooking the Olympic Park, start at £1,300 a month. Call Genesis on 0800 954 1041. MARYLAND, named after a rich merchant who bought land after returning from the American colony of the same name, is a somewhat ill-defined neighbourhood that fades into Leytonstone. Check out the leafy Bushwood Estate which has handsome Edwardian houses and wide streets. The average local property price of £378,478 is 34 per cent below the London average, according to estate agent Foxtons, which is selling a bay-fronted three-bedroom Victorian terrace in Hartley Road for £595,000. A similar home in Maryland Square is priced at £430,000, also through Foxtons. Call 020 8150 8585. FOREST GATE retains much of its Victorian character and is considered one of Newham borough’s best addresses. Woodgrange Estate, a coveted conservation area that has acquired “village” status, comprises a pleasant cache of orderly streets with 1880s villas, some with front drives, distinctive original glass porches and decorative wooden detailing akin to the canopies of Victorian railway stations. Elsewhere, there are plenty of family houses on offer for under £500,000. MANOR PARK is less fashionable, more brash and bustling but has some quiet backwaters such as Little Ilford. Parks and playing fields — and the huge City of London Cemetery — form a welcome break from row upon row of terrace housing. Streets south of Romford Road, from First to Seventh Avenues, offer well-priced four-bedroom houses, while the comparatively sleepy area to the south of the high street has ever- popular streets named after poets Browning, Coleridge and Shelley. ILFORD, in Redbridge borough, is experiencing a population surge at the same time as regeneration is improving the fabric of the town centre. Developers are targeting first-time buyers who cannot afford to live near the commercial hubs of Canary Wharf or the City, or in higher-priced Stratford, arguing that people who buy now while prices are lower can expect good capital growth. Crossrail is the spur the town needs in order to keep momentum going. Currently, Ilford is served only by overland trains on the Great Eastern main line, but Crossrail will put Tottenham Court Road 23 minutes away and the journey to Heathrow will take 51 minutes. Reconstruction of the existing façade and a new forecourt will improve the station area, where flats cost from about £180,000. #)+ #+ $*$*$%!# *'!$%! $%" !*$$)!*$& !$'$$*$$ ($$$*$ '*$ $!$' !$ $$$$$ $!$' *$ $!#*$ ' !*$ $ $ )$!$ ($$$ $'$!*$$! &! %(" 10 WEDNESDAY 19 NOVEMBER 2014 EVENING STANDARD Homes & Property Area watch M Going upmarket: near Hither Green’s refurbished Victorian water tower, market stalls, a sign of growing family demand EANDERING among stalls selling artisan breads and speciality olives at the regular farmers’ market in Hither Green, it is easy to imagine you are in one of the capital’s more affluent nappy valleys. This Victorian suburb in Lewisham, south-east London — long overshadowed by neighbouring Blackheath, with its huge common and pretty shops — is quietly gaining in popularity with buyers priced out of more established areas. James Hall, director of Fishneedwater estate agents, says great transport links are a major plus point. Hither Green is less than 15 minutes by train from London Bridge, 20 minutes from Charing Cross, and an annual season ticket costs a relatively modest £976. Schools are the other key draw. Brindishe Green and Brindishe Manor primary schools are rated “outstanding” by Ofsted, while Trinity Church of England secondary school is rated “good”. Hall says the area is now “a middleclass resting spot in its own right”, with sought-after Victorian and Edwardian terraces. New research by Savills shows Hither Green homes are not only better value than in Blackheath — an average £322,050, compared with £478,586 — but prices are rising faster. This year they are up 15.6 per cent compared with 15.1 per cent, and since the 2007 market peak Hither Green has seen a 31.1 per cent increase to Blackheath’s 25.8 per cent. The influx of young families priced out of Blackheath and Peckham whomesandproperty.co.uk with Hither Green. So middle class Blackheath’s modest neighbour is the latest magnet for priced-out families, says Ruth Bloomfield Rye is making its mark on Hither Green Lane, with the Café of Good Hope community hub and children’s fashion shop Cissy Wears alongside convenience stores and laundrettes. There is also a community-run cinema, while the monthly farmers’ market at Manor House Gardens has just gone weekly. New homes are popping up, including a biscuit factory redevelopment by Bellway Homes. In Hither Green Village, south-west of the open space of Manor Park, a three- to four-bedroom house will cost £700,000 to £800,000, £1 million: a fivebedroom house in Slaithwaite Road, below (see homesand property.co.uk/ slaith) and a three-bedroom Gilmore Road conversion flat, below right, for £775,000 (homes andproperty. co.uk/gilmore) and t wo -bedroom flats sell for £350,000 to £375,000. The biggest homes with four or more bedrooms can sell for upward of £1 million. West of Hither Green Lane prices fall significantly, with flats at about £315,000, and three- to four-bedroom houses from about £600,000. Les Sawyer, owner of estate agents Forbes & Sawyer, says the area is as nice as the village. “The only reason it is cheaper is that it is closer to Catford.” An abundance of skips denotes families extending into lofts and side returns. Graham Lawes, an associate director of Jones Lang LaSalle, says: “The local shops have really upped their game,” while The Station Hotel is a good gastropub. There is not much else, and the boutique count is low — but it could be just the right time to buy. You only need scan the ourhithergreen.com community website, full of ads for green box schemes, Pilates classes and popup restaurants, to see which way the wind is blowing. * **** & 11 EVENING STANDARD WEDNESDAY 19 NOVEMBER 2014 homesandproperty.co.uk with Shoestring renting Homes & Property That takes care of the rent Our secret tenant Tim Lowe turns to caretaking in his hunt for a cheap rental home in Zone 2 residents and an increasing rat population. Ambika ensures buildings are secure and properly looked after, while overcrowding is avoided. This time I’ve got the comfort of a whole floor of the building to myself, complete with kitchen, bathroom and living room, with just one other housemate occupying the floor below. But before I get ahead of myself, let’s just say it isn’t the homeliest of environments. The decrepit interiors are littered with signs of the previous inhabitants, from punch marks dotted all across my living room walls, to signs around the building warning that those who continue to disobey the charity’s anti-drug policy will face immediate expulsion. Considering my earlier cheap-rent stint on a houseboat, though, I’m quite happy to have hot water and electricity past 9pm. I’m sharing the building with Ross, a film-maker who has been living with Ambika for five years. We work out, between the two of us, who will stay in on which nights each week. Ross finds that committing to certain nights fits well with his work schedule and the many evenings he spends editing his footage. He sees it more as an add-on to his job than anything else. He also doesn’t seem to have a problem with the 24-hour notice that caretakers are given, in the worst-case scenario, if they are to be moved on. When paying such a nominal rent, the occupiers have to accept a level of flexibility in return. This model may not be for everyone but if you are prepared to rough it, this is one of the most effective ways to save money in London. I’m now preparing to move on to my penultimate location, in a housing co-operative with three generations of a family on the South Bank. The transition from living with just one other person to a packed house, complete with animals and teenagers, could prove dramatic, but I’m very much looking forward to it. O An original version of this article appeared in Estates Gazette. To follow Tim’s progress, visit estatesgazette. com/lowecostliving. On Twitter, see @lowecostliving, Estates Gazette @estatesgazette, or Knight Frank @knightfrank. WILL BREMBRIDGE A FTER SAYING goodbye to a YMCA Y:Cube flat-pack home, my search for a place to rent in Zone 2 for less than £500 a month takes me to Hammersmith to spend three weeks living as a caretaker in a former halfway house for young offenders. The charity running the house is relocating and while the building is empty, it has employed security company Ambika to keep watch. The firm specialises in providing live-in tenants to act as caretakers. It is not the most glamorous spot to bunk down for three weeks but by far the most affordable so far. At just £100 a month all in, this is amazingly cheap for Zone 2. But unlike the live-in guardian scheme I tried for my first experiment in low renting, where I was free to come and go as I pleased with no strict duties, the set-up is a lot more formal here. There are two of us caretaking, and one has to be present in the property at all times between 8pm and 8am, every night. This is enforced with regular spot checks. The other major difference compared with my stint as a property guardian rather than a security guard is that I’m not crammed into the building like a sardine, forced to share a shower with 18 other CARETAKING: HOW IT WORKS Affordable: Tim in his £100-a-month Hammersmith billet Tim is working with Ambika, a security firm contracted to occupy vacant properties. Each property has a minimum of two caretakers who must work as a team and share tasks, including: O Providing a resident caretaker service at all times from 8pm to 8am O Checking regularly on doors, windows, and for problems such as leaking pipes etc O Keeping the property clean and safe O Reporting all incidents/ problems to Ambika O Forwarding utility bills and other important correspondence O Giving notice of all planned holidays or absences from the property "**$***$ "(*"**$(* %'## ) # % ! 12 WEDNESDAY 19 NOVEMBER 2014 EVENING STANDARD GETTY Homes & Property London life homesandproperty.co.uk with Russian revolution: a car turntable is installed at the former home of Eugene Shvidler, with friend and business partner Roman Abramovich, left W HAT’S a billionaire to do when his RollsRoyce — or even his s p o r t y l i t t l e t wo seater — is too big to turn around on the driveway? It’s a conundrum that has faced many a central London tycoon, particularly in Belgravia and Knightsbridge, where a combination of space shortage and planning restrictions means building a bigger driveway is not an option. Now, architects have hit on a solution — the car turntable. Instead of having to build a big enough space to allow for turning, you revolve the driveway. Turntables have been used in the railway industry for a century. But their adoption for use in private homes is a more recent, yet fast-growing, trend, and several companies have sprung up to meet the demand. Current installations include the former Belgravia home of Russian-born oil tycoon Eugene Shvidler, Chelsea FC owner Roman Abramovich’s right-hand man. Land Registry records show that Mr Shvidler sold the property for £55 million to an offshore company two years ago, and it is now undergoing a revamp that local planning records suggest is largely based around the car turntable. The company apparently hired to fit the space-saving device is based in Tamworth, Staffordshire, and is called, fittingly, Spin-It. Recent customers have included another Russian tycoon in Pont Street, Knightsbridge; Coldplay guitarist Jonny Buckland, for his home in Hampstead, and practically a team’sworth of Premier League football players around the country. Luxury hotels, including the Corinthia in Whitehall, have joined in the trend, as has the Discovery Channel’s TV car renovation show, Wheeler Dealers. Spin-It director Kieron O’Connor says: “Cars are getting bigger, houses are getting bigger, and land is getting more ON THE TURN No room to turn your Rolls-Royce around on the front drive? Jim Armitage finds the answer expensive. The result of all that, especially in London, is that there just isn’t enough parking space. Architects have realised car turntables are a cure. We get a lot of orders in London, but more and more are coming from abroad as well — Dubai, Kuwait, Qatar and pretty much every country in Europe. “Foreign clients say it gives them a one-upmanship on their neighbours to be able to say they have a luxury British car on a UK-engineered turntable.” The biggest turntable Spin-It has fitted to date is about 25 feet across and sits outside the entrance to the prestigious Harbour Hotel in the millionaire’s playground town of Salcombe in Devon. That was custom-built — price on application, in other words. For a more usual 19ft 9in diameter, still big enough for a brace of Land Rovers or a Rolls-Royce Ghost, manufacture and installation will set you back about £20,000. Great if you can swing it: about £20,000 buys an average turntable and installation Visit our new online luxury section HomesAndProperty.co.uk/luxury 13 EVENING STANDARD WEDNESDAY 19 NOVEMBER 2014 Homes abroad Homes & Property homesandproperty.co.uk with T HE Bodrum peninsula is 27 miles long, a green headland with mountains, olive groves and limestone rocks stretching out from south-west Turkey into the Aegean Sea. Big enough to include both sophisticated five-star hotels and bright, brash resorts, yet still mostly low-level and low-key, this is holiday home heaven for anyone who wants a lifestyle based around boats, bays and waterside restaurants. “Bodrum is a boating paradise,” says Cameron Deggin of Property Turkey. “You could easily spend two weeks just on the peninsula exploring small coves, dropping into ports round the bay of Gokova then heading over to the Greek island of Kos.” The peninsula has 11 towns, each offering different holiday experiences, from candlelit dinners in elegant Türkbükü to the noise and buzz of upbeat Bodrum Town. The peninsula, says Deggin, is the equivalent of the Cotswolds for Turks, a classy and attractive step back from busy working life. “Property prices peak in Türkbükü, Bodrum Town and Yalikavak but you can still get a two-bedroom flat with a balcony in a small complex of 20 or 30 units — and possibly even a sea view — from £75,000, or a threebedroom detached house and pool for under £170,000.” MODERN STYLE Turkey for Christmas growing. US architect Richard Meier recently completed the first of a proposed 22 modern villas in the hills above Yalikavak on the north of the Bodrum peninsula. The sevenbedroom home was bought by a British investment fund manager for close to £3 million, and building has begun on the second house. Other villas at Yalikavak Heights include a four-bedroom stone home in three acres of gardens, built in 2007 and on the market for £1,329,180. “There are only 40 or 50 villas in total at Yalikavak Heights, all hidden among the trees in dense, large gardens,” says Deggin. “These homes are exclusive and completely private with good sea views.” yachts as one of the best marinas in the Med,” says Deggin. “It has helped sales of waterfront homes in the area, too. It is not possible today to build within 100 metres of the sea so existing homes are in high demand.” A NEW MARINA Below these villas, Yalikavak is a charming town with narrow cobbled streets. It is also home to new, supersmart 450-berth Palmarina, Turkey’s first mega-yacht marina, with shops, restaurants and full boat services. Palmarina aims to add a further 300 berths next year. “Yalikavak marina already attracts some exceptional MID-MARKET VALUE A three-bedroom penthouse with a convenient local jetty in Yalikavak is £553,800, while above the sea, a three-bedroom stone modern home with a pool and garden is £399,000, both through Property Turkey. On a small, well-managed complex in a quiet area of Yalikavak two miles from the new marina and 500 yards from the beach, with a resident caretaker, a four-bedroom modern villa is on sale at £320,000. Annual service charges are about £1,500 and the villa would rent for at least £1,200 a week from June to late September, says Deggin. A detached modern resale villa with four bedrooms and a CORBIS At the top end of the market there are some exciting new projects. Strict planning rules were relaxed in 2006 and while a maximum two-storey restriction remains, the supply of contemporary-design homes is With holiday homes from £75,000, now is the time to buy in Bodrum, reports Cathy Hawker £95,000: far left, a three-bedroom ground-floor flat in Güllük near Bodrum airport, through Spot Blue. Left, the harbour and St Peter’s Castle in the port city of Bodrum, south-west Turkey £415,000: four-bedroom house with pool in Yalikavak less than a mile from the new marina (Property Turkey) pool in Yalikavak, 45 minutes from Bodrum airport, is £445,000 through estate agents Spot Blue. It is in a small complex of 24 homes that share access to a beach club 10 minutes away. Nearby, a newly built home of similar size with an Italian kitchen and open-plan living area is £456,000. “Those with tighter budgets head to Güllük and Tuzla close to the airport where prices start from £45,000,” says Julian Walker of Spot Blue. “However, buyers from around the world are looking at Turkey and on the Bodrum peninsula itself, average sales prices are increasing.” CONTACTS AND FACT FILE O Property Turkey: propertyturkey. com (020 8371 0059) O Spot Blue: spotblue.com (020 8339 6036) O Allow up to six per cent for buying costs. O All home purchases must be approved by Turkey’s Army Office, normally a formality. # ! #" 16 WEDNESDAY 19 NOVEMBER 2014 EVENING STANDARD Homes & Property Shopping homesandproperty.co.uk with By Katie Law Design Desig esig esi ign n Christmas markets L ONDON is coming alive with Christmas markets, seasonal pop-ups and special late-night shop openings. They give timepoor Londoners the chance to spend evenings and weekends on the hunt for unusual, interesting presents, along with a mince pie or a glass of mulled wine in hand. Check individual events for details of gift-wrapping services, carol singing evenings or a Santa’s grotto. Here’s our selection of the best Christmas shopping events. Above: Lorna Syson cotton robin cushion, £47.50 at Cockpit Arts, Deptford Below: dipped cylinder vases, £22 each at Future and Found FUTURE AND FOUND, N19 ETSY CHRISTMAS POP-UP, WC2 With late-night shopping available, each week there will be pop-ups from designer brands and makers, along with mulled wine, mince pies, competitions and giveaways. The courtyard will be stocked with Christmas trees, festive foliage and flowers to decorate the home. ANOTHER COUNTRY, W1 O Brecknock Road, N19. Open until 9pm each Thursday during December (futureandfound.com). Right: pitcher £58 and bergamot candle, £39, both from Another Country’s winter market This lovely shop has joined forces with Netherton Foundry and Melrose & Morgan to create a food and drink-themed winter market. O Saturday December 6 to Sunday December 14, Crawford Street, W1. The first pop-up from the excellent online shop Etsy includes handmade presents, accessories and decorations plus personalised letterpress stationery and hip flask-engraving workshops. O At Etsy House, Great Newport Street, WC2. December 5-7. Open Friday/Saturday from 10am to 8pm, and on Sunday from 10am to 6pm (etsy.com). BISQUE Embrace winter in style with our energy efficient Tetro radiator London showroom: 244 Belsize Road, London NW6 4BT T: 020 7328 2225 www.bisque.co.uk 17 EVENING STANDARD WEDNESDAY 19 NOVEMBER 2014 Shopping Homes & Property REX homesandproperty.co.uk with THE RENEGADE CRAFT FAIR, E1 Designer-makers are selling homewares and letterpress postcards, and holding a pom-pom bauble workshop. O The Old Truman Brewery, Brick Lane, E1. Saturday and Sunday, Novermber 22 and 23, 11am-6pm (renegadecraft.com). Right: Home Slice Design’s Margate cushion, £38.50 at the Renegade fair SOUTHBANK CHRISTMAS MARKET, SE1 Check out the clusters of wooden chalets along the riverbank, pictured left, offering handmade crafts, mulled wine and more. O Queen’s Walk and Hungerford Car Park, SE1 from now until Christmas each Sunday to Thursday, 10am to 9pm; Friday and Saturday, 10am to 10pm. Above: cotton crochet Santa rattle by Best Years, £12, at Southbank market COCKPIT ARTS CHRISTMAS OPEN STUDIOS, WC1 AND SE8 Above: Sable Saddlery’s leather holly decoration/napkin ring, £5, or £25 for six. E17 DESIGNERS CHRISTMAS MARKET There’s some really lovely leather this year from Sable Saddlery among the host of presents on offer. O Asian Centre, Orford Road, E17. November 29-30 (e17designers.co.uk) Talented budding designers are selling every kind of homeware, with showcases selected by interiors expert and architect Nigel Coates. Meet the makers, enjoy the pop-up café and there’s a free kids’ workshop. O Cockpit Yard, Northington Street, WC1, November 28-30. Then December 5-7 in Creekside, Deptford, SE8. Friday 11am-9pm, Saturday and Sunday from 11am-6pm (cockpitarts.com). 3 COLUMBIA ROAD, E2 Enjoy late-night shopping in one of the few London streets still composed of mainly independent shops and galleries. There’s carol singing and entertainment, with some shops offering wine and mince pies. O Columbia Road, E2. November 26, December 3, 10 and 17, 6pm-9pm (columbiaroad.info). Left: Tree of Life ceramic, £60, from Milagros at Columbia Road Christmas late-night shopping events BELGRAVIA CHRISTMAS SUNDAY, SW1 The heart of Belgravia will become a winter wonderland as part of a Christmas market, including arts and crafts stalls. Meet Santa and his herd of reindeer along with carol singers, jugglers, trumpeters and a traditional brass band. Choirs from the area’s local schools also take part in the musical programme. O December 7 in Elizabeth Street and Pimlico Road, SW1. Left: a traditional Daylesford Organic pudding from the company’s shop at the heart of the Belgravia Christmas Sunday fair 22 WEDNESDAY 19 NOVEMBER 2014 EVENING STANDARD Homes & Property Interiors homesandproperty On trend: Geberit’s AquaClean Sela looks sleek as part of a modern bathroom design Game of thrones Discover ways to make a bold style statement in the smallest room on United Nations World Toilet Day, says Barbara Chandler T ODAY is United Nations World Toilet Day and tonight sees the final of a London-wide toilet joke contest at — appropriately — The Convenience, a trendy bar converted from a public lavatory block in Brooksby’s Walk, Clapton. You’ll spend £10 on the door rather than a penny. But this is serious stuff. It marks a campaign by the charity WaterAid to raise money for the 2.5 billion people worldwide, or one in three, who do not have access to a safe, private lavatory. It’s a shocking statistic, and design and engineering to solve the problem is the focus of a seminar open to everyone from 6.30 this evening. Titled Rethinking Sanitation, it’s at the stunning Roca London Gallery in Townmead Road, Chelsea, designed by Zaha Hadid Architects for the Roca bathroom brand. London is seeing big changes in lavatory design, including the “shower toilet”. This turns a loo into a bidet. Press a button and a neat little “wand” pops out at the back with a cleansing spray at your chosen pressure/temperature, before warm air dries you off. These toilet bidets cost from about £1,500 to an astounding £10,000 depending on features. The lid may lift of its own accord thanks to a motion sensor, and the seat can be warmed. Toilet bidets are at bathroom specialists all around the capital, and you can try them out in some showrooms. Japanese company Toto pioneered the technology — of the 25,000 people it employs, 1,200 are designers. Toto’s toilet bidet brand is the Washlet with several working models at its showroom in St John Street, Clerkenwell (visit gb. toto.com or call 020 7831 7544). Here, the pursuit of hygiene is ruthless. Basic models are rimless, with no ledge for dirt to collect around, and there’s a supercharged Tornado flush. These loos are installed throughout John Robertson Architects’ refurbishment of Bush House in Aldwych, former home of the BBC World Service, now 300,000sq ft of top-notch offices. Top-end Totos are programmable, have automatic lid lift, cleansing wands, air driers, super-smooth coatings, special antibacterial water, and blasts of UV light to kill germs — so you can chuck out the loo brush. Also in Clerkenwell is an all-singing, if not all-dancing loo. The Numi by US brand Kohler, comes at a fancy price, too, pushing £10,000. Designer Phil Proctor says: “The lid rises gracefully to About £2,380: a wall-mounted AquaClean shower toilet, by Swiss bathroom specialist Geberit meet you. This Bluetooth toilet will even play your favourite music from radio, or iPad/iPhone, with a background of colour-changing lights.” It’s got a cleansing wand, heated seat, deodoriser, and a touch-screen remote control with its own magnetic docking station. See it in action at West One Bathrooms in Clerkenwell Road, EC1 (westonebathrooms. com; 020 7324 0780). In Chelsea, a shower toilet is at Ripples in Fulham Road (ripples.ltd.uk; 0800 107 0700). This is the Swiss Geberit AquaClean, which costs about £2,380. Across the road, CP Hart has a working Toto and there’s also one at its Waterloo branch (cphart.co.uk; 0845 600 1950). Laurence Pidgeon in Fulham High Street has a working bidet toilet with a hose you pull out to deliver a soft cleansing jet of water for you, or a high-pressure blast to clean the loo (laurence pidgeon.com; 020 7610 6166). Pidgeon, a passionate advocate for World Toilet Day and better global hygiene, is a fifthgeneration family bathroom firm. BLACK IS THE NEW WHITE There are basically three different types of lavatory. A wall-hung loo needs a support frame mounted on a solid wall, while a back-to-the wall toilet sits on the floor, with the cistern concealed behind a wall or “duct” — a false wall. A closecoupled toilet has bowl and cistern in one piece in a compact design that saves space. Crucially, a dual-flush cistern can halve your water consumption. The new In-Tank Meridian from Roca combines cistern and pan in one neat 23 EVENING STANDARD WEDNESDAY 19 NOVEMBER 2014 Interiors Homes & Property y.co.uk with Tidy: this ensemble from Italian designer Stefano Giovannoni inlcudes a £989 WC with an optional self-lowering seat with antibacterial coating (£279). From ripples.ltd.uk (0800 107 0700) Programmable: the Toto Neorest AC Washlet wand can clean the user, and itself From £3,220: Roca’s W+W wash basin and loo, below, fills the cistern using waste basin water space-saving fitment. Meanwhile, black loos are in fashion. “They make a great statement,” says Melinda Hill, senior designer at Ripples of Chelsea. One by Armani for Roca is at the Staffan Tollgard showroom in Pimlico (020 7952 6066). And a new loo from German company Grohe is claimed to cut the noise of its flush by over two thirds compared with an average toilet. It has even been awarded a Quiet Mark (grohe.com/uk; quietmark.com). SENDING THOMAS CRAPPER’S REPUTATION DOWN THE PAN LAUNCHED this month is Busted Flush! — a fascinating read considering the subject is lavatories. The author is Geoffrey Pidgeon, 88, fourth generation of the family running Original Bathrooms in Richmond, which is now in the hands of his son, Michael. The book explodes “the Thomas Crapper myth”. Claims Pidgeon Snr: “Everyone thinks Thomas Crapper invented the flushing toilet. But my great-uncle had already filed a patent.” Neither, by the way, did the indelicate term “c**p” originate from Crapper, it actually dates back to middle English in the 14th and 15th centuries. This book is a charming memoir, but it is also packed with the social history of sanitation, all well argued, with plenty of quirky stories along the way, involving everything from Winston Churchill to chewing gum. Pidgeon also details how his family’s rift with the Crapper clan was eventually healed. Surely essential reading for the bathroom. O Busted Flush! The Thomas Crapper Myth: My Family’s Five Generations in the Bathroom Industry is published by Arundel Books at £15.99. O See the video Straight Flush at sciencemuseum.org.uk 24 WEDNESDAY 19 NOVEMBER 2014 EVENING STANDARD Homes & Property Outdoors homesandproperty.co.uk with Pattie Barron Don’t shut out the stars DESIGN: CHARLOTTE ROWE Soft, subtle outdoor lighting will take your winter garden from murky to magical L Clockwise from left: rooftop planters are under-lit to emphasise their shape; a column of LED lighting changes colour at intervals; steps on a terrace are given a subtle line of light to define them and make them safe along the tread, to wash light downwards. What’s important is the effect, not the light itself, says Shackleton. “You don’t want a flowerbed stuffed full of metal bits and pieces, so always aim to conceal the fittings.” does not get as hot, and can colour change, too. “We spend a lot of time replacing cheap light fittings that people have bought online, and a month later, are full of water.” The temptation might be to light just the front of your outside space, but Shackleton advises lighting the back boundary, whether garden or patio. “Lighting the far perimeter gives a great sense of scale, so makes a small space appear larger, and also makes you feel safe, because you can see what is going on out there.” Trees on the back boundary — or anywhere else, in ground or container — can be illuminated by simple spike lights set into the ground that highlight the branches, creating wonderful effects with little effort. A wall can be washed with light, not just for safety but also because it might have an interesting texture, such as the rough finish of old London bricks. Directional spike lighters or uplighters can be angled to give, say, a broad wash to display a flowerbed, or a narrower, 20-degree beam to highlight a sculpture or architectural plant such as an agave or palm tree. Steps look attractive as well as safe when given a fine LED strip T HE hardest area to light well, says Shackleton, is the dining table on the terrace. “People tend to put a light on the side of the house that blinds the people sitting on the far side of the table and is very unflattering. Instead, if you’re able to install a light overhead, copy restaurants and send a focused beam down on to the table, or use storm lanterns or candles.” When planning a new garden, it makes sense to have armoured cable laid first, beneath paths, steps and patios. “You might want to have lighting later, and that way, the garden’s prepared,” says Shackleton. “It could even be flexible ducting or a bit of 60ml drainpipe so that in the future, the professionals can put in a cable without pulling up the paving. You’ll save money in the long run. The last thing I want to do is say to a client, ‘This is going to be a lot of work and we are going to have to undo the work you have already had done.’” buy it See it: Kew’s lights LET snowflakes guide you along a mile-long, glittering trail enhanced by botanically inspired, large-scale light installations at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew this festive season. Looking like giant fireworks frozen in time, the installations, up to 40ft square, include luminous lilies of the valley and majestic thistles. The fountains, glasshouses and tree canopies of Kew will all be lit up, and plumes of fire will dance to Nutcrackerinspired music in front of the iconic Palm House, right. Christmas at Kew runs from November 26 until January 3. Visit kew.org for details. Buy it: a starry nights lantern MIMIC the stars with the Sparkla, a 12-volt copper column that uses a low-energy LED capsule to deliver eye-catching light effects on the terrace or in a sheltered corner of the garden. The hanging lantern is 10in long and made of copper, which will weather attractively over time to verdigris, and hangs from a two and a half-inch brass chain. The Sparkla costs £34.80 plus £4.50 for next-day delivery if ordered by 3pm. Visit lumenalights. com or call 01327 871161. Special effects: copper garden light DESIGN: AMIR SCHLEZINGER DESIGN: AMIR SCHLEZINGER I G H T I N G the garden in summer, when all you need are a few hurricane lamps and a stash of votive candles, is a breeze. In winter, however, when the garden becomes a big black hole after teatime, a more technological approach is needed, preferably one that involves a mere flick of a switch to totally transform the space. “Most of our clients request different areas they can light up, so we will set up several different circuits, depending on how the client uses the garden,” says Mike Shackleton, who switched from lighting films to lighting gardens and, with his company Ornamental Garden Lighting, makes London gardens come alive at night. “There are two elements to consider, practical and aesthetic. Steps and pathways should be made visible, so they are safe to use. With a little clever creative lighting, the whole space can look stunning. “Soft and subtle is the way to go. What we see on almost every job we take on is a fierce 1,000W halogen light attached to the house gutter, which lights up the garden like Sainsbury’s car park, shining into the neighbour’s bedroom. All those lights are adjustable, which people don’t seem to realise. If you must have one, simply tilt it downwards so it lights your property, not everybody else’s.” If you are buying light fittings, buy the best you can afford, says Shackleton, and go for LED, which although a little costlier, lasts far longer than halogen, LIGHT SOURCES O Ornamental Garden Lighting: ornamentalgardenlighting.com (01252 783009), for design and installation. Costs start at £1,500 for a small-space installation O Light IQ: lightiq.com (020 8749 1900), for outdoor light fittings. From £104.16 for one LED uplighter O Groves Nurseries: grovesnurseries. co.uk (01308 422654), for outdoor light fittings. From £29.25 for one low-voltage deck light Photographs:: Marianne Majerus 25 EVENING STANDARD WEDNESDAY 19 NOVEMBER 2014 Craft Homes & Property homesandproperty.co.uk with Across the city, Londoners are crowding into shops and studios to learn craft skills, reports Barbara Chandler Hot pants: learn sewing skills from Lisa Comfort at Sew Over It in Islington (main picture), or make stars from beautiful papers, below left, at Smug gift shop, also in Islington T HE capital has a mania for making things this Christmas. There’s a class for everything from decorations to cards, gifts and flowers, delivered in style by top creatives. The movement is full of enthusiastic teachers in big stores, markets and boutique homeware shops. So get out there, and get stuck in. Just opened in Islington is Sew Over It — you can’t miss the lilac shop front in Myddelton Street. Sewing super- Add some sparkle: crackers and sequined baubles, far left, by Homemade London craft salon woman Lisa Comfort has a branch in Clapham already, with café, kits, haberdashery and more. Check out a raft of Christmas courses. You could run up some decorations, or a bow tie, or even a pair of frilly knickers. Visit sewoverit.co.uk. Also in Islington, at gift shop Smug, hand-make a dozen decorations, a clutch of cards and a stash of wrapping (November 23, 1.30pm, £18). Or fold origami stars from beautiful designer papers (November 30, 1pm, £18). Call 020 7354 0253 or visit ifeelsmug.com. Billed as a “craft salon”, Homemade London is run by Nicola Barron in an airy Portman Village boutique near Marble Arch. Christmas action includes sequined bauble sessions (November 28, December 4-5, £35). Or make crack- Festive frills ers, hand-cut paper cards, or block print napkins. A grand Christmas craft party is on December 18, £25 (homemadelondon.com). Hackney’s supreme crafter, Barley Massey, has all-year workshops at her quirky gallery/shop in Broadway Market. For Christmas, learn lino printing with artist Jane Smith (November 29, £30). Snip Christmas tree bunting at an all-day demo for Brother sewing machines (December 4, free). Or knit canine bootees with the authors of Outrageously Adorable Dog Knits (December 10, free). Call 020 7275 8043 or visit fabrications1.co.uk. At Debenhams, designer Ashley Thomas will waltz you through a handmade Christmas on Friday from 5pm. And there are free meals for kids on Saturday and Sunday, with biscuit decorating, face painting and toy demos. Check Twitter for updates @debenhams. At John Lewis head for haberdashery on the fourth floor for Christmas crafting on November 29, stocking making on December 6 and decoration making on December 11 ( johnlewis.com). Heal’s is doing Christmas wreath-making workshops in W1, SW3 and Kingston, £40 (heals. co.uk/event) — and don’t miss a free Christmas party with all the trimmings on November 27, at all branches. Say it with festive flowers, tutored by interior designer/florist Zita Elze. Her classes, though pricey, fill up fast, with an intensive pre-Christmas schedule in Kew, on multiple dates. Visit zitaelze. com or call 020 8940 0040. Shape a wreath for £189, or a spectacular 6ft 6in garland mounted on ribbon for £210, or do table decorations for £180. Share Jo Woodward’s exquisite contemporary style in a one-hour session at Boxpark and leave with a wreath — a snip at £25, December 8, 13, 15 and 20 (07834 270125; columbiacreative. co.uk). Write cards with a flourish in SW11 with illustrator Rebecca Cahill Roots. Christmas calligraphy evening, Tuesday next week, £25 (020 7924 2931; bettyetiquette.co.uk). Or make a winter artwork with artist Stephanie Wilkinson at a free drop-in “taster” class at Teddington Baptist Church on Saturday. Call 07876 015238 or visit stephaniewilkinson.co.uk. The National Trust radiates good cheer. Morden Hall Park on December 6-7 and 13-14 offers a Christmas market and workshops for kids on candles and pompoms. Book a session with Father Christmas, £8 (020 8545 6850; nationaltrust.org.uk). The Saturday Market project is an offbeat, arty outfit promoting skills with kits, materials and workshops. Learn to make traditional Finnish straw decorations on December 12-14 at the Barbican Christmas Market. And they’ll demonstrate the arcane art of wax crayon-making at Heal’s on December 13 (saturdaymarketproject.co.uk). London’s Christmas markets offer workshops galore. Cockpit Arts has jolly Christmas Open Studios in Holborn (November 28-30) and Deptford (December 5-7). Fashion-knitter Row Pinto helps children make decs, souping up her knitted fabrics with buttons, jewels and gems for free (020 7419 1959; cockpitarts.com). Crafty Fox runs free Christmas markets in Dalston, Brixton and Peckham with 250 designer-makers plus fun craft sessions. Visit craftyfoxmarket.co.uk. Close Brothers champions the makers, risk takers and entrepreneurs. That’s Modern Merchant Banking. Merchant banking has a long history of supporting entrepreneurial spirit. At Close Brothers, we combine responsible management of our clients’ wealth and support for enterprise. Experience tells us that real value is to be found backing the makers of things, fuelling growth in the economy and confidence amongst our investors. LENDING DEPOSITS WEALTH MANAGEMENT SECURITIES closebrothers.com 28 WEDNESDAY 19 NOVEMBER 2014 EVENING STANDARD Homes & Property Property searching T HE good burghers of ancient a n d h i s t o r i c C r o yd o n decided back in the Sixties it would be a good idea to tear down the town centre, build tower blocks to attract big business and drive a major road right through the middle of it all. Fifty years on, Croydon is reinventing itself once more, with a £1 billion regeneration plan. Its tired shopping centres are to be replaced with a glitzy Westfield mall to rival those at Shepherd’s Bush and Stratford, while the nine-acre site next to East Croydon train station will be redeveloped with more than 600 new homes, shops and offices. It will be a long time, though, before memories are erased of the night in August 2011 when the House of Reeves furniture shop in West Croydon went up in flames during riots that followed the fatal police shooting in Tottenham of Mark Duggan, deemed a lawful killing by an inquest jury this year. Photographs of a woman forced by the fire to leap from the window of her nearby first-floor flat into the arms of rescuers are among defining images of that summer’s unrest. Today, the Reeves family business survives in nearby buildings and the burnt-out store has been demolished and replaced with a forest of mature trees in large containers. Croydon still has its quaint historic corners, most of which bear the name of one man — John Whitgift, a tyrannical Elizabethan Archbishop of Canterbury who attended Queen Elizabeth I on her deathbed in 1603 and who himself died the following year. Four centuries later the charity he endowed lives on, supporting the elderly in historic almshouses and modern care homes, and the young in three private schools where many of the pupils are backed by bursaries. Croydon sits 10 miles due south of central London close to the A23 London to Brighton Road, with Sutton to the west, Purley to the south, Bromley to the north-east and Thornton Heath and Streatham to the north. WHAT THERE IS TO BUY The most expensive house currently for sale is a 6,700sq ft listed white stucco property with six bedrooms in Boundary Way, Addington Village, a few miles east of the town centre. With just under an acre and a half of garden and an outdoor swimming pool, it is on the market for £1.75 million (see homesandproperty.co.uk/bound). Shirley Hills is Croydon’s most expensive area, with roads of large, detached houses built mainly in the Twenties homesandproperty.co.uk with New homes: the striking pink and mauve 43-storey Saffron Square tower, right. Left, Croydon College offers further and higher education courses Spotlight Croydon Reinvented and ready for a busy future With glitzy shops and hundreds of new homes on the way, this town 10 miles from London is preparing for a boom, says Anthea Masey and Thirties, in spacious grounds. A seven-bedroom house with a carriage driveway in Oaks Road backs on to Shirley Park Golf Club and is priced at £1,495,000 (see homesandproperty. co.uk/oaks). Houses on the Whitgift Foundation estate, south of Addiscombe Road and east of the town centre, are sought after, and many are in the Arts & Crafts st yle. A five-bedroom house in Grimwade Avenue, near the Sandilands Tramlink stop and backing on to Lloyd Park, is for sale for £960,000 (homes andproperty.co.uk/grimwade). South Croydon, with its own train station, has large, detached Edwardian houses, including one with six bedrooms in Croham Park Avenue. In need of decoration, the asking price is £900,000 (see homesandproperty. co.uk/croham). Away from these streets of Croydon’s best homes, this is a neighbourhood for finding good-value, three-bedroom family houses which, on the sprawling New Addington estate, start at about £230,000. A three-bedroom semidetached Victorian house in Selsdon Road, South Croydon, is for sale at £335,000 (homesandproperty. co.uk/sels). Croydon offers modern houses, too. Three-bedroom townhouses in the Park Hill area, built in the Seventies by Wates close to East Croydon station, sell for around £350,000. In recent years, many town centre flats have been built and more are under construction, but there are also period conversions, including a one-bedroom first-floor flat in an Edwardian house in Croham Park Avenue, with a communal garden, on sale for £220,000 (see homesandproperty.co.uk/ cropark). Up and coming: two small conservation areas are worth exploring. St Bernards in the Park Hill area is an enclave of 21 architecturally adventurous houses designed by Swiss practice Atelier 5 and built into a hill by Wates in the Seventies. You enter the houses on the first floor, and the bedrooms are on the floor below. One of these homes sold for £376,000 last year. The Waldrons conservation area, south of Duppas Hill Road, has early Victorian villas. The last semi-detached house to sell here went for £500,000 a year ago. Forestdale is an area of Sixties and Seventies houses, also mostly built by Wates, south-east of the town centre and served by Gravel Hill tram stop. Arranged in culs-de-sac, each in a different architectural style, three-bedroom houses start at about £250,000, and the area is popular with young firsttime renters who grew up locally. Open space: Lloyd Park in Coombe Road has a café, children’s playground, bowling green and an outdoor gym. Wandle Park recently reopened after a £4 million facelift that included restoration work on the River Wandle. LEISURE AND THE ARTS Fairfield Halls in Park Lane is a bit like a mini Festival Hall, with a concert hall, a theatre and an art gallery. It stages a variety of events including popular and To find a home in Croydon, visit: homesandproperty.co.uk/croydon £450,000 £674,950 £1,275,000 £300,000 A FOUR-BEDROOM cottage packed with original features in Waldrons Path, Bramley Hill in South Croydon. Through Shinerocks. O Visit homesandproperty.co.uk/waldron THIS classic three-bedroom semi in Portnalls Road, Coulsdon, built in 1918, has been updated recently. Available through Andrews. O Visit homesandproperty.co.uk/portnalls A HANDSOME five-bedroom house, set in mature gardens and with a garage, in Hollymead Road, Chipstead, Coulsdon. Through Savills. O Visit homesandproperty.co.uk/hollymead A TWO-BEDROOM detached modern gatehouse in Hereford Mews, Beddington, Croydon, beautifully maintained. For sale through Cubitt & West. O Visit homesandproperty.co.uk/heremews 29 EVENING STANDARD WEDNESDAY 19 NOVEMBER 2014 Property searching Homes & Property homesandproperty.co.uk with CHECK THE STATS ■WHAT HOMES COST BUYING IN CROYDON (Average prices) One-bedroom flat £233,000 Two-bedroom flat £296,000 Two-bedroom house £288,000 Three-bedroom house £337,000 Four-bedroom house £504,000 Source: Zoopla Getting around: Croydon pioneered the tram’s return to British streets Best of the bunch: Surrey Street market, open six days a week. Croydon has had a market since the 13th century classical music shows, dance, theatre, comedy and film. The Warehouse Theatre, which was the area’s leading fringe venue, closed in 2012 and was demolished to make way for the mixeduse Ruskin Square development next to East Croydon station. Developers have handed the local council £3 million to replace the Warehouse. There are new studio theatres above The Spread Eagle pub in Katharine Street and in Matthews Yard cultural and community hub off Surrey Street in the town centre. There is a 10-screen multiplex cinema in the former Grants department store in the High Street, while art films are Heritage site: built in 1808 as a flour mill, Shirley Windmill was restored and is open to the public HAVE YOUR SAY CROYDON @ruthwharram @TheLittleBay is lovely — always had a great meal in there @andynotjames top pubs: @The OvalTavern, the Green Dragon and @DogBullCroydon. @MatthewsYard is a great bar/cafe/workspace @InsideCroydon Bad Apple: a place for fun in the heart of #Croydon @InsideCroydon La Spezia — a little piece of Italy in a corner of South Croydon @InsideCroydon Einstein is back at his brilliant best at The Spread Eagle @MattCPFC can’t not mention @TheLittleBay and @Bagattis. Royal Tandoori Selsdon also @rjw1 the Royal Standard under the flyover, @AlbertsTable, and Mazi in London Road @AlbertsTable we think that our #Croydon restaurant is pretty good @Sing_My_Name agree... @Alberts Table is best restaurant in Croydon NEXT WEEK: Clapton. Do you live there? Tell us what you think @HomesProperty shown at the David Lean Cinema in the Croydon Clocktower in Katharine Street. Close to open Surrey countryside, Croydon is served by golf clubs including Shirley Park in Addiscombe Road; Addington Palace in Gravel Hill, Addington Golf Club in Shirley Church Road, and Selsdon Park Hotel & Golf Club in Addington Road. The nearest council-owned swimming pool is at the Waddon Leisure Centre in Purley Way, with a main pool and a learner pool. There are private members pools at Croydon’s two Virgin Active health clubs, in Surrey Street and in Hannibal Way, off Purley Way. Travel: Croydon pioneered the reintroduction of trams on British streets. Tramlink connects Wimbledon with Beckenham Junction, Elmers End and New Addington, running through Croydon, passing East Croydon and West Croydon stations, and the Ampere Way stop serves the Purley Way industrial and retail parks on the western edge of Croydon, including the Ikea store. East Croydon has fast trains to London Bridge and Victoria, in about 18 minutes. South Croydon is on the same line and takes a few minutes more. West Croydon also has trains to London Bridge and Victoria that take around 22 minutes, a few minutes longer from Waddon on the same line. West Croydon is also on the Overground with trains to Canada Water, where commuters change for Canary Wharf. All stations are in Zone 5 and an annual travelcard to Zone 1 costs £2,136. Council: Croydon council is Labour controlled and Band D council tax this year is £1,470.39. RENTING IN CROYDON (Average rates) One-bedroom flat £821 a month Two-bedroom flat £1,175 a month Two-bedroom house £1,214 a month Three-bedroom house £1,378 a month Four-bedroom house £1,635 a month Source: Zoopla GO ONLINE FOR MORE O The best schools in Croydon O The best shops and restaurants O The latest housing developments in and around the district O The lowdown on the rental scene O The best streets in Croydon O How this area compares with the rest of the UK on house prices O Smart maps to plot your property search For all this and more, visit homesand property.co.uk/ spotlightcroydon Photographs: Graham Hussey TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE Where in Croydon might you find fairies? Discover the answer at homesandproperty.co.uk/spotlightcroydon SELL US YOUR GROUND RENTS Regis specialise in the purchase of freehold ground rents. With historically low interest rates sell now to maximise the return on your investment. Contact us for an immediate offer. Contact Todd Harrison-Moore T 020 7318 2285 I M 07732 060 528 I E thmregisplc.com I www.regisplc.com 32 WEDNESDAY 19 NOVEMBER 2014 EVENING STANDARD Homes & Property Letting on I NVESTING in bricks and mortar can be a risky business, as I was reminded this week when the builder working on a kitchen extension, which was supposed to add about 10 per cent to the value of my property, forgot the first lesson of construction: always make sure a house is adequately supported BEFORE knocking down a wall. One second everything was fine, the next a metal beam rolled off the prop that was supposed to be holding it up, the back of the building sagged and the brickwork in the thenunsupported first floor cracked like a soft-boiled egg. In less time than it takes to shout: “Timber!” I reckon the value of my investment fell by more than the 10 per cent I was trying to add. As we surveyed the jagged gouges in the bedroom wall and stared at the gap where, ordinarily, walls and ceiling would meet, I mentioned to the builder that this was probably a good time for him to show me his insurance policy. In the moment’s silence that followed I realised that I had forgotten lesson number one of property developing: always check your builder’s insurance BEFORE he knocks down any walls. I had checked he was insured, I’m not totally daft, but I hadn’t bothered to read all the boring small print. Thankfully I was covered. Insurance can be a life-saver, but only if you’ve got the right sort. Landlord insurance is absolutely vital for anyone letting a property, homesandproperty.co.uk with Please, just step away from the sledgehammer Victoria Whitlock thanks heaven for insurance and issues a warning to us all as building work cracks her investment property wall like an egg The accidental landlord but there are so many exclusions, so many ways in which insurers can wriggle out of settling claims, that you really do have to wade through all the terms and conditions to make sure you’ve got enough protection. A paper ran a story recently about a landlord whose home in Devon was trashed by the tenants while he and his wife were abroad doing voluntary work. His insurer refused to pick up the bill for the £56,000 damage because he had only taken out standard home insurance. The guy had made his insurance broker aware that the property was tenanted, and so he had assumed the insurers would pick up the bill, but his policy didn’t offer protection for malicious damage, or for damage caused by anyone lawfully on the property. Unfortunately these exclusions are quite common, even in some policies designed specifically for landlords. You can get cover for malicious damage caused by tenants, but it usually costs extra. Other common exclusions to look out for include theft by the tenant, and accidental damage. You would £1,733 a month: in Barons Court Road, W14, Faron Sutaria has a one-bedroom, modern-style apartment, with wooden floors and a private terrace, available to rent in this handsome period terrace. Visit homesandproperty.co.uk/rentbarons think these would be a standard part of landlord insurance, but they are not. Again, cover for these can usually be bolted on, for an extra fee. Also, when you are buying landlord insurance, don’t forget to check the excess — the amount the insurance company will deduct from any claim — because this is often higher for malicious or accidental damage. In addition, make sure your insurance will cover you for the type of tenant you have. Many policies will only cover “professional tenants”, so your insurance might be void if you let to students or tenants claiming housing benefit. I would urge landlords, go and check the terms and conditions of your insurance right now and make sure you have got enough protection, just in case you ever need to make a claim. If you don’t have any insurance at all, get some as soon as possible. You see, bad things can happen, occasionally. O Victoria Whitlock lets three properties in south London. To contact Victoria with your ideas and views, tweet @vicwhitlock Find many more homes to rent at homesandproperty.co.uk/lettings 34 WEDNESDAY 19 NOVEMBER 2014 EVENING STANDARD Homes & Property Letting on homesandproperty.co.uk with What are the pitfalls of taking in a lodger? Fiona McNulty WHAT’S YOUR PROBLEM? OUR LAWYER ANSWERS YOUR QUESTIONS Q I HAVE been widowed for two years. My house is a decent size and my friends suggest that rather than rattle around on my own any longer, I should take in a lodger. Can you suggest the best way to go about this, and is there anything for me to be particularly aware of? A MOST importantly, as a lodger will live with you as part of your household and will share some areas of your home with you, such as the bathroom and/or the kitchen, be sure to choose someone you feel you will be able to live with in close proximity. Depending on who your lodger is and how you came to choose them, and especially if it is someone you do not know at all, consider obtaining references for them. And make sure you take up those references — don’t just get the names of referees. If your home is mortgaged you may have to get the permission of your lender to rent out a room, so notify them of your intention. If you are eligible for a single person discount on your council tax you will probably lose that if you take in a lodger, although you may keep it in certain circumstances, for example, if the lodger is a student. It would be wise to have a brief written agreement with your lodger containing house rules. Prepare an inventory of their room contents and take photographs. You may also wish to take a deposit from your lodger. Tell your buildings and contents insurers about your lodger, as your premiums may be affected. And if you pay tax, you are allowed to earn up to £4,250 a year tax free under the government Rent a Room scheme. Make sure your electrical appliances and the house wiring are in good order and safe, and you will need an annual gas safety check. Furniture must comply with fire safety regulations. 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 partner in the residential property, farms and estates team at Withy King LLP (withyking.co.uk). More legal Q&As Visit: homesand property.co.uk Q A I LIVE with my long-term partner and saw in the news that the rules regarding intestacy have changed recently. Neither of us has made a will. How do the recent changes affect us? I don’t have children but my partner has two by a previous relationship. IF A person dies without making a valid will they are said to have died intestate. Only partners who are married or who are in a civil partnership may inherit under the rules of intestacy, as these rules do not apply to cohabiting couples. Changes to the intestacy rules were made on October 1 this year but the position relating to unmarried couples, and couples who have not entered into a civil partnership, remains unchanged. So in fact the changes have not helped you at all. Accordingly, if one of you were to die without leaving a will, then there is no presumption under the law that the surviving partner would receive anything from the estate of the deceased. This means that if your partner were to die without making a will, and owning the whole interest in your home, then that property would pass to his or her next of kin, in line with the rules of intestacy. Your deceased partner’s interest in the property and any other assets in their name would therefore be shared equally between their two children. To avoid uncertainty, feelings of insecurity and the possibility of unpleasant family disputes in the future, you may both wish to consider making your wills. 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. 36 WEDNESDAY 19 NOVEMBER 2014 EVENING STANDARD Homes & Property Inside story homesandproperty.co.uk with Lie down in a darkened room ... and admire the art collection MONDAY In our Clapham office, the week starts with a call from a relocation agent with yet another client who works for Google. Relocation agents used to deal mainly with bankers, but currently it’s employees of Google or Facebook. Today’s agent is asking about The Old Printworks, an amazing five-bedroom house in SW4 that belongs to a film director and is on the rental market for £1,400 a week. It’s designed to look like an Ibiza nightclub and the Google client is wowed by the gold ceilings in the bathrooms and a kitchen set up to resemble a trendy bar —perfect for media types. TUESDAY We are dealing with eight duplex penthouses at Metropolitan Wharf in Wapping, five of which have already been let for the asking prices of up to £3,500 per week. They were designed by Tom Dixon and have a unique industrial look, with huge open spaces and THURSDAY I am off to a launch this evening of a building in Sloane Street which property company Cadogan Estates, a client of ours, has redeveloped. Cadogan has collaborated with the “design bible” Wallpaper* to create a pop-up apartment showcasing the ultimate in modern, stylish London living. Instead of the safe, blank-canvas neutral décor which rental properties often have, they have played with strong colours in one of the apartments. These are hues which no one is usually brave enough to entertain, but everyone at the launch is thrilled at the sight of navy blue and burnt sienna on the walls. It’s so refreshing — perhaps not for everyone, but a taste of things to come, I think. Diary of an estate agent features including fireplaces suspended from the ceiling, brass and steel Boffi kitchens and special heatretaining lava tiles from Mount Etna. These unusual spaces are perfect for bankers, or for directors from the fashion, media and tech industries, and they bring a new level of interior design to London rental properties. A wealthy French art collector calls this morning to say she would like to rent one, as the wall space is perfect to display her art collection. She specifically requests that special blinds are installed to darken the rooms to protect her art — somewhat ironic, as these penthouses were designed to let the light flood in. FRIDAY WEDNESDAY Our Tower Bridge office is one of our busiest for rentals at the moment, along with the Islington and Wapping branches. A new development in Bear Lane, next to Tate Modern, is so popular that a negotiator is blocking out two hours every day to do mass viewings of the nine apartments there, which are priced from £425 to £650 a week. The developer had intended to sell the flats but decided to hand over all nine to us for rental instead. It has turned out to be a good move, because half of them rented out within the first week, before the building was even finished. They are just what the South Bank market wants — clean, brand-new, high quality and with showroom-style kitchens and bathrooms. This morning starts with a seminar with one of the main property portals. We find out that they have played secret squirrel and sent fake enquiries to all lettings agents to see who replies first and most thoroughly, and we are the winners. Sally from our newest office in Blackheath beats all our rival agents. We also enjoy the swanky breakfast and can’t help wondering if it is an attempt to butter us up in light of the forthcoming launch of a new property portal. O Zoe Innes is head of residential lettings at Cluttons (020 3641 0517) 38 WEDNESDAY 19 NOVEMBER 2014 EVENING STANDARD Homes & Property New homes Live on the fringe and lap up Putney’s bar-and-bistro, riverside lifestyle AS WITH all London’s inner suburbs, Putney is bursting at the edges, swollen with home buyers and renters priced out of the centre. Traditionally a family area, it is now attracting far more singles and couples, mainly City career professionals and discerning downsizers who value the riverside setting, the bars and bistros and the open acres of Richmond Park. The high street sweeps down the hill to Putney Bridge, where a wedge-shaped neighbourhood lies between the river and Upper Richmond Road. On to this busy patch has arrived a cache of new flats, mainly office-to-residential redevelopments, a smart alternative to Putney’s postwar, purpose-built mansion blocks. Carlton Gate in Putney Hill is a low-rise, Art Deco-style block of 24 two-bedroom flats priced from From £875,000: two-bedroom flats at Carlton Gate, Putney Hill. Call 020 8879 9099 £875,000. Penthouses cost from £1.42 million. Call estate agent Lauristons on 020 8879 9099. Putney Plaza, across the road from East Putney Tube station, promises to be a new hub with four contemporary-design blocks of flats grouped around street-level shops and landscaped open spaces. Prices from £515,000. Call Hamptons International on 020 8788 5217. London Square Putney is another scheme of architectural note, with interlocking buildings clad in warm, textured bricks — 113 flats, including penthouses with big terraces. The flats have underfloor heating and winter gardens with access from both bedroom and lounge, and there are communal gardens, underground parking and 24-hour concierge. Prices from £545,000. Call 0333 666 2838. homesandproperty.co.uk with By David Spittles Smart mo mo It comes with a Tudor tunnel P RESTON HALL, a magnificent mansion in Aylesford, Kent, is one for commuters with an appetite for history. It was the country residence of the Culpeper family whose members included Joyce Culpeper, mother of Catherine Howard, Henry VIII’s fifth wife who was beheaded for adultery. In Victorian times the house was rebuilt in the present Jacobean style by railway baron Edward Ladd Betts, and in the First World War it served as a hospital for traumatised soldiers. Later part of the NHS, it has lain empty since 2012, but meticulous restoration is returning the turreted property to its former glory, rescuing historic hammer-beamed ceilings, wood-panelled walls, stained-glass windows and coats of arms. Developer Weston Homes is creating 36 luxury apartments, some with double-height mezzanine spaces, and is also bringing back into use the ancient hall’s network of tunnels and wine cellars that date from Tudor times. A show home will be ready for viewing in January. Prices from £170,000. Call 01279 873333. From £170,000: flats at Preston Hall, Kent, Catherine Howard’s family home 39 EVENING STANDARD WEDNESDAY 19 NOVEMBER 2014 New homes Homes & Property homesandproperty.co.uk with LATERAL LIVING ON HUGH GRANT’S BAYSWATER FILM SET THE fate of the Comfort Inn backpackers’ hotel at Craven Hill Gardens is a telltale sign of the way Bayswater is going — upmarket. The inn, and the adjacent Hempel Hotel, once a celebrity hangout, are being knocked together and turned into a boutique residential scheme of 34 lateral apartments, left, and townhouses set behind the grand original white stucco façades. Residents have access to a garden square — the location for the Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant wedding scene in the film Notting Hill. Prices from £2.3 million. Call Knight Frank on 020 7861 5499 for more information. Read more: visit our new online luxury section HomesAndProperty.co.uk/luxury COSTLY winter fuel bills are a compelling reason to buy an energyefficient new home. Townhouses at Cobalt Place, Battersea, are among the most highly rated in London, due to an advanced form of timber construction that reduces the amount of energy needed to heat the building by 40 per cent, while also improving air quality and cutting noise pollution. Admirably, the architecture proves that wooden homes do not have to look like the inside of a sauna. Lend Lease, the developer, has launched “normal-looking” tripleglazed houses with an outer layer of warm brick. Exposed timber ceilings are the only hint of the inner leaf. + Buy blue and go green in Battersea Set over three levels, the homes each have a white, open-plan interior on the ground floor, linked to a walled private garden. The houses form part of a scheme of 104 homes, mainly flats, that slots unobtrusively into the neighbourhood, which is on the cusp of Battersea Village conservation area. Prices from £1.15 million. Call 020 8879 9099 for more details. +" ! !,#,,,-,, ,,, ,,) + + + #+ + + +" +++ ! !! + +!++# + $$+ + + +' + ++!+ #+ ++ +++ +,&++ #++'- ,,0-//.(,,0#-///.(1 ,, ,, ,, #*+#2,,,,/,. +! #+%& +*+.+++%& +*+) "$$,%('(,2.##,2*(( ( &)) ! ! Prices from £1.15 million: Cobalt Place townhouses
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