Wednesday 1 May 2019

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CREATIVE CAPITALLondon Craft Week: Page 20

SPOTLIGHT ON LEYTONAn opportunity for young families

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BLINDS AND SHUTTERSWays to stay cool in summer

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RENTING IN STREATHAMYou can afford a house and garden

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PADDINGTON BASINInvest for the future

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Overground’sbig secret

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Rooftops are the new Hyde ParkTHE boom in roof gardens means London’s elevated green spaces now cover 371 acres — bigger than Hyde Park — beating other cities known for their high-rise gardens, including Singapore and Tokyo.

The trend comes from architects, planners and developers who are all looking to the skies to provide open space and fight climate change.

These spaces are being created on top of skyscrapers, private homes and commercial buildings, resulting in a patchwork of green roofs spreading across London’s skyline. Barratt London’s Fulham Riverside scheme, completed 18 months ago and sold out, boasts an award-winning roof garden with 6,600 plants, 108 trees and a 10ft waterfall.

Developers are increasingly using roof gardens as a marketing tool. Among projects under way, Islington Square, on the site of the old North

London Royal Mail sorting centre off Upper Street, has penthouses with private roof terraces that feature swimming pools and gardens. At Battersea Roof Gardens, being built beside Battersea Power Station, the 1,200ft-long roof garden is designed by James Corner, who created New York’s High Line linear park.

Read Ruth Bloomfield’s full story at homesandproperty.co.uk⬤

Perfect green platform: the award-winning roof garden at Barratt London’s Fulham Riverside new homes development

THIS WEEK IN...

WE MAY moan about late trains but moving millions of commuters around London is a daily miracle. A key addition to the city’s transport puzzle is the Overground: nine linked routes now carrying 189 million passengers a year — four times more than planned. With its new trains, complete with USB charging points, this polished project links 112 stations, allowing passengers to travel from one side of London to another without changing trains.

Now the Overground is expanding into west London and east to Barking Riverside, with routes to serve new London locations. Our hot tip this week is that many places on the Overground network offer homes priced well below the London average.

So use the Overground to explore and buy. The world is your Oyster (card).

‘The Overground means the world is your Oyster’

Janice Morley EDITOR

VISIT homesandproperty.co.uk/rules for details of our usual promotion rules.

Editorial: 020 3615 2650 Advertisement manager: Ann FinanAdvertising: 020 3615 0538Homes & Property, Northcliffe House, 2 Derry Street, Kensington, London W8 5EE

£1.1 million: after the success of your daffodils this year perhaps a greater horticultural challenge awaits you in Hawkhurst, Kent. The Walled Nursery is a listed collection of 13 restored Victorian glasshouses set in three-and-a-half acres, with a busy café and restaurant, gift shop and event space — already well-used for workshops and courses. There’s a charming two-bedroom bothy cottage for you to live in, with a yard and outbuildings offering further potential. Nearby Etchingham has trains to London in less than 90 minutes. Through Savills (01444 446066).

Lifechanger of the week A green-fingered future beckons

London buy of the week Organise cocktails on your Art Deco Thames-side terrace in Putney

Trophy home of the week Invite your friends to have a butcher’s at your boutique penthouse

£695,000: this first-floor Putney High Street flat is at One Putney, a new scheme carved from an Art Deco building, with interiors that perfectly compliment the style. Curved windows wrap around generous open-plan reception space and a fully integrated kitchen/breakfast room. The master bedroom has fitted wardrobes and an en suite bathroom and there’s also a second bedroom and bathroom kitted out boutique hotel-style. Secure video entry, bicycle storage and a communal terrace to enjoy drinks with friends are part of the package. East Putney Tube is less than a 10-minute walk away. Through James Pendleton (020 8012 0299).

Property search

By Faye Greenslade

Homes Property | News

£4.25 million: amuse your friends by telling them you have bought a flat over a butchers shop, then invite them to dinner at your fabulous penthouse in new boutique scheme One Brompton in Old Brompton Road, South Kensington — above a branch of the über-classy Parson’s Nose butchers chain. A private lift will deliver them to your super-smart, bespoke apartment with a skylit open-plan kitchen/reception room that opens to a large stretch of roof terrace. As well as a glamorous master suite there are two further luxurious bedrooms, each with an opulent bathroom and fitted wardrobes. Round-the-clock concierge services are on tap, naturally, while the Royal Parks on your doorstep are perfect for Sunday jogs. The penthouse is for sale through Knight Frank (020 3858 2600).

EVENING STANDARD WEDNESDAY 1 MAY 2019 3

TV PRESENTER Amanda Holden’s schedule is about to get even busier with the announcement this week that

she’s got a radio slot, replacing Spice Girl Emma Bunton on the Heart FM Breakfast show.

Little wonder that Holden, who has two daughters, is outsourcing her home maintenance. The Britain’s Got Talent judge, left, posted pictures on Instagram of the revamp of her Surrey

house, with a little help from Style Sisters, above left, aka design duo Gemma and Charlotte. The glamorous pair have introduced Holden to decluttering, colour co-ordinating her belongings and condensing the contents of two wardrobes into one dressing room.

Holden, who is a fan of geometric print furnishings and bold colours, told her one million Insta followers: “A tidy house is a tidy mind.”

Chocks away for Farrell’s penthouseARCHITECT Sir Terry Farrell, inset, is selling the St John’s Wood penthouse he designed, above, through Arlington Residential for £2.5 million. It sits at the top of the Old Aeroworks, an Art Deco former aircraft factory where wheels, tyres, brakes and gun turrets

were produced for wartime aircraft including Spitfires and Lancaster bombers. Farrell, whose projects include the MI6 HQ and redeveloped Charing Cross station, designed the flat’s interiors to reflect its industrial heritage.

Amanda’s got talent — for decluttering

Now you can reign on Barbra’s parade

TEA LOVERS rejoice. You can now buy a home on the five-acre estate of fascinating philanthropist and tea mogul Sir Thomas Lipton (1848-1931) in Southgate, north London.

The poor boy from the Gorbals in Scotland, who grew up to become a fabulously wealthy self-made man and friend of royalty, founded the iconic Lipton tea brand and chain of grocery stores. Now, developer the Yogo Group has finished the first

phase of its revamp of the estate where Lipton lived for 50 years, and is selling homes there with £1 million-plus price tags, above.

The Grade II-listed property in picturesque grounds has been transformed into 11 superb apartments, all of which come fully furnished. There is also a 24-hour security team on site.

Visit yogogroup.com if it sounds like your cup of tea.

By Amira HashishGot some gossip?Tweet @amiranews

Homes gossip THE New York penthouse that was

Barbra Streisand’s home for 30 years is on the market. Just across from Central Park, above, it fills the top two floors of a 22-storey Art Deco building designed by Emery Roth, the architect behind many of NYC’s top hotels and apartment blocks of the Twenties and Thirties. The singing

and acting superstar, above, who is playing Hyde Park on July 7, sold to the current owners for £3.2 million in 2002. They now seek £8.7 million, and there’s an eye-watering £9,661 a month to pay in service charges.

The 3,600sq ft apartment has four bedrooms and three bathrooms, along with 2,500sq ft of terraces.

A luxury flat is everyone’s cup of tea

News | Homes Propertyhomesandproperty.co.uk powered by

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Homes Property | New homes homesandproperty.co.uk powered by

Ginger spices up LondonThe Overground, carrying 189 million passengers a year, is being extended with new routes and homes at prices below the London average. By David Spittles

Ginger livery: the London Overground network connects with seven Tube lines, the Docklands Light Railway and some mainline stations

network connects with seven Tube lines, the Docklands Light Railway and some mainline stations, meaning it is truly integrated.

Of course, modern trains and the capital’s spreading transport tentacles are never enough to meet Londoners’ commuting needs, so the Overground is growing again, with a new station opening soon at Barking Riverside and one earmarked for Thamesmead, to serve communities south and east of Docklands and link with Crossrail.

NEW HOMES BONANZAIn west London, an old railway line used by cargo trains for more than a century will connect areas from Cricklewood to Acton, unlocking development for up to 20,000 new homes, according to an umbrella group of local authorities backing the plan. The longer-term aim is to

POPULARLY known as the Ginger line —due to its vibrant orange livery — London’s

Overground service should really be nicknamed the Heineken line. Why? Well, to faintly misquote the famous TV ad for the Dutch beer, London’s young orbital train network “refreshes the parts” other lines cannot reach.

Remarkably, despite the success of the network of nine linked routes, many places along it have property values below the London average, providing opportunities for cost-conscious buyers who want to put down roots in an improving area with good prospects.

The Overground was completed only recently but it is already being

extended due to passenger numbers of 189 million a

year, four times more than its creators envisaged. Meanwhile, a new fleet of electric trains with commuter-

friendly features such as USB charging points has

been unveiled.With 112 stations, the Overground

is an amalgam of lines — some old, some upgraded and some new — that link areas outside central London, allowing passengers to travel from any side of the capital to another without changing trains: from Richmond to Barking, from Watford to West Croydon, from Gospel Oak to Crystal Palace, from Dalston to Willesden. Snaking through most London boroughs and reaching as far as the Hertfordshire green belt, the Look east: a new station is opening at Barking Riverside, where shared-ownership homes start at £62,500

A pint at The Rye: a spur of the Overground has electrified Peckham’s buyer appeal From £275k: flats at South Oxhey Central, Carpenders Park

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New homes | Homes Property

MORE GINGER LINE HOMES Turn to Page 6

extend the line even further, from Hounslow to Hendon. When devising this orbital network, transport strategists wanted to give less-affluent districts a regeneration boost. This was achieved with spectacular success via the extension of the East London line, which brought the Tube to Hackney for the first time and opened up “undiscovered” areas south of the river.

A later spur to Clapham Junction via Peckham and Camberwell created a new east-west axis, making it much easier for south-west London residents to reach the major employment centres of the City and Canary Wharf. Previously if you wanted to get to Chelsea or Fulham from, say, Brockley in south London or Tottenham in the north, it was a case of heading into central London and completing the journey by Tube,

whereas today there is a quick, direct Overground route to Imperial Wharf, West Brompton and Kensington. Not only does the Overground make it easier and quicker to get to and from work, the areas around new and upgraded stations are getting a new homes boost.

Imperial Wharf station on the Fulham waterfront was built to support a new riverside district. Homes here and at neighbouring Chelsea Harbour are expensive, but lower-cost properties are sprouting up at the behest of council planners.

More than 600 lower-priced properties are being built at Fulham Gasworks, poised to become a new neighbourhood lying between the Thames and King’s Road. “This development is part of our drive to give local people struggling to cope with rocketing rents and house prices

the chance to stay in the borough,” says Hammersmith & Fulham councillor Andrew Jones.

Developer St William is set to build 1,843 homes on the 16-acre site, which boasts the world’s oldest surviving gasholder, dated 1829. Four other listed buildings will stay and seven acres of open space includes a new park and square. Improvements to Imperial Wharf station are part of the deal. The first phase of homes will launch this summer. Of 646 lower-cost homes, 194 will be for shared ownership and 193 will be set at the London Living Rent.

Carpenders Park on the Euston to Watford arm of the Overground has long been a Cinderella commuter suburb. It is now being lifted from relative obscurity by regeneration bringing 514 new homes, new parks and a revamped station square with new shops and restaurants.

Developer Countryside’s South Oxhey Central is a two-minute walk from the station and its 39-minute commute to Euston. From £275,000 for a one-bedroom flat. Help to Buy is available. Call 020 3504 8993.

Enough green belt wraps around Bushey, one stop further on, to allow ponds, wildlife reserves and country parks to flourish alongside the private schools and the golf and tennis clubs.

This affluent suburb boasts the former Royal Masonic School for Boys, which doubled as Hogwarts in Harry Potter movies. Set in 100 acres of parkland, it has been converted into Royal Connaught Park flats and houses. Prices from £525,500. Call 01923 222292. Residents enjoy a free shuttle bus to Bushey station.

CALEDONIAN ROAD & BARNSBURY is one station on the London Overground — but the two places are very different.

For decades, Caledonian Road, or “The Cally”, was the scrag end of fashionable Islington. It heads north from transformed King’s Cross past two of Her Majesty’s less salubrious residences, Pentonville and Holloway prisons. Yet it also abuts pretty Barnsbury Village, an early 19th-century enclave of garden squares, cottages and ivy-clad pubs. Blessed by a traffic system that shuts out outsiders, it is almost a secret.

Regent’s Canal and its linked industry were a drawback for The Cally for many years, but now the rejuvenated waterfront, like the train tracks, has become a positive. Sohail Jain, left, who works in the fintech sector, moved from Holloway to the area and says the local Overground station was a major factor in his choice of location.

“It gives me so many options to get to most places very quickly,” he says. “To the City for work, and to Shoreditch and Hackney for bars, restaurants, clubs and galleries. Even to west London with changing trains.”

Clearly it’s an area on the up, yet still reasonably affordable, with new developments raising the design bar, Sohail adds. He bought a two-bedroom flat at London Square Caledonian Road, which comprises nine low-to-mid-rise blocks clad in pastel-coloured bricks, with metal window frames and full-height glass, set around landscaped courtyards and play areas.

“I purchased off-plan, so was able to cherry-pick an apartment that best suited me. It’s a corner unit with a big terrace and generous-size rooms.

“There’s also an on-site gym and 24-hour concierge service.” Prices start at £588,000. Call London Square on 0333 666 0109.

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‘Overground’s essential to me’

Barking makeover: new high-rise flats and shops will replace Vicarage Field centre

6 WEDNESDAY 1 MAY 2019 EVENING STANDARD

Pick a Zone from 2 to 9

From £285,000: for a one-bedroom flat in the first phase of Watford Riverwell, a £400 million regeneration project creating a new neighbourhood of 1,000 homes

From £285,000: the first phase of homes at Barking Riverside a 10,800-home district being built on former industrial land fronting the Thames. An ecology centre, right, is in the mix at the scheme, above, which will pioneer new waste recycling methods

And the next station is ...

Homes Property | New homes

Continued from Page 5

STAYING in Bushey, Heathbourne Village is coming soon, with 41 flats and detached houses priced from £800,000 to £2.5 million. Call 01932 506600. Meanwhile, High Views, close to the town centre, has 22 flats from £379,950. Call 020 8181 4000.

Watford, in Zone 9, is as far as you can travel with an Oyster card. In effect, it’s a buffer town between the capital and Hertfordshire, with a lively commercial centre sustained by quick rail links to Euston.

Watford Riverwell is the town’s largest regeneration project. This will be a new neighbourhood of 1,000 homes and a school, a retirement village, shops and a park being built on derelict industrial land. Prices from £285,000. Call 01923 375442.

Remarkably, a considerable chunk of the Overground is in Zone 2, but even here the network has helped to bring neighbourhoods in from the cold.

From £800,000 to £2.5 million: flats and detached houses at Heathbourne Village in Bushey, Herts. Bushey station, on the Overground, has commuter links to Euston

THE next Overground station to open will be at Barking Riverside, east London, where a 10,800-home district is being built on 440 acres of industrial land fronting the Thames.

The ambitious project aims to entice young Londoners and families priced out of the centre. As well as the new transport link from 2021, there will be seven new schools, health centres, community facilities, green space, cycle and jogging paths and other amenities.

Barking Riverside also trailblazes new environmental measures such as an underground waste recycling system that avoids conventional bin lorry collections. An ecology centre is going up alongside the first phase of homes, which start at £285,000, with shared-ownership options from £62,500. Call 020 8617 1747.

See the opposite page for more first-time buyer options in Barking.⬤

Transport hub for a new neighbourhood

BARKING RIVERSIDE

EVENING STANDARD WEDNESDAY 1 MAY 2019 7

First-time buyers | Homes Propertyhomesandproperty.co.uk powered by

Get your degreeShared-ownership flats at 360º Barking are part of £2 billion regeneration. By Ruth Bloomfield

£222,500: a one-bedroom flat with balcony and concierge at Arboretum Place, right and inset above, near Barking’s shops. Call Foxtons (020 8012 7585)

THE skyline of outer London is changing as a series of ambitious regeneration zones creates modern new communities. Nowhere is this clearer than in Barking in east London,

where a £2 billion regeneration is taking place, complete with skyscrapers, 6,000 new homes, smarter shops and an art house cinema.

First-time buyers can buy into Barking’s future with a home in its landmark new development for less than £84,000.

The first residents will be able to move in this summer at 360º Barking, a cluster of four towers of up to 26 storeys. Designed by award-winning architects Studio Egret West, the towers are being built on a derelict site in the town centre.

One in three of the homes is designated “affordable” and aimed at first-time buyers. These shared-ownership homes have gone on sale priced from £83,750 for a 25 per cent share. As well as mortgage repayments, buyers will need to budget for service charge at £138.17 per month, plus rent for the part of the property they don’t own at £576 per month. Visit nuliving.co.uk for more information.

The towers are almost opposite Barking station, from where trains reach Fenchurch Street in a super-speedy 18 minutes. An annual season ticket costs £2,020.

PASSING THE GREEN SPACE TESTGreen space is also only a few minutes’ walk away from home in the form of Barking Park, and Abbey Green, home of the ruins of Barking Abbey. Under the ambitious regeneration plans taking shape in Barking, a further town centre park is planned.

These proposals also include the demolition — not before time — of the Vicarage Field Shopping Centre and its replacement with 900 flats in more towers, plus space for shops, restaurants, and cafés. The plan is to offer the commercial space to a mix of well-known high street brands, along with independent and start-up firms. Work is due to start next year.

Meanwhile, another 900 homes are being built at Fresh Wharf, beside the River Roding, about 10 minutes’ walk away. This will include more cafés, restaurants and shops, with the first residents due to arrive in the autumn.

Other future proposals include upgrading Barking’s old-school street market and creating a community of houseboats at Barking Creek, both of which would give this rapidly regenerating London outpost some colour and character as well as thousands of homes.

WHAT ELSE CAN I BUY?House prices in Barking are pretty much the most affordable in London. According to the latest figures from Rightmove, property in the IG11 postcode sells at an average of £337,000 and prices have remained stable during the past two tumultuous years.

Barking is a good place to search for family-sized homes as well as starter flats. Estate agent Bairstow Eves is selling a five-bedroom Thirties house on the Faircross Estate for £500,000. Close to Barking High Street are a few streets of Victorian and Edwardian terrace houses. The same agent is selling a three-bedroom house in need of work in Faircross Avenue for offers in excess of £380,000.

For new-homes fans, three-bedroom apartments at 360º Barking start at

£425,000 and two-bedroom flats from £299,999. See 360barkingig11.co.

uk for more details. Or you could spend £250,000 to

£280,000 on a two-bedroom purpose-built flat in a low-rise, slightly more dated building. Purpose-built one-bedroom flats are priced at about £200,000 to £250,000.£250,000.

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FROM £83,750 FOR SHARED OWNERSHIP OR £299,999 FOR PRIVATE SALEApartments with open-plan living areas and smart walk-in showers at 360º Barking, above left to right, the landmark new town centre scheme comprising a cluster of four towers, each up to 26 storeys

8 WEDNESDAY 1 MAY 2019 EVENING STANDARD

Homes Property | Future London

Big Blue MarrowPaddington Basin is a well-designed, lively location now launching its final phase — a 42-storey tower set amid the cafés and film festivals, discovers Ruth Bloomfield

Future Paddington

1 Merchant Square: at 42 storeys, the so-called Blue Marrow will loom over west London

WESTMINSTER council has approved 1 Merchant Square, a new 42-storey skyscraper which, thanks to its inky terracotta cladding, white

ridges and distinctive curved profile has been dubbed the Blue Marrow. Its size and location, on a key site between Harrow Road and the north side of Paddington Basin, mean it will become a looming landmark across much of central and west London.

Together with a second, comparatively diminutive 21-storey conventional-looking tower, the project is the final piece in the Paddington Basin jigsaw — a Zone 1 waterfront regeneration zone that has been brewing since 1998, when developer European Land bought a tranche of brownfield land in this backwater behind Paddington station.

The new buildings will together include 426 flats. There will also be shops, a sky bar at the top of the 492ft building, and a cinema may also be included. London Mayor Sadiq Khan has the final say on the proposals, and early indications from the Greater London Authority are muted, to say the least. It has dismissed the offer of 16 per cent affordable housing, or 67 homes, and has called for at least 35 per cent. European Land points out that it is also giving the council £20 million to help fund local regeneration projects as a condition of planning permission. It aims to start work on the three-year build “as soon as practical” according to a spokeswoman.

The finished £500 million Paddington Basin project will create just over 900 homes and 970,000sq ft of office space on an 11-acre site, served by an increasingly impressive and mainly independent range of cafés, restaurants, street food vans and open space.

For sale now are two-bedroom flats under construction at No 3 Canalside Walk, a project that has fared reasonably well in London’s Brexit-stalled market. The 84 waterfront apartments went on sale in October 2017 and all but 15 have now sold in advance of completion next year. Prices start at £1.2 million (canalsidewalk.com).

As well as building homes, European Land has put energy and intelligence into how it manages its site. On sunny days the well-curated range of bars and restaurants are full and in July the annual Dragon Boat Regatta draws huge crowds, while there are regular open-air film screenings, free events for children and paddleboard yoga sessions.

Good use has been made of the canal basin at the site. A floating pocket park — in reality more of a pontoon — has been built, and two kinetic bridges installed. Both bridges span the basin but can be raised like small-scale, far more contemporary versions of London Bridge.

Olympic cauldron designer Thomas Heatherwick designed one of the bridges, which looks like a conventional footbridge until it curls up into a ball thanks to a system of hydraulic cylinders. After a period of maintenance the bridge will be back in Instagrammable action later this month. But Paddington Basin has a bigger problem to deal with than a malfunctioning bridge, and that is the state of London’s underlying property market.

LIFESTYLE FOR THE LONGER TERMAnyone considering buying into this brave new world of trendy coffee shops and landmark buildings will need to see it more as a medium-term lifestyle choice than an easy way to make money. Dylan James, sales manager at Chestertons, estimates that prices have fallen by 20 to 25 per cent since the market peak of 2014, leaving buyers who bought properties off-plan with the aim of making a quick exit from W2 in a predicament. “In a lot of cases they are actually losing money,” he says. “They are selling for less than they bought for, or they are taking their property off the market and renting it instead.”

While transaction rates remain very low, James has seen a spike of interest from buyers for the area this year, although of course registering with an agent does not necessarily translate to a sale. He believes that until Brexit is resolved the market will remain quiet — and that goes for period homes around Paddington station as well as purpose-built flats in the basin.

“The market is still active below £1 million,” he adds. “But above that it is very slow. Landlords and vendors are taking their properties off the market and renting them instead.”

Fawzi Moosa, managing director of Paddington Estates, agrees fully with James’s assessment of the state of the market. But ironically as prices subside, so the basin is becoming a better location. As well as Merchant Square, there is the imminent promise of Crossrail services from Paddington station, while the Paddington Cube is due to open in 2022. This 14-storey glass block of offices with shops and restaurants set around a new public square is the latest offering from the Sellar Property Group, of Shard fame. Like the Shard, the Cube is designed by Italian architect Renzo Piano. “Paddington Basin has become a beautiful place,” says Moosa. “I go and walk around the basin and there are so many people having coffee, having lunch. There are so many activities and development is expanding over the Edgware Road. It is really, really good.”

From £1.2 million: flats at No. 3 Canalside Walk, for waterfront living at Paddington Basin

Floating pocket park: good use has been made of the canal basin, with a pontoon park for public space

10 WEDNESDAY 1 MAY 2019 EVENING STANDARD

Homes Property | Renting

Looking for more space at a lower cost? Start your rental search on

£2,500 a month: a four-bedroom house in Fernthorpe Road, SW16, is available now, unfurnished and long term. Through KFH (020 8012 2727).

£1,500 a month: a one-bedroom new conversion flat in Lewin Road, Streatham, is available now through Jacksons (020 8012 2596).

homesandproperty.co.uk powered by

£1,800 a month: a three-bedroom furnished flat with a roof terrace in Eardley Road, SW16. Available from July. Call time2move (020 8012 3519).

PICK OF THE RENTALS

‘We got a house and garden for less money’A two-mile move south from Tulse Hill brings outside space and a spare room

A renter’s guide: Streatham SW16

Above: Kara Dickinson’s commute to Old Street is longer, but she says it is worth it

For more on renting in Streatham and for our renting guides to other areas, visit homesandproperty.co.uk/renting

RENTING IN STREATHAM(Average renting costs per month)

One-bedroom flat £1,239Two-bedroom flat £1,503Two-bedroom house £1,668Three-bedroom house £2,093Four-bedroom house £2,588

Source: Rightmove.co.uk

VALUE for money was what drove Kara Dickinson, her boyfriend and their housemates to Streatham, writes Ruth Bloomfield.

They left a “tiny” three-bedroom flat in Tulse Hill that cost them £1,900 a month two years ago and now live in a spacious three-bedroom house with a garden for £1,700 a month.

The price for their two-mile move south in search of space and cheaper rent is that Kara, an architect with Metaphor, a firm specialising in cultural buildings, now has a slow commute of just over an hour to get to her office in Old Street.

“But it is worth it for the pay-off, which is that we have a much larger house with a garden — which makes a huge difference, particularly in the summer — for less money,” she says.

“We also have a spare room, which is great as I sometimes work from home and it means I have somewhere to work other than my bedroom.”

Kara didn’t know Streatham before she moved there but she has been impressed by its range of cafés and restaurants, if less so by its shops. However, Brixton, Dulwich, Tulse Hill and Crystal Palace are only a short bus or Uber ride away. Commuting: trains from Streatham station to London Bridge take 23 minutes, or you could opt for Streatham Hill or Streatham Com-mon to Victoria in 18 minutes. An annual season ticket is priced from £1,040. Local buses go to Tooting, Brixton and Clapham, and on to the West End and City.

Right: Kara is a fan of popular Chinese restaurant Rice Republic in Steatham’s busy High Road

Retail therapy: Streatham High Road is a dull strip of high street names including Argos and Superdrug, but there is the odd gem. Xanadu Architectural Salvage has a fascinat-ing collection of vintage lighting, furniture and art. The Indigo Tree is good for homeware and gifts.Eating and drinking: Streatham’s pound shops, chicken shops and nail bars are being replaced with good cafés and restaurants. Kara recom-mends Rice Republic, Streatham Wine House and the Blackbird Bakery. You could also try the sourdough pizza at Bravi Ragazzi or the Spanish breakfast of chorizo omelette, ciabatta toast and crispy bacon at Café Barcelona. Hood, a classy restaurant with a modern British menu, is another standout — Kara goes for the vegan options on a Wednesday. The Manor Arms is ideal for a gastropub supper.

WHAT THE EXPERTS SAYBest streets: depending on which station you want to be close to, Nicci Stanway, Townends Estate Agents lettings manager, recommends Gleneldon Road near Streatham station, or Drewstead Road near Streatham Hill. Both have “beautiful, imposing Victorian houses”, many split into flats. Expect to pay about £1,400 a month for a two-bedroom flat. You get slightly better value further south on the borders of

Norbury, where a two-bedroom purpose-built flat would cost about £1,250 to £1,300 a month.Downsides: the High Road needs a spruce-up — a recent £3 million grant from the Mayor’s Outer London Fund and Lambeth council was a drop in the ocean. The traffic on the A23 is dreadful, and though crime rates are lower than the London average, some residents complain of a slightly threatening atmosphere at night.

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Homes Property | Events

Five things to see in May By Barbara Chandler

A NEW DESIGN FOR LIVINGFrom Friday to June 2, Oneroom, 9 French Place, Shoreditch E1 (020 3487 0170; oneroom.eu)PLAY with 700 magnetic cubes spread over four floors in this lovely converted warehouse gallery. Designer Paul Kelley has spent years fine-tuning his invention which was exhibited at the Venice Art Biennale and won several awards. The 70cm cubes come in many coloured and metallic finishes and can join to each other on all six sides. Here, they’re made into chairs, tables, storage and more: add your own creations. Lining the walls are five tapestries, each 1.8 metres square, woven in the Woolwich studio of RCA graduate Justine Randall. This one, left, is from Randall’s Night Sky series.

GRAND DESIGNS LIVEMay 4-12 at ExCeL, One Western Gateway, Royal Victoria Dock, E16 (granddesignslive.com).WATCH a “live build” of a plywood flat-pack home, the U-Build Box House, above, by Studio Bark. It featured in Kevin McCloud’s Channel 4 series The Street, which tells the five-year story of 10 households each building their own homes on a single street in Bicester near Oxford. McCloud,

inset, will be hosting seminars and debates at the show, where you can also explore 500 brands and get a 30-minute free advice session with architects, surveyors, builders or other experts. Tickets: £12 weekdays, £15 weekends booked online; or £17 weekdays, £20 weekends on the door. Reader offer: two tickets for £17 weekdays, £20 weekends booked online, quote code HP1.

LIVING CRAFTSMay 9-12 at Parkland, Hatfield House, Hatfield, Hertfordshire AL9 5AB (livingcrafts.co.uk).MINGLE with 200 of the best British makers for buys and commissions in the beautiful grounds of this historic Jacobean mansion. A ticket includes entry to the formal gardens. “We’re handmade heaven,” says organiser Robin Younger. Every maker is vetted for quality, design and individuality. We love these Raku fired ceramic puffins, right, by Chloe Harford (chloeharford.co.uk). Enjoy demos and workshops, live music and dancing, Pimm’s, cream teas, wood-fired pizza and artisan ices. Tickets: adult £9 online, £12 on the day; show this page to get two for one.

DANAD DESIGNUntil May 10, Paul Smith Global Flagship Store, 9 Albemarle Street, Mayfair W1 (danaddesign.com).ARTISTS Barry Daniels and Peter Adams formed a collective with four others including Sir Peter Blake in 1958, and the group hung out at Marden Hill, a Georgian mansion in Hertfordshire. Their pictorial, often humorous and sometimes shocking art was put on to tables, lamp shades, screens and rugs, right, for a DANAD Design show in 1960. Some pieces sold at Liberty, Heal’s and Harrods. Though not a commercial success, the venture is now regarded as a defining moment in Pop Art. Works were stored in a

basement before coming to light in 2014 and are available to view and buy at this nostalgic evocation of the Swinging Sixties.

URBAN VILLAGE FÊTE May 12, 11am-7pm, free entry, at Greenwich Peninsula, SE10 (hemingwaydesign.co.uk).DESIGNER Wayne Hemingway’s mini festival, right, will spread from North Greenwich Tube through Peninsula Square, down Phoenix Avenue and out across Central Park. See music, dance and street theatre, watch a debate and browse independent fashion and homewares stalls. Join clay modelling, lino printing or make-a-flag workshops, or chill in a deckchair. There’s Spray Skool for kids and street food, too.

14 WEDNESDAY 1 MAY 2019 EVENING STANDARD

Homes Property | Homes abroad

With homes 70 per cent cheaper than London and outstanding architecture, no wonder the Spanish capital is so popular, says Cathy Hawker T

HIS is a big year for Madrid, where the Prado, Spain’s magnificent national art gallery filled with works by Spanish masters including

Goya and Velázquez, celebrates its bicentenary.

It comes at an upbeat time for the handsome Spanish capital. Visitor numbers have risen by up to 22 per cent for each of the past five years and 12 large hotels are in the planning, adding 1,200 five-star rooms to the city by next year.

With fabulous art galleries, restaurants and bars, Spain’s biggest seafood market and stylish residents who know how to party, Madrid is magnificent.

Property in the city also represents good value against other capitals. Prime prices are 70 per cent lower than in London and a third of those in Berlin, encouraging wealthy Latin American investors to come in substantial numbers.

“Prices rose eight per cent in Madrid in 2018 against a global average of 1.3 per cent and we forecast a six per cent increase this year,” says Carlos Zamora, head of residential at Knight Frank Madrid. “Transaction numbers are increasing and building permits rose 35.5 per cent between 2017 and last year. All signs point to a clear, stable recovery in Madrid.”

WHAT TO BUYOne of the dozen new hotels is the Four Seasons, which has spent four years restoring seven buildings by the Puerto del Sol public square in the heart of the city, also remodelling roads and the square.

The beautiful 19th- and 20th-century building, once home to the Santander bank, will have 200 hotel rooms, two floors of designer shops and restaurants and 22 branded Four Seasons Residences with one to three bedrooms.

The outstanding architecture, top-quality building work and extensive wellness facilities, as well as the five-star luxury of dedicated, on-site Four Seasons service mean the remaining

five residences for sale have price tags starting from £2.76 million.

These are the first Four Seasons branded residences in Spain, and size for size the most expensive homes in Madrid, demonstrating the city’s new-found sophistication. New schemes are showcasing famous architects, cutting-edge technology, good wellness facilities and eco-credentials — all rare until now in the Madrid market. Javier Ferrero, a contempo-rary development of 87 apartments just 10 minutes north-east of the centre in the fashionable residential area of Chamartín, has prices around half of the average in Madrid.

The glass, aluminium and wood buildings are designed by Brazilian architect Marcio Kogan, with gardens, indoor and outdoor pools plus modern technologies that keep service charges low at £160 a month.

MADRILEÑOS have a keen sense of style and their city offers plenty of choice when it comes to interiors shopping. Here are some great places to browse:

EL RASTRO STREET MARKETEurope’s largest open-air flea market is held every Sunday from 9am to 3pm in La Latina, one of Madrid’s oldest and quirkiest neighbourhoods. El Rastro’s sheer size demands a determined approach but focus on the smaller streets off Ribera de Curtidores to spot antique and vintage treasures. And make time for lunch — La Latina has some of Madrid’s most atmospheric tapas bars, notably along La Cava Baja. BANNI At the other end of the price scale, Banni is one of Spain’s best-known interior design firms, showcasing

international designers as well as its own range of kitchens and bathrooms. Banni has studios in Majorca, Marbella, Barcelona and four in Madrid including a large showroom close to El Retiro Park (banni.es/en). VINTALOGYSpain’s largest vintage shop sells clothes, furniture and all manner of curios, clearly presented in a vast former textile factory in central Madrid. Late evenings often include a DJ set or special event. While you are there, drop into nearby Atocha station, Madrid’s main train terminal, which has an extraordinary glass and steel interior filled with tropical plants (vintalogy.es, Cale Atocha 10). CESTA REPÚBLICAAn homage to basket weaving in all its glorious forms with artful displays,

Shop for your new home in Madrid

So many sights to see: Catedral de la Almudena is among the attractions drawing foreign investors, including Latin Americans, to Madrid

From £726,000: flats at Santa Isabel 21-23 in the multicultural, trendy Lavapiés district (knightfrank.com) PH

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Magnificent Madrid

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CHOOSE YOUR LAYOUTThese one- to four-bedroom homes start from £254,000 for 344sq ft to 1,960sq ft, with owners able to choose the layout and design of their apartment.

Twenty off-plan flats with one, two or three bedrooms at Alcalá, 141 in the upmarket district of Santander start at £493,000.

The development will have a modern glass façade which will overlook the garden, as well as parking and a gym.

FLATS IN FOODIE CENTRALLarger three-and four-bedroom flats in Modesto Lafuente 26, an office-to-residential conversion by Grosvenor in foodie-central Chamberí, will also have plenty of glass, plus under-ground parking and a communal rooftop pool. Prices from £995,000.

Buyers looking for a home that’s ready now can bag one of the last eight at Santa Isabel 21-23, the skilful transformation of a 1750s building in vibrant, on-trend Lavapiés west of El Retiro Park, the city’s big, gorgeous green oasis.

Behind the protected façade, 24 contemporary, comfortable flats are being snapped up by local and international buyers. There’s a grand entrance hall, a beautiful inner courtyard, gym, concierge, underground parking and a car lift.

Santa Isabel is close to Atocha, Madrid’s main train station, yet prices from £726,000 are almost half those in the prime district of Salamanca only a 10-minute-walk away.

Knight Frank: knightfrank.com Four Seasons Residences: fourseasons.com/residences

beautiful craftsmanship and thoughtful galleries. The shop is one of the many boutiques in vibrant Chueca, a youthful and fun district of narrow streets and beautiful architecture (cestarepublica.com). STREETS TO BOOKMARKIn top-price Salamanca, Calle de Goya and Calle de Serrano are loaded with international designer names

including a newly opened Maison du Monde. Calle de Padilla is famous for its high-end furniture shops while the ABC Serrano centre on the corner of La Castellana, filled with boutiques and smart restaurants, is an indoor favourite with elegant Madrileños.

Shoppers searching for edgier, on-trend fashions should visit Calle de Fuencarral on the borders of the Chueca and Malasaña districts.

From £2.76 million: branded Four Seasons Residences, with all the five-star luxuries, demonstrate Madrid’s sophistication

From £995,000: three- and four-bedroom flats in Modesto Lafuente 26, by Grosvenor, in the foodie district of Chamberí

For top interior design: Banni has four Madrid showrooms, including a large one near central El Retiro Park

16 WEDNESDAY 1 MAY 2019

Homes Property | My home

TURNING a double garage into a three-storey, two-bedroom, two-bathroom, dual-aspect house with solar water-heating, lots of glass and a suntrap roof terrace is as close as you’ll get to the architec-

tural alchemy of making gold from bricks. Stephen Hall, managing director of a shel-lac-making company has done just that. His story shows that even run-down, industrial Hackney Wick can surprise and delight with its pockets of opportunity for those who have vision and nerve.

Not as glamorous as Hackney proper, this area, once famous for making sweets, was long bogged down with old or defunct indus-try and not enough cash for development. That is, until a double boost from the Over-ground and the London Legacy Develop-ment Corporation (LLDC) after the 2012 Olympics. The LLDC promotes regeneration — and Hackney Wick is making up for lost time building smart new homes. Clapham-

born Hall, 60, began his career working in the City at Lloyds but “got bored dealing in paper”. He wanted to work with substances, so he joined his uncle’s commodities firm, specialising in shellac, gums and waxes. It may not sound romantic, but for the first half of the 20th century, shellac was a key ingredient of printing ink and so the life-blood of newspapers, which bought huge amounts. His uncle retired, and in 1995 Hall merged his shellac interests with a fourth-generation Swiss family company, who since 1926 had owned a factory in a mews in Hack-ney Wick.

As inks moved towards using synthetic ingredients, the factory languished. Then in 2000 a developer bought the site and created 18 warehouse flats. Hall owned, and kept, a two-bedroom Victorian worker’s cottage at the front with a small yard. He converted the yard to a garage and lived in the cottage. But, like any entrepreneur, he wondered

Magic works on a plot of just 242sq ftA double garage became a three-storey, two-bedroom, two-bathroom solar-heated home with a terrace. This is a project to surprise and delight, says Philippa Stockley

Pocket of opportunity: left, the house is clad in weather-resistant, timber-effect materialsRight: the dual-aspect living area includes an office niche and blackout panels that pull across the picture window

Architect’s vision: the kitchen makes up part of the living area on the third floor Photographs: Charles Hosea

EVENING STANDARD 17

My home | Homes Propertyhomesandproperty.co.uk powered by

whether it was possible to build a house on the garage, not necessarily to live in but to make the plot more valuable. He envisaged a two-storey brick cottage. When he met architect Adam Howard, whose office was in the mews, he asked him to draw up plans to sell with the plot.

At 242sq ft, the footprint was so tiny that most people would have laughed. Which would have been a mistake, because the ability to pull a rabbit out of a hat is the point of using an architect. And what Howard drew impressed Hall so much that he decided to build the house for himself.

Instead of a cottage the size of a small one-bedroom flat, Howard’s drawings showed an ultra-modern, sunny, energy-efficient house comprising about 1,000 sq ft (includ-ing the private outside space on top).

Clad in weather-resistant timber-effect materials with lots of glass, two lower floors each have a neat double bedroom, an elegant grey-tiled bathroom and plenty of storage.

The third floor comprises the living area, with a striking picture window and a grey

bespoke kitchen magically enhanced by a glass window instead of a splashback.

To connect the house, Howard designed a narrow oak staircase, beautifully detailed and finished with shadow gaps instead of skirtings, with bespoke, hand-forged balus-trades that end in a bar of LED lights on each floor. Engineered oak flooring throughout, except in the ceramic-floored bathrooms, creates unity.

From the living area, stairs rise to a clever hydraulic glass top opening to a large roof terrace, with a solar panel neatly mounted on a garden cupboard.

In a house of such petite dimensions, atten-tion to detail is essential, and Howard did not waste a cubic millimetre; tucking a util-ity room under the stairs, making an office niche here and a bookcase on the stairs there. It works brilliantly and what finally unifies it is the dazzling light that strikes east to west.

The house is perfect for Hall, and his 11-year-old daughter Grace, who lives with her mother out of London, loves to visit. Hall

says that when he meets someone like Howard he leaves them to it so as not to cramp their creative genius, but he did sug-gest a few things, including smart blackout-cloth panels that pull across the picture window. One is coloured orange to perk up the restrained, mostly grey palette. More versatile and softer looking than a roller blind, they take up no more space.

After having the drawings approved by the LLDC in 2015, with only a tweak to the clad-ding, the build took a year and a half, finish-ing in March last year.

Hall has nothing but praise for his archi-tect, stressing that he is a perfectionist, and that if he didn’t like the way something was done, he had it redone until it was right “with no bodging or compromise”. The pair met every fortnight to look at samples and dis-cuss. They found they had similar tastes, which helped.

When the scaffolding finally came off, Hall says simply that he was “blown away” by his sunlight-drenched new house with its meticulous detail.

WHAT IT COSTValue of former 242sq ft yard then garage with planning: £100,000 (estimate)

Build cost: £390,000Value of 1,000sq ft home (including

terrace): £950,000 to £1,050,000 (estimate)

GET THE LOOKArchitect: Adam Howard at Evonort

(evonort.co.uk)Builder; staircase and other joinery:

apaceconstruction.co.uk Cladding: trespa.comEngineered oak floorboards:

havwoods.co.ukHydraulic glass roof system:

glazingvision.co.ukSolar panel: heatraesadia.com

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NOTEBOOK

Letting light in: Stephen Hall and daughter Grace in the kitchen, with a window instead of a splashback. Engineered oak floors run throughout

Creating unity: a narrow oak staircase connects the house, with a bespoke, hand-forged balustrade and shadow gaps in place of skirting

18 WEDNESDAY 1 MAY 2019 EVENING STANDARD

Stay cool when the heat is onScreen out the sun and add summer style to your home with the latest blinds, curtains, sheers and voiles. By Barbara Chandler

Top: from Thomas Sanderson, cellular remote control Duette thermal blinds, made to fit even awkward shapes exactly, keep your room cool in summer and warm in winter (thomas-sanderson.co.uk)Above: Alu Net mesh design with glare and heat protection, £109 per metre plus VAT from Création Baumann (creationbaumann.com)

Right: Daytona plantation shutters in Shark Grey, from £73.75 (247blinds.co.uk)

Homes Property | Interiors

Right: Ecowood Satin Venetian blinds in Antique Silver, from £11.60 (247blinds.co.uk)

WE’VE already seen some spring mini heatwaves and last summer produced record temperatures. Before summer hits its

stride this year, maybe we should prepare to stay cool. Our biggest exposure to sunlight is through our windows — so how can we control the heat?

For best results, you need a complex combination of curtains and/or blinds, fabrics, linings, tracks/and or poles. If possible, consult an expert, whether that’s a store, a curtain maker, an interior designer or an architect. Type “curtain makers London” into design website houzz.co.uk for a long list of specialists with handy client reviews.

However, even basic ready-mades can cut the heat, whether they are curtains, voile panels or blinds. All can be instant and inexpensive and they’re in most stores but you need to take in your measurements. Measure up with a steel tape and take photos on your phone. Renters can hang lightweight fabrics from a tension rod within the window frame with no fixings. Visit therange.co.uk for a good selection. Also selling ready-mades online with excellent styling tips is the curtainscurtainscurtains.co.uk website. Available in extra-long lengths with blackout linings, the company can speedily tweak them for a perfect fit using its own workshop, which also makes to measure. Useful advice can also be found on polesandblinds.com while johnlewis.com has excellent buying guides.

John Lewis famously makes curtains in a week, with advisers in store or book a free home visit. Go for three layers if you can afford it, says John Lewis window décor and fabrics buyer, Kerry Nicholls. “Team a heavier curtain with a voile and blinds. It caters for all your needs and is sophisticated.” Newer-wave curtains hang in even folds on special track. Simpler and cheaper is a single blind. Made-to-measure Romans or Venetian blackout

blinds can block that harsh midday sun, and UV fabrics protect furnishings from fading. Room-high sheers and voiles are now wonderfully wide, from around 270cm to 320cm, so you can make them up without joins. Linens are relaxed and natural, while there is a multiple choice of sleek and chic manmade fabrics. And don’t skimp on fabric — go for double or even triple width, and “puddle” curtains on the floor for that decorator touch.

“Sheers won’t protect furnishings from fading, so you may need a UV blind behind your curtain,” warns fabric merchant Tim Walters of George Spencer Designs. This old-established fabric house is at Design Centre Chelsea Harbour, along with many more showrooms for luxury fabrics. The Design Centre’s charming new expert is personal shopper Gabrielle Grubanovich. Book a free advice session and collect samples. Email Gabrielle.grubanovich@dcch.co.uk or call her on 020 7225 9166. She says: “We’ve got gorgeous sheers, metallic prints on linen and a voile that absorbs noise.”

New at Parisian brand Houlès (houles.com) at the Design Centre is a super-efficent “dimout” fabric in lovely colours with a perfect drape. Swiss brand Création Baumann has unique metallised fabrics that cut glare and heat. View by appointment at Michelin House, SW3. Call 020 7226 7748.

Shutters offer total sun protection but they can block light. Go for full-height versions with individually adjustable louvres. A UV-protective paint or stain stops the finish from fading.

More cool tips come from architect Jane Middlehurst, co-director of HomeNotes workshops and advice service for home renovators (homenotes.co). If building or renovating, good insulation is the first step: “It’s for summer cool, not just winter warmth.” Fit “solar control” film to existing windows — try windowfilm.co.uk — or cut “solar gain” for new or replacement windows with glass with a clear or tinted

Left: Copper Base stunning sheer curtain fabric with a real copper coating, £116 per metre plus VAT (creation baumann.com/en)

EVENING STANDARD WEDNESDAY 1 MAY 2019 19

Above: ombré voile panel in Teal, from £35; Livia made-to-measure curtains in Peacock, £30 per metre; Swedish Plains made-to-measure daylight roller blind in Ivory, £58.72. All at John Lewis (johnlewis.com)Inset: Harmony blind combines voile and blackout, working independently. From £19.36 (247blinds.co.uk)

Right: full-height shutters in Duckling Yellow, from £156 per square metre at California Shutters (californiashutters.co.uk)

Thomas Sanderson is the official sponsor of the Evening Standard Home Design Awards

Interiors | Homes Property

WE PUT some key questions to Laura O’Connell, product manager at Thomas Sanderson, which has been making bespoke shutters, blinds and curtains for more than 25 years.

Is it best to use curtains or blinds for my horridly hot south-facing living room?How about curtains with a thermal lining? Just pull across to block the heat. Or “cellular” Duette thermal blinds made exactly to fit, even awkward shapes. They trap insulating air between layers of pleated fabric.

Can I fix blinds to my metal window frames?You can fix lighter blinds within the window frame with our innovative tensioned LiteRise system. Heavier blinds can go above the window recess or outside it completely.

My conservatory is a heat trap…help!Our unique cellular Duette range is perfect here as well, to block warm air during the day.

How can I screen the huge sliding doors across my new extension?Consider transparent pleated blinds, tension-fitted directly to each door panel. They will filter the light but you can still open the doors. Or you could have custom-made shutters right the way across, tilting the louvres to adjust the light, then stacking them back neatly to use your doors.

We’ve got beautiful bay windows in a period home…On a home visit, our design consultant can explore several options. But blinds fitted within your moulded frames would work well. Consider Silhouette with two layers of sheer fabric that can be adjusted like a Venetian blind but with a retractable cord, so no loops hang down.

I’m worried about measuring up. What if I get it all wrong?We have a totally bespoke service. Specialist surveyors measure up and make technical drawings which are an exact specification for skilled craftspeople.

Visit thomas-sanderson.co.uk or call 0800 688 80 82⬤

coating. “But external shading is far better than curtains or blinds,” says Middlehurst. She suggests an exterior pergola with plants to frame glass doors. Or go for a brise soleil — meaning a “sun-breaker” — of horizontal louvres. Visit Brise Soleil UK (brisesoleiluk.co.uk) for prices from £457 per canopy section, including delivery.

Ask Laura

SHOW US YOUR MAKEOVER Enter your room or garden makeover in our Evening Standard Home Design Awards 2019 for a chance to win prizes worth £1,000. To enter and for full terms, visit homesandproperty.co.uk

Question: what if I mess up measuring for my new blinds?

20 WEDNESDAY 1 MAY 2019 EVENING STANDARD

Homes Property | Craft

London Craft WeekEvents across London, May 8-12. By Corinne Julius

LONDON has become the natural home of contemporary craft. Its makers are among the world’s most celebrated, while the city’s appetite for craft

seems insatiable.Craft is also now appreciated by big

businesses and brands, who got behind London Craft Week when it launched five years ago. The “week” actually runs for five days with 15 countries taking part, including Korea and China as well as the Czech Republic, Italy and Portugal.

This year the Japanese are here in force, with a Japanese craft market, Gifu, at Heal’s department store and a craft picnic at the Chelsea Physic Garden.

As well as hands-on workshops there are numerous opportunities to see skilled makers at work, such as weaver Margo Selby, making and showing her latest work, Tessellation, with Design Nation in The Future of Craft at the Oxo Tower.

Talks to visit include Ceramics in the Vanguard, with ceramicists Chris Keenan and Kaori Tatebayashi discussing their work at Vanguard Court artists’ and makers’ community in Camberwell, and also Common Threads, a discussion and exhibition of metalwork by Ane Christensen and jewellery by Daphne Krinos at Studio Fusion Gallery, Oxo Tower. One hot

topic for discussion will be the future of craft in the capital, as rents rise and makers are pushed out. The debate, titled Making it in London — Craft at Risk? features Cockpit Arts makers at Leathersellers’ Hall in the City.

Other events across London include Mount Street Curates, a series of exhibitions and installations that showcase the shared creative visions of artists, designers and makers within Mount Street’s boutiques in Mayfair.

There is one standout material this year — wood. Look out for Scorched, at the Fitzrovia Chapel in Fitzroy Place, W1, curated by Sarah Myerscough. All the selected makers including Peter Marigold, Jim Partridge, Liz Walmsley, Alison Crowther, Malcolm Martin and

Gaynor Dowling create in scorched wood, using an 18th-century Japanese technique called shou-sugi-ban, or yakisugi, where the surface of the wood is slightly charred. Following the theme is WOOD — The Living Material, where six makers show how their work in wood traverses function, art and design. Standout pieces include Wycliffe Stutchbury’s wooden “tiled” screens and Luke Fuller’s finely turned pale vessels.

London Craft Week runs from May 8-12. A guide, available in print and online, makes it easy to plan a route around events across London. Most events are free; some workshops and talks must be booked and paid for in advance. Visit londoncraftweek.com/programme for full details.

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Taking care: Iku Nishikawa, practitioner of Kintsugi, the Japanese art of pottery repair Skilled: weaver Margo Selby at Bargehouse, Oxo Tower Wharf

Above right: Cloud Bowl in patinated copper by Ane Christensen, who will be showing at Studio Fusion Gallery, Oxo TowerRight: from Katrin Spranger’s Aquatopia collection, a showe r funnel in copper, wood and plastic

At Heal’s: ceramics being made at Gifu Japanese craft market

Right: The Charred Pod by Alison Crowther, who will discuss her work at Scorched, an exhibition of scorched wood pieces at Fitzrovia Chapel in W1

Above: showcasing six artists and craftsmen including Ted Jefferis, WOOD — The Living Material is an exhibition and talk for London Craft Week at 68 Duke Street, W1

Above: ceramics by Chris Keenan, who will talk work at Vanguard Court, Camberwell

24 WEDNESDAY 1 MAY 2019 EVENING STANDARD

Homes Property | Property searching

THE exact location of Leyton town centre is hard to pin down. The north-east London district is strung along Leyton High Road,

stretching from the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in the south to Hoe Street, Walthamstow, in the north.

These days, the heart could be around Francis Road. This “new” Leyton is all about Hackney overflow. Young families and creatives moving to Leyton for homes they can afford to buy have encouraged independent shops, restaurants and cafés to open. There’s a great community feel here, and part of the road is pedestrianised, with wider pavements and new trees and planting.

Others might say the centre is around Leyton Technical — a pub in the old town hall; pretty Coronation Gardens, Leyton Mills Retail Park, the Tube station, Leyton Orient FC, and the shop fronts that were spruced up ahead of the 2012 Olympics. Or could Leyton’s centre be the Bakers Arms area on the Walthamstow boundary, named after a pub that’s now a betting shop? The pub got its name from the Bakers’ Almshouses, the mid-19th century Italianate landmark building in Lea Bridge Road.

Leyton has large established communities of African, Caribbean and Pakistani origin and, more recently, families from Eastern Europe. They’re being joined now by those Hackney incomers seeking homes within their budget, along with families similarly priced out of

Stoke Newington and Walthamstow. Meanwhile, the council’s Lea Valley Eastside initiative envisages 4,500 new homes in the next 10 years. First will be Coronation Square in Oliver Road, where Waltham Forest and developer Taylor Wimpey plan 700 homes, half of them affordable.

Redevelopment of Leyton Mills Retail Park and a new station in Ruckholt Road are possibilities, while the listed pavilion at Leyton Cricket Ground, a “village green” in the city, is set for a Heritage Lottery-funded makeover, with plans to create a Borough Market-style food hub, an event space and training kitchen. The council and the England and Wales Cricket Board are also working to create a world-class cricket facility, with the sports hall and changing rooms refurbished for this summer’s ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup.

The Bakers Arms area of Leyton is eight miles north-east of central London.

To find a home in Leyton, visit rightmove.co.uk For more area guides, visit homesandproperty.co.uk/area-guides

£550,000A THREE-BEDROOM extended Victorian end-of-terrace house in Mayville Road, Leytonstone, with a rear garden, a roof terrace and close to a good primary school. Call Outlook (020 8012 0179).

WHAT THERE IS TO BUY

£825,000A FIVE-BEDROOM double-fronted semi-detached house with two bathrooms, two reception rooms and a conservatory in Manor Road, Leyton. Through Portico (020 8012 2583).

£625,000WITH three bathrooms and a garden studio, this four-bedroom end-of-terrace house is in Burchell Road, Leyton, close to Francis Road shops and cafés. Call The Stow Brothers (020 8012 4768).

£1.35 MILLIONA SPACIOUS two-bedroom house in a warehouse conversion in Warley Close, Leyton, covering 2,077sq ft and with triple-height ceilings plus a private terrace. Call Dexters (020 7247 2440).

Young families and artists priced out of Hackney are enjoying the community, the new boutiques and the chance to buy their own home, says Anthea Masey

Spotlight on

Leyton

Today in Leyton Rightmove has 271 homes to BUY and 183 to RENT

Above: George Neocleous, owner of George’s Den in Francis Road, for everything from flowers and plants to goldfish and farm-fresh duck and hen’s eggsRight: Skeltons Lane Park adventure playground

EVENING STANDARD WEDNESDAY 1 MAY 2019 25

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THE PROPERTY SCENE

THERE are plenty of Victorian and Edwardian mainly bow-fronted terrace houses with three to five bedrooms in Leyton, where it is still possible to find a doer-upper. A three-bedroom Edwardian house in Nottingham Road on the Barclay Estate between Hainault Road and Whipps Cross University Hospital, owned by the same family for many years and in need of work, is for sale priced £585,000.

Purpose-built Victorian flats are a feature of the area, with one flat on the ground floor, one on the first floor, both with their own front door and section of garden. Those around Francis Road built by JG Abraham are particularly sought after. Two-bedroom Abraham flats currently for sale range in price from £370,000 for a home in need of work, to £475,000.

Late-19th century landowner and builder Thomas Warner is best known for the houses and flats around Lloyd Park in Walthamstow but there are also Warner flats in Leyton, on the Clementina estate south of Lea Bridge Road, with two-bedroom homes from £350,000 to £400,000. Leyton also has period conversion flats, plus flats from the Sixties onwards and “right-to-buy” flats in estates of social housing.

NEW-BUILD HOMESA joint venture between developer Hill and housing association Peabody, Motion offers 300 studios and flats in Lea Bridge Road near Lea Bridge station. Across six buildings including three towers of up to 18 storeys are 128 homes for private sale and 172 affordable. July will see the first residents move in and the scheme will finish by next March. One-bedroom flats start at £295,000; two-bedroom flats at £330,000 and three-bedroom flats at £425,000. Call 020 3906 1955.

NEST is a scheme of 61 flats in Dunedin Road, with 12 for private sale and the rest shared ownership, from housing association Newlon Living. One-bedroom flats start at £395,000; two-bedroom flats from £485,000 and three-bedroom flats

from £585,000. Call 0800 058 2544.Church Road, on the corner of Church Road and Tallack Road, by Galliard Homes, has 38 one-, two- and three-bedroom flats and two three-bedroom townhouses. Ready to move into early next year, one-bedroom flats start at £300,000, with two-bedroom flats at £400,000 and the townhouses at £750,000. Call 020 7620 1500.

Ashby House in Leyton High Road and Skeltons Lane offers 15 one-, two- and three-bedroom flats and three two-bedroom houses near Leyton Midland Overground. The nine flats in phase one in Leyton High Road will be move-in ready next month, with one-bedroom flats from £360,000, two-bedroom flats at £475,000 and three-bedroom flats at £525,000. The remaining flats and the houses will be ready in summer next year. Call Samson Estates on 020 8221 9222.

Liberty Court in Leyton High Road will be ready next month, with one-bedroom flats from £385,000; two-bedroom flats at £460,000 and three-bedroom flats at £515,000. Call Saffron Property on 020 7424 9500.

Elizabeth Mews in Coopers Lane, with six homes, will be move-in ready next month. A three-bedroom house is £675,000 and four-bedroom houses start at £715,000.

FIRST-TIME BUYER HOMESHelp to Buy is available at Motion, Church Road, Ashby House and Liberty Court (as before). At NEST, Newlon Living is selling 49 shared-ownership flats, starting at £82,500 for 25 per cent of a one-bedroom flat; £116,250 for 25 per cent of a two-bedroom flat and £141,225 for 25 per cent of a three-bedroom flat.

RENTAL HOMESFamilies and sharers go for Leyton’s Victorian and Edwardian houses, and anywhere near a station is popular. Since Lea Bridge station reopened, investors have been buying homes nearby and Warner flats on the Clementina estate have also been popular with investors.

BUYING IN LEYTON(Average prices)One-bedroom flat £291,000Two -bedroom flat £372,000Two-bedroom house £482,000Three-bedroom house £553,000Four-bedroom house £648,000

RENTING IN LEYTON(Average rates)One-bedroom flat £1,069 a monthTwo-bedroom flat £1,338 a monthTwo-bedroom house £1,424 a monthThree-bedroom house £1,787 a monthFour-bedroom house £2,136 a month

Source: Rightmove

STATS CHECKWhat homes cost

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TRANSPORT

LEYTON Underground station is on the Central line with direct trains into the City and central London. The station is one stop from Stratford where there are Docklands Light Railway services to Canary Wharf.

Leyton Midland Road is on the Gospel Oak to Barking Overground line. Lea Bridge station, which reopened three years ago, has trains to Stratford taking five minutes connecting with the DLR, trains to Liverpool Street, the Central and Jubilee Tube lines and the Overground to Highbury & Islington.

All stations are in Zone 3 and an annual travelcard to Zone 1 costs £1,648.

Above: Leyton High Road runs from Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in the south to Hoe Street, Walthamstow, in the northRight: Brooks Farm in Skeltons Lane Park is a lovely city farm and land-based study centre

Photographs: Daniel Lynch

26 WEDNESDAY 1 MAY 2019 EVENING STANDARD

By Fiona McNultyOUR LAWYER ANSWERS YOUR QUESTIONS

I’ve got reservations about this off-plan fee

Q I HAVE been looking at new developments and would like to buy a property off-plan. The

developers all seem to want a reservation fee and then a 10 per cent deposit on exchange. Is this legal?

A MOST developers require reservation fees. There should be a written reservation agreement.

Before entering into such an agreement check the terms carefully — in particular whether the reservation fee is refundable or non-refundable, or if there are deductible expenses from this fee if you do not proceed with the purchase within a set period of time.

Payment of a reservation fee by the buyer to a developer secures the property for the buyer for a certain period of time, which is often stipulated as 28 days. The developer should take the property off the

market and should not increase its price provided contracts are exchanged within the time specified in the reservation

agreement.It is quite usual for a deposit of 10

per cent of the purchase price to be payable by the buyer upon

exchange of contracts and developers will often want the deposit to be paid to their solicitor as agent, which means these funds

can be released to the developer before completion of the sale to you. If this is the case, ensure that the developer is registered with a home warranty provider, such as NHBC, which provides cover in case the developer becomes insolvent before completion, therefore protecting your deposit.

If you do not complete the purchase through no fault of the seller, you may lose all or part of the reservation fee, along with the 10 per cent deposit.

Q WE’RE buying a house from the estate of a deceased woman. It’s empty and we want to get in and

do work. Can we exchange and complete on the same day, rather than have a long delay between exchange and completion?

A IF YOUR seller agrees you can exchange and complete simultaneously. Usually, once

contracts are exchanged there is a binding agreement between seller and buyer, who, with their solicitors, make the completion arrangements. Simultaneous exchange and completion requires these arrangements to be in place even though there is no binding contract. For example, if you are getting mortgage funding your solicitor will draw down funds from your lender in readiness for completion.

With no binding agreement there is no certainty the seller will exchange and complete the sale on the agreed date, or at all. If they let you down, you’ll likely face wasted removal fees. If mortgage funds have to be returned to your lender, you must pay any interest from the date of release of the funds to the date of return, and also for a telegraphic fee for sending the fees back. To avoid such risk you could exchange with completion perhaps five days or so later, depending on your lender’s requirements for drawing down.

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

WHAT’S YOUR PROBLEM?

Email legalsolutions@standard.co.uk or write to Legal

Solutions, Homes & Property, Evening Standard, 2 Derry Street,

W8 5EE. Questions cannot be answered individually, but we will try

to feature them here. Fiona McNulty is a solicitor specialising in residential

property.

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.

Homes Property | Ask the expert

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Letting on | Homes Property

You can charge hotel prices letting property to party people for a night or two. But if they trash the place, don’t say Victoria Whitlock didn’t warn you

Victoria Whitlock lets four properties in south London. To contact Victoria with your ideas and views, tweet @vicwhitlock

⬤

Beware short-let ‘psycho-teens’

HERE’S an idea for landlords: why not chuck out your long-term tenants and switch to offering holiday lets instead? You could make at least 20 per cent more rent and avoid the

hassle of dealing with long-term tenants. Even better, you could let your property

overnight, in the style of a hotel, and then charge a 50 per cent premium. What could possibly go wrong?

Well, you could end up letting to a bunch of psycho-teens who will wreck your property and leave you with a bill for tens of thousands of pounds to repair it.

Don’t believe me? It happened to a landlord in Belfast, who let his flat for one night to a woman whose daughter used it to host a birthday party. The trouble was that some of the guests misread the invite, so instead of bringing a bottle they brought a sledgehammer and smashed down the walls. It caused £40,000 worth of damage.

The property was reportedly let via a well-known website which, according to the flat owner, offered to waive its £9.80 commission. That wasn’t much good to him, he said.

Of course, the property owner could sue the girl’s mother for compensation but it will be a long process, and possibly futile if she can’t afford to cough up. Much better, I think, for other landlords to avoid the risk of this happening to them by not letting out properties for one night

at a time. This landlord might have been unlucky. I know of several people who offer short lets without any problems but, my children tell me, it’s common for parents to rent penthouse apartments in central London for their children’s 18th birthday parties rather than hiring a room in a club or a bar. And I can’t believe these kids leave the properties in the same condition they find them.

Having once hosted a teenage party, I know the damage that can be done. By 8.45pm my house was like a scene from The Walking Dead. Semi-comatose 16- and 17-year olds were projectile vomiting on Lidl vodka that they had sneaked into the house; girls in Dr Martens were dancing on the kitchen worktops, one girl was sitting in the kitchen sink and, judging from the painful racket, at least one of the speakers had blown.

My offspring’s friends caused several hundred pounds’ worth of damage but it would have been much worse if I hadn’t pulled the plug on the party about two hours early.

If you are tempted to offer short lets, you need to make sure that you are complying with the rules and regulations. For a start, you can only offer short lets within central London for a maximum of 90 days a year, and while many landlords currently break this rule on a regular basis, Mayor of London Sadiq Khan is planning to police the situation more closely.

He has just asked the Government to introduce a register of landlords who offer short lets to make sure they don’t take guests for more than 90 days.

Another factor to bear in mind is that most buy-to-let mortgage lenders insist on properties being let on an Assured Shorthold Tenancy, which must be for a minimum of six months. So, if you offer shorter lets, you might be in breach of your lender’s terms and conditions.

Finally, be aware that you might invalidate your landlord insurance policy if you switch from long-term tenants to short-term or holiday lets, leaving you to pick up the bill if things go wrong. You should try to find a specialist insurance policy with a good level of cover instead. After all, just think of those teenagers with sledgehammers.

The accidental Landlord

EVENING STANDARD WEDNESDAY 1 MAY 2019 29

6 S 0 G S

SE1 foodie flats

Join a well-connected club when you sign for WembleyTHERE was a time when the FA Cup Final, taking place this year on May 18, was the main reason to visit Wembley. Served by four Tube lines — Bakerloo, Jubilee, Metropolitan and Piccadilly — home buyers and shoppers are now landing in the area as well as football fans. A new neighbourhood wraps around the stadium with smart flats, plus an open-air shopping mall and designer outlet, bars, restaurants and a multiplex cinema that collectively attract more people than the well-known sporting arena and concert venue.

Wembley Parade is the Zone 2 district’s latest residential unveiling. It offers 190 homes spread across five buildings including the pictured 12-storey tower. Prices start at £399,000 and Help to Buy is available. Call developer Anthology on 020 3308 9814.

Smart moves By David Spittles

HAVING gobbled up nearly all of Bermondsey’s historic wharves and waterfront warehouses, developers are switching

their focus to the district’s hinterland of factories, where many of Britain’s most famous foodstuffs were produced.

The marvellous old buildings range from Victorian to mid-century modern, whetting buyers’ appetite for industrial-style homes.

Until recent years, this was an off-pitch location but has now come in from the cold, with development spreading from Borough Market and London Bridge, bringing artisan food outlets and craft shops to gritty backstreets and the area’s many railway arches. The BBC’s hit TV series The Great British Sewing Bee is filmed in one of Bermondsey’s quirky warehouses. Posh property company Grosvenor is seeking

planning permission to transform the former Peek Freans biscuit factory complex into a new neighbourhood of 800 homes, and now the place where Crosse & Blackwell churned out Branston Pickle, Worcestershire Sauce and Salad Cream is being turned into a new address with 406 homes plus artist studios and gallery space.

The 4.7-acre site comprises nine buildings being redeveloped into apartments and townhouses overlooking new courtyards and garden squares.

The first phase of the £220 million project is called The Tannery, in a Twenties building with a striking entrance dominated by a black concrete staircase. Flats in a connected new building have a similar design theme, with SieMatic kitchens, butler sinks and Crittall-style black metal-framed windows. The development incorporates

galleries and studios for Tannery Arts along with co-working office space.Basement parking is available and coming later are bigger loft apartments with roof terraces. Prices start at £605,000. Call developer London Square on 0333 666 4343.

A bonus for early bird buyers is the Bakerloo line Tube extension from Elephant & Castle to New Cross Gate. Preliminary work is under way, with two new stations along nearby Old Kent Road expected to boost local property values.

Prices from £605,000: above and right, new flats with basement parking in The Tannery at London Square in Bermondsey

Homes Property | New homes

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30 WEDNESDAY 1 MAY 2019 EVENING STANDARD

LIVE IN A LIGHT-FILLED LOFT

UNUSUAL split-level loft houses are for sale in Roehampton close to the Alton Estate, a Corbusier-inspired Sixties architectural icon built by the erstwhile London County Council.

The new homes, above and right, called Roehampton Lofts, have larch cladding, Dutch bricks and a zinc roof plus a light-filled double-height living space with sheltered terrace.

Modern and minimalist interiors have underfloor heating and sliding doors. Prices start from £570,000. Call Hamptons International on 020 3151 7649.

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EVENING STANDARD WEDNESDAY 1 MAY 2019 31