Living in Brixton: area guide to homes, schools and transport links

This smart south London suburb has culture, charm and a buzzing social scene.
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Anthea Masey20 September 2017

There are few areas in London whose fortunes have had so many twists and turns as Brixton. From being a smart south London suburb with one of the capital’s top shopping streets at the beginning of the 20th century, to the area that became the beating heart of the Windrush generation who came from the Caribbean after the Second World War and a locality troubled by racial tension, crime and gang violence, resulting in major riots in 1981, 1985 and 1995.

How things change. Today Brixton is achingly cool, and is shrugging off its battle-hardened reputation. Brixton Village — locals still call it by its original name Granville Arcade — is now a major London tourist attraction. Situated in part of the famous and now listed covered markets, it is a destination reborn with boutiques, restaurants and cafes sharing the space with South American butchers, Caribbean greengrocers, African stores and English fishmongers.

The nearby shipping-container park Pop Brixton is home to young businesses running cafes, bars and restaurants but its hipsterish vibe has caused some locals, who voice their opinions most vocally on Brixton’s colourful message board Urban75, to claim that Brixton’s regeneration is sliding into gentrification. Shock horror.

The hugely respected architect Michael Squire, head of Squire & Partners, has moved the company in. He is one of the new Brixton’s biggest fans, having recently transported his offices from King’s Cross to Ferndale Road, where the firm has renovated one of Brixton’s lost landmarks, the Bon Marche department store, a stone’s throw from the high street.

The Department Store, as he calls his building, has a brand-new glass dome and a restaurant on the ground floor, and although Squire is coy about how much the development has cost, he says the move to Brixton makes sense both financially and socially. “I found King’s Cross was becoming increasingly corporate. Here in Brixton there is a community and we are much more engaged in local activities.”

One example is the Brixton Design Trail, which runs until Sunday. This is the fourth year Brixton has been part of the London Design Festival, one of only two local design celebrations south of the river; the other is Bankside. This weekend The Department Store hosts Design Circus, a collaboration between Crafty Fox Market and BRIXI, the quirky design and gift shop in Brixton Market.

Top eateries: Brixton is full of cafes and restaurants popular with locals and tourists alike (Daniel Lynch)

Elsewhere in Brixton’s town centre the Your New Town Hall project will see the landmark Lambeth building renovated to provide some council services, a council chamber and offices for start-up businesses. Surrounding buildings are being developed to provide new council offices, 194 new homes and ground-floor shops and restaurants. And next to the Black Cultural Archives in Windrush Square a memorial to the estimated two million African-Caribbean soldiers who fought in both world wars was recently unveiled.

Brixton is four miles from central London with Kennington and the Oval to the north, Camberwell to the east, Streatham to the south and Clapham to the west. Estate agent Mark Hustwit from Marsh & Parsons, which opened its branch in Brixton last year, says the area is evolving. “It is popular with first-time buyers who like the busy nightlife and the easy commute into central London. We see brothers and sisters and sharers buying together with help from their parents. There is also a strong local market with people progressing from a flat to a house.

The property scene

Brixton has mainly mid- to late-Victorian two-, three- and four-storey terrace houses and mansion flats, although there are some earlier Georgian and early-Victorian terraces along Brixton Road and Vassall Road. The most expensive house for sale now is a double-fronted Victorian house in need of renovation in Trent Road, on sale for £1.5 million.

New-build homes

Taylor Wimpey is building 71 one-, two- and three-bedroom flats, of which 21 are affordable through housing association Paragon at The Edge (the-edgebrixton.co.uk; 020 3897 4811) next to the railway viaduct in the centre of Brixton. The two blocks are eight storeys tall with commercial space on the ground floor; one-bedroom flats start at £460,000. Sales are off-plan and the development will be ready to move into next summer.

Your New Town Hall in Brixton (020 3603 5546) town centre is a joint venture between Lambeth council and developers Muse that will provide new council offices and 194 new homes. Ivor House in Acre Lane is being converted into 26 one and two-bedroom flats over four floors and there will be 94 affordable and private sale flats in Brook House on Brixton Hill. Expect the launch before the end of the year. A further 74 homes will be built on the site of Olive Morris House in Brixton Hill. Elm Park Gardens (through Pedder, 020 7738 6839) in Brading Road is a development of six four-bedroom terrace houses from £840,000.

There are two small developments, ready to move into, overlooking each other on Coldharbour Lane close to Loughborough Junction station. Noble House (020 7689 1000) has built seven studios, one- and two-bedroom flats; only two-bedroom flats remain and prices start at £475,000. On the other side of the road, developer Woodberry Group is selling nine one-, two- and three-bedroom flats at 215 Coldharbour Lane (Pedder, 020 7738 6839); one-bedroom flats start at £375,000.

Affordable homes

Housing association Metropolitan has launched South West 9 (020 3535 2555) in Barrington Road, a development of 81 one-, two- and three-bedroom shared ownership flats. One bedroom flats start at £162,750 for a 35 per cent share in a flat valued at £465,000.

As part of the Oval Quarter, the regeneration of the Myatt’s Fields North Estate, Southern has one- and two-bedroom flats in The Wren Building (0300 555 2171) in Eythorne Road; one bedroom flats start at £157,500 for a 35 per cent share in a flat valued at £450,000.

Renting

Lexadon is a local south London developer that unusually specialises in the private rental market. Its flats currently range from £310 a week for a one-bedroom fat in Weld Works Mews off Brixton Hill to £630 a week for a three-bedroom flat in Brixton Road.

Transport

Brixton is at the end of the Victoria line, which guarantees a seat in the morning rush hour. There is also a train station with trains to Victoria, which take nine minutes. Nearby Loughborough Junction is on Thameslink, with trains to Blackfriars (in nine minutes), Farringdon (in 14 minutes) and St Pancras (in 18 minutes), although locals complain of overcrowding in the rush hour.

Brixton is in Zone 2 and an annual travel card to Zone 1 costs £1,296. There are useful commuter bus routes running through Brixton with the number 2 to Marylebone via Victoria and Marble Arch, the number 3 to Trafalgar Square, the 59 to King’s Cross via Waterloo and Holborn, the 133 to Liverpool Street via London Bridge and the 159 to Marble Arch via Trafalgar Square and Oxford Circus.

Staying power
Mark Hustwit says many of his house buyers are people who bought a flat in Brixton two or three years ago and now want something larger.
Postcode
SW2 is the Brixton postcode but most of Brixton is in SW9, the Stockwell postcode. Very confusing.
Best roads
Trinity Gardens is a lovely square off Brixton’s high street; here there are two and three storey flat fronted houses with a garden square and a pub on the corner. Marsh & Parsons has a three bedroom house in the square for £950,000.
Up and coming
The roads off Coldharbour Lane in Loughborough Junction between Brixton and Camberwell are generally a little cheaper.

Lifestyle

Shops and restaurants
Brixton has a very busy town centre with its own department store, Morleys, a branch of H&M, T.K. Maxx and Tesco. Brixton outdoor market along Electric Avenue, so called because it was the first street to be lit by electric light, has a daily general market. Brixton Village and the other nearby covered markets now have a mix of traditional market stalls and boutiques, cafes, bars and restaurants. Restaurant chains that started here include Franco Manca, Honest Burger and Kaosarn. Top foodie destinations are Salon in Market Row; Smoke & Salt in Pop Brixton and Naughty Piglets in Brixton Water Lane.
Open Space
Brockwell Park in Herne Hill is the much-loved local park in Herne Hill; it has the Lido, a recently renovated children’s playground and tennis courts. There are two other local parks Ruskin Park between Loughborough Junction and Camberwell and Myatt’s Fields between Brixton and Kennington.
Leisure and the arts
The O2 Academy is a leading music venue and the Ritzy cinema is part of the Picturehouse chain. The Brixton Recreation Centre in Brixton Station Road has a raised swimming pool where swimmers watch the trains come and go.

Schools

Primary schools
Most of Brixton’s state primary schools are judged to be “good” or better by the Government’s education watchdog Ofsted; those that get the top “outstanding” rating are: Sudbourne in Hayter Road; Corpus Christi RC in Trent Road; Hill Mead in Moorland Road and Jessop in Lowden Road and in Herne Hill, St Jude’s CofE in Regent Road.
Comprehensive
The “outstanding” comprehensive school is Charter (co-ed, ages 11 to 18) in Red Post Hill in Herne Hill. A shrinking catchment area has seen Brixton parents renting out their homes and moving to rented homes in the catchment area. However, the other local comprehensives are judged to be either “good” or “outstanding”. They are Platanos (co-ed, ages 11 to 16) in Clapham Road (outstanding); Ark Evelyn Grace (co-ed, ages 11 to 18) in Shakespeare Road (good); Saint Gabriel’s CofE (co-ed, ages 11 to 16) in Cormont Road (good); Trinity Academy RC (co-ed, ages 11 to 18) a Catholic Free School which opened in September 2014 (good); Lambeth Academy (co-ed, ages 11 to 18) in Elms Road, Clapham (good) and St Martin’s in the Fields CofE (girls, ages 11 to 18) in Tulse Hill (good). South Bank Engineering (co-ed, ages 14 to 18) a University Technical College which opened in September 2016 has not yet been inspected by Ofsted.
Private
Herne Hill School (co-ed, ages two to seven) in Herne Hill is a private infants school which acts as a feeder school to the private schools based in Dulwich.