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

Hundreds of new homes by the river and a new town centre simply strengthen the allure of this solid family district. 
Daniel Lynch
Anthea Masey20 January 2017

The old industries that hugged the riverside in Wandsworth have been swept away over the last 20 years, to be replaced with new flats that enjoy Thames views. Such is the pull of this south-west London suburb that families have crossed the great divide from Chelsea and Fulham to live south of the river.

 
They come in search of bigger houses, green spaces and good schools, and now Wandsworth is the borough with the seventh-most expensive homes in the capital. 
 

The average cost of a home in Wandsworth is now a little under £610,000 and the borough could rise further up the London house price league table once it gets the town centre it deserves.

The redevelopment of the Ram Brewery site in Wandsworth High Street will create 660 new homes

At the heart of the new town centre is the redevelopment of the old Ram Brewery site which sits in the high street on the banks of the River Wandle.

The idea is to open up the site with new riverside walks, public squares, 660 new homes including a 36-storey landmark tower, new shops, cafés and restaurants, while saving many of the heritage buildings including the stables that housed the Young’s Brewery dray horses, once such a familiar sight in and around Wandsworth delivering beer.

There are even plans to remove much of the traffic that thunders through by diverting the A3 from the high street, providing a much better environment for pedestrians and cyclists and linking the Ram Brewery site to the Southside shopping centre, where a new Debenhams department store opened in 2015.

Wandsworth is six miles south-west of central London with Fulham across the river to the north, Battersea to the east, Earlsfield and Tooting to the south and Putney to the west.

Estate agent Jasper Colliver from the local branch of Savills says that in spite of having no Tube station, Wandsworth is well connected.

“Most commuters use trains to Victoria or Waterloo from Clapham Junction. Some people then change at Vauxhall for the Tube. It is often a better commuting experience than using the nearby Northern line. And it is a quick journey out of London on the A3.”

Victorian and Edwardian terrace houses, semis, detached houses and new riverside flats all feature in Wandsworth
Daniel Lynch

The property scene
Victorian and Edwardian terrace houses, semis, detached houses and new riverside flats all feature in Wandsworth. Between Old York Road and East Hill in “The Tonsleys”, find two- and three-bedroom Victorian cottages, while the “Toast Rack”, the ladder of roads off Trinity Road at the side of Wandsworth Common, has big 1900 semis and detached houses. Spencer Park, around a communal garden off North Side, also has large detached houses.
 

South of Bellevue Road are streets of pretty Victorian cottages and local shops overlooking the common, giving a villagey feel.

“Between the Commons”— Wandsworth and Clapham Commons — Victorian terrace houses have roof extensions, side returns and dug-out basements. The Magdalen Estate west of Wandsworth Common offers Twenties houses, popular for their spacious ground floors.

What's new?
The Ram Quarter, by Shanghai-based Greenland, is a mixed-use development on the historic Young’s Brewery site that will open up the River Wandle’s banks and provide 500 new jobs. The first phase of 338 flats is selling off-plan for completion at the end of the year. Two-bedroom flats start at £802,000. Call 020 3751 3190 or visit ramquarter.com.

Riverside Quarter, beside Wandsworth Park and with views across the Thames to the Hurlingham Club, is now nearing completion after 15 years. In the current phase of the Frasers Property development are 271 flats, including 92 for shared ownership, with one to four bedrooms, plus penthouses. Two-bedroom flats start at £745,000 (riversidequarter.com; 020 8877 2000).

Osiers Point is a Taylor Wimpey development of 85 one-, two- and three-bedroom flats, including 19 affordable homes, in Osiers Road close to the Thames.

Arranged in three 10-storey blocks linked at the ground and first floors with commercial floorspace, the scheme will be launched off-plan in the spring for completion in 2019. Prices have yet to be released. Call 020 3669 1498 for more information.

Bolingbroke Terrace occupies the former Searcys catering site at the bottom of Bolingbroke Grove close to the junction with Battersea Rise.

There are nine four- and five-bedroom townhouses that are ready to move into with prices starting at £1,925,000, along with 27 two- and three-bedroom flats, which will be finished by the spring. The flats are priced from £450,000. Visit bolingbroketerrace.com or call 020 3428 2222 for more.

Viridian is the housing association responsible for the shared-ownership homes at Riverside Quarter. Call Viridian on 0330 123 0220.

Renting
Lettings manager Charlotte Corner-Munroe at Savills says families rent in Wandsworth for the open green spaces, good schools — and because it’s cheaper than Fulham. Young professional couples go for flats, both conversions and new. 
 

“We don’t get a lot of sharers. Many of our landlords are owners working abroad and they prefer to let to families.”

Staying power

Estate agent Jasper Colliver of Savills says there is a lot of scope for trading up in Wandsworth, so families tend to stay local, either extending or buying a bigger house. Some move to the country, however. “High house prices in some of the most desirable places in the home counties mean families are moving further out to Hampshire and East Sussex.”

Postcode

SW18, the Wandsworth postcode, also includes Earlsfield and Southfields. Towards Clapham Junction, Wandsworth strays into the SW11 Battersea postcode and on the southern edge it merges with the SW17 Tooting postcode and the SW12 Balham postcode.

Best roads

Anywhere in the so-called “Toast Rack”, especially Baskerville Road, Dorlcote Road and Routh Road which back on to Wandsworth Common.

There are large detached houses with big gardens in Lyford Road where a house designed by Arts & Crafts architect CFA Voysey sold for £3.9 million last year. Elsynge Road has mainly semi-detached houses in a variety of mid-Victorian styles including Gothic. Spencer Park has a communal garden.

Up and coming

Savills’ Jasper Colliver suggests the Allfarthing Lane area between East Hill, Garratt Lane and Earlsfield Road, where there are two popular primary schools.

Travel

Fifteen trains run from Wandsworth Town station to Waterloo and from Wandsworth Common to Victoria, with 10-minute services from Clapham Junction to Waterloo and Victoria. Trains stop at Vauxhall for the Victoria line Tube.

Clapham South is on the Northern line. East Putney is on the District line. All Zone 2 (annual travelcard £1,296) except Wandsworth Common (Zone 3; travelcard £1,520).


Council

Wandsworth council is Conservative controlled and Band D council tax for 2016/2017 is £674.22.

Lifestyle

Shops and restaurants

In the town centre, Southside Wandsworth shopping centre has a new branch of Debenhams and a large Waitrose store, as well as TK Maxx, Topshop, Primark, Gap, H&M and Next branches, and chain restaurants including Wagamama and Byron.

There is a town centre branch of Sainsbury’s in Garratt Lane. Traffic thundering through the heart of Wandsworth has for years held the centre back, and independent shops have established themselves in quieter streets such as Old York Road, St John’s Hill, Bellevue Road and Northcote Road.

Two butchers — Muddy Boots and Cleavers — are in Old York Road and Breadstall, in Northcote Road, is a bread, pizza and cake stall in a converted shipping container.

The wide choice of eateries in Old York Road includes MeatUp grill restaurant; Australian-inspired Brew, a growing chain with another branch in Northcote Road; long-standing brasserie Konnigans, and Indian street food café Chit Chaat Chai.

The Cat’s Back is a tiny, cosy pub tucked away near the river in Point Pleasant. Chez Bruce in Bellevue Road, Wandsworth’s famed Michelin-star restaurant, is where locals go to celebrate.

Open space

There are riverside walks to be had, and there’s now a pedestrian route under Wandsworth Bridge. King George’s Park in Buckhold Road has a lake, a riverside walk along the Wandle, a bowling green and tennis courts, while Wandsworth Park has a magnificent avenue of London plane trees, a café and a putting green. Wandsworth Common, with its wild areas and ponds, is particularly popular with the area’s many dog owners.

Leisure and the arts

For such a wealthy area, Wandsworth is a cultural desert — although the Battersea Arts Centre in SW11 and Tara Arts in Earlsfield are nearby. Cineworld is a 14-screen multiplex cinema in Southside Wandsworth shopping centre. The nearest council swimming pool is in the Latchmere Leisure Centre in Burns Road, where the wave machine was celebrated in an early song by indie rock band The Maccabees.

Schools

Primary schools
All the local state primary schools are rated “good” or better by Ofsted. Popular local primaries include Allfarthing, in Allfarthing Lane, Honeywell in Honeywell Road and Swaffield in St Ann’s Hill. State primary schools rated “outstanding” by the schools watchdog are: St Michael’s CofE in Granville Road; Brandlehow in Brandlehow Road; Sheringdale in Standen Road; Belleville in Belleville Road, and Honeywell Infants and Juniors in Honeywell Road.

Comprehensive
All the local state comprehensive schools are judged “good” or better. Rated “outstanding” are: Ashcroft Technology (co-ed, ages 11 to 18) in West Hill; Ernest Bevin (boys, ages 11 to 16, co-ed in the sixth form) in Beechcroft Road, and Chestnut Grove (co-ed, ages 11 to 18) in Chestnut Grove in nearby Balham.
 

Among the private schools, homes near Finton House (co-ed, ages four to 11) in Trinity Road are always popular with parents who want to avoid rush-hour traffic. 

Private
The other local private primary and prep schools are: The Roche School (co-ed, ages two to 11) in Frogmore; Wandsworth Preparatory (co-ed, ages four to 11) in Allfarthing Lane; Dolphin School (co-ed, ages two to 11) in Northcote Road; Thomas’s Clapham (co-ed, ages four to 13) in Broomwood Road; Thomas’s Battersea (ages four to 13) in Battersea High Street; Broomwood Hall (co-ed, ages four to eight; girls, ages eight to 13) in Nightingale Lane, with boys going on to Northcote Lodge in Bolingbroke Grove from ages eight to 13; Parkgate House (co-ed, ages two to 11) in Clapham Common North Side; Hornsby House (co-ed, ages four to 11) in Hearnville Road, Balham; Oliver House (co-ed, ages three to 11) a Catholic school in Nightingale Lane, and Eaton House The Manor (nursery co-ed, ages three and four; girls ages four to 11; pre-preparatory and preparatory boys, ages four to 13), in Clapham Common North Side. 
 

Emanuel (co-ed, ages 10 to 18) is the local private secondary school. The Dulwich private schools run bus services with pick-up points throughout the area.