New homes in London: Chelsea Island

The now-fashionable riverside neighbourhood of Sands End is a parable of our times — the triumph of development in a once-unpromising corner of south-west London.

Despite the negatives of a tract of industrial land blighted by gas works and dissected by train tracks, the area has been turned into a residential enclave.

During Victorian times, it was grim and lined with factories. It later gained a reputation for slums and dodgy council estates.

When Chelsea Harbour was built nearby in the Eighties, residential developers looked at the area through new eyes.

Later came 1,600-home Imperial Wharf, plus a new train station and a river bus pier. At Chelsea Creek, apartments are being built alongside new waterways, while redevelopment of Lots Road power station is finally under way. Today, Sands End is effectively a new inner suburb on the Chelsea/Fulham boundary.

Chelsea Island, pictured, is the latest scheme — 89 flats with communal and private roof gardens. Prices from £1 million. Call Hadley Property Group on 020 7483 6161.