New flats at former Royal Mail depot in Islington: new year sale offers stamp duty refunds to buyers of first-class loft apartments

Stamp duty refunds are part of a new year sale at Islington Square, a former Royal Mail depot that’s now a first-class address in the heart of the borough, around lively Upper Street.

What was a closed-off complex of Edwardian warehouses is poised to become an attractive quarter of 263 homes, with a grand double-arched entrance leading to a new shopping arcade and civic square created behind the impressive façade.

Built in 1904, in its heyday the depot was the main sorting office for north London. The buildings are being transformed into loft-style flats, plus there are new homes above original loading bays.

About a third of the flats are designated “affordable”, for rent and shared ownership, with an acre of green communal space on the rooftops.

A new pedestrian route from Upper Street runs via a “floating” glass-roofed internal garden to the covered retail mall and an open-air tree-lined route with cafés.

Prices start at £715,000, with stamp duty savings from £23,500. Call 020 7409 8756.