Riverside flats in Isleworth from £100k: 40-minute commutes to the City make this west London spot one for first-time buyers to watch
As surging London prices drive buyers further from traditionally desirable areas, the often-overlooked neighbourhood of Isleworth is starting to gain traction with families priced out of Chiswick and Richmond — and with first-time buyers priced out of just about everywhere.
Isleworth is a bit of a suburb of two halves — gorgeous, Georgian Old Isleworth is the London village you’ve probably never heard of, complete with cute delis and cafés and walks along the Thames. The rest of the area is more modern, and more urban, but nonetheless a well-linked postcode with regeneration on the cards and the potential for price growth. The good news for those who like weekend breaks abroad that it is near Heathrow. The bad news is — you’ll know it.
First-time buyers who like the sound of being half an hour or so from the centre of London, with lashings of green space on the doorstep, and all for just a fraction over £100,000, will be delighted to learn that housing association A2Dominion has just launched its latest development in Isleworth. The Lamptons is a contemporary scheme of 155 new homes, with 27 set aside for first-time buyers.
YOU’RE WELL CONNECTED
Prices at The Lamptons start from £101,500 for 35 per cent of a one-bedroom flat. Two-bedroom flats start at £133,000. Buyers will also need to factor in rent for the portion of the property they don’t own, and the cost of service charges.
Buyers of the one-bedroom flats who put down a 10 per cent deposit will pay just over £624 for their mortgage, £393 in rent, and another £110 for service charge, bringing costs to a total of £1,127 a month. For two-bedroom flats the mortgage is estimated at £817.77, rent at £515 and service charge at £134. This means monthly costs stand at £1,466.77.
The nearest transport links are from Isleworth station, which has mainline services to Waterloo in 37 minutes. Alternatively pick up the Piccadilly line at Hounslow East in Zone 4, which gets you to the West End in less than 40 minutes — or Heathrow airport in less than 15. Both stations are about a 10-minute walk from The Lamptons, and an annual season ticket costs £1,860. There are also plenty of cycle storage spaces and charging points for electric cars.
The compromise here is that the development, in London Road, is close enough to the airport to be affected by aircraft noise, and although it is set back slightly, traffic will still be audible from the private terraces and balconies to the front of the building.
However, Sancia Keogh, head of marketing at A2Dominion, believes that residents quickly get used to this sort of background noise, and that the area has its compensations. “You are between beautiful, quirky, Old Isleworth, which is more leafy and has got some great riverside pubs and walks, and Hounslow which is more eclectic and bustling, and where a lot of regeneration is planned,” she says.
THE LOWDOWN ON ISLEWORTH
Past: during the 18th and 19th centuries fruit and vegetables from the many orchards and market gardens of Isleworth supplied London markets.
Future: Isleworth’s neglected Pit Park, believed to be named after its former use as a Victorian rubbish dump, is to be turned into a waterside nature reserve, while Barratt London and Wilson Bowden Developments are overseeing a major regeneration of neighbouring Hounslow which will bring a cinema and many more shops and restaurants to the area by 2020.
Trivial pursuit: classic movie The African Queen (1951), starring Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn, was largely filmed at the Isleworth Studios in Worton Road. It is now an industrial estate.
What it costs: an average home in the TW7 postcode costs £458,310, up from £387,549 a year ago, says Rightmove.
Landmarks: Syon House, London home of the Duke of Northumberland. The lease was acquired in 1594 by Henry Percy, 9th Earl of Northumberland.
Eat: home-baked ciabatta and coffee at Syon Coffee House in St John’s Road.
Drink: enjoy a pint on the terrace of Georgian pub The London Apprentice, overlooking the Thames.
Buy: stock up with low cost, pre-loved furniture at the Hounslow Furniture Recycling Project in Northcote Avenue.
Walk: Inwood and Thornbury are among several local parks. Slightly further away, stroll beside the Thames through the 200 acres of Syon Park.