Settle in the city: 10,000 family houses offering ingenious custom design aim to halt flow of 30-somethings out of London

Planners wanting to stem the exodus of families from the capital to the commuter belt have found their secret weapon: a new generation of townhouses.
David Spittles30 August 2017

Ten years ago, new houses in London were an endangered species, with fewer than 1,100 under construction, and only 155 in inner boroughs. Today more than 10,000 are either ready to move into or in the pipeline.

This remarkable turnaround is due mainly to a change in planning priorities aimed at reversing the exodus of families from the capital and promoting more balanced communities.

Developers have had to fall in line and to their delight have discovered huge, unsatisfied demand for thoughtfully-designed houses in well-connected parts of town. Housing associations, too, are boosting the numbers, making new houses available on a shared-ownership basis.

All this is particularly welcome news for young couples planning a family life who might otherwise have had to seek a home in commuterland.

Well-designed townhouses do not have to cost a fortune and they can help boost regeneration in run-down areas by attracting families who demand better schools, libraries, parks and neighbourhood shops.

However, price hikes during recent years are threatening to reverse this trend, according to analysis by Savills. Last year more than 90,000 people, mainly thirtysomethings, left London to find cheaper homes elsewhere. Despite this, the city’s population continues to grow with births and arrivals from overseas.

The average house price in the capital is £580,000 against an average of £333,000 in the most popular commuter locations, meaning a typical saving of about £250,000. For some movers the savings are irresistible.

Camden residents can typically save £478,000 on their house price by moving to St Albans in Hertfordshire, where a fresh crop of Scandi-style townhouses is adding to the allure. And homes in Cambridge, the favoured destination of buyers moving from Kensington & Chelsea, typically cost £1.5 million less.

Townhouses tempt families to stay

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan and local authority planners are trying to keep families within the community with a supply of houses, releasing public land for partnership deals with developers, as at Kidbrooke Village, a new 275-acre neighbourhood close to leafy Blackheath in south-east London.

Here, space-efficient, three-bedroom Urban Houses with floor-to-ceiling glazing and seductive roof terraces are proving a hit with buyers. Prices from £810,000. Call Berkeley Homes on 020 8003 0671.

From £810,000: Urban Houses with roof terraces at Kidbrooke Village, south-east London, by Berkeley Homes (020 8003 0671)
berkeleyhomes2.visualbank.co.uk

Meanwhile, resourceful niche developers are buying up unlikely plots in gritty inner-city areas where young families are happy to put down roots.

Bay-fronted in Brixton

It would have been inconceivable 10 years ago that a developer known for luxurious bespoke homes in Chelsea and Marylebone would venture into SW2 to build Sixteen Brixton, a terrace of 16 four-storey townhouses.

Banda’s motto is “design for living” and it uses a carefully chosen team of architects, craftspeople and contractors to deliver homes with a great emphasis on layout, lighting, storage and finishes. From outside, the bay-fronted Brixton houses, all with private gardens, look traditional, but when complete later this year they will have stylish easy-use interiors with the hallmarks of a designer loft. These will be open, dramatic and flexible homes. Modern lifestyles demand versatile interiors, not least a free-flowing multi-use family space for living, dining and relaxing that seamlessly unites with a garden. That’s exactly what these homes have: 2,000sq ft of space, with four bedrooms and two large, open- plan living areas. Prices from £1.3 million. Call 020 7937 9600.

As a fresh approach to the building process, instead of an ugly hoarding, evergreen living walls enclose the site and the shrubs, trees and herbs will be re-used for landscaping the individual gardens.

Creating space

Architect-developer Inhabit Homes is also raising the bar. Its trademark is properties that have double-height voids and split-level spaces, removing the need for hallways and allowing rooms to borrow light and volume from each other. Owner and space-creative genius Gus Zogolovitch says the firm’s reinvention of the London townhouse provokes “a radical rethink of how we measure the value of a property — in volume rather than mere floorspace”.

From £650,000: custom build your townhouse at Blenheim Grove in Peckham (020 7234 0862)

A recent project, two houses in Holloway, shows how good architecture can make the most of a seemingly unpromising urban setting. Replacing a single-storey factory shed on a tight plot at the junction of three roads and backing on to a railway cutting, the red-brick houses have interconnecting rooms with overlapping uses arranged around a central double-height space. This ingenious “butterfly” design permits the generosity of seven levels.

External “stoop” stairs, like those outside classic American brownstone houses, encourage owners to sit and linger, adding to the public life of the street. Now the company is bringing its skills to Peckham, offering buyers the chance to collaborate on a custom-build to create a genuinely bespoke property. The five houses in Blenheim Grove can be bought finished or as a shell. Prices from £650,000. Call 020 7234 0862.

Choose your layout

In the Bermondsey Street conservation area, Acorn is building six four-storey townhouses of up to 1,690sq ft and offering to make bespoke changes to the internal layout and design. Owners at Pope Street at can choose how they want to use the space: the ground floor could become an integral garage or work studio, while an open-plan kitchen and living area could be on the first floor, with bedrooms above. Prices from £1.35 million. Call 020 8341 2222.

Eco-friendly Elephant

An entire street of eco-friendly townhouses at Elephant and Castle proves family homes can be green and reasonably affordable as well as smart, central and comfortable to live in.

The Futurehome eco-concept is from developer Lendlease, and the 15 houses have classic-looking brick façades and bay windows but they break with convention by using a low-energy Passivhaus construction technique that means the homes hardly need heating.

From £1,495,000: new eco-friendly Passivhaus townhouses at Elephant and Castle by Lendlease (020 3675 9955)

They are triple-glazed and have an advanced airtightness to eliminate draughts, while a filtration system removes dust, pollens and smoke. Aided by sunscreen shutters, in summer the houses are cool.

Passivhaus standards allow for energy savings of up to 90 per cent compared with a typical home. Owners can check reduced bills through a smart energy monitoring system.

Up to 1,433sq ft, the houses, over three levels, incorporate a small patio garden plus a roof terrace. Prices from £1,495,000. Call 020 3675 9955.

Good schools and community life

Inner suburbs can be more expensive than Zone 1 districts. Ravenscourt Park is one of west London’s most family-friendly neighbourhoods, with well-kept homes, good primary schools and small, independent shops that appeal to buyers moving up the property ladder because of a growing family.

Ashchurch Villas is a rare new scheme of 15 townhouses in a private mews that slots neatly into the Victorian streetscape. Each house has glass-walled open-plan living spaces with high ceilings, a secluded garden, a garage, huge utility room and a self-contained annexe that’s ideal for a live-in nanny or a kids-free office or studio.

That these modern homes tick so many boxes is due to the enlightened approach of developer First Base, which ditched an earlier proposal for blocks of flats and allowed selected local residents to become part of its architectural panel, suggesting ideas and influencing the design and density.

From £2.15 million, with stamp duty refunds available. Call 020 3944 0617.

Docklands renaissance

While many more small-scale projects on complex urban plots are needed, at least planners are insisting houses be part of mega regeneration schemes where entire new neighbourhoods are being created.

London’s biggest batch of new family houses is at Royal Wharf in Docklands. Some of the 310 homes revive the Renaissance tradition of the “noble floor”. From a grand hallway, visitors step up to a spacious first-floor lounge that’s akin to a Georgian drawing room, with views across landscaped grounds.

From £1,082,500: townhouses in Royal Docks

At ground level is a large open-plan kitchen-diner with bi-fold doors to a private garden.

The houses also have roof terraces big enough for toddlers to play safely, and have been designed for families to grow into, without the need for an extension. From £1,082,500. Call Ballymore on 0800 1601200.

So-called “überhauses” at Greenwich Millennium Village, where more than 10,000 homes are being built, are described as a fusion of house and apartment. This hybrid duplex design incorporates three bedrooms and multiple balconies and terraces. Prices from £799,995. Call 020 8305 2712.

A short commute

A stylish scheme of 52 townhouses in the Hertfordshire cathedral city of St Albans, Gabriel Square proves that design excellence can flourish outside the capital.

“We’re offering Zone 1 quality outside the M25 for a much cheaper price,” says Antony Crovella, director of Meyer Homes, which commissioned architect Conran and Partners to come up with genuinely modern and glamorous houses that are chiming with families who could never afford a similar property in Islington or Notting Hill.

The four-storey, 2,000sq ft homes have free-flowing spaces with vertical and horizontal connections around a central stairwell and internal courtyard. Pocket doors slide back into the walls to open up the interior. The top-floor master bedroom suite has full-height glass and feels like a penthouse.

As well as a rear garden, each home has a secluded roof terrace. Some also have an integral garage while others have a lower-floor entrance to the underground car park hidden below a communal garden square.

The train commute from St Albans to St Pancras is less than half an hour, making Gabriel Square especially convenient for anyone who works at the expanding King’s Cross business district. Prices from £1,195,000. Call 01727 843222.