All change: Bromley town centre revamp brings new-build homes offering a 16-minute commute to London Victoria

Bromley's tired town centre is getting a face lift, with a new “quarter” being carved out offering homes, leisure, cultural facilities and more shops.

A multi-storey car park is making way for St Mark’s Square — 200 private and shared-ownership flats launching this autumn, set around a new piazza and performance space, plus a multiplex cinema, hotel, cafés and restaurants. Prices from £325,000. Call 020 8295 2505.

Also in the town centre, The David Greig Building, a handsome 1912 edifice, has been split into six above shop flats priced from £350,000. Call 020 8464 5566.

Trains to Victoria take only 16 minutes from Bromley, London’s largest and perhaps greenest borough, covering 59 square miles, most of which is green belt. Head south out of the centre and you quickly encounter the wooded valleys of the rolling Kent Downs.

A rich legacy of historic houses remains here, some of which are being converted to grand flats for the area’s downsizers and City traders.

Water’s Edge at Keston Ponds is a scheme of 13 flats in a restored Tudor-style manor house built by the Earl of Dartmouth. Prices from £395,000. Call Savills on 01689 869630.

Meanwhile, a Victorian mansion once owned by the Bonham Carter family has been split into seven apartments, with four new townhouses being built in the grounds. Called the Ravensbourne Collection, prices start at £1,245,000. Call 01689 813333.