Embassy exodus returns acres of central London to its residents
As the embassies exit Mayfair and Marylebone, their former bases will free up stunning family homes. While the move of many embassies to Nine Elms at Vauxhall is creating a new residential quarter including thousands of new apartments.
Fast new commuter routes are changing London's property map
Regeneration throughout London continues to change the property map, with the orbital train network and recent Tube line extensions creating faster commuter routes with good-value homes, including Deptford, Bromley and Woolwich.
Brighton spotlight
The East Sussex city of Brighton and Hove offers its residents the best of both worlds: a relaxed life at one end of the line within an hour's commute of London, and a good mix of Regency terrace houses, seafront apartments and family homes.
Canterbury spotlight
The compact city of Canterbury sits 60 miles south-east of London in Kent. In recent years its property market has been boosted by a high-speed rail service into St Pancras, which cuts the journey time to the capital to less than an hour.
Chelsea Flower Show preview 2013
This year the RHS Chelsea Flower Show promises to be suitably fabulous as it celebrates its centenary year with stunning gardens, including the Forget-me-Not Garden by B&Q and Prince Harry's charity.
Find a rated tradesman
Want to add value to your property, make your house a home, or sell your place fast? With 1,000s of tradesmen nationwide, rated and recommended by previous customers, this is the smart way to find a reputable tradesman.
Buy of the week: Stoke Newington, N16
This modern home of almost 1,000sq ft is close to Stoke Newington's high street. A 27ft reception room and two large bedrooms give the flat a spacious feel.
Out of town: Tetbury, Gloucestershire
The beauty spot of Leighterton, with its poppy fields, ivy-covered churches and popular local gastro pub, is home to this four-bedroom house with stone-walled gardens.
Life-changer: Dolwyddelan, Conwy
Have a station all to yourself by buying the Old Station Master's house at Roman Bridge, where trains will stop at your door on request. You also get three bedrooms and 10 acres of grounds.
Oxford spotlight
The small city of Oxford is famous for its university and honeyed stone architecture, but its huge range of property - from affordable new homes to luxurious Victorian houses - and one hour commute to London, are big attractions to home buyers.-
Buy of the week: Stoke Newington, N16
This modern home of almost 1,000sq ft is close to Stoke Newington's high street. A 27ft reception room and two large bedrooms give the flat a spacious feel. -
Out of town: Tetbury, Gloucestershire
The beauty spot of Leighterton, with its poppy fields, ivy-covered churches and popular local gastro pub, is home to this four-bedroom house with stone-walled gardens. -
Life-changer: Dolwyddelan, Conwy
Have a station all to yourself by buying the Old Station Master's house at Roman Bridge, where trains will stop at your door on request. You also get three bedrooms and 10 acres of grounds.
Property search
Smart moves to smart schools
Parents who now know which school their child will go to can find a new home online, says David Spittles
From £319,995: The Mulberries, Little Canfield, Essex. Call 01279 871870
Families often pay big premiums - typically, 16 per cent - while in certain "school hotspots", properties can cost twice the area average, according to Savills.
Housebuilders make the most of a development's proximity to a top school. Barratt has gone one step further by teaming up with the Good Schools Guide to offer a web-based school-finder service.
Would-be homebuyers visit www.barratthomes.co.uk, then enter a location or postcode. The search engine generates a list of the nearest schools.
Parents can filter the search by age range or type. By clicking on a school's name, parents can then get key details such as Sats results and exam performance, or go to the school's own website for even more information.
'We've introduced this service now because parents who want to move often start house-hunting in the spring'
Type in London postcode SW15, where Barratt will soon release an apartment scheme called Putney Square and the website reveals there are 60 schools within 1.48 miles. This area is part of the "Nappy Valley" swathe of Wandsworth borough.
"We've introduced this service now because parents who want to move in time for the new school year often start house-hunting in the spring," says Barratt director Dan Bridgett.
Cash-strapped parents who would have chosen an independent school are searching out selective grammars, which offer the "best of both worlds" - a top education that is free, according to Sue Fieldman, editor of the Good Schools Guide.
Increasingly, London families are moving out of traditional Tube line areas to Kent and Essex (especially Colchester and Chelmsford), which are particularly good for grammars.
Private schools in Wandsworth for children aged five to 11 cost about £4,000 a term per child, or more than £30,000 a year for two children. So if parents can get them into a good state school they could save a huge amount, which may compensate for paying extra for their property in the first place.
To find a home near a good school, visit www.homesandproperty.co.uk/sales.
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Post-Olympic regeneration: Bethnal Green, Bow and Stepney
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Property search: budget under £500,000
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First Olympic village homes up for rent
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