Living in Acton: area guide to homes, schools and transport links

Often overlooked in favour of nearby Chiswick and Ealing, Acton is about to shine. The west London neighbourhood is busy with buyers spilling over from Queen’s Park and even Notting Hill in search of better value and more space, according to estate agent James Williams of local firm Rolfe East.

The name Acton is derived from the Anglo-Saxon for oak settlement. In the 19th century the area became famous for its laundries and soap factories.

Now the winds of change are again blowing vigorously through Acton, with improvements in the pipeline including Crossrail’s imminent arrival, a new shopping centre and the regeneration of the South Acton Estate.

The Elizabeth line arrives at Acton Main Line station in December next year, cutting the journey time to Bond Street to only nine minutes.

The Oaks Shopping Centre in the High Street is being redeveloped and, although the promised Waitrose hasn’t materialised, there will be a branch of M&S Simply Food as well as Lidl.

Finally, the giant South Acton Estate is being knocked down and rebuilt, with the first new blocks now lined up along Bollo Lane. The old estate was cleared under post-war slum redevelopment from 1949 and rebuilt over 30 years, becoming one of west London’s biggest council housing estates.

Now branded South Acton Gardens, the regeneration — a joint venture between Ealing council, housing association L&Q and housebuilder Countryside Properties — has not attracted the opposition encountered by earlier similar London council plans.

The £600 million, 52-acre scheme involves the demolition of 1,800 homes, replacing them with 2,500 new ones to include a mixture of tenures ranging from social rent to market rent, and from shared ownership to private sale, with 50 per cent affordable homes promised.

The property scene

Conservation areas including Acton Green, Acton Park and Mill Hill Park offer mainly Victorian and Edwardian detached, semi-detached and terrace houses.

Hanger Hill Garden Estate conservation area, an enclave of mock-Tudor houses and flats close to West Acton Tube station, is popular with the families of pupils at nearby Japanese schools. There are some interesting loft conversions in former industrial buildings around Warple Way.

What's new?

Acton Gardens in Bollo Lane is by far the largest local development. Regeneration started in 2011 and will run until 2026, with 1,800 homes demolished and replaced with 2,500 new ones, half of which are promised to be affordable. Some 600 are already finished and largely occupied with another 700 under construction or in the design stage.

The West Park Gate and Central Square phases are move-in ready. Prices start at £442,500 for a one bedroom flat; £575,000 for a two-bedroom flat; £710,00 for a two-bedroom duplex; £680,000 for a two-bedroom, two-storey penthouse, and £720,000 for a three-bedroom duplex.

A free Transport for London travelcard for three years is available with the one-bedroom flats. Visit actongardens.co.uk or call 020 8993 6923 for more information.

Vida is a development of 88 one- and two-bedroom flats and two- and three-bedroom duplexes, of which 10 are for shared ownership, in Trinity Way from developer Hill.

One-bedroom flats start at £440,000, with two-bedroom flats from £540,000 and duplexes from £692,500, for occupation in March.

Buyers get a free Zones 1 to 6 travelcard for a year and three years’ free car club membership. Visit vida-apartments.com or call estate agents Rolfe East on 020 3910 9750.

Triumph House, at the junction of Gunnersbury Lane, Uxbridge Road and High Street, has 14 studios and one- and two-bedroom flats with retail on the ground floor.

One-bedroom flats start at £399,950 and two-bedroom flats at £499,950, for occupation in March. Through Rolfe East (020 8579 4083) and Dexter (020 8896 2112).

The Old Town Hall in the High Street is the conversion of the listed Edwardian town hall into 58 studios, one-, two- and three-bedroom flats and 13 new-build flats from Citystyle Homes, part of housing association One Housing Group.

The highlight will be the conversion of the former council chamber. Launching in spring, with prices from £400,000. Call site sales on 0344 800 8043.

Acton Square in The Vale, a Bellway Homes scheme of studios, one- and two-bedroom flats, is launching soon. Call 0333 202 5171.

At Long Island Lofts in Warple Way, five three- and four-bedroom penthouses at the top of an Art Deco block of flats range in size from 1,074sq ft to 2,460sq ft Prices start at £925,000. Through Savills (020 8987 5555) and Marsh & Parsons (020 7368 4830).

King Edward’s Mews in King Edward’s Gardens is a development of five completed four- to five-bedroom houses priced from £1,425,000 to £1.6 million. Visit kingedwardsmews.co.uk or call Orchards on 020 8997 0076.

Renting

Acton appeals to singles and young couples, who drove many a hard bargain on rents last year. However, experts at Rolfe East say there are signs that rents are now stabilising.

Staying power

Acton is now attracting many more professional buyers who are putting down roots in the area. There is a strong sense of community, too, with a well-supported local news website and campaigns.

Locally-based actors Anna Chancellor and Emilia Fox were vocal in their opposition to the redevelopment of The Oaks Shopping Centre which protesters claimed created a gated community and cut off the High Street from the independent shops in Churchfield Road.

Postcode

W3, the Acton postcode, is not as smart as the adjacent W4 Chiswick postcode or the W5 Ealing postcode.

Best roads

Poets’ Corner — the roads between Shakespeare Road and Churchfield Road, named after the poets Chaucer, Cowper, Goldsmith, Milton and Spencer (sic) — are popular for their pretty two- and three-storey Victorian terrace houses.

There are much larger Edwardian detached and semi-detached houses in Perryn Road and Shaa Road. Avenue Gardens and Avenue Crescent in the Mill Hill Park conservation area have some double-fronted Edwardian houses and later detached houses.

And where Acton merges with Ealing there are fine detached and semi-detached Edwardian houses in the roads around Twyford Avenue and Birch Grove.

Up and coming

Estate agent James Williams of local firm Rolfe East tips the roads close to Acton Main Line station. “Prices here have already benefited from the Crossrail effect but I expect further increases as soon as the Elizabeth line starts running.”

Transport

The big transport story is the arrival of Crossrail at Acton Main Line station in Horn Lane in December next year, with Elizabeth line trains to Bond Street in nine minutes, to Liverpool Street in 16 minutes, Canary Wharf in 23 minutes and Heathrow airport in 18 minutes.

Until then, there are train services to Paddington that take seven minutes.

There are Piccadilly and District line trains from Acton Town Tube station, and Central line Tube services from East Acton, North Acton and West Acton.

There are Overground stations on the Richmond to Willesden Junction line at Acton Central and South Acton. East Acton and North Acton are in Zone 2 with an annual travelcard to Zone 1 costing £1,364. The other stations are in Zone 3 with a travelcard costing £1,600.

Council

Ealing council is Labour controlled. Band D council tax for 2017/2018 is £1,361.15.

Shops and restaurants

High Street, Acton is dominated by a large branch of Morrisons and has a busy market from Wednesday to Saturday in the public space outside the superstore and St Mary’s Church.

High points in the High Street include the George & Dragon pub in the oldest building, with its own brewery, called Dragonfly. Also in the High Street, The Aeronaut, a circus-themed pub, recently reopened after a fire.

Independent shops are flourishing in nearby Churchfield Road. There are bakeries, a deli, a flower shop, a butcher and a wine merchant, Park + Bridge, which specialises in organic and biodynamic wine.

There’s also The Rocket gastropub, the popular Bake Me café, evenings-only wine bar Vindinista and Japanese restaurant Hasu Sushi.

Open space

Acton’s largest park, Gunnersbury Park in Popes Lane, is undergoing a much-needed £21 million restoration which will see the Regency mansion, including the grand reception rooms designed by architect Sydney Smirke in the 1830s for the Rothschild family, restored and returned to museum use.

There will be a new café and a sports hub with eight grass football pitches and two full-size artificial grass pitches.

Acton Park, between East Churchfield Road and The Vale, is the local town centre park. It has tennis courts, a playground and café and a centre running children’s art classes.

There is a newly opened private mini-golf course run by Putt in the Park, which runs similar facilities in Wandsworth and Battersea Parks.

Leisure and the arts

The nearest cinema is the nine-screen Vue Acton in the Royale Leisure Park in Western Avenue, where there is also tenpin bowling. Oxygen Freejumping in Kendal Avenue is a privately run trampoline park.

The Park Club in East Acton Lane is a private leisure centre with indoor and outdoor swimming pools, a gym and indoor and outdoor tennis courts, all set in 27 acres of open space.

The local council-owned swimming pool is at the Acton Centre in the High Street with a 25-metre pool and a learner pool.

Primary schools

All but one of Acton’s state primary schools are rated “good” or better by the Ofsted education watchdog. “Outstanding” primary schools include Ark Priory Primary Academy in Acton Lane and Holy Family RC in Vale Lane.

Ark Byron, a new primary academy that opened in 2015 at Ark Priory, moves next month to its new site in The Vale.

Comprehensive

The picture is more mixed at state secondary level, with the local co-ed comprehensive, Acton High, put into “special measures” last year. The Ellen Wilkinson School for Girls (ages 11 to 18) in Queen’s Drive is rated “good”.

Private

Private primary and preparatory schools are: Greek Primary School of London (co-ed, ages four to 11), run by the Greek Government and following the Greek National Curriculum, in Pierrepoint Road; London Bunka Yochien (co-ed, ages two to six) a Japanese school in Horn Lane; Orchard House (co-ed, ages three to 11) in Newton Grove in Chiswick, and Chiswick & Bedford Park Preparatory (co-ed, ages three to 11) in Priory Avenue, Chiswick.

The all-through schools are: The Japanese School in London (co-ed, ages six to 15), a fee-paying school run by the Japanese Government, in Creffield Road; Barbara Speake Stage School (co-ed, ages four to 16) in East Acton Lane; The Eden School (co-ed, ages two to 18), a Seventh-Day Adventist school in Park Place; the International School of London (co-ed, three to 18) in Gunnersbury Avenue, which teaches the International Baccalaureate; and King Fahad Academy (co-ed, ages three to 18) in Bromyard Avenue, an Islamic school, also teaching the International Baccalaureate.