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

The avo-on-toast crowd love the common and now Crossrail and 900 new homes will give this Zone 4 district a boost.
Daniel Lynch
Anthea Massey23 August 2017

The inhabitants of Plumstead, or at least those living in the Plumstead Common area, need a stout pair of legs and plenty of breath to make the journey up the steep hills that take them to Plumstead’s green and pleasant summits.

As estate agent, Mark Sallnow from local estate agent David Evans, points out there are definitely two Plumsteads. There is Plumstead proper, the area around the station and the high street, which although good for a cheap curry, could do with a facelift, and there is Plumstead Common where residents find themselves surrounded by common land protected by act of parliament and where dogs and children get lost in the mysterious Slade ravine, an ancient valley formed at the end of the ice age by the torrents of water formed by melting glaciers.

Plumstead Common has a strong sense of community stretching back to the last half of the 19th century when in 1876 thousands of locals, led by Irish firebrand John De Morgan, rioted to save the common from enclosure by various owners including The Queen’s, College Oxford, pulling down fences as they went. The following year Plumstead Common and nearby Winn’s Common were bought by the Metropolitan Board of Works and are now protected in perpetuity. Today that sense of community manifests itself more peacefully with an annual get together in June, called Plumstead Make Merry, the longest-standing festival in the Royal Borough of Greenwich.

Mark Sallnow says the arrival of Crossrail in December next year at nearby Woolwich will be the making of both Plumsteads with all residents able to either walk or catch a bus to the new Elizabeth Line station at Woolwich in the Royal Arsenal development, cutting the journey time to Canary Wharf to eight minutes, to Liverpool Street to 14 minutes and Bond Street to 22 minutes.

There are also plans to build 900 new homes in the town centre in the area between the station and Belmarsh prison, part of housing association Peabody’s long-term plans for its Thamesmead estate, and more controversially, the local council, Greenwich, has plans to develop the library site in the high street by keeping the pretty Edwardian facade and building a modern library and leisure centre at the rear.

Plumstead Common is 10 miles south east of central London with Woolwich to the north; Abbey Wood and Thamesmead to the east; Welling and Shooter’s Hill to the south and Charlton and Greenwich to the west and judging by the number of skips in the streets, Mark Sallnow is convinced the area is on the way to regenerating itself. He points to the Plumstead Parlour, an independent restaurant on Warwick Terrace overlooking the common, which has recently replaced a greasy spoon, and where bacon and eggs have made way for smashed avocado on toast.

Thirties modernist homes by architect Berthold Lubetkin in Genesta Road
Daniel Lynch

The property scene

Plumstead has a good supply of Victorian terrace houses which vary in size and price depending on their condition and where in the neighbourhood they are situated. For example, there is a three bedroom Victorian terrace in Swingate Lane, close to Winn’s Common, in need of total modernisation, on sale for £340,000; while a larger, done-up house in Red Lion Lane, is on sale for £600,000.

In Genesta Road, there is a row of listed modernist houses designed by famed architect Berthold Lubetkin. According to Mark Sallnow, these houses were once shunned but now are much sought after. One sold for £525,000 in March last year.

On the Shooter’s Hill side of Plumstead there are 1930s semi-detached houses.

Newbuilds

There are no new build homes currently for sale in Plumstead; however, nearby Woolwich makes up for this shortfall.

Royal Arsenal Riverside (020 8331 7130) is the Berkeley Homes development of the former Woolwich Arsenal riverside site. Some 5,000 homes are being created and prices range from £485,000 to £1.695 million for a three bedroom duplex penthouse.

Trinity Walk (www.trinitywalk-woolwich.com; 020 8003 9674) is a Lovely Homes development which replaces the Connaught estate in Woolwich New Road; one bedroom flats in phase 1 start at £355,000; two bedroom flats at £420,000.

Callis Yard (Savills 020 7531 2500 and CBRE 020 7205 2199) is a development of 120 one and two bedroom flats and three bedroom houses carved out of a former stable block in Bunton Street; one bedroom flats start at £350,000; two bedroom flats at £500,000 and the three bedroom houses at £800,000; they will be ready in autumn next year.

Affordable homes

Berkeley Homes is offering one and two bedroom flats at Kinetic in Cannon Square at Royal Arsenal Riverside under the local council’s Discount Market Sales scheme, open to Greenwich residents only, who pay 80 per cent of the market price with the council owning the remaining 20 per cent; prices range from £322,000 to £376,000.

Housing association Asra (020 3394 0078) has shared ownership flats at Trinity Walk, starting at £97,500 for a 25 per cent share of a two bedroom flat with a market value of £390,000 and £143,750 for a 25 per cent share of a three bedroom flat with a market value of £475,000 that will be ready in November.

Rentable homes

Mark Sallnow says the quality of rental homes in Plumstead is very variable which means tenants cover the spectrum from cleaners to doctors.

Travel

Plumstead station has trains to Cannon Street in 34 minutes and Charing Cross in 42 minutes, via London Bridge in 30 minutes. Plumstead town centre has many buses that go to Woolwich where commuters can pick up the DLR for Canary Wharf changing for the Jubilee line at Canning Town. The N1 night bus travels between Tottenham Court Road and Thamesmead via Plumstead.

The following buses from Plumstead Common drop commuters at Woolwich for the DLR: 51, 53 and 291. All these buses will come in handy when the Elizabeth Line opens at Woolwich at Christmas 2018. Plumstead and Woolwich are in Zone 4 and an annual travelcard to Zone 1 costs £1,860.

Staying power

According to Mark Sallnow newcomers to Plumstead recognise it offers value for money and are investing in upgrading their homes for the long-term.

Postcode

Plumstead is in the SE18 Woolwich postcode, a large postcode which includes all of Woolwich and extends south as far as Shooter’s Hill.

Best roads

Macoma Road, Tuam Road, Vambery Road and Isla Road where there are four bedroom Victorian bow-fronted red brick terrace houses.

Up and coming

Mark Sallnow suggests that the whole of Plumstead is up and coming but comments that the 1930s semi-detached and terrace houses are not as popular as the Victorian terraces so represent even better value for money.

Council

Royal Borough of Greenwich (Labour-controlled); Band D Council Tax in 2017/2018: £1,350.97.

Lifestyle

Shops and restaurants

Plumstead High Street has a branch of Iceland and a Boots and a number of Indian and Nepalese restaurants but not much else, except an oversupply of betting shops.

Sadly, the only message on the plentiful lamp post banners is one exhorting people to pick up their litter. There are further local shops along Herbert Road and along Plumstead Common Road.

Independent restaurant the Plumstead Pantry in Warwick Terrace and the Star pub in Plumstead Common Road with its gastro pub menu and monthly comedy club are signs that new money is coming into Plumstead.

Open Space

Plumstead’s commons are the big bonus. High up, the air seems fresh and there are facilities as well as wild open spaces in the form of a lovely hidden-way children’s paddling pool; a bowling green; tennis courts and the Greenwich Rugby Club.

Shrewsbury Park on Plum Lane has open spaces and woodland and an active friends group. The Green Chain Walk, a 50 mile walk connecting the green spaces in south east London, runs through Plumstead.

Leisure and the arts

Plumstravaganza is running for a second year from 28 August to 10 September with open artists’ studios, poetry and photographic competitions, walks and talks.

The nearest cinemas are the Odeon multiplex and Picturehouse both in Greenwich.

The Waterfront Leisure Centre in Woolwich High Street is the local council-owned swimming pool; it has a leisure pool with slides and a wave machine.

Schools

All of Plumstead’s state primary schools are judged to the “good” or better by the Government’s education watchdog Ofsted. Those that are judged to be “outstanding” are:

Foxfield in Sandbach Place; Bannockburn in Plumstead High Street; St Peter’s RC in Crescent Road on the edge of Woolwich and Saint Mary Magdalene CofE on Kingsman Street, Woolwich.

The picture is more patchy come age 11: the local girls’ comprehensive Plumstead Manor that occupies a lovely site overlooking the common on Old Mill Road “requires improvement” (although it is now judged to be “improving” ) as does Shooters Hill Sixth Form College (co-ed, ages 16 to 18) in Red Lion Lane.

The other options are the Greenwich Free School (co-ed, ages 11 to 18) in Shooters Hill Road; Charlton Park (co-ed, ages 11 to 18) in Charlton Park Road; and Welling School in Elsa Road, Welling, all judged to be “good”. London South East Colleges (co-ed, ages 16 plus) has a campus in Plumstead Road; the college offers apprenticeships, vocational and degree courses.