Living in Earl's Court: area guide to homes, schools and transport

Earl’s Court is in the Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea and while not as grand as Kensington, it does possess its fair share of fine period architecture including noble terraces and squares and tall, red-brick Victorian homes, and has made the effort over the last 20 years to renovate some of its run-down hotels and bedsits.

This is where Diana Spencer was given a flat in Coleherne Court by her father as an 18th birthday present.

It is also where one of London’s most ambitious developers, Capital & Counties Properties — Capco — has had to put the brakes on the £12 billion regeneration project it called “a new district for London”, on the site of the former Earls Court exhibition centre.

The Sir Terry Farrell masterplan received outline planning permission in 2013. It envisaged four urban villages linked by a 21st-century high street, with ambitious plans for more than 7,500 new homes, 10,000 new jobs, £450 million-worth of community benefits and over seven acres of green space. But today the former exhibition centre site remains a pile of rubble. Capco says this is because demolition of this tricky site took longer than expected and the land is now ready for development.

Following the slowdown in the demand for London luxury homes and a change of political control at Hammersmith & Fulham council, with the possibility that the West Kensington and Gibbs Green council estates might be removed from the masterplan, Capco, together with its joint venture partner Transport for London and other stakeholders, are reviewing how the plans could evolve with London's changing needs.

Capco says the project has received interest from potential partners and end-users for various parts of the site, some of which are under consideration.

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has included the project in his draft London Plan, backing the view that Earl’s Court is “ready to grow,’’ and needs more housing.

The first development is Lillie Square. Capco and its joint venture partner here, the Hong Kong-based Kwok family, have plans to build 808 homes on the former Earls Court car park in Seagrave Road next to West Brompton station. By the end of next year 420 homes will be completed.

The good news is West Brompton Crossing, the retail scene being developed along Lillie Road close to Lillie Square, is very jolly with brightly coloured façades designed by leading architects Waugh Thistleton.

The Prince pub has the prettiest outdoor terrace with seating for over 400 and direct access to four takeaway kiosks: Patty & Bun for burgers; Begging Bowl Canteen — an offshoot of Peckham’s favourite Thai restaurant; Coqfighter expanding its fried chicken empire beyond the confines of the Shoreditch and Croydon Boxparks, and Foley’s for its bao buns and yakitori grill.

There are shops, too, supporting start-up businesses. The Crossing is a free-to-use space available to local businesses, entrepreneurs and students for exhibitions or to try out new business ideas; The Hoarder is a greengrocer and coffee shop; there’s fashion label War & Drobe, and CanDo Coffee is expanding from its Paddington base.

Earl’s Court is three miles south-west of central London with Kensington to the north, South Kensington and Chelsea to the east, Fulham to the south and West Kensington and Hammersmith to the west.

Estate agent Dan Carrington, head of sales at Savills in Earl’s Court says the area is popular with young professionals, families and downsizers. “Once here buyers tend to stay, particularly families due to the number of highly rated schools. Last year just under 30 per cent of our buyers were upsizers, many of them young families needing more space, and it’s not uncommon for renters to go on to buy.”

Carrington says around half of his buyers in the last year have been from the UK, “although with the Lycée so close there is strong demand from European, especially French, buyers and renters”.

The property scene

Away from the masterplan area, Earl’s Court has grand terraces of five-storey houses, mostly divided into spacious flats, and red-brick mansion flats in garden squares to rival those in Kensington and Notting Hill.

There are mews houses and a pretty enclave of pastel-coloured smaller houses in Child’s Place, Child’s Street, Wallgrave Road, Redfield Lane and Kenway Road, with some of the houses in the latter three streets sharing a secret tiny communal garden known as the Providence Patch.

The price per square foot for the best homes can be in excess of £1,800, but is generally just over £1,000, according to Dan Carrington of Savills.

The most expensive house currently for sale is a six-bedroom, five-storey house in Philbeach Gardens priced at £5.5 million. The most expensive maisonette has four bedrooms and is over first and second floors in Bramham Gardens, priced at £4.75 million.

Flats on one level spread over two buildings are a feature of the area. One such flat in Courtfield Gardens has four bedrooms and is for sale at £3.95 million. A straight-off-the-street four-bedroom house in Child’s Place is on the market for £2.25 million.

For those with smaller budgets, studio flats start at around £400,000 and one-bedroom flats at around £500,000.

What's new?

Homes in the second phase of Lillie Square off Seagrave Road are currently selling off-plan. One-bedroom flats start at £820,000 with two-bedroom flats at £1.3 million, for completion at the end of next year. Call 020 7381 9800 or visit lilliesquare.com.

Renting

Earl’s Court has long been a popular place to rent, although many landlords prefer short-term to long-term lets.

The most expensive house on the market in Earl’s Court, the six-bedroom Philbeach Gardens property, is also the most expensive home to rent, with an asking price of £15,167 a month.

Large families are catered for locally, with four-bedroom flats available in Bramham Gardens, including one for £8,450 a month, and Barkston Gardens, with one at £4,117.

One-bedroom flats available for long rentals range in price from £1,278 a month for a home above a shop in Earl’s Court Road, to £2,925 a month for a flat with a mezzanine floor, created from a former ballroom in Earl’s Court Square.

Staying power

With so many short-term lets available, Earl’s Court feels transitory.

Postcode

SW5 is the Earl’s Court postcode; it is a small postcode and on the southern edge runs into SW10, the West Brompton postcode. The Earl’s Court regeneration area falls into W14, the West Kensington postcode.

Best roads

The garden squares to the east of Earl’s Court Road: Bramham Gardens, Barkston Gardens, Courtfield Gardens and Wetherby Gardens.

Up and coming

West of Earl’s Court Road is generally cheaper.

Travel

Earl’s Court Tube station is on the District and Piccadilly lines in Zone 1 and an annual travelcard costs £1,364. West Brompton Tube, on the Wimbledon branch of the District line, is also on the Overground with trains to Clapham Junction and Stratford, and there are mainline trains to East Croydon and Watford Junction.

West Brompton is in Zone 2 and an annual travelcard to Zone 1 costs £1,364.

There are two useful commuter bus routes: the No 74 along Cromwell Road goes to Baker Street via Knightsbridge and the C1 along Old Brompton Road goes to Victoria via Knightsbridge and Sloane Square.

Council

Most of Earl’s Court is in Tory-controlled Kensington & Chelsea, where Band D council tax for 2018/2019 is £1,123.07. However, the western section of the Earl’s Court masterplan falls in to Labour-controlled Hammersmith & Fulham, with current Band D council tax of £1,022.04.

Shops and restaurants

Shopping is concentrated along Earl’s Court Road where there is a mix of chain stores, chain restaurants, nail bars and phone shops.

The eateries include KFC, Caffè Nero, McDonald’s, Nando’s, Costa Coffee, Zizzi, Franco Manca, Starbucks, Gourmet Burger Kitchen, Pret A Manger, Paul, Byron and M&S Food Hall.

A wander down Kenway Road and Hogarth Place is more fruitful. London’s expat Filipino community has opened two restaurants in Kenway Road: Lutong Pinoy and Kamayan.

Two long-standing outfits have survived in Hogarth Place: The Little French Restaurant and cellar wine bar Ashbee’s. And on the corner of Earl’s Court Road, Over Under Coffee is an independent coffee shop with an interesting café menu.

West Brompton Crossing, on Lillie Road, has The Prince pub with its outdoor terrace and four takeaway kiosks: Patty &Bun, Begging Bowl Canteen, Coqfighter and Foley’s. The Hoarder is a greengrocer and coffee shop with outside tables.

Open space

Except for residents of the private garden squares, Earl’s Court is short of open space.

The nearest significant park is Holland Park, a short walk for those who live at the Cromwell Road end of Earl’s Court. Brompton Cemetery on Old Brompton Road is a green oasis maintained by the Royal Parks; it is where suffragette leader Emmeline Pankhurst is buried and there is now a café – Café North Lodge - in the gatehouse.

Leisure and the arts

The Finborough Theatre in Finborough Road is a leading fringe theatre, showcasing new writing. The Earl’s Court Film Festival of short films takes place in various venues across the neighbourhood this year from October 26 to November 9.

The Troubadour is an iconic music venue on Old Brompton Road. Many giants of the Sixties music scene including Bob Dylan, Paul Simon and Jimi Hendrix played there. There is live music most evenings with jazz on Tuesdays and Sundays.

There are excellent state primary schools and three top Catholic comprehensive schools either in Earl’s Court or nearby.

Primary

The state primary schools judged to be “outstanding” by the Government’s education watchdog Ofsted are: Bousfield in South Bolton Gardens; Servite RC in Fulham Road; Our Lady of Victories RC in Clareville Street; St Barnabas & St Philip’s CofE in Earl’s Court Road; Ashburnham in Blantyre Street; and Oratory RC in Bury Walk.

Kensington Primary Academy in Warwick Road opened in 2016 and has not yet been inspected by Ofsted.

Comprehensive

The three top Catholic comprehensives are: The London Oratory (boys, ages seven to 18) in Seagrave Road; The Cardinal Vaughan (boys, ages 11 to 18) in Addison Road in Holland Park and Sacred Heart High (girls, ages 11 to 18) in Hammersmith Road in Hammersmith.

The other nearby comprehensives rated “outstanding” are: Chelsea Academy (co-ed, ages 11 to 18) in Lots Road; Holland Park (co-ed, ages 11 to 18) in Airlie Gardens in Holland Park; Lady Margaret CofE (girls, ages 11 to 18) in Parsons Green; Fulham Cross (girls, ages 11 to 16) in Munster Road in Fulham and St Thomas More RC (co-ed, ages 11 to 18) in Cadogan Street in Chelsea.

Private

Private schools are thick on the ground. The choice of private primary and preparatory schools is between: Wetherby Kensington (boys ages four to eight) in Wetherby Gardens which opened last year; Redcliffe (co-ed, ages three to 11) in Redcliffe Gardens; St Philip’s RC (boys, ages seven to 13) in Wetherby Place; Falkner House (co-ed, ages two to 11) in Brechin Place; Thomas’s Kensington (co-ed, ages five to 11) in Cottesmore Gardens; Eaton House Belgravia Prep (co-ed, ages two to 11) in Elvaston Place; Cameron House (co-ed, ages four to 11) in The Vale; Kensington Wade (co-ed, ages three to 11) in Warwick Road, which opened last year; The Hampshire School, Chelsea (co-ed, ages two to 13) in Manresa Road in Fulham; Holland Park Pre-Preparatory (co-ed, ages 0 to seven) in Holland Road; St James Junior (co-ed, ages four to 11) in Earsby Street and Knightsbridge (co-ed, ages two to 13) in Pont Street in Chelsea.

The all-through private schools are: Queen’s Gate (girls, ages four to 18) in Queen’s Gate; Lycée Français Charles de Gaulle (co-ed, ages three to 18) in Cromwell Road in South Kensington; Fulham Prep (co-ed, ages four to 18) in Greyhound Road in Fulham, which opened its senior school last year; Francis Holland (co-ed, ages four to 18) in Graham Terrace; Latymer Upper School (co-ed, ages seven to 18) in King Street in Hammersmith and St Paul’s School (boys, ages seven to 18) in Lonsdale Road in Barnes.

There are two top private girls’ secondary schools in Hammersmith: Godolphin & Latymer (ages 11 to 18) in Iffley Road and St Paul’s Girls’ (10 to 18) in Brook Green.

The other secondary schools are: Kensington Park (co-ed, day and boarding) in Queen’s Gate which opens to ages 11 to 18 this September and St James Senior (girls, ages 11 to 18) in Earsby Street in Olympia.

There are also tutorial colleges which specialise in getting pupils, often from overseas, through their GCSEs and A-levels. They are: Collingham (co-ed, ages 14 to 19) in Collingham Gardens; Mander Portman Woodward (co-ed, ages 14 to 20) in Queen’s Gate; Westminster Tutors (co-ed, ages 14 to 19) in Old Brompton Road; Chelsea Independent College (co-ed, day and boarding, ages 14 to 21) in Fulham Road and Ashbourne (co-ed, ages 13 to 21) in Old Court Place in Kensington.