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

The south-east London neighbourhood of East Dulwich is living proof that places can thrive without being connected to the Underground network.

This popular place pulls in young families in their droves, attracted by one of the most interesting and varied shopping streets in south London and frequent rush-hour trains to London Bridge that take just 15 minutes.

Add to the mix a much-needed new comprehensive school being built on the Dulwich Hospital site in East Dulwich Road and a new Picturehouse cinema in Lordship Lane, and there is now no reason to leave.

Caught between ever-so-hip Peckham and stuffy Dulwich Village, East Dulwich is five miles south-east of central London.

This location has enabled the high street along Lordship Lane to develop its own individual character with only a handful of chain stores and lots of independent shops, cafés and restaurants.

Estate agent Paul Bent of the local branch of Kinleigh Folkard & Hayward describes East Dulwich as a hidden gem, very community-centric and family focused with amazing schools.

“It feels like the kind of place where you could still leave the back door open and your neighbour would look out for you,” he says. “It feels separate from the frantic pace of London with a slower, more relaxed way of life.”

He says families are selling flats in more expensive areas such as Clapham and Wandsworth because they can get better value for money in East Dulwich. There are also locals trading up to larger houses.

“I have noticed recently that more buyers are coming from the City with large budgets. This is a new trend,” he explains.

The property scene

East Dulwich has streets of mainly three- and four-bedroom Victorian houses. There are larger detached early-Victorian houses overlooking Peckham Rye and late-Victorian three-storey terrace houses in The Gardens conservation area, a garden square off Peckham Rye, and large Edwardian detached houses in the Honor Oak Rise conservation area.

The most expensive house currently for sale is a seven-bedroom, 4,500sq ft double-fronted detached house in Mundania Road on sale for £2.5 million. Three-bedroom Victorian terrace houses start at around £800,000.

Dawson Heights is a hilltop estate of social housing off Overhill Road. There are nearly 300 flats and a three-bedroom renovated “right-to-buy” duplex is on sale for £399,000.

What's new?

The largest development is The Tribeca (thetribeca.co.uk; call Jackson-Stops on 020 7664 6649 or Haart on 020 8299 3728) in Crystal Palace Road. This scheme has 18 one-, two- and three-bedroom flats and four three-bedroom houses.

One-bedroom flats start at £480,000 with two-bedroom flats at £599,950 and three-bedroom flats at £795,000. The houses start at £1,275,000. Move in by Christmas.

Grove Vale (Caddington Blue 020 7407 6033) is a development of 20 one-, two- and three-bedroom flats that will be ready to move into in April next year. One-bed flats start at £450,000; two-bed flats at £590,000 and three-bedroom flats at £725,000.

Affordable homes

Help to Buy is available at Tribeca.Housing association Metropolitan has 22 shared-ownership flats available at Rye Green (020 3535 2555) in Copeland Road in nearby Peckham.

One-bedroom flats start at £118,500 for a 30 per cent share in a flat with a market price of £395,000. Monthly costs are estimated at £1,568 (rent £634, service charge £378 and estimated mortgage of £556).

Renting

Lettings manager Roxanne Johnson from the local branch of Kinleigh Folkard & Hayward says most of her lettings are to families who come for the schools. They can expect to pay about £2,000 a month for a three-bedroom house and up to £4,000 a month for a five-bedroom house.

Staying power

Unless they are planning a life-changing move to the country, these days people definitely stay in East Dulwich.

Postcode

SE22 is the East Dulwich postcode.

Best roads

Marmora, Mundania and Therapia Roads, (named after Crimean war sites) in the Honor Oak Rise conservation area. The roads close to the new Charter school are also popular, roads such as Ashbourne Grove, Melbourne Grove and Elsie Road where there are pretty semi-detached Victoria houses.

Up and coming

The triangle where Lordship Lane meets Barry Road, including Heber Road, Silvester Road, Thompson Road and Landell Road, where there are smaller Victorian terrace houses, is increasingly popular.

Transport

East Dulwich station has frequent rush-hour trains to London Bridge which take around 15 minutes. There are also three useful commuter buses: the 40 to Aldgate via London Bridge; the 176 to Tottenham Court Road via Waterloo and Trafalgar Square; and the 185 to Victoria. East Dulwich is in Zone 2 and an annual travelcard to Zone 1 is £1,296.

Council

Southwark (Labour-controlled); Band D council tax in 2017/2018: £1,256.82.

Shops and restaurants

East Dulwich has a busy high street which stretches out along Lordship Lane and up Northcross Road, where there is a mix of chain shops such as Sweaty Betty, Oliver Bonas, White Stuff, M&S Food and the Co-op and independent shops, including two cheese shops, Cheese Block and Mons Cheesemongers; a fishmonger, Moxon’s; a butcher William Rose; several flower shops including Pearspring with a selection of fashionable succulent plants; general store A J Farmer selling useful things such as buckets and mops; lifestyle store Mrs Robinson selling women’s fashion alongside furniture and home accessories, and Brick House Bakery in Zenovia Street, a sourdough bakery that runs bakery classes and a popular day-time café.

Northcross Road has Mac & Miller, which sells men’s and women’s fashion, home accessories and beauty products, and Rigby & Mac, which sells home accessories and Annie Sloane chalk paints.

On Lordship Lane the two foodie restaurants are The Palmerston pub and Franklins, which also runs a farm shop. West End wine bar Terroirs is opening soon.

There is a large branch of Sainsbury’s on Dog Kennel Hill.

Open space

East Dulwich is caught between two large parks: Dulwich Park and Peckham Rye. Dulwich Park is jam-packed with facilities including a boating lake with pedalos and rowing boats, a café, vegetable beds, a bowling green, outdoor gym and table tennis tables.

Peckham Rye Park and Common is a newly restored Victorian park and historic common where as a child the poet William Blake had a vision of angels in a tree. The park has a café, an adventure play area, the Sexby Garden — a formal garden with a rose pergola — a Japanese garden, a skate park and an outdoor gym.

At the northern end of Lordship Lane, Goose Green is an open space with a popular playground.

The centre for Wildlife Gardening is an award-winning wildlife garden and visitor centre in Marsden Road run by the London Wildlife Trust.

Leisure and the arts

East Dulwich now has a Picturehouse cinema in Lordship Lane. The East Dulwich Tavern — known locally as the EDT — puts on films, comedy and swing sessions.

The Dulwich Leisure Centre in Crystal Palace Road, with its beautifully-restored Victorian swimming pool, is the local council-owned swimming pool.

Primary school

For parents opting for state education there are plenty of options, too. All but one of the local state primary schools are judged to be “good” or better by the Government’s education watchdog Ofsted. Harris Primary in Lordship Lane is judged to be “outstanding”; St John’s & St Clement’s CofE in Adys Road; Heber in Heber Road; Dog Kennel Hill in Dog Kennel Hill; Bellenden in Reedham Street; St Anthony’s RC in Etherow Street; Rye Oak in Whorlton Road and Goodrich in Dunstans Road are all judged to be “good”.

Judith Kerr in Half Moon Lane in Herne Hill is a state German and English bilingual school; it is also judged to be “good”. Belham is a new primary Free School in Bellenden Road, which opened in September 2015 and has not yet been inspected by Ofsted.

Comprehensive

The following state comprehensive schools get the five-star “outstanding” rating: Harris Boys’ Academy (ages 11 to 18) in Peckham Rye; The Charter School (co-ed, ages 11 to 18) in Red Post Hill; Harris Girls’ Academy (ages 11 to 18) in Homestall Road; and St Thomas the Apostle RC (boys, ages 11 to 18) in Hollydale Road. Judged to be “good” is Harris Academy Peckham (co-ed, ages 11 to 18) in Peckham Road.

Charter School East Dulwich is a new state comprehensive school which opened in September last year. Housed temporarily in Southampton Way in Peckham, it will move to its new premises on the Dulwich Hospital site in East Dulwich Grove in January 2019.

Private

East Dulwich is close to the three well-regarded private schools in Dulwich: Alleyn’s (co-ed, ages four to 18) in Townley Road; James Allen’s Girls’ (ages, four to 18) in East Dulwich Grove and Dulwich College (co-ed, ages six months to age seven, boys, ages eight to 18), a day and boarding school in Dulwich Common.