Living on the Isle of Dogs: area guide to homes, schools and transport links

Locals call it “The Island” and with only two road routes in and out, you can see why. The Isle of Dogs in east London occupies the largest loop in the Thames and despite years of development and with the gleaming towers of Canary Wharf on its northern boundary, it remains proud of its working-class Docklands roots.

Estate agent Tushar Wadhwani of Chestertons says people whose families have lived locally for generations mix well with newcomers who work in Canary Wharf. “Couples used to move out once they had children. With the schools improving, now they are increasingly staying.”

Two iconic views define the Isle of Dogs — the rural scene of grazing cows and sheep at Mudchute Park and Farm set against the backdrop of Canary Wharf skyscrapers, and the grand, classical panorama of the Old Royal Naval College across the river in Greenwich to the south.

Initially earmarked for a high-rise estate, the park site was saved as open space by the local community in the Seventies. A working farm emerged, now run by a charity, with riding stables, cows, pigs, goats, llamas, alpacas, chickens, ducks and geese.

A moving spirit behind Mudchute Park and Farm was Dr Michael Barraclough, who lives on the Isle of Dogs. He also pioneered a self-build scheme in the mid-Eighties of 89 homes for locals in Maconochies Wharf off Westferry Road, by architects Stout & Litchfield.

Development on the Isle of Dogs was historically a mix of low-rise estates of houses and flats with a few warehouse conversions but a new wave of residential towers, including some of the tallest in the country, are rising in Marsh Wall, the road dividing the Isle and Canary Wharf.

First was Pan Peninsula, Ballymore’s towers of 48 and 38 storeys, in 2009. Baltimore Tower followed, its twisting floors overlooking Millwall Inner Dock.

Now Berkeley Group is building 1,338 flats in South Quay Plaza; EcoWorld Ballymore has 764 flats at Wardian; Galliard is selling 642 new homes at Harbour Central; LBS Properties has 423 flats at The Madison, and Chalegrove Properties’ Landmark Pinnacle offers 984 homes.

The most southerly point of the Isle of Dogs is five miles south-east of central London with Canary Wharf to the north. Across the Thames, there’s Greenwich Peninsula to the east; Greenwich to the south and Canada Water and Rotherhithe to the west.

The property scene

Homes on the Isle of Dogs range from Twenties dockers’ cottages to Victorian terraces in Coldharbour and Mellish Street; estates of social housing to Eighties and Nineties low-rise riverside schemes; a few warehouse conversions such as Burrells Wharf, and now thousands of new flats in shiny towers are being built close to Canary Wharf.

What's new?

The Berkeley Group is building South Quay Plaza, with studios at £820,000; one-bedroom flats at £920,000; two-bedroom flats at £1,255,000 and three-bedroom flats at £1,635,000 million. Sales are off-plan for completion in 2021. Call 020 3468 7975.

Also on Marsh Wall but at its western end near Westferry Road, EcoWorld Ballymore is building Wardian in two towers, one 50 storeys and the other 55 storeys, named after the Victorian glass cases used to transport rare plants across the globe.

Studios start at £623,000, with one-bedroom flats at £726,000 and two-bedroom flats at £980,000. Call 020 7436 1222 (wardianlondon.com).

Harbour Central is a Galliard Homes scheme in five buildings including the 42-storey Maine Tower in Mastmaker Road off Marsh Wall. One-bedroom flats start at £725,000, with two-bedroom flats at £1.1 million and three-bedroom flats at £1.2 million. Sales are off-plan for completion in 2020. Call 020 7620 1500.

The Madison in Meridian Place off Marsh Wall is a 53-storey block with studios at £589,000, one-bedroom flats at £765,000, two-bedroom flats at £973,000, three-bedroom flats at £1,418,000 and penthouses priced £1,733,000, for completion mid-2020. Call JLL on 020 3797 4529 (themadison.co.uk).

Affordable homes

Housing association Network Homes is putting the finishing touches to shared-ownership one-, two- and three-bedroom flats with balconies in Millharbour overlooking Millwall Inner Dock.

Prices start at £236,000 for a 40 per cent share of a one-bedroom flat with a market value of £590,000.

Two-bedroom flats start at £195,000 for 30 per cent of a flat worth £650,000 and three-bedroom flats start at £210,000 for 25 per cent of a home worth £840,000. Call 020 7704 5618.

Renting

Canary Wharf workers rent one-bedroom flats and there’s demand for family-size rentals of a year or two from Canary Wharf financial firms for staff from overseas.

Staying power

Local Chestertons agent Tushar Wadhwani says there is a perception that the Isle of Dogs is quiet, verging on dead. “That might have been so 10 years ago but when people come and look for themselves they see that’s no longer the case. The opening of a new secondary school run by the team behind the very popular Canary Wharf College primary school is providing an incentive for families to stay in the area.”

Postcode

The Isle of Dogs is in the E14 postcode which includes Poplar, Limehouse and Canary Wharf.

Best roads

"It is more a question of best new developments”, says Tushar Wadhwani. “Pan Peninsula on Marsh Wall is now nearly 10 years old but still sets the standard, and I also rate Baltimore Wharf overlooking Millwall Inner Basin.”

Up and coming

According to Tushar Wadhwani the low-rise riverside flats and houses built in the Eighties and Nineties represent good value. “I am currently selling a one-bedroom riverside flat in Cumberland Mills for £320,000, which is good value for Zone 2.”

Transport

The Isle of Dogs is on the Docklands Light Railway with stations at South Quay, Crossharbour, Mudchute and Island Gardens and trains to Canary Wharf, Bank and Tower Gateway.

Crossrail arrives at Canary Wharf next year, cutting journey times to the West End, Paddington and Heathrow. All stations are in Zone 2. An annual travelcard to Zone 1 costs £1,364.

Council

Tower Hamlets council is Labour controlled. Band D council tax in 2018/2019 is £1,280.37.

Shops and restaurants

There is a large Asda supermarket in East Ferry Road and the Canary Wharf shopping centre is close by.

There are street food stalls in South Quay Walk overlooking South Dock close to South Quay Plaza. Havaz, a Turkish deli and restaurant, is on the same pedestrian way. Goodman is a steak house in South Quay.

On Marsh Wall, Lemon Grass Kitchen has long queues at lunchtime for its southeast Asian takeaways. Capeesh is a fine dining Italian restaurant at the bottom of Pan Peninsula residential scheme, with a Sky Bar and lounge on the 48th floor for cocktails.

Millwall Inner Dock off Harbour Exchange Square has lunchtime sandwich shops and there’s a new jazz bar and restaurant, Jazzgir, in the square from the team behind Turkish restaurant Kilikya Canary Wharf in Mastmaker Road.

Further along Millwall Dock, Lotus is a long-standing floating Chinese restaurant and a branch of Tas, the Turkish chain of restaurants, is coming soon to Baltimore Wharf.

Two restaurants with river views are Kinkao, a Thai restaurant in St David’s Square, and Memsaheb on Thames, reputedly celebrity cook Delia Smith’s favourite Indian restaurant, in Amsterdam Road.

Open space

Mudchute Park and Farm is 32 acres of rural England in an urban setting, created on the spoil tips from the building and dredging at Millwall Dock. Sir John McDougal Gardens in Westferry Road has a newly installed outdoor gym.

The Thames Path, running round the edge of the Isle of Dogs, is popular with lunchtime runners.

Leisure and the arts

The Space in Westferry Road, the local performing arts and community centre, was built in a converted church. There are two cinemas in Canary Wharf: a Cineworld at West India Quay and an Everyman in Crossrail Place.

Primary schools

The two state primary schools with an “outstanding” Ofsted rating are Canary Wharf College in East Ferry Road and Canary Wharf College Glenworth in Saunders Ness Road.

All the other local primaries get a “good” rating. They are: Cubitt Town infants and junior schools in Manchester Road; Seven Mills in Malabar Street; Arnhem Wharf in Arnhem Place; St Edmund’s RC in Westferry Road; Harbinger in Cahir Street and St Luke’s CofE in Saunders Ness Road.

Comprehensive

The long-standing comprehensive school, George Green’s (co-ed, ages 11 to 18) in Manchester Road is judged to be “good”.

Canary Wharf College Crossharbour (co-ed, ages 11 to 18) in Selsdon Way is a new Free School that opened in September 2016 and has not yet been inspected by Ofsted.

Private

The only local private school is River House Montessori (co-ed, ages three to 16) in Millharbour.