Living in Walthamstow: area guide to homes, house prices, schools and transport links

Young families are flocking to E17’s great schools, good-value homes with gardens, quirky shops and green spaces.
Daniel Lynch
Anthea Masey8 February 2018

Only in Walthamstow would you find a firm of estate agents who ride around on branded bikes. Walthamstow is so hip that locals call it #awesomestow. It’s also where young Stoke Newington and Hackney families come looking for good primary schools and a house with a garden.

Not so long ago, buyers were only interested in Walthamstow Village a short walk east of the town centre, with its ancient church, quaint almshouses, a fine medieval timber-frame house, streets of pretty cottages and Orford Road’s independent shops. The rest of Walthamstow was considered rough around the edges.

These days it has caught up, says Andrew Goad from The Stow Brothers, the estate agents with the branded bikes. The restoration of Lloyd Park and the William Morris Gallery six years ago, coupled with some excellent primary schools, have made this part of E17 almost as popular as Walthamstow Village. “Walthamstow is changing,” says Goad. “I have lived here all my life and the demographic is getting younger.

The older generation is retiring and moving to Essex and people in their mid-twenties and early thirties are moving in, followed closely by better pubs, restaurants and independent shops.”

Walthamstow is 12 miles from central London with Chingford to the north; Epping Forest and Woodford to the east; Leyton and Leytonstone to the south and the Lea Valley and Tottenham to the west.

It’s in Zone 3 — but the Victoria line whisks commuters to the West End in no time and there are trains to Liverpool Street for the City.

Warner flats can be found throughout Walthamstow but there is a concentration near Lloyd Park and Pretoria Road (above; image by Daniel Lynch)
Daniel Lynch

THE PROPERTY SCENE
Housing stock in Walthamstow is mainly Victorian and Edwardian. A particular feature of the area are Victorian “Warner” purpose-built flats. They look like terrace houses but have two front doors — one for the upstairs flat and one for the downstairs flat — and each flat has its own garden.

Warner flats can be found throughout Walthamstow but there is a concentration near Lloyd Park. There are new flats in the town centre and the regenerating Blackhorse Lane area.

New homes in Walthamstow
Plans for 500 new homes and a redesigned town centre got the green light before Christmas. Developer Capital & Regional, which owns the shopping centre, proposes to build four tower blocks, including one of 29 storeys that will be the tallest in Waltham Forest by 14 storeys. Critics objected to there being only 20 per cent affordable homes.

On a site nearby, Solum, a joint venture between builders Kier and Network Rail, has launched Walthamstow Gateway (020 3296 2222), the second and final stage of its regeneration of Walthamstow Central Station, a development of 79 one and two bedroom flats which will be ready to move into in 2019; prices start at £405,000 for a one bedroom flat and £510,000 for a two bedroom flat.

In the Wood Street area, Feature17 is the new name of the regenerating Marlowe Road Estate, where the council and developer Countryside are demolishing 338 homes and building 436 new ones, with 246 for private sale, 150 for social rent and 40 for shared ownership. The first residents move in this summer and the scheme will complete by the end of 2024. From £371,000 for a one-bedroom flat. Call 020 3909 7088.

Eclipse is a Taylor Wimpey scheme of 499 one-, two- and three-bedroom flats in Blackhorse Lane. There are 91 now being sold off-plan, with people moving in at the end of the year. From £446,000 for a two-bedroom flat. Call 020 3780 3096.

Eclipse lies within the scope of the Blackhorse Lane Area Action Plan, where there are plans for a creative industries zone and up to 2,500 new homes. Legal & General is building 440 flats at Blackhorse Mills for private rent, while Telford Homes has permission for 337 new homes at Equipment Works in Forest Road, and Transport for London, Barratt Homes and housing association L&Q plan 350 homes opposite the station.

Close to St James Street station Crest Nicolson will be launching the Essex Brewery (020 3640 7577) in Brunner Road is launcein April. The development has 183 one, two and three bedroom flats of which 25 will be shared ownership; first residents will move in next summer.

Homes for first-time buyers in Walthamstow
Help to Buy is available at Feature17 (as before) and there are 18 shared-ownership flats in the current phase. Call Redloft on 020 7539 3745. Help to Buy is also available at Gainsford Road E17, with 45 one-bedroom flats south of Forest Road by micro flat specialist Pocket Living, which claims to sell at a 20 per cent discount to similar local homes. Prices start at £264,000. Call 020 8012 7829.

Renting in Walthamstow
Nathan Barrow, lettings manager at The Stow Brothers, says single professionals, couples and families rent locally and homes close to the station are prized. The two-bedroom Warner flats near Lloyd Park rent very easily at about £1,500 a month. Fizzy Living has acquired a block of 100 flats near Blackhorse Road Tube station and Legal & General plans 440 flats for private rent in the same area.

Staying power
Estate agent Andrew Goad of The Stow Brothers says many long-time locals, including his own father, lament the passing of the old Walthamstow and are moving out to Essex to retire. “However, many newcomers genuinely want to put down roots and no longer see Walthamstow as a staging post to somewhere else.”


Postcode
E17 is the Walthamstow postcode, with very little overspill into adjoining postcodes.

Best roads in Walthamstow
There are pretty cottages in Walthamstow Village in roads such as Beulah Road and Eden Road. Upper Walthamstow has large Edwardian houses that are in high demand. For example, there is a four-bedroom house for sale in Avon Road for £1.25 million and another in Beacontree Avenue for £950,000.

Up-and-coming areas
Andrew Goad tips the area around St James Street station at the end of Walthamstow High Street. The area has undergone a programme of public realm works including improvements to the shop fronts and there is a pocket of Warner flats — distinctive Victorian terrace flats — in the Leucha Road conservation area that are cheaper than those found in the Lloyd Park area.

Transport
Walthamstow Central and Blackhorse Road stations are at one end of the Victoria line so a seat in the morning rush hour is pretty much guaranteed. There are trains to Liverpool Street from Wood Street, Walthamstow Central and St James Street, while Blackhorse Road and Walthamstow Queen’s Road are on the Overground Gospel Oak to Barking line. Wood Street is in Zone 4 and an annual travelcard to Zone 1 costs £1,960. All other stations are in Zone 3 and an annual travelcard costs £1,600.

Council
Waltham Forest council is Labour controlled and Band D council tax in 2017/2018 is £1,537.99.

Lifestyle

Shops and restaurants
Walthamstow is reputed to have the longest market in Europe at about a kilometre, running almost the length of the High Street from the town centre to St James Street station. The Mall Walthamstow, a covered shopping centre in the town centre, has branches of supermarkets Asda and Lidl, plus Boots, Body Shop, Clarks, JD Sports and River Island, among others.
  

There has been explosion of independent shops, cafés and bars in Walthamstow Village along Orford Road and more recently along Hoe Street and Wood Street. Orford Road has been semi-pedestrianised as a part of a road closure programme that divided the community.

However, most of the shops and cafés seemed to have survived. Restaurant Eat17 is still there as is its associated Spar mini-supermarket next door which sells the restaurant’s famous bacon jam.

There is also a bakery, a delicatessen, a tapas bar and the East London Sausage Company. Knitwear designer Debbie Bliss has a homewares, accessories and babywear store here, Debbie Bliss Home.

Froth & Rind is a craft beer and cheese shop and café. The Nag’s Head is a favourite local pub. On the Ravenswood Industrial Estate nearby, God's Own Junkyard, London’s leading neon workshop, is a tourist attraction in its own right.

The Bell gastropub on the corner of Forest Road and Chingford Road, a local landmark, is the place to start a wander down Hoe Street towards the town centre. On the way there is The Italian Delicatessen, Yard Sale Pizza, Brioche Burger and, tucked away in Hatherley Mews, you’ll find Sodo Pizza Café.

Mirth, Marvel and Maud, in the former Granada cinema, has an interior by the famous set designer, Theodore Komisarjevsky (1882-1954). Locals fought hard to save it from being turned into a church; however, it now belongs to the Antic pub group and is being operated as a pub, restaurant and music venue. The future use of the magnificent Art Deco main auditorium remains uncertain.

Central Parade on the corner of Hoe Street and Church Hill is a small listed shopping parade built in the Festival of Britain style of the Fifties; today it houses co-working space, a bakery and café.

Two indoor markets are a feature of Wood Street — Wood Street Indoor Market and Georgian Village which house independent retailers selling everything from vintage clothing to vinyl records to antiques, and there is even a tea shop. Opposite is Mothers Hub, a children’s clothes and toy shop which puts on workshops for young parents.


Wood Street Coffee is an independent speciality coffee shop and brunch destination loved by laptop workers. It’s tucked away in Blackhorse Workshop, Sutherland Road Path, off Blackhorse Lane.

Open space
Walthamstow is blessed with plenty of open space, with Walthamstow Wetlands nature reserve and the Lea Valley to the west and Epping Forest to the east. Walthamstow Wetlands, on a series of Thames Water reservoirs, has a new visitors’ centre and café in the former Engine House, while the Coppermill Tower provides a viewing platform.

Lloyd Park, behind the William Morris Gallery in Forest Road, was restored in 2012. It now features a café, an outdoor gym, tennis courts, a play area, bowling greens, a pétanque court, outdoor table tennis tables and artists’ studios.

Leisure and the arts
William Morris Gallery is in the fine Georgian house in Forest Road where Morris, the radical Victorian designer, craftsman and socialist campaigner, lived from the ages of 14 to 22. Its collections celebrate his life and work.

Vestry House Museum in Vestry Road, Walthamstow Village, contains themed displays capturing the unique heritage of the local area. The building used to house the parish workhouse, and was later a police station and then a private home. It now features the Bremer car, the first internal combustion engine car, made by Frederick Bremer in a workshop behind his house in Connaught Road, Walthamstow.

The Empire is a nine-screen multiplex cinema in the High Street. Stow Film Lounge is a portable cinema with a programme of films showing either at Centre17 in Church Hill or at Mirth, Marvel and Maud.

The local council-run swimming pool is at Waltham Forest Feel Good Centre in Chingford Road. The Community Pool at Waltham Forest College in Forest Road is also open to the public.

Schools

All but two of Walthamstow’s primary schools get an Ofsted rating of “good” or better. Rated “outstanding” are: Greenleaf in Greenleaf Road; St Mary’s CofE in Brooke Road, and Woodside Primary Academy in Wood Street. The Winns in Fleeming Road and Henry Maynard in Maynard Road are also very popular. Walthamstow Primary Academy opened as a Free School in Billet Road in 2015 and has not yet been inspected by the education watchdog.

The picture is a bit patchy when it comes to choosing a secondary school, although estate agent Andrew Goad feels that with the influx of families who want to stay in the area, it is only a matter of time before this starts to improve. Eden Girls’ School, a Muslim state Free School (ages 11 to 18) in Blackhorse Lane, is the only local state comprehensive school rated “outstanding”. Rated “good” are: Walthamstow School for Girls (ages 11 to 16) in Church Hill; Kelmscott (co-ed, ages 11 to 18) in Markhouse Road, and Walthamstow Academy (co-ed, ages 11 to 18) in Billet Road. Leyton Sixth Form College (co-ed, ages 16 to 18) in Essex Road is judged “good”.

Big Creative Academy (co-ed, ages 16 to 18) in Clifton Avenue, is a Free School sixth form with a “good” Ofsted report, providing courses and apprenticeships in music, media, gaming, events management, film and TV and performing arts.

There are few local private schools. Walthamstow Montessori School (co-ed, ages three to 11) in Penryhn Avenue is the only private primary school. Forest School (co-ed, ages four to 18) in College Place in nearby Snaresbrook on the edge of Epping Forest is a private all-through school with single-sex education between the ages of seven and 16.