Back in fashion: Londoners find homes twice as big for a fraction of the price in the capital's reviving neighbourhoods

Nowhere in London is “undiscovered” — yet areas are continually being rediscovered by new generations of young home buyers and renters.

With the capital’s property market now settling down after a decade of dynamic change and dramatic price swings, areas that had slipped under the radar after their first bloom are swinging back into fashion, boosted by a fresh wave of regeneration and providing choices for new buyers.

Getting more for your money is a mission for most buyers. Families in particular have to juggle a lot of factors when making quality-of-life judgments about where to live.

The perfect combination is a manageable commute and a good-value home near an easy school run, with access to green spaces. For some, the search focuses on cheaper areas within London; for others the best option is to move further out into the suburbs.

However, research reveals that long-distance relocation is not always necessary, as there are more affordable areas closer to the centre of the capital than today’s buyers might expect.

HIDING UNDER THE RADAR

​Tufnell Park, just north of the Islington heartland of gentrified terraces, is one such location. Willesden, in north-west London, and Nunhead in south-east London, are also good places to search — relatively affordable inner-city areas on the up.

Heading south and over the river, once an uncommon move, is another market trend, according to London-wide estate agent Winkworth. The main flows are from north and west London to south London, where family houses are significantly cheaper and new Overground stations are revitalising areas such as Brockley and Sydenham.

Buyers are realising they can get a property twice as big for perhaps half the price and still get to work quickly. One hot address is Telegraph Hill, postcode SE14, where large Victorian houses priced up to £1.6 million are attracting City workers, doctors and lawyers from other parts of London. The commute to London Bridge is six minutes. Houses with the same floorspace in Fulham, for example, would cost £3 million-plus.

WAPPING: THE COMEBACK KID

Wapping and Rotherhithe glare at each other across the Thames, close to Tower Bridge. It was here, 35 years ago, that the first wave of post-docks redevelopment kicked off.

Both areas had a historic core of handsome wharves, cobbled lanes and famous inns, soon to be joined by fancy new waterfront apartments.

Indeed, in the Eighties, Wapping was the place to be in the capital for warehouse and riverside living. But as time and London moved on, Wapping was left behind.

The promised restaurant and retail scene failed to materialise and the area fell into quiet isolation as developers followed the money and shifted their attention to Isle of Dogs, where land was cheap and plentiful.

Closure of the local Tube station for the Overground upgrade was another negative. But the station’s reopening has put Wapping back in the spotlight.

The game-changer is London Dock, a new 1,800-home quarter that also brings the vital shops, bars and eateries — 30 in total. It has been built on the site of a 15-acre fenced compound that was the scene of the epic News International industrial dispute which cast a shadow over the area for three decades.

“For locals, the old printworks was like having Wormwood Scrubs prison on their doorstep,” says James Hyman of estate agent Cluttons.

The site has been opened up and European-style piazzas created. And in addition to new apartment blocks, listed vaults and warehouses, covered up for generations, are being restored for artists studios, galleries and boutiques.

At Cashmere Wharf, the latest phase of homes, prices start at £789,000. Call 020 7971 7880.

Niche developers have also found a renewed appetite in Wapping. Red Lion Court sits back from the cobbled high street alongside a small park and is the first warehouse conversion for more than a decade.

The former grain store now has 22 smart flats, including penthouses with full-height glass walls and a roof terrace. Prices range from £550,000 to £1.4 million.

Wapping starts at Tower Bridge and runs east to Shadwell Basin, where a Victorian pumping station is to be revived as a cultural hub and restaurant.

“The area has been overlooked because many people think it is the East End or Docklands whereas in fact it is City fringe,” says Cluttons’ James Hyman. “It’s one of the last remaining affordable areas of central London.”

Prices are highest in west Wapping, where actress Helen Mirren, ex-politician David Mellor and TV celebrity Graham Norton have homes, and at St Katharine Docks, a superb Georgian estate with flats, marina and waterside bars and restaurants.

Across the river at Shad Thames, another enclave of original warehouses, prices are 20 per cent higher. Ronald and Giorgia Bonasia moved from Shad Thames to Wapping seven years ago.

“Originally it was to release equity for a new business,” explains Ronald. “We weren’t so familiar with Wapping, but it soon dawned on us that this was a great place to put down roots.”

The couple have moved home once already and are soon to trade up to a bigger riverside apartment as they are now a family, with a four-year-old son called Sebastian.

They work in Wapping, too, owning the Cinnamon Coffee Shop and The Turk’s Head bistro, which they took over two years ago.

“It was one of the oldest pubs in London but had its alcohol licence removed many years ago and the building was dead on its feet. It’s now a real neighbourhood hub, buzzing with families.

“We love the tranquillity of Wapping, especially at weekends. It has an intimate feel and lots of character.”

ROTHERHITHE

In south-east London, a second wave of regeneration is boosting Rotherhithe’s fortunes by creating a lively new zone around Canada Water, a key midway point on the Jubilee line between Canary Wharf and Bond Street, and also an interchange for the Overground.

Property giant British Land is building a new town centre with 3,500 homes, a shopping precinct and a campus for King’s College London. Developer Sellar, whose Shard is a short hop away, together with Notting Hill Housing are already on site with a 1,046-home project designed by international architect David Chipperfield.

A planned pedestrian and cycle bridge across the river to Canary Wharf is another key upgrade. Estate agent Knight Frank predicts the area will get a 30 per cent price boost between now and 2022, when many of the new homes will come on stream. Flats at Quebec Quarter have views of the river and Russian Dock Woodland. Prices from £495,000. Call 0333 0336633.

Historic St Marychurch Street, in a cobbled conservation area from where the Pilgrim Fathers set sail to North America in 1620, is arguably Rotherhithe’s best address.

Back from the river are newer, less beautiful apartment schemes and estates of townhouses, built in the Nineties when planners were not as concerned about urban architecture being of lasting quality.

The eastern side of Rotherhithe Peninsula, bordering Deptford, has a different feel. Much of this area was demolished and infilled when the docks closed in 1970. After a hiatus, builders are back, snapping up the remaining industrial estates and car breakers yards.

The Timberyard is one of the bigger new developments with more than 1,000 homes. Prices from £559,000. Call 020 7231 1066.