Rare Help to Buy flats near Clapham Common: Thirties office block converted into 41 flats in popular Abbeville Village

Two tribes flock to Clapham — young singles with City and West End jobs, and couples buying large family houses.

Twenty-somethings like the bars, gyms, the cinema and the Tube links, while yummy mummies gravitate towards the Old Town, with its pond, paddling pool, child-friendly cafés, boutiques and gift shops. The 220-acre, amenity-rich common is loved by all.

Though the district was a historic byword for ordinariness — “the man on the Clapham omnibus” — it has for a long time been individual and aspiring.

Abbeville Village, just east of the common, is known as a family enclave.

This grid of Victorian terrace streets bordering Clapham Park, originally laid out by Thomas Cubitt, of Belgravia fame, “arrived” in the Eighties.

What was a humdrum suburban parade is now a lively neighbourhood hub with a Ginger Pig butchers and fromagerie, designer shops, bistros and nursery schools.

Unusually, a new scheme of small flats has been slotted into this patch. Called Abbeville Place, it brings 41 one- and two-bedroom homes, converted from a Thirties office building, now gated with some landscaping.

Inspired Homes is the builder. Prices start at £425,000 and, with Help to Buy available, the required minimum deposit is £21,250.

Typical mortgage payments would be less than £900 a month. Call 020 8688 6552.