Regeneration

The Times

December 15, 2002

London: Shops that sell houses

House prices rise when a trendy shop, pub or restaurant opens nearby, says Oliver Bennett

We know that Londoners move house to be near good schools, parks, bus routes, Tube stations and ageing relatives. What is less well known is the magnetic effect of some shops, pubs and restaurants.

These neighbourhood honeypots may not directly add thousands to your property price, but their presence can enhance the desirability of the area you live in, pushing up prices indirectly. They may even lure buyers into choosing a district. Novelist Nick Hornby moved to be near Arsenal football ground, and Nigel Slater, the food writer, moved to be near his favourite delicatessen in Highbury.

The Anglo-Anatolian Turkish restaurant in Stoke Newington Church Street was certainly part of the attraction for architect Jonathan Darke, of SEF architects in Islington, when he decided to move to Stoke Newington. “We could definitely see ourselves going for nice Sunday evening meals there and our decision followed,” says Darke.

Lynn Brooks, of Brooks estate agent, says the difference in price between a house near the shops and restaurants of Church Street and one further away could be “between £10,000 and £20,000”. The price of one of Stoke Newington’s three-bedroom houses, which cost upwards of £350,000 close to the high street, could dip to £330,000 in the roads leading down towards bleaker Dalston Junction.

Textile designer Maureen O’Connell plumped for Islington on the basis of a favourite stop-off.

“I used to cycle through Islington, and stopped every day at Bliss patisserie, close to Angel, for a coffee and a croissant. I decided to move round there,” she says.

Every neighbourhood needs a focus, which is often provided by a keynote shop or bar. “We call it the ‘pint of milk’ factor,” says Pascal Levine, of London Residential Research. “If you have to drive 30 minutes for basic groceries, or for a nice place to go for a meal and drink, why live in that area? Londoners like urban village life, which is often built around shops and good pubs.”

He cites the area around Amwell Street in south Islington as a classic example. “It’s got a deli, a cafe, a good paper shop and a good pub. It’s the quintessential London neighbourhood, and people want to move there because of its amenities.”

Adam Wolfryd, of estate agent Felicity Lord, which has an office in Clerkenwell, agrees: “Prices are about 15% higher in the Amwell Street area than they are closer to King’s Cross, which doesn’t have that village feel.”

Property developers and house-builders, always on the lookout for an “X-factor”, realise the attraction of neighbourhood shops. “The developer St George has worked hard to bring Marks & Spencer into a development near the Imperial War Museum in Kennington,” says Levine.

“It’s a good idea, otherwise buyers might feel a bit bereft by the lack of shops, and possibly not move there.”

But it’s not just the big shops that can swing a sale. Waterloo’s pulling power may have been sealed by the Eurostar terminal, but the Konditor & Cook bakers on the corner of Cornwall Road and Roupell Street has become a vital local resource.

Several people have told proprietor Gerhard Jenne that they moved to be near his shop. And Jenne faces up to his responsibility as a neighbourhood focus. “People leave their keys with me, and even come to me first if they’ve got a flat to rent,” he says. “It’s lovely, as you have local trust and you know what’s going on in the area.”

As if to illustrate the importance of local shops, London Residential Research divides London into three location types: “frontier”, without infrastructure; “established but immature”, with housing but little infrastructure or community presence; and “mature”, such as Hampstead and Islington, stuffed to the gills with places to eat, drink and shop.

Much of Hackney falls into the second category, but the Prince George pub at London Fields is one of those neighbourhood-defining places. “There’s definitely a ‘George’ factor in that part of London Fields,” says Jonathan Myers, of Bennett-Walden estate agent in Dalston. “It’s on the corner of Parkholme Road, which is the most expensive road in the area.”

Bennett-Walden recently sold a house on Parkholme Road for £490,000, a price that contrasts with about £350,000-£400,000 for similar homes in less attractive parts of London Fields. Similar boozers with personality include the Shakespeare in Stoke Newington and the Approach Tavern in Bethnal Green.

But the lure doesn’t have to be alcoholic — it could be as humble as a hardware store. In Clapham, the much-loved Treohans of Abbeville Road, and Dechardom’s hardware shop in St John’s Hill (recently lauded by the actor Prunella Scales, who lives in Clapham, as her favourite shop) both have firm fan bases.

Sometimes, it takes just one shop or pub to establish confidence in an area. Take Clerkenwell, transformed in the past decade from urban dust bowl to vibrant hot spot.

“The Eagle pub on Farringdon Road was the place people would always mention when they moved into the area,” says Richard Darwin, of loft agency Urban Spaces. “Now the area’s established, it’s moved on: I’m getting more clients who are interested in being near Smiths of Smithfields (a New York-style bar that packs out for Sunday brunch).”

As for the equally fashionable Shoreditch/Hoxton district, Darwin cites the Bricklayer’s Arms and the Canteloupe bar. “I’d say they were instrumental in helping the area gain the cachet it now enjoys.”

Stephen Codner, of Oliver’s estate agent in Kentish Town Road, Camden, says buyers like to know about special neighbourhood places. In Kentish Town, the Pineapple pub on Leverton Street is a draw, he says. “People come to it from miles around. And Mehmet’s corner shop, also in Leverton Street, is amazing. You get all sorts in there, including Jon Snow of Channel 4 News.”

The pastel, two-bedroom cottages on Leverton Street sell for £450,000- £500,000, compared with the less popular St Leonard’s Square, where Oliver’s has a house on at £389,950.

Meanwhile, over in the southern end of Camden Town, it is an unassuming Portuguese delicatessen on Delancey Street, called Delancey Stores, that is the chief lure. “The local residents, including Julian Clary, who lives on Delancey Street, love it,” says Codner.

The process of gentrification often starts with an attractive shop, which creates the confidence that leads to a boost in the local housing market.

Nick Goble, of Winkworth in Clapham, says: “What matters is having a thriving high street, such as Northcote Road. It has restaurants, a market, gift shops, children’s shops — the lot. People are attracted to that.”

So, if you want the house prices in an area to go up, urge an entrepreneur to start a patisserie. From small croissants flourishing neighbourhoods grow.

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