Buying a flat in Deptford: flats for first-time buyers, artist studios and high street makeover for fast-changing hipster hotspot

A renaissance is under way in Deptford thanks to a high street makeover and a transformed railway station.
A new micro neighbourhood: the former Deptford trading estate now includes 85 artist studios
Billy Bolton
David Spittles24 September 2019

Deptford’s impressive history is unrecognised by many of the hipsters who’ve recently landed in the fast-improving district.

Henry VIII put the area on the map in 1513 when he established his first royal dockyard there.

It was the place where the king’s flagship Mary Rose and the Golden Hind were built; where Francis Drake was knighted by Elizabeth I and where Peter the Great of Russia spent three months learning the art of shipbuilding in 1698 — about the same time as Samuel Pepys visited the dockyard in his capacity as clerk to the Navy Board.

Much of Deptford was destroyed during the Blitz, and it drifted into gritty inner-city decline.

But a renaissance is under way, spearheaded by a high street makeover and a transformed railway station, the capital’s oldest, whose splendid arches have been converted into artisan food and drink premises.

It’s a six-minute hop on the train to London Bridge.

Cobalt Tower is a new high-rise block with 56 flats part of a new micro neighbourhood that was formerly a trading estate and now includes 85 artist studios.

Prices start at £395,000. Help to Buy is available. Call Anthology on 020 7526 9229.

From £395,000: Cobalt Tower is a new high-rise block with 56 flats
Billy Bolton

Nearby is The Timberyard, a larger scheme of 1,132 homes, 60 of which are for sale on a shared-ownership basis.

One-bedroom flats start at £101,250 for a 25 per cent share. Four-bedroom houses cost from £203,750 (full price, £815,000). Call L&Q on 0300 456 9997.

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