Back to the future: new homes in London's listed docks, ancient breweries and historic film studios for first-time buyers

First-time buyers get in on the action as the capital's historic landmarks provide spaces for new homes
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Anna White8 May 2018

Character-packed buildings, the legacy of past London industries, are perfect for conversion into new homes.

First-time buyers are seizing the chance to live at listed sites where ale was brewed for 500 years, or where silk and spices were unloaded at medieval docks.

MARITIME MAJESTY

Wapping: from Wapping in E1 to the Royal Docks near London City airport in E16, the Thames banks form one continuous stretch of transformation as developers build on the last great swathe of derelict docklands.

The London Dock scheme by St George in Wapping, between St Katharine Docks and Grade I-listed Tobacco Dock, is bringing 1,800 homes including 486 for shared ownership and at a discounted market rate (berkeleygroup.co.uk).

London Dock, St. George, Wapping
stgeorge2.visualbank.co.uk

In recent history London Dock was famous for the Wapping print workers dispute of the Eighties but its industrial heritage goes back much further.

A Saxon riverside village grew into one of the world’s busiest waterfronts here, and by 1798 plans were drawn up to build secure, enclosed warehouses.

Over the 20th century, sailing ships were replaced by steamers, too big for Wapping’s narrow locks, and in 1969 the docks were closed.

Canning Town: four miles upriver on the old Leamouth Peninsula, next to Canning Town Tube, Ballymore is building 804 new homes priced from £563,000 at Goodluck Hope (goodluckhope.com).

Cargo ships were unloaded here as far back as 1297 and it was a manufacturing hub for glassware and barrels in the Victorian era. It’s home to London’s only remaining lighthouse, now an arts and performance space.

Woolwich: you could call a Grade II-listed building home in Woolwich, at Royal Arsenal Riverside where Berkeley just launched two of the oldest buildings on the site.

Once cannon factories, they date back to 1696 and are now being converted into eight flats as part of Pavilion Square.

Homes are available through the Discount Market Sale programme, allowing buyers who either live or work in the Royal Borough of Greenwich to buy at 20 per cent below open-market value.

The Manhattan apartments in Pavilion Square are now available from £320,000 including discount. With Help to Buy, a minimum deposit of only five per cent is required.

One-bedroom flats with a balcony in Pavilion Square can be had for £480,000. Once finished, the whole site will offer 5,000 homes.

BRITAIN'S OLDEST BREWERY

Cooper's Lofts, SW18

Wandsworth: Cooper’s Lofts are 14 industrial-style flats with exposed low beams and domed leaded-light windows in what was once Britain’s oldest brewery, dating back to 1533.

These homes are at the £600 million Ram Quarter, one of south-west London’s largest redevelopments, that will deliver 663 homes.

A small working brewery has been retained at Cooper’s Lofts, along with a museum and aged machinery on show in the lobby. Near Wandsworth Town station, prices start from £480,000.

The Overdraught — as in brewing, not banking — offers nine flats by housing association L&Q on the site of an early 19th-century Irish pub in Haggerston in E8.

It forms part of the £110 million regeneration of the Haggerston West and Kingsland estates. Close to Shoreditch and Old Street, balconies overhang Regent’s Canal.

One flat is left for £540,000 available through Help to Buy.

GOLDEN AGE OF FILM

Buckinghamshire: in Denham, once the home counties’ answer to Hollywood, Weston Homes is transforming the old Denham Film Studios into a 224-home complex on the North Orbital Road within the M25, a short journey from central London and built in the Thirties heyday of Art Deco.

The likes of Laurence Olivier, Vivien Leigh and Liz Taylor once walked the grand foyer, now the residents’ reception.

Art Deco features that remain untouched include a glass block wall spanning two floors, while additions include a curved concrete staircase.

The Great Escape, Brief Encounter and Eyes Wide Shut were all made at the studios.

Weston Homes at Denham Film Studios, Buckinghamshire

The 154 one-, two- and three-bedroom flats can be bought using the Help to Buy government deposit scheme and Weston offers stamp duty paid on selected houses.

Prices from £332,000 for a one-bedroom flat up to £729,995 for a four-bedroom house (weston-homes.com).

Trains take 25 minutes from Denham station to Marylebone.

HOW REGENERATION HAS CHANGED LIVES

Some of London’s transformations have a less-than-glamorous past. Ealing council developer Broadway Living is regenerating the ageing Copley Close estate in Hanwell.

When completed, the £100 million investment will result in 834 new homes covering 882,000sq ft of council land. This scheme includes Alton Court, launching this summer.

 Susan and Angela Packwood live at Alton Court, part of the Copely Close scheme
S Saunders / Digital Nation Ph

The development is life changing for Susan Packwood and daughter Angela, 13.

Susan, 45, a Transport for London bus driver, bought a 25 per cent share of a new two-bedroom Alton Court flat, becoming a London homeowner for the first time.

“We’d been renting an apartment but there was a mice infestation and mould, and we were paying over £1,000 a month. We moved into a smaller place nearby, which cost less but meant we had to share a bed. Angela didn’t like to bring her friends home and neither of us had privacy or space to enjoy being at home.”

Their Alton Court home was valued at £395,000. Susan bought a £98,750 share and put down a 15 per cent deposit of £14,813.

The monthly mortgage repayment is £425, while rent on the share she doesn’t own is £905 per month. “I love the green space in the area, and the homes are safe, secure and elegant,” adds Susan. “We love being at home now.”

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