Marsh & Parsons

Area Profile - Barnes Lettings

Beautiful Barnes

There are many areas of London that describe themselves as villages, but Barnes SW13 is one of the few that truly deserves the tag. At its heart is a duck pond, surrounded by pretty cottages, large houses, boutiques, pubs, cafes and independent shops. Mums pushing prams, families walking dogs and children feeding the ducks are a common sight in this vibrant little village that is never far away from central London – Waterloo is 22 minutes by train and Hammersmith is 10 minutes on a bus.

"Barnes is very attractive to overseas tenants with young families who come over to London to work," says Louise Bragger, Lettings Manager of Marsh & Parsons in Barnes. "As well as the English village life, there are excellent schools in the area and both Heathrow and Central London are easy to get to and they like to rent a bit further out from the centre of town because they get a lot more for their money." There are also big local employers, such as Bectel and Disney in nearby Hammersmith and many of Marsh & Parsons clients are corporate tenants.

According to figures from lettings agent Marsh & Parsons, the rents in Barnes have been rising by about three per cent a year. Houses and flats are a mixture of the urban conversion at Harrods Village, riverside houses at Barnes Waterside and pretty cottages at Little Chelsea. There are also a lot of five-bedroom Victorian villas, especially popular with growing families.

Its quintessential village atmosphere is one of the main attractions together with the very high standards of local state schools, which include Barnes Primary School. Local residents include Anneka Rice, Tim Henman, comedienne Jan Ravens and Pete Tong and there is a large Swedish population in the village attracted by the Swedish school.

As one of the premier estate agents selling properties in the SW13 area, Marsh & Parsons prides itself on its local know how. From the best schools in the area to the finest boutiques, bars and restaurants and the cost of a resident's parking permit, estate agents at Marsh & Parsons have their finger firmly on the local pulse.

So, what will you get for your money in Barnes?

Studio flats rent from £900 per month, one-bedroom flats cost from £1,000 a month, with two-bedroom flats letting for between £1,500 and £2,000 a month in SW13. In the popular enclave of Little Chelsea, two-bedroom cottages are available to rent through estate agent Marsh & parsons for about £2,100 a month. The biggest family houses, with four or five bedrooms let for between £4,000 and £8,500 a month.

What else can you expect from Barnes?

The village dates back to the Domesday Book when it was an agricultural centre, but today, it is best known for its wetland centre and the number of parakeets regularly seen in the sky and nestling in trees. Barnes SW13 also has wonderful restaurants including Anthony Worral Thompson's Barnes Grill, Sonny's and Riva as well as a range of gastropubs, including the ever-popular Sun pub, just across the road from the pond. The Bulls Head has been famed for its jazz since the 1950s and Humphrey Littleton, Ronny Scott and a host of other big names have all played there. There is a gig on every night and the bar prices are excellent as is the Thai food.

Food shopping in the village is excellent, with not only a Saturday farmers' market but also J Seal butchers, The Real Cheese Shop, The Parish Bakery, Sonny's Food Shop, The Barnes Fish Shop and Two Peas in a Pod. Other independent stores that don't sell food include The Blue Door, which specialises in Swedish furnishings, The Barnes Bookshop and the highly recommended Dining Room Shop.

Media and the arts are a big part of village life and, as well as a theatre, Barnes is home to the Olympic Studios, the second largest recording studio in London after Abbey Road, where Pete Doherty can regularly be spotted outside. The great outdoors is one of Barnes' most attractive features and as well as the Common and the Wetland Centre, Barnes has the river and the Isabella Plantation, where beautiful azaleas, which form part of the National Collection, and rhododendrons bloom in April and May.

The village is green to its core and the council operates a Smart Sack recycling system for residents' rubbish and recycling bins abound in Barnes.