Marsh & Parsons

Area Profile - Holland Park Lettings

High-Flying Holland Park

Marsh & Parsons has an office in one of the most prestigious areas of London and demand for flats and houses to let is at an all-time high. The beauty and benefits of living in Holland Park are obvious and it is no wonder that celebrities, including Simon Cowell, Sir Richard Branson and Michael Winner, have homes here. Besides them Marsh & Parsons also lets homes to foreign executives and diplomats as well as young City workers and overseas students.

Guy Bradshaw, Lettings Manager of the Holland Park office of Marsh & Parsons cites the park itself, excellent schools, the Central Line tube station, the shops and family friendly atmosphere of this quiet corner of the capital the reason why it is so attractive. There are fabulous restaurants too, including Julie's, The Academy and Hiroko, a popular Japanese restaurant. Schools are a major attraction and the best include Norland Place Preparatory, Sacred Heart High and The Cardinal Vaughan Memorial RC School.

The area takes its name from Lord Holland who owned much of the land here in the 19th Century. House prices have risen dramatically since then and houses can cost as much as £30 million.

So what will you get for your money in Holland Park?

The rental market starts at just under £300 a week, which will rent a one-bedroom flat on Tredgold Street W11, close to Ladbroke Grove. In Norland Square Mansions W11, a portered block, one bedroom flats rent for £425 a week and at Upper Addison Gardens W14, the weekly rent is about £475. Two bedroom flats to rent in a conversion on Holland Road let for between £475 and £495 a week, but in Oakwood Court W14 the rent is £800 and next to the Leighton House Museum on Holland Park Road a 1,000 square foot two-bedroom apartment lets for £1,450 a week.

Few flats come with their own parking space, but the price of a permit in the area is relatively low at £108 a year and entitles residents to park almost anywhere in the area.

For houses to let prices start from about £650 a week on Hippodrome Mews W11, rising to £700 on Walmer Road W11, but in Queensdale Place, where Sir Elton John has a home, rents start at about £1,350 a week. On Abbotsbury Road W14, four-bedroom family houses, which are very popular with financiers from America and Italy, let for between £1,325 and £1,425. For five bedroom houses to let in Holland Park, estate agent Marsh & Parsons lets homes on Addison Avenue for £3,650 a week. But the sky really is the limit and the Iraqi embassy has recently taken a lease on a seven bedroom house in Holland Villas Road W14 in the region of £13,000. Holland Park has not always been so grand. Pottery Lane, the site of an old brickworks, used to be known as Pigswill Lane and was a den of iniquity and home to cock-fighting. Today its two-bedroom cottages let for more than £700 a week.

What else can you expect from Holland Park?

Holland Park itself is not only a haven for families and dog walkers but it is renowned for its opera, running about 50 performances a year. Avondale Park has tennis courts and a riding stables and Kensington Leisure Centre has squash courts, five-a-side pitches and a gym. For a slightly more leisurely pursuit, the area is blessed with wonderful boutiques and delis, including Lidgates, a renowned local butcher which has been running for 150 years. Restaurants include Anthony Worrall Thompson's Notting Grill and The Belvedere, which was once the summer ballroom to the Jacobean mansion standing in the middle of Holland Park, but now offers superb cuisine in delightful surroundings. There are plenty of pubs and gastropubs in the area too, including The Mitre, which has an extensive menu. The Ladbroke Arms which sells real ale and has a very long wine list and an impressive selection of single malts; and The Prince of Wales is an old-fashioned pub that often throws a barbecue. The Academy is a pub-cum-gallery and remains popular, not just for the live music but also the regular art exhibitions.

As one of the premier estate agents letting properties in the Holland Park 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.

Borough: Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea.

Best thing: Kyoto Japanese garden in Holland Park.