What to know about 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, Gary Barlow, Brian May, Sir Richard Branson, Annie Lennox 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.

Claire de Wolff, Lettings Manager of the Holland Park office of Marsh & Parsons cites the excellent schools in Holland Park as a major attraction to the area with the best schools including Norland Place Preparatory and The Cardinal Vaughan Memorial RC School. Additionally, the green spaces of the park itself, the excellent transport links via the Central and Jubilee lines to the City and Canary Wharf make Holland Park a sensible choice for many a young professional and the friendly, community atmosphere of Holland Park make it one of the city’s most attractive residential areas. Impressive restaurants such as The Academy, and the fabulous Julie’s, as well as a host of shops and boutiques, further add to the charm of Holland Park.

The area takes its name from the Earl of 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.

 

Property types in Holland Park

With a diverse selection of property types in Holland Park there are a few notable features to highlight. The Grade II listed street, Holland Park’s Royal Crescent, offers two curved, facing crescents of terraced houses overlooking stunning communal gardens, that were inspired by it’s namesake in Bath and remains in excellent condition with four storey, stucco fronted properties and with striking porticoed entrances. In addition, Holland Park and the W11 area offer a host of similar, stucco fronted, period houses and Victorian terraces with some remaining as entire houses, and others being converted into spacious, period apartments.

 

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

The rental market starts at just under £275 a week, which will rent a studio flat in Stoneleigh Street , close to Ladbroke Grove. A one bedroom flat in a period conversion like those found in Blenheim Crescent,  W11 will typically rent at a level between £450 and £525 per week and at Norland Square, W11, for those with access to communal gardens we have seen one bedroom apartments secure as much as £625per week. Two bedroom flats to rent in a conversion on Holland Road let for between £475 and £575 a week, but in Oakwood Court W14 the rent can be upward of £800 and next to the Leighton House Museum on Holland Park Road a 1,000 square foot two-bedroom apartment is marketed for £1,250 a week. Few flats come with their own parking space, but the price of a permit in the area is relatively low ranging from £66 to £154 per year depending on the vehicles emission rating and entitles residents to park almost anywhere in the area.

Rental houses to let start from about £575 a week in Christophers Mews W11, rising to £925per week for a two bedroom house in Abbotsbury Close W14, but in Woodsford Square moments from Addison Crescent where Simon Cowell has a home, rents start at about £1500per week and prices achieved are often between £1800 & £2400 per week. On Abbotsbury Road W14, four-bedroom family houses, which are very popular with financiers from America and Italy, let for between £1,700 and £2,000 per week. 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 Marco Pierre-White’s 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.

Holland Park has a rich history that centres around Holland House itself. Taking its name from the Earl of Holland, an early occupant of the property, the original Holland House was built in 1605 and has a done everything from harbouring a Royalist later to be executed to hosting social events for the politicians, glitterati and literary types of the time and being featured in Harper's New Monthly Magazine. Holland House saw a change in fortune with the onset of WWII and it was later bombed to near ruin. After a Jacobean-style rebuild, Holland House was restored to the property that we recognise today. The 21st century legacy of Holland House has seen the building become the London Holland Park Youth Hostel, as well as providing an exhibition space in The Orangery, a gallery space in the former Icehouse, while the Opera Holland Park season really sees Holland House come to life as the backdrop of the summer festivities.

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.

 

Green spaces in Holland Park

Holland Park itself forms the most significant green, open space in the area around W11 and W14. With 22 hectares of woodland and sporting facilities surrounding the beautiful Holland House, it is not difficult to see why this is considered one of the most relaxing and romantic of the London parks. One of the more unusual aspects of Holland Park is the Japanese Kyoto Garden, which opened in 1991 and forms one of the most well loved and serene areas of the park. Avondale Park also provides an area of relaxing and recreational greenery which, in addition to the beautiful and vast open spaces of Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park, complete the green areas of Holland Park.

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Transport in Holland Park

There are excellent transport links in Holland Park including London Underground services from the following stations:-

Holland Park (Central Line, Zone 2)
Notting Hill Gate (Circle and District Lines, Zone 1)
Ladbroke Grove (Central Line, Zone 2)
Westbourne Park (Central and Hammersmith & City Lines, Zone 2)

Click here for an Underground Map.

The road links around Holland Park are superb, with the A4 and M4 taking drivers west to Heathrow or east into central London while the local bus links are also first-class.

For more information about the bus routes in the Holland Park area click here.

Which London Borough is Holland Park in?

The Holland Park area is covered by the Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea (RBKC). Please click here for more information about council tax bands, parking permits and healthcare services in Holland Park.

How can I find out about schools in the Holland Park area?

For a comprehensive list of schools in the Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea please click here.