The architecture of Clapham is predominantly Victorian, although a handful of Queen Anne and Georgian houses can be found around the common
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What to know about Clapham
The Clapham office of Marsh & Parsons has plenty of flats and houses for sale in the old town of Clapham, the High Street, Clapham North as well as Brixton, Vauxhall and Stockwell. The area's residents are a varied mix of young sharers coming to London for their first job, young families attracted by excellent local schools and older families in search of big houses.
The Clapham office is run by Sales Manager Tom Crabtree who cites the Common as being an obvious attraction and comments that "there are some stunning houses overlooking the common on the north and south side." He goes on to say that "the transport links here are excellent, the bars and night life are buzzing and there is a thriving café culture on the streets. The Old Town Café near the office is an excellent example of the area's popularity and on a Saturday morning you can barely get a table."
Schools are a big attraction of this area and the best include: Thomas's, Honeywell Infants and Junior schools, Hornsby House, Hotham Primary and Streatham and Clapham High School. Shopping here has changed dramatically in recent years and although there are good supermarkets nearby, there are also plenty of independent shops and boutiques. Abbeville Village is very much Nappy Valley, full of young families and great nurseries. Clapham Old Town has plenty of boutiques and is very family friendly while the High Street is for a much younger crowd. The French school on Wix's Lane also attracts buyers from overseas.
Clapham has had and still has a number of celebrity residents, including Samuel Pepys and Graham Green, and is now home to Vanessa Redgrave, Vivienne Westwood, J K Rowling and Piers Morgan.
Property types in Clapham
The architecture of Clapham is predominantly Victorian, although a handful of Queen Anne and Georgian houses can be found around the Common. The dominance of Victorian properties in Clapham has led to a great selection of period conversions in the area. Additionally, there is a selection of new developments including the popular The Latitude, which is moments from Clapham Common itself.
So, what will you get for your money in Clapham?
As one of the areas most popular estate agents, Marsh & Parsons sells properties in its core area of Clapham Old Town and extends into the surrounding areas of Clapham South, Clapham Common, Clapham North, Stockwell, Brixton and as far as Oval. The Old Town has one-bedroom garden flats for sale at prices starting from £375,000. Studios are rare here and most flats are Victorian conversions or former warehouses. Two-bedroom flats with a garden start from around £425,000.
Houses in Old Town are substantial and cover three or four floors selling from upwards of £1.4 million. Former local authority flats with two bedrooms, which sell for about £300,000 on roads surrounding Clapham Common such as Larkhall Rise SW4, are popular with buy-to-let investors and provide excellent yields. Clapham North is comparatively cheaper, with three-bedroom Victorian houses selling for between £550,000 and £625,000. Brixton SW2 also has good trains and transport links and there are plenty of attractive flats and houses for sale through your local estate agent, Marsh & Parsons. Two-bedroom flats, for example, sell for about £350,000 and houses fetch between £500,000 and £650,000.
What else can you expect from Clapham?
Besides the 220-acre Common with its music festivals, gigs, kite flying and bike riding, Clapham has plenty of parks and other open spaces, as well as gyms and leisure centres, including Soho Gym, a favourite haunt of Geri Halliwell.
After all that fresh air and exercise you'll probably need a drink and something to eat and Clapham has no shortage of venues to suit all tastes. The Pavement Café is a lovely place to while away an afternoon over coffee and cake, while The Tim Bobbin is an old-fashioned local on Lilleshall Road rather than a gastropub, wine bar or disco, but instead it has a dartboard and good, straightforward grub. The Sun, five minutes' walk from the Common in Old Town, has a beer garden and a wonderful log fire indoors. The Sun serves Thai food, but service at the bar can be a bit slow when it's packed with bright young things and it has two sister pubs: The Railway on Clapham High Street and The Falcon on Bedford Road.
For more formal dining, Fish Club on St John's Hill, is a gastro-chippie and was voted Time Out's Best Cheap Eat; and Fish in a Tie is another-low-cost seafood eatery. More! is more upmarket and serves modern European cuisine with a rustic influence and is well worth a visit. Grafton House in Old Town is a sumptuous restaurant with sleek design, a fabulous atmosphere and excellent food, while Carmen on Clapham Common South Side, is a tapas bar that is packed on most nights.
There are too many shops to mention, including the ubiquitous High Street chains and supermarkets, but Clapham also has more than its fair share of independent retailers, including the fabulous M Moen & Sons butcher's on The Pavement, Places and Spaces, for furniture, and Joy on St John's Hill which sells everything from rubber ducks and crazy clothes to retro fashion and homewares.
Green spaces in Clapham
Clapham Common offers the most substantial area of green open space in the area with some 220-acres of land and was mentioned as far back as the Domesday Book in 1086. Clapham Common offers three ponds, an all weather games area, tennis courts, bowling greens and grass pitches. Additionally, there are two playgrounds, three cafes for tired parents and diverse ecological areas. Clapham Common Bandstand is an impressive historical feature to the common and boasts the accolade of the oldest and largest bandstand in Greater London.
There are other parks in the area including Heathbrook Park and Larkhall Park.
Transport in Clapham
There are excellent transport links in Clapham offering London Underground services from the following stations:-
Clapham North (Northern Line, Zone 2)
Clapham Common (Northern Line, Zone 2)
Clapham South (Northern Line, Zone 2)
Vauxhall (Victoria Line, Zone 1)
Stockwell (Victoria Line, Zone 2)
Click here for a London Underground map.
Additionally, Clapham High Road and Wandsworth Road stations offer National Rail services to Victoria and London Bridge.
Clapham also offers a great selection of bus routes. Click here for more information about bus routes around Clapham Common, and click here for buses from Clapham South.
Which London Borough is Clapham in?
Clapham is in the London Borough of Lambeth click here for more information about council tax bands, parking permits and healthcare services in the borough.
How can I find out about schools in the Clapham area?
For a comprehensive list of schools in the Borough of Lambeth please click here.
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