Stroud Green Hot Spot

Stroud Green is a north London area whose identity and reputation do not

extend much beyond those who live or work there. Obscure it may be, but it

has solid transportation links and illustrious neighbours, a potent

combination for rising property values.

Stroud Green is a residential enclave surrounded by Finsbury Park, Holloway,

Crouch End, Hornsey and Harringay. The station at Finsbury Park serves two

underground lines (Piccadilly and Victoria) and two distinct rail lines: one

provides direct connections to the City, and the other is a main line linking

Kings Cross to Cambridge and other North East destinations. The bus terminal

at Finsbury Park interconnects with bus routes which fan out in all

directions.

Most sections of Stroud Green involve a train and bus journey, but the bus

service is frequent, and the area is fairly convenient for the City and West

End. Stroud Green is consequently attracting spillover from both Islington

and its immediate neighbour further up the hill to the west, Crouch End.

The area’s many period houses have been converted, but a significant number

remain intact, including five and the occasional six-bedroom property. Stroud

Green thus attracts singles and childless couples as well as growing families.

The roads on and near Mount View Road are the most sought after and the most

expensive, with prices topping £400,000. But prices drop precipitously on

other roads. Three-bedroom houses in reasonable condition are available for

less than £150,000. Decent two-bedroom flats in period conversions on nice

streets sell for less than £100,000, and ex-council and studio flats in

converted houses are available for less then £50,000.

"Stroud Green is getting city professionals with children who decided that,

instead of a flat or small house in Islington, it is worth going a half-mile

north for a character three or four bedroom house for the same price," says

Geoff Vedgen of Bairstow Eves. "The schools are surprising good, especially

up to age eleven, and then the families move to Crouch End or Muswell Hill."

The area’s housing infrastructure is benefiting from gentrification. David

Copestake, managing director of David Philips estate agents, believes that

"the schools have been improving because the area has been improving. Ten

years ago, many properties here were neglected. Now, there are more owner

occupiers and they take better care of their homes. There are no more Ford

Cortinas in the front garden."

The council estates have also improved, "even Holly Park, which used to have

a bad reputation and is now fine," says Mr Copestake. "Holly Park is still

mostly council tenants. In other estates, the ratio of council tenants has

gone from 90 to 40 per cent. The communal areas are clean, and the blocks

well maintained."

Stroud Green has some purpose-built modern houses and blocks of flats,

especially in the side closest to Manor House, along with an occasional

church conversion or other unusual dwelling. In the main, though, period

properties predominate.

If property hunting in Stroud Green, don’t automatically write off past or

current rail lines. Finsbury Park and Alexandra Park used to be connected by

a rail line which, now trackless, is Parkland Walk, a nature reserve. It can

lend a genuinely rustic ambience to gardens lucky enough to back onto it.

Even the currently active rail line serving Crouch Hill station is benign. It

is lightly and, by two-car passenger coaches, gently used, although goods

trains (sometimes conveying not entire good substances) also use the line.

Housing density especially in the area where they converge is low.

ROBERT LIEBMAN

THE LOW-DOWN

Prices:

"Prices have gone up since January," reports James Ballard of Winkworth.

"Many properties become available, but there is a lot of turnover, and it is

rapid." Five-bedroom houses sell for £300,000 but are also available for only

£175,000. Some Stroud Green properties need a great deal of work.

Properties:

Bairstow Eves is currently asking £315,000 for a three-storey corner property

with a separate flat on each floor, each vacant. Last winter, a seven-unit

house was on the market. Well used and much abused over the years, these

investment properties require major refurbishment and can be converted back

into one-family premises.

Transport:

Finsbury Park Station is in Zone 2. The rail line into the city stops at Old

Street and Moorgate. From the bus depot at Finsbury Park station, the W7

proceeds along Stroud Green Road to Crouch End, and the W3 turns onto

Stapleton Hall Road and reaches much of Stroud Green via Ferme Park Road. The

210 turns in the other direction, toward Archway and the Islington part of

Stroud Green. Crouch Hill station is on the little used but still chugging

Barking-Gospel Oak line.

Shopping and Dining:

Crouch End is top-heavy with restaurants, but supermarket and other

heavy-duty shopping involves a trek to the superstores at Green Lanes or the

shopping centre at Wood Green.

Council:

Most of Stroud Green is in Haringey; Band D council tax is £898. Band D in

Islington is £912.

A Council Porkie?:

The Haringey Guide claims that, in addition to birds, bats, foxes and

flowers, Parkland Walk is home to muntjac deer.

What a Relief!:

Seven external wall panels on a former dairy now adorn a bar/restaurant. "It

cost the brewer a fortune, and it’s a big crowd puller to the area," says

David Copestake. Otherwise, the extraordinary exterior on the increasingly

derelict building faced an uncertain future.

Estate Agents:

Bairstow Eves, 0181 809 5050; David Philips, 0171 686 7676; Winkworth, 0181

342 9999.

END