How to join the Greenwich set

The steamy Netflix period drama Bridgerton might not immediately put you in mind of the Tory inner circle. (Liz Truss for one has professed to be fan of grittier TV dramas such as Scandi crime thriller The Bridge.) Yet the two have some common ground – and it can be found in Greenwich, south-east London.

Forget the Notting Hill set of the Cameron era and the Islington mafia of the Blair years. It seems that a verdant corner of the (Labour) royal borough has turned blue, with Truss, potential chancellor-in-waiting Kwasi Kwarteng and former Brexit minister Lord Frost (now tipped to head up the Cabinet Office) all living in the period streets of West Greenwich – where Bridgerton has been filming on their Regency doorsteps. Education secretary James Cleverly also lives just down the road from the new Greenwich gang (or what some have called the ‘Greenwich mafia‘), in Blackheath.

Netflix crews (and prime ministerial contests) aside, life in Greenwich has always been far from dull, as many of us south-east Londoners can attest. Apart from all that historic architecture, there’s great riverside pubs, gigs at the O2 and the foodie and vintage heaven of Greenwich Market – all within easy reach of Canary Wharf and the City.

Local gems include the Old Brewery pub in the Old Royal Naval College, Up the Creek comedy club and cabaret nights at the George and Dragon (Truss loves a bit of karaoke). And political leaders the world over have probably heard of Greenwich thanks to its maritime history and the international meridian.

The main appeal of living here, though, comes from the green space of Greenwich Park and Blackheath and a diverse range of property prices. While the borough is one of the half-dozen most affordable in London, properties in SE10 tend to be worth more than the Greater London average of £523,380. In the past three years, the average price in SE10 has increased 11 per cent to £619,210, according to Hamptons using Land Registry data.

Guy Epps of Winkworth estate agents in Greenwich says demand for two- and three-bedroom houses with outside space priced between £600,000 and £800,000 has been particularly strong since the pandemic. Flats have sold more frequently than houses in the past year, with the average value £472,196, according to Rightmove.

West Greenwich is the most expensive bit of the borough, with its conservation area including the pretty Georgian townhouses of Gloucester Circus that featured in the recent Bridgerton filming. On nearby Circus Street, a handsome Georgian double-fronted five-bedroom house is currently for sale through Hamptons at £2.5 million.

‘Crooms Hill and Royal Hill are considered to be the smartest roads,’ says Epps. ‘On Crooms Hill, prices vary between £1.8 million and the upper reaches of £3 million. We sold one recently for £3.9 million.’ The early-Victorian Ashburnham Triangle is another popular area close by. Here stuccoed Georgian terraces and Victorian homes surround the sleekly revamped Guildford Arms pub. Three-bedroom houses cost around £1.2 million; on Brand Street, a pretty three-bedroom Georgian terraced house is for sale at £1.1 million.

For budding education ministers (or those who prefer open-plan living), towards Deptford there’s a three-bedroom loft apartment with high ceilings and large windows in the former Victorian school of Greenwich Academy for £895,000 through Winkworth. It’s within walking distance of the DLR at Deptford Bridge and Greenwich train station.

Schooling helps make this a very family-friendly area. Good local primaries include James Woolfe and St Ursula’s, whilst popular independents include Blackheath Prep, Blackheath High and Colfe’s School.

There has been a shortage of larger period houses coming to the market in West Greenwich – partly due to economic uncertainty, but also because people tend to stay in Greenwich when they get there, says Simon Humm of Hamptons. ‘We see a lot of upsizing within the area, but also people arriving to get more space from Shad Thames/SE1; or those downsizing from a large property in the Home Counties to get a small Georgian house offering easy access to the West End.’

Or you might look south to Blackheath, loved for its chi-chi village and great Sunday farmers’ market. Here a colourful five-bedroom captain’s house is for sale at £2.65 million through Chestertons.

You can get better value in East Greenwich, another conservation area. Humm says dockers’ cottages on the Old Woolwich Road are popular, and Victorian cottages on the Morden College Estate around Pelton Road attract first-time buyers at prices from £600,000. He picks Annandale Road, where a five-bedroom house sold for £1.2 million in March – less than it would go for in West Greenwich.

The Greenwich Peninsula is a whole new neighbourhood with a ‘Design District’ dedicated to the creative industries and a 3km art trail – although the high-spec, high-rise apartments there are more appealing to the Canary Wharf market than the usual Greenwich buyer, according to agents. Younger buyers who want to live in contemporary flats can also find more affordable properties south-east towards Kidbrooke and Woolwich, but should beware of cladding issues in some new-build developments. That’s possibly one of the biggest issues the new housing minister Greg Clark has on his to-do list.