Dulwich house prices: London village life four miles from The Shard

As Peckham and Camberwell creep up the league table of the capital’s trendiest areas, neighbouring Dulwich remains as genteel and sedate as ever. Not much changes in SE21. It views its up-and-coming neighbours with the same bemused condescension that a retired judge regards the hoop in his grandson’s ear. He doesn’t understand it, but he’s too rich, old and well-established to care.

 

It’s partly because Dulwich never changes that house prices have risen so sharply. With new development all but non-existent and Dulwich home owners reluctant to move out of the area, there’s always a queue of bidders whenever the Victorian, Georgian and Edwardian houses come onto the market. 

 

 

“There are some very large five, six and seven bedroom houses in Dulwich,” says Anthony Shoring, of Kinleigh Folkard & Hayward’s Dulwich Village branch. “Others have been converted into spacious two and three bedroom flats. This makes Dulwich Village hugely popular with families. Property prices reflect this. They have increased by 29 per cent in the past 12 months alone.”

 

There’s a reason people tend not to move out of the area. Few places in London can beat Dulwich for independent boutiques and restaurants, and while the transport links aren’t incredible, with Dulwich Picture Gallery, Dulwich Park and great shopping on roads like Lordship Lane there’s hardly reason to leave.

 

If you’ve ever toyed with the idea of raising children in the countryside but worry you’ll miss London too much, Dulwich is the perfect halfway house. Despite being only four and a half miles from the Shard, its spirit is decidedly rural. Residents testify that Dulwich Village lives up to its name, with a Grade Two Listed pub and leafy lanes leading to handsome, detached houses. 

 

 

Increasingly, these tend to be filled with wealthy families looking to get their children into one of the three excellent private shools in the area: Alleyns, James Allen’s Girls and Dulwich College. Attractions like the Horniman museum make the area a draw for younger families.

 

“There are people from all over the world relocating to London and wanting a large family house,” says Warren McCann, operations director at Foxtons Dulwich. “It’s good value for money compared to other properties north of the river and places like Wimbledon and Chelsea. We tend to get people who have been relocated overseas to work in New York or Hong Kong who are coming back.”

 

But once a family settles there, it’s usually for the long haul, says McCann. “Why would you leave such a beautiful area?”

 

 

 

1 The Dulwich Picture Gallery was the first purpose-built public gallery in the UK.

2 When looking at all that art has tired you out, head to Dulwich Park to relax.

3 Former pupils of the prestigious Dulwich College include P. G. Wodehouse and Raymond Chandler. Also Nigel Farage, if that’s what you’re into.

4 Horniman Museum has a host of cultural artefacts, musical instruments and natural history exhibitions.

5 Have a picturesque stroll around Dulwich Village and stop off for a pint at the Great Exhibition pub

 

 

COURT LANE GARDENS, DULWICH VILLAGE, SE21  £2.95m

RODWELL ROAD, EAST DULWICH, SE22 £999,999

TIVERTON LODGE, DULWICH VILLAGE, SE21  £4.2m