Barbican first, because Barbican, with over 2,000 homes spread across 35 acres, is by far the biggest residential area in the City of London. And also the most traditional: until the take-off of Clerkenwell, Whitechapel and surrounds, Barbican, controlled by the City Corporation, was pretty much the only area that aspiring City dwellers could move to. Its conception was certainly a bold one: never before had plans been made to undertake, so centrally, such a vast residential project.
Aesthetically, however, Barbican isn’t that pleasing. On face value alone, it’s a colossal, and ultimately quite drab structure with three huge tower blocks protruding from its complex maze of a belly. Estate agents have been known to take a ball of string on viewings. But you shouldn’t judge this Grade II-listed book by its cover. For starters, it has its own theatre, lake and well-kept lawned area, while the impressive flats within come in all different shapes and sizes (and I mean all different shapes and sizes): there are just under 150 different types of accommodation in Barbican. If there’s one thing this place has got, it’s choice.
"...Anyone thinking of buying or renting here, of course, should expect to pay a premium. This is very definitely one of the hippest areas in London and prices reflect this. However, it’s not all about converted and designer flats. Clerkenwell also has a good spattering of Georgian and Victorian properties"
Giles Atkinson, Director
The vast majority of properties here are one and two bedroom flats (£250,000–£450,000), although you can also pick up the odd town house (expect to pay £750,000) and there are also a good number of studios (circa £200,000). The Barbican attracts all age groups, although is increasingly favoured by older people, attracted by the excellent security, overall community feel – the people who live here tend to live here for years – and ‘onsite’ cleaning facilities.
Directly north of Barbican is another estate, Golden Lane, which contains just under 600 privately owned flats, which tend to be 20%–30% cheaper than their Barbican counterparts, and are not dissimilar in design and quality. To the east of Barbican, meanwhile, little more than a quarter of a mile, is Liverpool Street, although it’s on the Barbican side of the station that many of the area’s best properties are to be found. In Finsbury Square, and on Tabernacle Street, both off the City Road, it’s possible to pick up some of the City’s most stylishly converted flats, lofts and penthouses, often chiselled out of old warehouses and factories.
And on to Clerkenwell. Much like its neighbour, Shoreditch, Clerkenwell, in the eighties and very early nineties, was a hive of light industrial activity, particularly printing companies. Then, as if commanded by the God of residential development, they all departed, leaving behind swathes of grim but at least cheap and centrally-located, space, that was either snatched up by media companies fed up with paying sky high West End rents, or by developers who promptly set about converting the soulless ex-commercial buildings into super-cool living space (particularly lofts apartments, mimicking the trends of Manhattan). Or simply bought them, knocked them down, and started anew. Enter, left, a wave of big hitting restaurants and ultra-fashionable bars keen to cash in on the advertising, design and dotcom types and you have Clerkenwell as it is today.
Anyone thinking of buying or renting here, of course, should expect to pay a premium. This is very definitely one of the hippest areas in London and prices reflect this. However, it’s not all about converted and designer flats. Clerkenwell also has a good spattering of Georgian and Victorian properties, such as in the ‘triangle’ between Clerkenwell Road and Rosebery Avenue, and no shortage of very quaint pockets, such as Exmouth Market, a pedestrianized zone replete with bars, cafes, restaurants and the usual designer outlets.
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