For Lottie Mills, a move to Herne Hill nine months ago was all about Brockwell Park, the 50-hectare undulating expanse of green in the south-east London suburb. She rents a house with her brother in a road bordering the park and is a member of its 1937-built lido.
“I lived in [nearby] Camberwell but feel that Herne Hill is much more homely — the lido café is very sociable,” says the 31-year-old, who works for a cyber security start-up. “Lots of people my age live here and there are some great little bars and cafés.”
The area had been rather a low-profile residential pocket of London, until it was reported that former prime minister Boris Johnson was also making the short move to Herne Hill from Camberwell. Herne Hill (postcode SE24) is quieter than Brixton and yet not quite as fashionable as next-door Dulwich, where the average house price, at £1.5mn, is 15 per cent higher than the £1.31mn in Herne Hill, according to Hamptons using Land Registry data.
The cheaper homes, good schools, green spaces and connectivity — Herne Hill is 16 minutes by train from the City of London — attracts professionals, including medics from nearby King’s College Hospital. In 1885, writer John Ruskin, a former resident after whom the area’s other large park is named, described it as “a rustic eminence four miles south of the Standard in Cornhill [a City distance marker]”.
Over the past three years, house prices have been growing at a slower pace than in Dulwich Village — at 7 per cent and 19 per cent respectively — yet some houses in roads within the catchment of Dulwich Village Infants’ School and Dulwich Hamlet Junior have appreciated rather more.
A two-bedroom apartment with rooftop terrace, £585,000
In Stradella Road, a double-fronted property due to complete shortly at £4mn is the highest-ever sale there, according to Christopher Burton of the agent Knight Frank, following a sale of a similar sized house at £3.55mn at the end of 2021. Burbage and Winterbrook Roads are also highly sought after: in the latter, a five-bedroom house sold last year for £2.55mn — a 21 per cent increase on what it changed hands for in 2018.
There may not, however, be any more records set for a while. Agents report a drop in valuation requests and that properties have been withdrawn from sale in the past week as both sellers and buyers hold off in the face of interest rates rises, mortgage products being withdrawn and worsening inflation.
In the “North Dulwich Triangle” — between Herne Hill Road, Half Moon Lane and Red Post Hill — demand has been driven by Charter School North Dulwich, a state alternative to the independent secondaries of JAGS, Alleyn’s and Dulwich College. “We have families from Battersea, Fulham and Islington making the move from a £1.1mn-£1.5mn two or three-bedroom property to a £1.7mn-£2.75mn five-bedroom house in Herne Hill,” says Burton.
Matt Briggs, a parent at Charter School, lives in the Triangle — his fourth home in the area. “It’s just a very familial place. Our two boys went to the same primary school as me [Dulwich Hamlet] and use the same parks, there’s a great sense of continuity — although the pubs have got a bit posher,” says Briggs, a party wall consultant.
His French wife Severine works at Judith Kerr Primary School, an Anglo-German bilingual school. In Brockwell Park’s playground it’s common to hear French voices — and there’s a French nursery school, École Cadet Rousselle. This and the relaxed liberal atmosphere were an “added bonus”, says David from Paris, who, with his wife Maya, had been renting in Islington. They bought a three-bedroom flat last summer and had a daughter at the same time.
“Looking for a greener area, we fell in love with Herne Hill. Connectivity was key, as was the stamp duty reduction [at the time],” says David, who works in the energy sector and preferred not to give his surname.
Some of the area’s cheaper homes can be found near Judith Kerr School in the 1960s-built Delawyk Crescent. A three-bedroom terraced house might cost about £700,000. Towards Brixton there’s “Poet’s Corner” — Milton, Chaucer, Shakespeare and Spenser Roads. There a three-bedroom terraced house costs from around £1mn, according to Douglas Bernard of Winkworth, who says that young professionals who love the proximity to the station often struggle to make the jump from a flat worth £450,000-£550,000 to a house. “They will then move to more affordable areas like Crystal Palace, Catford or Norwood,” he says.
The cost of flats has dropped 7.8 per cent in the 12 months to date, according to Hamptons, with the average price now £472,840. “Flats without outside space are struggling — even those with a new kitchen or bathroom,” says Bernard.
Finding a rental house in a prime road can be difficult. “Families will find more options in Dulwich,” she says. But for Lottie Mills, neither Dulwich Park nor the prolific cafés and restaurants of East Dulwich hold so much appeal. “I’ve lived in a few places now and I think Brockwell is the best park in London.”
Buying guide
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A train from Herne Hill to London Victoria takes 13 minutes, to City Thameslink 16 minutes; Brixton is the nearest Underground station.
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In 2022, 53 per cent of property sales were flats, according to Hamptons/Land Registry; 32 per cent of homes sold were over £1mn.
What you can buy . . .
A two-bedroom flat, £585,000
A two-bedroom flat with private roof terrace near Brockwell Park (Oliver Burn).
House, £1.7mn
A four-bedroom semi-detached house in the “North Dulwich Triangle” (Knight Frank).
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