We act on behalf of private clients searching for the perfect property in London as a home or an investment. Often, we help our clients acquire property that isn’t available on the open market, using our unmatched network to find that needle in the haystack – the one that matches all of your aspirations.
Middleton’s Ashley Wilsdon takes a walk around the London Bridge area (you can see the accompanying images on our Instagram page @middletonadvisors), and picks out just a few of the attractions that have made the area a popular option for Middleton investment clients, many of whom already own property in more traditional prime central London areas such as Kensington & Chelsea.
1. With prices typically ranging from £1,000 to £1,400 per square foot, London Bridge offers relative value for PCL as well as portfolio diversification. The area – by our definition an upside-down triangle of land between Blackfriars Bridge, St Saviour’s Dock to the east and Borough Tube Station to the south – is officially one of London’s emerging hot spots for all things food, drink and culture. It features icons old and new such as Tower Bridge and The Shard, with the One Tower Bridge development adding further to its appeal.
2. The transport hub of the area is London Bridge station – mainline and undergound – which is currently being transformed with new platforms and a new concourse due for completion in spring 2018. There are easy links to the City and West End of London, and regular trains connecting the south east of England.
3. Right smack in the heart of the area is Borough Market, ‘a fantastically successful model of enjoyable, sociable food shopping’ according to the Financial Times, and credited with being one of the main catalysts for the area’s renaissance and a ripple effect that has inspired new food markets all over the capital…
4… and one of those new markets is Maltby Street – a weekend institution with an array of artisan producers serving food and drink, such as Bermondsey gin distillery Jensen’s.
5. Running north to south through the middle of the area is Bermondsey Street – home to a whole string of independent bars and restaurants including Jose Pizarro Tapas Bar, Tanner & Co, Village East, The Garrison, Flour & Grape, The Hide and 214 Bermondsey Gin & Cocktail Bar.
6. In Victorian times Shad Thames was the biggest warehouse complex in London, housing imported tea, coffee and spices. Charles Dickens set parts of Oliver Twist here and in modern times the atmospheric streets and buildings have been the backdrop to hundreds of films. The restoration of the warehouses and docks was masterminded by Terence Conran who also installed Le Pont de la Tour, then the flagship of his restaurant empire here.
7. The Thames is at its most majestic here – over 200 metres wide with wonderful riverbank walks and restaurants, views across to the City and that amazing sense of energy and industry that a working river brings, not to mention a price premium, with water-facing apartments trading for as much as £1,600 per square foot.
8. Butler’s Wharf – the 19th century shipping wharf and warehouse complex was one of the regeneration projects that marked a new era for London starting in the 1980s with the financial services boom. It’s now a mature property development with established classic restaurants such as Cantina del Ponte and Butler’s Wharf Chop House.
9. And the regeneration of the area continues with One Tower Bridge adding new apartments and attractions such as The Ivy Brasserie and The Bridge Theatre, the new home of the London Theatre Company.