Property

Even for a road in London, Acre Lane is spectacularly unhomogenous, with late Georgian almshouses, a 1930s Sunlight soap building, hairdressers, modern mews houses and even a scruffy tyre yard.

At one end, it runs into Clapham Park Road, which winds down to Clapham Common. At the other, however, Acre Lane is very much in the heart of Brixton and boasts its grand town hall on the corner. Opposite, a small run of shops includes the charity operation Traid (2 Acre Lane, 020 7326 4330) and Caribbean restaurant Bamboula (12 Acre Lane, 020 7737 6633). Opus Café (89 Acre Lane, 020 7737 3777), further up on the other side, is popular with local mums, and above it is the sensational local restaurant Upstairs. The shops are useful if not glamorous, with a mammoth Tesco, the Fish Bargain Warehouse (32 Acre Lane, 020 7095 9343), plus timber and car parts merchants. Feature continues

Late Victorian Brixton was a much more genteel proposition than today, with grand department stores. Many of Acre Lane’s houses were large and elegant. The bombing raids of World War II and the misguided decisions of 1960s planners put paid to some of them and those that remain are mostly converted into roomy flats. Despite the mish-mash, almost all of the residential property on and around Acre Lane is Victorian, with the odd smattering of late Georgian as well as an increasing number of new-build developments wherever they can be squeezed. Even though period property seems to abound, it’s like ‘gold dust’, according to Mo Ahmed of Martin Barry Partnership. He says, ‘The period conversions are so in demand, though everything has been going quickly in the last four or five months.’

Brixton’s growing popularity hasn’t yet rendered it unaffordable, particularly in ex-local authority blocks, where a two-bed or one-bed with garden is about £170,000. For a Victorian two-bed conversion you’re looking at a minimum of £220,000. Family homes of three or four big bedrooms sell in a flash and start from around £450,000.On the roads nicknamed Philosopher’s Corner – Plato and Solon – rather fussy Victorian terraces have been mostly split into flats. To the south of Acre Lane are a number of quiet streets sandwiched between busy Brixton Hill and Kings Avenue. Roads like Blenheim Gardens have four-bedroom houses that get snapped up fast. Bonham, Lambert and Hayter Roads have similar housing stock: a number of large three-storey houses split into flats and a handful of large six-bed detached houses restored to their former glory. The excellent Sudbourne Primary School is a draw, too.Back on Acre Lane there are a number of interesting conversions. What was once the enormous white stucco Cedars House is now The Cedars, 14 flats aimed firmly at the young professional market. The new Marlborough Mews is built close by.

Trinity Gardens is Acre Lane’s hidden gem. Just off to the north, at the Brixton end, it’s an enclave of quiet and peace and its cottagey three-bedroom properties are very sought-after. The square even has its own civilised Youngs pub, the Trinity Arms (45 Trinity Gardens, 020 7274 4544), adored by locals. Resident Tanya Jefferies says: ‘Acre Lane has long stretches of dull building stores, but in between are clumps of really interesting shops and restaurants. In a way it’s got more middle class lately, since Upstairs restaurant opened and a farmers’ stall started up on Saturdays.’

Estate agents
Alvares Estates
83 Acre Lane, SW2 (0845 338 8393).

Bairstow Eves
518 Brixton Rd, SW2 (020 7737 3330).

Haart
494 Brixton Rd, SW9 (0845 337 4525).

Martin Barry Partnership
4 Acre Lane, SW2 (020 7738 5866).

Open Doors
91 Acre Lane, SW2 (020 7733 4000).

Transport
You’re close to both Brixton and Clapham North tube stations. A tip: as tubes terminate at Brixton you’ll always get a seat here. Bus routes to Clapham Junction, Putney, Oxford Circus and Shoreditch pass through Acre Lane.