Property

The sprays, sprigs and fountains of flowers that drench the famous Sunday flower market in colour, combined with the knot of hip homeware and accessory shops and olive stalls, have propelled Columbia Road into the upper echelons of desirability.

Shops like cupcake and tea store Treacle at number 106, vintage clothes emporium Marcos & Trump at 146 and lighting specialist Columbia Lights (142) are all well pitched to appeal to the area’s burgeoning newcomer community. Tapas restaurant Laxeiro (93), a longstanding local venue, has recently been joined by retro Flea Pit café (whose costly organic wine is a good indication of the area’s new demographic) and both are consistently thronged with the thirtysomething creatives and professionals who’ve made this street their home. The conversion of the Royal Oak pub on the corner of quaintly cobbled Ezra Street from banging Sunday morning hangout for spangled clubbers to stylish gastropub (wood panelling, trendy lighting and competent menu) completes the area’s des-res credentials.

Away from Sundays, the street has a markedly parochial feel. Everyday staples including supermarkets, butchers and utilitarian high-street shops are a 15-minute walk away on Bethnal Green Road, with Brick Lane a similar distance. During the week, activity centres on Joe Gulamali’s convenience store and newsagent – well stocked with organic brands.

A local resident of 18 years, Gulamali is a first-hand witness of the area’s metamorphosis: ‘When I moved in the majority of the population were OAPs, now there are tots and young parents everywhere. The change over the last decade has been amazing.’ It’s an unsurprising development given the location on the cusp of Zone 1, excellent transport links and variety of local schools including Columbia Road Primary School on the road itself. There are also two local parks, Jesus Green and Ravenscroft, nearby. While the latter’s grassy area, basketball court and playground could do with a makeover, Jesus Green is more attractive: a shady lawn encircled by iron railings where well-to-do toddlers make whoopee while local Asian teenagers hang out and gossip during the day. Columbia Road and the surrounding streets also benefit from their status as a designated conservation area.

Although the terraced Victorian houses on the north side of the street, flanking the flower market, are the key properties, they seldom come up for sale. However, flats above the south-side shops and pretty terraces in the surrounding streets – particularly Baxendale, Ravenscroft, Quilter and Elwin – crop up regularly.

A block of council housing in the middle of the street makes the surrounding houses and flats more affordable. A three-bedroom 1950s terrace on Ravenscroft Street, which runs from Columbia Road to Hackney Road, is currently on for £395,000.

Although bargains are hard to come by here, prices do become cheaper on the streets approaching Bethnal Green Road. Auctions can also beat the high prices. Estate agent McHugh & Co regularly acquires properties and points out that, with luck and a poor auction turnout, buyers can sometimes secure a cheaper property. There’s a strong sense of community too. Locals recently fought off plans to build an insensitive 23-storey block of one-bed flats in the area to house recovering addicts and alcoholics. ‘What the area needs is more affordable family housing, not that,’ comments one local. No wonder the area’s appeal continues unabated. ‘We’ve been waiting for the right two-bedroom house for over six months now,’ says Katharine Edwards who currently lives with her boyfriend in Islington and visits most Sundays. ‘Columbia Road has got so much individuality, but it’s not gritty like Shoreditch. We’ve seen cheaper places elsewhere, but nowhere else has quite the appeal of this.’

Estate agents
Davy Stone 60 Charlotte Rd, EC2
(020 7729 2476/www.daveystone.co.uk).

McHugh & Co 71 Parkway, NW1
(020 7485 0112/ www.mchughandcompany.co.uk).

Peach Properties 53 Bethnal
Green Rd, E1 (020 7739 6969/ www.peachproperties.com).

Space Station 92 Leonard St, EC2
(020 7613 6262/www.thespacestation.co.uk).

Urban Links lettings 13-15 Bow Wharf, 221 Grove Rd, E3
(020 8981 7007/ www.urbanlink.co.uk).

Transport
Bethnal Green tube is 15 minutes’ walk away, Liverpool Street tube/rail is 20 minutes’ walk, the 55 bus goes from Hackney Road to Oxford Circus and takes around 40 minutes.