Holland Park Property

Buying advice for property searching in Holland Park, London

It is hard to believe that the houses in Holland Park, which now sell for many millions of pounds, were in the 1960s part of the infamous Rackman empire – an area of squalid bedsits. It now contains some of the most expensive property in London.

The Park itself is one of the most rural in London – quite unlike the wide open spaces of Hyde Park, it has some dense woodland where it is easy to forget that one is in the middle of London. The remains of the old Holland House sits in the middle and is the home in the summer to well-attended open-air operas. Dogs have to be walked on a lead which is not so good for dog owners but rather better for children.

The area to the west of the Park is owned mainly by the Ilchester Estate but, with the advent of the Leasehold Enfranchisement Act, the grip of the Estate is rather less than it used to be. There are modern (post-war) developments all along that side of the Park, varying from Ilchester Terrace with its grand detached houses, through the Abbotsburys which are rather smaller, to Woodsford Square. Here the architecture falls well short of what you would expect of this location, and this is reflected in prices significantly lower than anywhere around it.

Both alongside Holland Park to the north and in Addison Road, there are some of the largest houses in central London. Most of these are well over 10,000 square feet, detached, and with large gardens. On the other side of Holland Park Avenue are rather smaller houses but many of them back onto communal gardens; for family life in central London, it doesn't get much better.

As it is primarily a residential area, the shops tend to be of the local variety rather than the big chains. Most are on Holland Park Avenue and include what must be among the best butchers, wine merchants and bookshops in London: Lidgates, Jeroboams and Daunts.

Transport is good with a straight road and bus routes from Holland Park Avenue into Bayswater and then into Oxford Street, taking you directly into the West End. The Central underground line, following this same route, continues on into the City, which is yet another reason why it is so popular with investment bankers.

For more information on buying advice and property searching in Holland Park, London, contact the Property Vision London property search and advice team.