Leytonstone High Road, E11
Shabby chic and the Olympic effect are just two reasons to invest in a lively and affordable pocket of east London.
Jump off the tube at Leytonstone and in the two minutes it takes to walk to the High Road, the voices you'll hear are as likely to be South African asEast End or Asian. Over the past five years, an estimated 30,000 Saffies have descended on this multicultural, lower-middle-class are and neighbouring Leyton one stop back down the Central Line.
They're not backpackers - most are here for at least three years to work in construction, some as teachers and a few in the City. As a result, they've got their own shop, Hunter's Deli (No.690b, 020 8988 0530); their own touch-rugby league; and, most prominent of all, their own bar and social centre, Zulus (No.640, 020 8558 9116/www.zulus.co.uk). Not all residents are delighted at the green-shirted invasion that takes place most weekends for club nights and live music, but there's no doubting the splash of colour and vibrancy they've added to an otherwise drab thoroughfare.
Leytonstone High Road was once a permanently clogged conduit for Essex commuters into central London. However, the A12 extension has taken most through traffic away from the town centre and regeneration is well underway - spearheaded, after years of inertia, by Waltham Forest council leader Clyde Loakes, who lives nearby and takes a refreshingly personal interest in what's going on. This is particularly noticeable in the low-rise blocks of purpose-built flats springing up along the High Road and Kirkdale Road. One-bedroom properties cost around £150,000-£195,000, two-bedroom ones from £175,000-£235,000. A two-bedroom rental in the attractive new Zodiac development close to the tube and bus station is £230-£250 per week.
Guarded by the intriguing sculpture on Grove Road, depicting the green man of ancient folklore, and a deliberately impenetrable one-way system, and flanked by forest and the playing fields of Wanstead Flats, the Bushwood estate of three and four-bedroom Victorian terraced houses £295,000-£425,000) with a few conversions (two bedrooms around £220,000-£270,000) is the most desirable neighbourhood off the High Road. It has its own pub, the cosy North Star (24 Browning Rd, 020 8689 5777), which is a short stagger from the excellent Sheepwalk (No.692, 020 8556 1131). Here, the What's Cookin' bluegrass, country, rock'n'roll and jazz club is a popular upstairs attraction drawing plenty of well-known acts.
Thirty years ago, Leytonstone was one of east London's premier shopping centres. However, the traffic jams gradually sent people to the malls at Ilford and Romford, while many of the remaining independent stores were killed off when a huge Tesco opened near the Green Man Roundabout at the top end of the High Road. As a result, the centre is now dominated by bottom-end (but busy) chains such as Primark and Matalan, and dreary stalwarts like Woolworths and Boots.
Hanging on in there, though, is Just Fires (No.746, 020 8530 5715) - which sells modern Shaker-style kitchens and French vintage furniture, as well as period fire surrounds, grates and tiles - and has stripped and sanded countless Bushwood floors. Monarch Sports (No.815, 020 8558 5023) may look a jumbled mess but it's increasingly hard-to-find sports shops that cater for players rather than posers - and the owner will happily track down specialist kit. Also worth a glance if you're an old chuffer (or you know a child who's into trains) is the Engine Shed (No.745, 020 8539 3950), a delightfully old-fashioned repository of everything to do with model railways. From here, however, it's an easy stroll to villagey Wanstead, with its delis and boutiques, or a bus ride to South Woodford for Waitrose, Marks & Spencer and Laura Ashley.
Despite its scruffy appearance, Leytonstone High Road and the streets off it are safe and have a strong community spirit, engendered by active residents' associations, St. John's church on the corner of Church Lane and annual events such as the Leytonstone Festival and Car-Free Day. Teachers, nurses and local authority workers, initially attracted by the comparatively low property prices, find the neighbourliness offsets the absence of smart restaurants and any destination retailing.
Instead, a clutch of good-quality cheap eateries typifies this shabby chic appeal: South Indian Swaad (No.715, 020 8539 1700), Thai Singburi (No.593, 020 8281 4801), Nepalese Base Camp (No.553, 020 8988 3904) and Punjabi Cafe Larosh (7 Church Lane, 020 8518 7463) are the pick. Petch Sayam (No.682, 020 8556 6821) offers a more salubrious Thai experience, while the Horizon patisserie (No.809, 020 8558 7178) is great for coffee and cake. Spanish stalwart Elche (No.567, 020 8558 0008) which once served some of the capital's finest tapas, can be rather hit and miss, though still offers a good-value Sunday buffet.
At various times, this part of E11 has been touted as the new Islington, but other areas upped and came instead. However, the fact that Waltham Forest is one of the five Olympic boroughs and that Stratford is at the bottom end of the High Road are sure to have an impact in the run-up to 2012, with prices certain to rise. Meantime, locals like the unpretentiousness, the racial harmony and the sense that Bushwood, in particular, is a little undiscovered secret.
Estate agents
Alan Harvey (020 8539 9999/www.alanharvey.co.uk).
Haart (020 8539 1191/www.haart.co.uk).
Prestige Property Services (020 8556 7700/www.prestigeproperty.biz).
Theydon Property Services (020 8539 2009/www.theydonproperty.com).
Trading Places (020 8558 1147/www.tradingplaces.uk.com).
Transport
Leytonstone High Road is a two-minute walk from Leytonstone tube station and is served by Leytonstone High Road station on the Barking-Gospel Oak branch of the North London Line. The 257 bus from Walthamstow Central to Stratford runs the length of Leytonstone High Road.
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