E1 / E1W
Spitalfields & Whitechapel
On the City borders, just west of Commercial Street, a few traders see out the final days of the once thriving Spitalfields Market, whilst the city decides what
manner of offices it is to become. The council wants to retain some housing here, but private developers will be keen for a slice of any residential action. The
roads surrounding the market offer smart apartments with Georgian facades and styling. For a 2 bed Georgian style home, you would be looking to spend just under
£400,000. If you fancy an early Georgian home without the props, there are some beautifully restored houses built along Fournier, Folgate and Princelet
Streets. These rarely come to market, and the queues of die-hard classicists ready to snap them up push prices high: come with half a million and expect
to spend much more.
Throughout both Spitalfields and Whitechapel, they are thriving with conversions. Generally, loft conversions tend to be less obvious externally, and more spacious within. There are plenty of new luxury apartment blocks as well, leading out from the city along Whitechapel and Commercial Roads. Further into Whitechapel, conservation areas include Sidney Square, with its Victorian terraces of 3 storey houses. Elsewhere south of the hospital, Victorian properties have been broken up into flats, and are popular with renting students. The cheapest housing is provided by the plentiful ex-council properties (look to the east of Brick Lane), and estates running down towards Shadwell DLR.
Markets at Spitalfields, Petticoat Lane (in Middlesex Street), Brick Lane and Columbia Lane provide a colorful weekend's entertainment; whilst specialist shops peddle everything from books (on Rushfield Street) to bells (the renowned Whitechapel Bell Foundry knocked up the Liberty Bell, and gave Big Ben its chime). For food, follow your nose along Brick Lane, where the smell of some of London's finest curries will draw you into a top-drawer establishment. Pubs are also plentiful. Most landlords will have some local wisdom to accompany your pint, and nearly all of the many organized walking tours which tramp over the territory end up in (or tiptoe past) a boozer or two.
Ofsted has not been kind to Tower Hamlets and its schools. Whilst provision for under fives is the best in London, the region slopes down to the furthest reaches of the league tables thereafter. Unsurprisingly, those buying into the new developments tend to be young city workers either without families or with enough cash to fund a private education. Connections, both to the centre and Docklands, are speedy and convenient.
