The WhatHouse? team recently headed out for an opportunity to see a new homes development first-hand, travelling to west London to visit Lion Wharf, a development of contemporary apartments and townhouses from Bellway London.
It’s located on the west bank of the River Thames in Isleworth. Greg Allsop, regional head of sales for Bellway, kindly took the time to show us around the site.
“This is playing a major part in the regeneration of this part of London,” he said. “Previously the site was a redundant office building, so it’s fantastic to see the site transform into a new community.”
There are three distinct parts of Lion Wharf. The townhouses are at the rear, facing onto an attractive courtyard with secure parking out of sight underground. There are apartments in The Garden Quarter, with a courtyard one side and Podium Gardens the other, and then there’s The Riverside Quarter, where residents have views onto and across the Thames where residents are already enjoying views and private balconies/terraces overlooking a quiet but characterful part of the river.
It’s brought interest from an array of buyers. “Lion Wharf has proven to have broad appeal – 71% of our purchasers have been first-time buyers and have taken advantage of London Help to Buy. We also have residents who have downsized from a larger property and some who were looking to move from an older property to a new-build home. What unifies them is a love for the location and a desire to own a high-quality, low-maintenance home.”
Bellway London is proud of the size of the properties it offers here, typically around 20% larger than comparable homes in the area.
An example of one of the 30 apartments on the new Central Quarter phase is ‘The Hampstead’. This two-bedroom property has 674 sq ft of living space and is priced from £534,995. It’s fitted to the same high standard specification as all properties here, which includes underfloor heating, Bluetooth wireless shower, Silestone work surfaces, fitted wardrobes to Bedroom 1 and a secure video entry system.
On entering, turn right, across the hallway, to find its open-plan kitchen/dining/living room. The kitchen units with integrated appliance form an L-shape in one corner, leaving flexibility to arrange the rest of the room how you like. There’s plenty of natural light, with a window on one side and a wide, full-height triple French door onto a sizeable private balcony. Unit 49 also has a very large private terrace.
Back across the hallway to the master bedroom, a good-sized room to accommodate a large bed and accompanying furniture. Next door is Bedroom 2, a single room that could also function as home office, nursery or studio. There’s a family bathroom, and opposite that a large storage area where the washing machine is housed.
The development comprises 142 units in total, with much of it complete. A look at the balconies around the site, with neatly arranged furniture and plants in place, shows that residents are already at home there and making use of the outside space. A walk to the riverside is a chance to see architectural features from its industrial past, including the crests that give Lion Wharf its name and a crane that it is hoped will achieve protected status due to its national heritage importance. Bellway London has also created a new section of the River Walk there for public access.
With a large proportion of homes already sold and people moving in, “a close-knit community is already forming at Lion Wharf,” said Greg. “Following a ‘Meet the Neighbours’ event earlier in the year, we are planning a series of summer events for residents to bring people together more frequently. For example, we will be showing the Wimbledon final on a large screen and supplying the strawberries and cream.”
Among the other units currently available at the time of writing are the two-bedroom ‘The James’, priced £574,995, and the three-bedroom ‘The Osterley’ at £774,995, which like some other properties here has two balconies.
There are still some units for sale on the Riverside Quarter, too, such as the one bedroom ‘The Victoria’ (£449,995), the two-bedroom ‘The Merlin’ (£689,995) and the three-bedroom ‘The Augusta’ at £774,995.
Three plots are home to ‘The Medina’. A look at the flat plan (in our gallery above) shows the layout of its double-aspect kitchen/dining/living room. The fully fitted kitchen is on one wall, allowing lots of flexibility in how the rest of the room can be laid out according to need or taste. The private balcony and a Juliet balcony on another wall, make fresh air and natural light equally available. Elsewhere, two spacious double bedrooms (with an ensuite shower, and Juliet balcony to the master bedroom) and a large storage area demonstrate how the extra floor space of Bellway’s designs can be both pleasurable and useful.
For the development as a whole, proximity to the river isn’t the only benefit. Within just a few minutes’ walk are a number of shops and places to eat, including some well-regarded pubs. There are more of all these on the way to and from the nearest stations, Isleworth and St Margarets, both a 20-minute walk, or five-minute bus or cycle ride away, and themselves surrounded by more shops and amenities.
For leisure, there are a number of green spaces within very easy reach of the front door, including the delightful Syon Park, just five minutes away. Richmond Park, Kew Gardens, Twickenham stadium and several golf clubs are well under an hour from home on foot and much quicker to reach on local public transport. There are bus stops very close to Lion Wharf, and from Isleworth or St Margarets to Waterloo in little more than half-an-hour. Around 25 minutes by car will get residents to Heathrow Airport.
“These apartments are the last chance to buy at Lion Wharf,” Greg emphasised, and with the sales office and show home open every day from 10.00am to 5.00pm. “Keen house-hunters can pop in at their convenience to take a first-hand look as we did.
The housebuilder is working now on a number of developments and planning many more, and sees Lion Wharf as a great example of what it builds and what homebuyers will be looking for.
“Bellway London specialises in helping Londoners to buy their first home and this is reflected in the locations where we build, with a footprint spanning from Zones 2 to 6,” Greg explained. “Old Isleworth offers fantastic commuter options into London and to Heathrow. We feel we have struck the right balance at Lion Wharf, offering the space, quality and desirable location that buyers are seeking, while keeping prices within a range that people can afford.”
To find out more about Lion Wharf, call Bellway on 0333 202 5182, email [email protected] or visit the site. Please tell the team there you heard about it through Whathouse.com.