Interior designer Ed O’Donnell and his partner PJ fell in love with Little Venice in West London, when they were housesitting for a friend. In July, they sold their two-bedroom Victorian worker’s cottage in Brixton, south London, and moved to a large two-bedroom flat with a balcony overlooking Paddington Leisure Grade’s plane trees and tennis courts.

O’Donnell said: “Brixton is very violent and violent and we need a calmer place.” “It feels like we’ve been to Camden here with all the tow cafes and pubs, and water taxis. Although connected to central London, it feels very small urban.

Where the Grand Union Canal meets the Regent’s Canal, Little Venice is a quaint row of Regency-style stucco houses with sought-after views of the colorful narrowboats on the water below. Proximity to central London – Paddington is a 15-minute walk on the Grand Union Canal – is a draw, especially since the Elizabeth line opened, with a 17-minute ride to Canary Wharf.

Although the area is small – with Sutherland Street to the north, the A5 to the east and the water to the south and west – a handful of streets offer properties that have convinced buyers to pay per square foot this summer.

Between June and August, a five-bedroom stucco townhouse on Warwick Street, backing onto the common Little Venice Gardens, sold for an asking price of £13.95mn, or £2,858 per square foot, beating the previous record of £2,618 set in 2016. And a garden-backed five-bedroom house on Randolph Road sold for £10.5mn or £2,742 per sq ft, while a canal-front three-bedroom house on Myada Street also sold for £8,888,888 or £2,550 per sq ft. , to a feng shui devotee.

“Most buyers move from Notting Hill because their prices have gone up or they are going up. [locally]said Rosie Calastchi of Beauchamp Estates, who introduced the buyers to the Ian Green home, who was the sole agent on the Warwick Avenue sale. “I showed them 25 other properties in this part of London but the main attraction of that house was the communal garden.”

While there aren’t the high-end restaurants and shops you’d find in Notting Hill or Marylebone, a younger number of fintech entrepreneurs are moving in, says buying agent Joe Eccles. “Five years ago, buyers looking to upgrade from Notting Hill or other parts of West London would typically say they want St John’s Wood, but now they say they want St John’s Wood. Or “Little Venice”.

Although Eccles says there is a growing demand for a small number of unique homes, not everything is selling quickly – musician Noel Gallagher’s home sold in 2020 after four years on the market and a price reduction of more than £3.5mn, while three properties are currently listed for £5mn on Rightmove. and have fallen between £12.95mn over the past six weeks.

Recent cuts may reflect growing uncertainty around the economy and cost of living. But Ian Green of Ian Green Estates, who was involved in the Maida Avenue sale, insists the best homes are still selling. “Record sales don’t correlate with rising interest rates,” Green says. At this rate, borrowing costs are “unheard of yet,” he added.

The small size of the area makes the average property price data very interesting, but per square foot, prices for both flats and houses have been rising over the past two years (up to £1,257 and £1,597 respectively) – although neither is as high as it was in 2014.

Streets offering communal gardens are highly sought after, but Bloomfield Road, where some houses were built after the completion of the Regent’s Canal in 1820, has some great houses not for sale. According to Arlington resident Mark Schneiderman, the area between Warwick Avenue and Randolph Road is the best in architecture. The seven-bedroom house sold for £12.25mn in 2017 [the previous record] But houses at the end of the A5 are less expensive – a four-bedroom house sold for £2.5mn last year.

Among the homeowners who stayed in the area for many years was fashion photographer John Bishop, who moved to Randolph Road from Notting Hill in 1974. But we loved the wide, leafy streets and classic, high-ceilinged houses and saw the potential. This street is still quiet and has little traffic. [than Warwick Road] And the entire area has retained its charm. There are a few good independent shops on Clifton Road but it could do with Marks and Spencer, he said.

Renters have a hard time finding a home in the area, said Melina Caragianini, property manager at Marsh & Parsons in Little Venice. “We never have a house to rent, but there are several four or five bedroom apartments.”

Cunningham Court, a mansion on Bloomfield Road, is famous for its rental properties, as is Aubrey House on the other side of Regent’s Canal. She says 85 per cent of the “average” two-bedroom flat, which rented for £450-£500 per week before the outbreak, now goes for between £550-£650, compared with £600-£700 in Notting Hill.

Interest in buying properties is not as strong as renting, and Ed O’Donnell says he got the flat at a “good price”: “We paid £50,000 less than asking and we did well on the sale of our house.” It seems like an opportune time.

What can you buy? . .

Two-room apartment, £1.075mn

A two bedroom, ground floor flat in a Victorian building on the edge of Little Venice. The 994 sq ft property is a short walk from Maida Vale Tube Station. Available with Marsh & Parsons.

A four-bedroom flat, £8.5mn

A freehold four bedroom house in white stucco in a Grade II listed building on Randolph Road. The 2,584 sq ft property is situated on the Winkworth side.

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