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Wimbledon Village is a Quiet, Posh London Suburb That Gets Infinitely More Flashy This Time of Year

There’s a lot more than tennis: Easy access to Central London is a draw for home buyers to this prestigious area

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All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, Wimbledon, London

Heritage Images / Getty Images
All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, Wimbledon, London
Heritage Images / Getty Images

We’re smack in the middle of Wimbledon, the annual London tennis championship that’s celebrating its 140th anniversary this year. But it’s not just the tournament that has enjoyed impressive longevity. Wimbledon Village, where the world-famous sporting event takes place, has long been among the most prestigious addresses in London for wealthy families.

The boundaries

Wimbledon is a large suburb in southwest London made up of two parts: Wimbledon Village, an elegant area positioned at the top of the hill, and Wimbledon town center, located at the bottom.

Though it is not an official area, the rough boundaries of Wimbledon Village are Mansel Road and Woodside to the south, Parkside to the west, Wimbledon Park Road and Church Road to the east and Bathgate Road to the north.

Price range

In Wimbledon Village, one-bedroom apartments start from between £450,000 and £470,000 (US$584,000-US$610,000) and go up to £650,000 (US$843,000), according to local agents.

A semi-detached house with four to five bedrooms costs between £2 million and £5 million (US$2.6 million and US$6.5 million).

In fact, John D. Wood is selling a semi-detached period family house on Belvedere Drive, a popular road. With seven bedrooms and an extended kitchen/dining room with a glass roof lantern, the renovated property is for sale for £2.995 million. (US$3.888 million).

Detached houses are generally priced from £2.75 million to £6 million (US$3.6 million to US$7.8 million).

For buyers with particularly deep pockets, Marryat Road and Parkside, which is adjacent to Wimbledon Common, are considered the best roads, according to Warren Appleton, an associate of John D. Wood in Wimbledon.

Known as Wimbledon’s millionaires’ row, houses on Parkside face the common and cost about an average of  £10 million (US$13 million).  Marryat has some of the village’s biggest homes, with prices ranging from £6 million to £7 million (US$7.8 million to US$9 million).

The Old Rectory House on Church Road is the most expensive home ever sold in Wimbledon. The listed house was put on the market for £26 million in 2012 but sold for £17.5 million a year later. The property has had some famous owners, including guitarist Brian May from Queen.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, some homeowners who live close to the All Lawn Tennis Club, where the tournament takes place, rent out their properties during the two weeks of Wimbledon.

Tennis London, a specialist agency, organizes short-term rentals for homeowners during the championship. They rent homes to everyone from tennis players to media and television companies. Most homes on the website are within a 20-minute walk of the famous tennis club. "We know of one house that is usually let for £3,000 (US$3,895) a month which is rented to a tennis player for £1,000 (US$1,298) a day during the tournament," Mr. Appleton said.

James Morrison, head of residential sales at Savills Wimbledon, added: "If something is worth £4,000 (US$5,193)  a month, then the homeowner can usually get that in a week."

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Housing stock

Wimbledon Village has imposing mansions, townhouses, terraces, conversions, apartments and cottages.    

Most are period properties in the village built in the Victorian and Edwardian eras. There are also a number of new homes built within the past decade constructed in period and contemporary styles.

Eagle House, a grade II* listed Jacobean house on the High Street in Wimbledon Village, is being converted into eight apartments by the developer Octagon in partnership with Criterion Capital. Due to be completed in the autumn, prices for the one, two and three-bedroom homes are set to be released next month.

What makes it unique

Wimbledon Village is the most desirable part of the Wimbledon area. Lying within the SW19 postcode, the village has a bustling high street, European-style café culture, an abundance of green spaces, attractive large period homes, plus good transport links. The area has a Tube station, which is on the District line, and a mainline railway station that has services to London Waterloo, which takes 18 minutes.

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During the tennis competition, Wimbledon Village is awash with sports stars and well-dressed spectators sipping on Champagne. But the vibe for the rest of the year is surprisingly unflashy.

The area, which lies only seven miles from the West End, appeals to people who like the countryside but need to be close to town for work, according to Mr. Appleton. "If you live adjacent to the common, it has the feel of being somewhere semi-rural," he added.

"It’s a very friendly, nice place to live," Mr. Morrison said. "There are swift links into London and it has good restaurants and cafes and schools. Once people move here, they tend to stay, either downsizing or upsizing within the area."

Many people moving into the area come from Notting Hill, South Kensington, Chelsea and Fulham. The typical buyer will have sold a flat for £2 million to £3 million and have bought a family house with a garden, according to Mr. Morrison. "They want to keep the good links into Central London but also get a detached property near to good schools," he said.

The open space of 1,140 acre-Wimbledon Common is a big draw for families with young children. There is also Wimbledon Park, where people camp out before the tennis tournament starts, and Cannizaro Park.

There is a real buzz in the village at this time of year, Mr. Appleton said. "Tennis stars are often spotted in the village, shopping or having lunch. But a few residents take the opportunity to leave as it does get quite busy and difficult to get around."

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Luxury amenities

Ritzy spots include Ivy Café, an offshoot of the famous Ivy restaurant in London’s Covent Garden. The brasserie and restaurant, with glamorous Art Deco style is an ideal place for brunch and a cocktail.  

Private schools are a big draw. King’s College School, an independent day school for boys aged 7 to 18 and girls aged 16 to 18, and Wimbledon High School, an independent girls’ day school, are the two key schools, according to agents.

Wimbledon High Street, home to boutiques such as Diane Von Furstenberg, Hobb’s and Neal’s Yard Remedies and a gourmet grocery store Bayley and Sage, and Church Road, which has a Le Creuset cookware shop, have a village feel.  

A view of High Street in Wimbledon Village

NIKLAS HALLE'N / Getty Images

Popular drinking spots include the Dog and Fox, which has rooms, restaurant and a bar, Hemingway’s Lounge Bar, a cocktail bar, and Rose & Crown, a pub and hotel.

There’s a good range of restaurants, from interesting independents such as the White Onion, a lovely French restaurant, and the Fire Stables, a contemporary dining room, to chain eateries such as Cau, a contemporary Argentinian steak spot; Pizza Express; Carluccio’s and Cote.  

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Who lives there?

There are mature residents living in large family houses that they bought 30 to 40 years ago, while their children were growing up. There is also a new generation of upper middle-class families who have moved out of West London, along with young professionals who are drawn by the area’s good transport links.

Notable residents

The Embassy of the Vatican, the Apostolic Nunciature, is located on Parkside. The actress June Whitfield is a long-time resident and former Wimbledon champion Boris Becker famously has a home here.

Outlook

Despite a general slowdown in the prime property market in London, demand for homes in Wimbledon Village remains steady.

However, stamp duty land tax increases have been a sticking point, Mr. Appleton said. "For homes over £2.5 million (US$3.24 million), the tax has gone up a lot. It has made some people decide to stay put and renovate their homes instead."

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Since December 2014, the tax due on homes worth £925,000 to £1.5 million is 10%. For homes worth over £1.5 million, it is 12%. Since April 2016, second-home buyers pay an additional 3% tax.

However, Mr. Appleton added, things haven’t slowed to a standstill as a result. "There are people out there who have to move and they are tired of sitting on the fence. Interest rates are still low and there are some good mortgage deals out there."  

"The prime property market started to slow down two and half years ago," Mr. Morrison said. "Brexit and the recent election, along with the increases in stamp duty tax and the proposed mansion tax have made buyers more cautious.

"But good quality homes in the neighborhood are selling," he added. "Properties have held their value and competition can be high for certain houses."

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He gave the example of an unmodernized house on Malcolm Road in Wimbledon Town that his office recently marketed, which attracted huge interest from private buyers and developers.

The property was put on the market for £1.75 million (US$2.27 million) and was sold through sealed bids for £2.35 million (US$3.050 million), which was £60,000  (US$77,866) over its original asking price.

 

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