Booming Balham

The London suburb once mocked for being ugly is enjoying a surprising property boom.

Balham was long thought to be the naffest place to live in South London, damned for ever as the 'Gateway to the South' by Peter Sellers, and described by Swallows And Amazons author Arthur Ransome as 'the ugliest and most abominable of London's unpleasing suburbs'.

Local estate agents, naturally, take a contrary view, having described it as up-and-coming for the past decade.

Now, Balham is the only destination south of the river for the in-crowd, who go to trendy bars such as the Exhibit and the latest Soho House venture, the Balham Kitchen.

Then there's fashionable Persian restaurant Dish Dash and The Bedford Arms is a well known comedy venue frequented by Ewan McGregor.

Celebrity residents include comedian Jack Dee and supermodel Jacquetta Wheeler, television presenters Brian Dowling and Sarah Beeny, and ¸ber-cool band Turin Brakes, who play in the local pubs.

Nick Jones, husband of newsreader Kirsty Young and owner of Soho House in London and New York - as well as the media country retreat Babington House in Somerset and the Electric Cinema Brasserie in Notting Hill - chose to launch his latest restaurant in the suburb. He and his wife are often seen dining at the Balham Kitchen.

'I love Balham - it reminds me of how Notting Hill was in the old days,' he says. 'There is a brilliant sense of community here with really interesting people. The transport is good and there are some beautiful houses.

'Property prices are still reasonable and you can get more for your money than you would anywhere else so close to central London. But when I decided to set up the restaurant everyone stared at me in disbelief and said, "Why Balham?" We have been packed from the first day and are doing phenomenally well.'

Sarah Beeny, Property on Sunday columnist and presenter of Channel 4's Property Ladder, has lived in Balham for ten years and renovated many properties in the area.

'Balham has come full circle,' she says. 'After the War it was a lively place. But by the time we arrived it was completely dead and all the shops were boarded up.

'Now they have been opened again as coffee shops and trendy boutiques. The downside is that there aren't many bargains left, unless you go to what was the redlight district in Bedford Hill.'