No. 003
Notting Hill
The short version
Pastel stucco and a market that outlasted the film.
What it’s actually like
Notting Hill’s postcard image, pastel stucco terraces and the Portobello Road market stalls, is real, but it is a small fraction of the neighbourhood. The streets around Lansdowne Crescent and Elgin Crescent carry the grandest houses; further west towards Golborne Road, prices soften and the market gets more interesting for buyers.
Parking is genuinely difficult and the market on Fridays and Saturdays turns the main roads into a slow walk rather than a drive. Anyone viewing a house here should do it on a Tuesday morning to see the street as it actually is most of the week.
It suits buyers set on period houses with private gardens or access to a communal garden square, and who plan to stay long enough to absorb the stamp duty on a purchase at this level.
Worth knowing
Portobello Road market on Fridays and Saturdays
Communal garden square access on most crescents
Holland Park a fifteen-minute walk south
Strong long-term price growth over two decades
Limited on-street parking, worth checking permit zones