A touch of country living in the town

PEOPLE tempted to leave the London areas of Blackheath and Islington for a big detached house in the country now have a chance to buy one on their doorstep. Two outstanding houses are up for sale, with large gardens and parking as well as lots of living space.

The house in Blackheath has a particularly pastoral setting, in half an acre of garden fronting the heath on a road closed to through traffic. Built in 1821, it has had a succession of occupants with nautical connections including the current owner, Alan Woods, who as well as running a boat business on the Thames bears the title of Waterman to the Queen.

The house has four reception rooms, five bedrooms, two bathrooms, a basement flat and several large attic rooms. The walled garden, 250ft long, includes an area which was once a tennis court. The house is being sold by Savills (071- 488 9586) with a guide price of pounds 875,000.

The Old Vicarage in Mountfort Crescent, Islington, is owned by a literary agent. The double- fronted, white stucco house was originally built as the lodge to Mountfort House, before becoming the vicarage to St Andrew's Church. It has a handmade kitchen, four reception rooms, including a first-floor library with views over Barnsbury Square, five bedrooms and a lower-ground floor suitable for a separate flat.

The gardens are landscaped with screens and paths and there is parking for several cars on Mountfort Crescent, which is a private road. Holden Matthews (071-226 1313) is asking pounds 1.3m for the freehold.

THE FALL in house prices hit owners of studio and one-bedroom flats in the South-east hardest of all. They found themselves deep in negative equity, and with no buyers for their property, since first-timers could take advantage of low prices to jump a few rungs up the property ladder.

But there is one customer for these properties. Councils faced with queues of homeless people are looking for small flats to house them. They pay a fixed rent to the owners for a period of at least a year and carry out repairs and other management tasks free.

Kingston upon Thames council was one of the pioneers of private leasing schemes and currently has 550 properties on its books. It pays between pounds 4,000 and pounds 7,000 a year rent, depending on the size and condition of the property, and promises to return it to the owner in the same condition, allowing for fair wear and tear.

Potential landlords must check with their building society and the terms of their lease to see if they can take advantage of one of these schemes. They are also responsible for providing appropriate insurance cover.

If you are interested in leasing your property to your local authority, contact the housing department to see if it or a neighbouring council run such a scheme. If your building society seems less than enamoured of the idea, the council may be able to persuade it otherwise by producing some examples of the scheme in practice.

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