Hotspot: Hampstead, London

The village's veterans are converting their mansions into pensions, and a new breed of City buyer is moving uphill, says Robert Liebman

Tomorrow's blue plaques are pounding the pavement in Hampstead today. Coleridge, Keats and Constable lived in 19th-century Hampstead, and Sigmund Freud, fleeing Nazi-occupied Vienna, hung out his shingle in Maresfield Gardens in 1938. Although plenty of luvvies live in NW3 nowadays, it still has more than its share of the creative elite.

Hampstead's housing stock is attractive and diverse, the schools are good, it has an 800-acre heath as well as an underground station, and it has numerous boutiques, antique shops, pubs and restaurants, highly-regarded theatres and art-house cinemas.

"It is the kind of place where the second time you walk into a butcher's shop, he remembers you," says Paul Sennett of Hamptons International. "The famous residents blend into the community, and the person who greets you in passing might be Tom Conti, David Baddiel or Frank Skinner."

Some of Hampstead's best homes are in obscure nooks and crannies: "Merlin House is one of Hampstead's secrets, a block of flats on a hidden private road with a communal garden and residents' tennis courts," says Mr Sennett. "Gradually the old Hampsteadites are moving away. Many of them capitalise on growth in their property values and move downhill to Chalk Farm or Belsize Park, buying a property the same size for half the price and putting the remainder into the bank."

Some departing Hampstead veterans release palatial homes onto the market. Among them is No 15 Templewood Avenue, a four-storey, 8,200 sq ft home on a double plot, with 9/10 bedrooms on two-thirds of an acre, after a period of almost 50 years with the same owner.

Fortunately for sellers of such piles, a new breed of buyer has rolled into town. "The City has recognised that Hampstead is the nicest part of London that is easy to get to on one Tube line," says Mr Sennett. "Our buyers include many bankers, stockbrokers and prominent members of the legal profession. The average time in a house is five years. The family grows, and so they move up the ladder, but they stay in Hampstead."

Hampstead, which is in the borough of Camden, also has ex-council flats. Wells House is in the centre of the village, and there is a massive estate off Mansfield Road in Gospel Oak. Nearby West Hampstead may be cheaper than Hampstead, but it is an attractive secondary option for homebuyers.

The Low-Down

Transport

Hampstead's Northern Line tube station is three stops from Camden Town, where the Edgware and Barnet Lines converge. Hampstead Heath station on the North London Line adjoins the heath near Keats House and the Royal Free Hospital.

Prices

Last year, Hamptons' sales ranged between £163,000 for a one-bed unmodernised flat to £5.25m. Starting prices now for one-bed flats are £200,000. Fifteen Templewood Avenue is selling for £4.55m, and needs modernisation. Chesterton is selling a two-bed duplex conversion flat for £495,000, but most two- and three-bed are £575,000 to £725,000.

Properties

The mix includes period houses, many of which have been converted, hospital conversions, and architect-designed modern homes. Properties around Whitestone Pond offer panoramic views to the West End and the City. A few properties are in the heath, at the Vale of Health and in South Hill Park overlooking Hampstead Ponds. New Regime is building two 7,000sq ft six-storey homes in Thurlow Road, each with lift, underground parking, and self-contained staff/ granny flat. Prices are £5m for the fully-fitted house and £4.25m for the shell house (020-7431 0555). Octagon is building townhouses and apartments near Golders Hill Park (020-8358 7900). On nearby Finchley Road, West Hampstead, Regime is building 54 apartments, including nine penthouses, with prices starting at £320,000, due for completion in spring 2003. Each flat will have a balcony or terrace, and underground parking is available. Barratt is building mews houses and flats in South Hampstead, NW6, priced from £550,000 (020-8607 1919).

Lets

Chesterton is letting a three-bed unfurnished duplex penthouse on Maresfield Gardens near the Sigmund Freud Museum, at £2,500 a week. A five double-bed period family house that includes a separate studio flat and private garden is renting for £2,700. A four-bed duplex conversion flat is renting for £1,400 a week.

Culture and entertainment

Kenwood House, Keats House, Freud Museum, Fenton House and Burgh House have been joined by the National Trust's 2 Willow Road, a Thirties s Modern Movement house designed by and home to Ernö Goldfinger. Annual events include outdoor concerts at Kenwood House, and the Hampstead and Highgate Festival.

Oversight

The Heath & Hampstead Society, founded in 1897, produces a monthly newsletter and also has its own website. Find it at www.heathandhampsteadsociety.org.uk

Estate Agents

Chesterton, 020-7794 1125; Hamptons, 020-7794 8222.