London’s Best Neighbourhoods: A Guide To Pocket’s Communities

London is a city where there’s a neighbourhood to suit every taste—from bustling and vibrant to quiet and laid-back. Each area has its own unique personality and charm. In this blog, we’re taking a stroll through London’s best neighbourhoods around our developments, showing you the best spots for food, fun, and everything in between, as well as the quickest ways to get around.

Woodside Park, Barnet

Country peace. City pace. The Woodside Park urban retreat is perfectly placed to enjoy both. You’ll find wildlife and nightlife, rural pubs and urban coffee shops, casual eateries and smart restaurants, along with bustling venues for sport, exercise, dance and theatre.

As a homeowner at Woodside Park N12, you’ll have many off-duty options. Learn hip-hop or the Argentine tango at the AV dance studio. Or wander through Woodridge Nature Reserve, a haven for wildlife. Take your seat for a show or comedy spot at the Arts Depot. Or spread out a picnic with friends at the nearby wildflower meadow. Culture or country? At Woodside Park N12, both are close by.

Things to do

  • Firstly, The Arts Depot is an award-winning cultural hub with two theatres, a ‘creative research lab’, drama, dance and art studios and an art gallery.
  • Catch critically acclaimed fringe premieres and Soho Theatre productions.
  • Cafe culture is never far away. So, dip into the Holybella artisan coffee house and savour an expertly crafted drink… a Merry Berry smoothie with a Veggie Sourdough Club at lunchtime and a slice of cake to take home.
  • Finchley Lawn Tennis Club welcomes all players with no  joining fees.
  • The Tally Ho and The Griffin are traditional local pubs serving real ales, craft beers and generous portions of pub grub. Or try a pint of Hasty at The Bohemia brewpub.
  • For special dining occasions, visit Sofalino for typical Italian dishes such as  Vitello Milanese and Fettucine al Funghi, or head up to The Orange Tree for a tempting menu featuring British classics  and Mediterranean-inspired dishes.

Transport links

Woodside Park tube station, on the Northern Line, is literally on your doorstep. Take a southbound train to reach Kentish Town, with its live music venues, in just 13 minutes and Camden Town, with its clubs and bars, in 15 minutes. The journey to central London’s King’s Cross St Pancras takes a mere 20 minutes and the tube will take you direct to Tottenham Court Road, at the end of Oxford Street, in 23 minutes. Bus route 383, with a stop outside Woodside Park station, is just one stop to North Finchley High Road in one direction and Tally Ho Corner in the other.  This bus will also take you to Barnet High Street.

Our development

At Woodside Park N12, we’re building 37 energy-efficient homes to be sold at a 20% discount to the market price. Each one-bedroom apartment is designed to make the best use of space, and the communal rooftop encourages a sense of community. These low-maintenance Pocket homes are a blank canvas to decorate and live in as you like. Sustainable travel is sorted, with on-site secure cycle storage, or the tube across the road, which whisks you to King’s Cross St Pancras in 24 minutes. For such a leafy part of London, you are never far from the city’s bright lights. Woodside Park N12 is complete and ready to move in to now!

Addiscombe Grove, East Croydon

Just over 9 miles south of Charing Cross, Croydon has a well-deserved reputation as a great place to live, work and play. As somewhere to set up home, the town ticks many boxes, more specifically, connectivity to central London, access to pubs, cinemas and galleries, and affordability.

Things to do

  • Settle into your sofa at the Everyman cinema with your beer until your chorizo or sharing plates are brought to your seat.
  • Boxpark, a collection of 80 refashioned shipping containers housing cafés, restaurants, bars and  music venues. It has energised the town’s nightlife — as well the ever-changing display of dynamic street art has enlivened Croydon’s creative edge.
  • Surrey Street Market provides goodies ranging from German turnips and Thai orchids to  Indian mangoes and Romanian cake.
  • The London Borough of Croydon has over 120 parks and open spaces. The 130-yearold Park Hill Park is just round the corner, and the multi-amenity Lloyd Park is a gentle 15-minute walk away.

Transport links

Location, location, location. Central London, Gatwick airport and the seaside city of Brighton are all readily accessible from East Croydon station. With a regular service, the rail journey to London Victoria or London Bridge takes just 16 minutes. Croydon Tramlink, with a loop around the town centre, stops right outside East Croydon station and Addiscombe Grove is well served by the bus network.

Our development

Buying a one bedroom Pocket home at Addiscombe Grove could be an extremely smart move. Not only will you obtain a discount of 20%, you’ll also own 100% of your home from day one. Designed by award-winning architect Metropolitan Workshop,  each high-quality apartment makes the best use of every square foot. There are 112 Pocket homes in the development, each designed to maximise space and create a homely, efficient environment. Across the building, there are also various breakout spaces  with ultra-fast hyperoptic WiFi. Light and airy, these have the ambiance of a trendy Scandinavian hotel. The 9th floor wellness room can be used for yoga and meditation sessions  or residents’ get-togethers. You’ll have access to three communal landscaped gardens on different floors, a residents’ lounge, workspace and a secure bike store.

Forest Road, Waltham Forest

Named ‘Britain’s coolest neighbourhood’ by The Daily Telegraph, Walthamstow is ‘on trend’ right now. Time Out magazine says: ‘There’s loads to do, tons of nice people call it home and it’s an actual creative hub, a place where stuff gets made’. It’s easy to see why the area is attracting rave reviews. Where else can you visit a mile-long brewery trail, a celebration of neon lighting, the longest open-air market in Europe, a café with a climbing wall and a pub offering life-drawing classes?

Things to do

  • The Walthamstow Wetlands are down the road for a dose of nature. Afterwards, grab a tasty lunch from the highly-rated Engine House Café.
  • Walthamstow Village, centred around Orford Road, is a cluster of quirky independent shops and restaurants such as the famed Eat17.
  • Along Blackhorse Lane, lovers of craft beer can stop off at a strip of micro-breweries or an urban winery. More traditional pubs, such as The Village and The Nags Head, offer superior pub grub.
  • Lloyd Park is a few minutes’ walk from Forest Road and has an outdoor gym, skate park and petanque court.
  • The William Morris Gallery is a Georgian house, once occupied by design pioneer and social activist William Morris. It celebrates his revolutionary life as a leader of the British Arts & Crafts movement.
  • Hoe street is located between the east and west of Walthamstow, and is pretty much the best of both worlds. You’ll find 5 star restaurants hidden between a greasy spoon and a yoga studio.
  • With a cult following in London and Los Angeles, God’s Own Junkyard is a must-visit. You’ll be immersed in new & used neon fantasies, salvaged signs, reclaimed neon signs, old movie props and retro displays.

Transport links

One of the glories of Walthamstow living is rapid access to central London via the Victoria Line. Walthamstow Central is just a 12-minute stroll, or an even quicker bus ride, from the Pocket Living development. The tube will take you to the shops and restaurants of Islington’s Upper Street in just 11 minutes and to the heart of the West End in only 18. Forest Road E17 is also well served by local bus routes, with three bus stops less than five minutes away. No tube or bus journey is required to visit an expanse of greenery, of course, as Lloyd Park is just across the road.

Our development

We’ve built 90 energy-efficient homes for first time buyers to be sold at a 20% discount to the market price.  Each one-bedroom apartment is designed to make the best use of space, and communal gardens encourage a sense of community. You can meet for a coffee or drinks on the landscaped rooftop gardens, where shared allotment beds are on hand.  The courtyard garden at ground level offers another opportunity to get together.

Whether you’re drawn to the quiet charm of Woodside Park, or the urban energy of East Croydon, Pocket has a place for you. Our developments are located in some of London’s best neighbourhoods. They offer energy-efficient homes with a 20% discount to the market price, designed for first-time buyers.

Get a Lower Mortgage Rate: The Own New Rate Reducer Explained

What is an Own New Rate Reducer mortgage?

An Own New Rate Reducer mortgage is a new product which has been launched to help first time buyers with the cost of their monthly mortgage payments, allowing buyers to purchase a new build home with a lower interest rate mortgage. It’s a normal mortgage, just with lower monthly payments for the initial two-year or five-year fixed period.

The Building Societies Association’s Property Tracker Report from March 2024 shows that the recent interest rate rises have meant that the affordability of mortgage repayments remains the biggest challenge facing prospective first time buyers. Own New’s newest product aims to help with this problem.

How does it work?

Pocket has partnered with Own New, who work behind the scenes with mortgage lenders to reduce the cost involved with mortgage loans on new build properties. The reduction is funded by a contribution by Pocket towards the cost of the mortgage and enables the mortgage lender to offer buyers more competitive interest rates during the initial two-year or five-year fixed period of their mortgage.

A purchaser would obtain advice from an independent mortgage adviser (IMA) who is trained on the Rate Reducer scheme. Then once a purchaser has reserved a Pocket home and the purchase is proceeding, Pocket would liaise with Own New to arrange for the lower mortgage rate to be applied to the purchaser’s mortgage. The contribution from Pocket would be paid to Own New when the sale completes (completion is when you get your keys!)

What mortgage rates are available?

Mortgage rates will depend on a number of factors, such as the size of the buyer’s deposit, the lender, the level of incentive available, and whether an initial fixed term of two years or five years is taken out. In some circumstances, particularly when a buyer has a larger deposit, rates below 1% could be available.

Buyers can choose between two and five-year fixed terms, depending on the lender’s criteria.

Where is Own New Rate Reducer available?

An Own New Rate Reducer mortgage is currently available on Pocket homes at Addiscombe Grove CR0.

Buyer’s will need to meet the Pocket eligibility criteria for Addiscombe Grove CR0. Eligibility is at Pocket’s discretion, subject to receiving regulated advice from an independent mortgage advisor, and is subject to lender terms and conditions.

First Homes Scheme vs. Pocket: Which is the Right Fit for You?

The thought of owning your first home is undoubtedly exciting, but for a lot of people it can also feel daunting (and financially impossible), especially in London’s market. Thankfully, there are lifelines. Initiatives and schemes like Pocket and First Homes are designed to help you on your journey to homeownership by giving you a discount on your first home. The two are somewhat similar and sometimes confused but there are crucial differences, so in this blog we’ll be shedding some light on exactly what Pocket and the First Homes scheme are, and how they compare. It’s important for you to make an informed decision that aligns with your homeownership goals when choosing how to buy, so whether you’re exploring your options or ready to take the leap, this blog is a must-read.

Pocket: West Green Place

What is the First Homes scheme?

The First Homes scheme is a government scheme that offers newly built homes at a minimum discount of 30% of the market price to first-time buyers and key workers in England. To be eligible, you must be a first-time buyer, purchasing the property to live in as your sole residence, and have a combined household income of £80,000 or less (£90,000 in London).

What is Pocket?

Similarly, Pocket provides discounted homes for first-time buyers – exclusively in London. Our properties are specifically designed for Londoners (those who make our vibrant city what it is – we call them city makers) who are struggling to get onto the property ladder. To be eligible, applicants must also meet certain criteria, including being a first-time buyer, having a maximum household income of £90,000, and, sometimes (when a scheme is first launched for sale), living or working in the borough of the development. Pocket offers well-designed, energy-efficient homes sold at 20% less than the market rate.

What’s the difference between Pocket and First Homes?

At first glance, these schemes can look very similar, but there is one key difference: the absence of the First Homes scheme in London. Now, before we jump to conclusions, it’s not that developers aren’t keen to build First Homes in the city, but it’s very difficult for developers to offer homes at First Homes discount levels in London. Pocket, however has a different model which does allow us to offer 20% discounted homes, still at 100% ownership. Rather than simply discounting standard new-build homes (as with First Homes), the Pocket model works because we have developed a  unique and efficient one-bedroom layout designed to suit the needs and lifestyles of those looking to get onto the property ladder in London, which we are able to offer at a discounted price.

Ultimately, the decision between buying using the First Homes Scheme or buying with Pocket depends on individual circumstances, including financial considerations, lifestyle preferences (including whether you want to live in London), and housing needs. By weighing the pros and cons of each option, first-time buyers can make an informed choice that aligns with their homeownership goals.

Visit pocketliving.com and get started on your homeownership journey today. By creating your My Pocket account, you can explore the range of 20% discount, 100% ownership homes tailored for you.