ByCharlie Jacoby, Charlie Jacoby
Another big scheme in Stanmore is creeping towards consent. Anmer Lodge, a former daycare centre, is to be turned into more than 100 new homes and a Marks and Spencer food store. So what makes Stanmore so attractive? First it was Brockley Park, which is nearly 10 years old. Now selling is the redevelopment of the former RAF site at Bentley Priory. Anmer Lodge is likely to carry the torch of development into 2016.
For Helen Moore, managing director of developer City & Country, it is the quality of buildings for sale that attracts buyers. For instance, in City & Country's homes at Bentley Priory, the historic is complemented with an attractive interior specification. "The contemporary hand-made oak staircases, for example, are a strong feature that add a new layer of history."
Jason Rishover, of developer Heronslea, calls Stanmore one of London's "super-suburbs", along with Mill Hill and Bushey. Agent Preston Bennett has been involved with the planning approval for more than 500 units in 2013. Most are in Borehamwood and West Drayton, but they include a new 18,000 sq ft house in the Green Belt at the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital, Stanmore.
Richard Henley, a Preston Bennett director and chartered town planner, says: "The improvement in the economy has seen an increase in developer confidence and our consistent work with developers and land owners has culminated in a steady increase in schemes being passed."
Local groups raise opposition to schemes, but developers insist they are what buyers want. Sales at Bentley Priory are taking off. Preston Bennett is agent for the three developers at this landscaped 57-acre estate, with its mature woodlands and miles of footpaths.
The properties here are designed to reflect the architecture of the 1775 mansion house, once home to royalty, a meeting place for political and literary figures and RAF Fighter Command's HQ in the Second World War.
Banner Homes is is offering seven four, five and six-bedroom detached houses at Bentley Priory. Guide prices are £2.25 million to £5.5 million and three have sold.
Barratt is offering Clarence Park Crescent, with 12 four-bedroom, four-bathroom homes; Soane Square, with three and four-bedroom homes from £1,086,000 and Walled Garden Court, two and three-bedroom apartments at £839,000 to £1.25 million.
City & Country's part of Bentley Priory is the redevelopment of the mansion. It has launched four split-level apartments at Adelaide House, the third of four phases, overlooking the lawns, where two Spitfire and Hurricane replicas commemorate Bentley Priory's wartime role. Prices are £675,000 to £765,000.