Hot properties: rounding up the week in north London property

Ample space for entertaining in this Bishops Avenue mansion (Image: Archant)

Big buy

Live in faux-palatial splendour in this quintessential Bishops Avenue mansion, asking price £15million. One imagines that, with its grand gardens and spacious detached layout this seven-bedroom property, set behind secure double gates with a carriage driveway may have most appeal for those international buyers who are making the most of the favourable exchange rate.

The “Palladian style” property has a series of large reception rooms as well as a banquet-sized dining room and backs directly onto Highgate Golf Course.

Kitsch but fun: the trompe l'oeil paintings in the bathroom (Image: Archant)

Knight Frank, Hampstead, 020 3582 8905 First time buyersSkills with storage and a rigid attitude to tidying will be a benefit if you buy this Belsize Park studio as your primary residence but if you can tick both boxes then the second-floor flat could be an ideal first home. The wooden floors and natural light are particularly nice features of the recently refurbished space, while the separate kitchen is a definite plus for those who don’t like sleeping too near the fridge. Alternatively the £375,000 studio would make an excellent pied-a-terre in a particularly lovely part of the capital. Hadleigh Residential, 020 7722 9799

Fixer upper

How can a first time buyer hope to live in a classic Belsize Park stucco house? If you don't mind a studio... (Image: Archant)

This three-bedroom flat is in a 1970s block with interiors that look like they may well have been untouched since the property was first built – you just don’t find tiles or wallpaper like that any more.

Retro fiends may be tempted to keep certain of the decorative touches but those of a more contemporary persuasion will delight in the blank slate, good sized rooms and wide windows in this £1.1million home. The location in central Belsize Park is also not to be sniffed at, while facilities such as the double length garage, parking permit, passenger lift and communal gardens will also be welcome.

Greene & Co, 020 7483 2551

How can a first time buyer hope to live in a classic Belsize Park stucco house? If you don't mind a studio... (Image: Archant)

Rental

Original parquet flooring and a balcony in an Art Deco block mere moments from Parliament Hill are the major draws to this three-bedroom rental flat, available to let for £2,250 per month with heating and hot water included.

You could even keep the kitchen's delightful retro kitchen if you wanted a trip down memory lane (Image: Archant)

Live out your Agatha Christie fantasies in this third floor flat (with lift), which comes with its original feature fireplaces – no word whether they work or not. The Hylda Court property is currently being redecorated and will be available from mid-August.

Hamways, 020 7644 9977

The three-bedroom flat in this 1970s block has large, light rooms that will benefit from an update (Image: Archant)

Word on the street

Optimism (whether foolish or warranted) is the word of the day in the beleaguered Hampstead property market and none more optimistic than Philip Green of Goldschmidt & Howland. So this seven-bedroom house in Little Venice has been reduced by £600,000 since it was listed three months ago? “With change comes opportunity,” says Green.

Apparently the house’s wealthy owner is moving overseas and is keen to offload the property if possible. Or, if no-one’s keen to splash the necessary £7.35million then it’s also available to rent for £20,583 a month.

Original period fireplaces and feature windows will help you live out your Agatha Christie fantasies (Image: Archant)

Goldschmidt & Howland, 020 7289 6666

This Little Venice property has been reduced from �7,950,000 to �7,350,000 (Image: Archant)