Lauren Rapacioli, lettings agent at Hadleigh Residential, dreams of a perfect pink townhouse on Primrose Hill and remembers the halcyon days where a studio flat cost just £165 a week.

What’s special about your agency?

We really over deliver, we are a small agency whose reputation hasn’t been made by over promising and under delivering. We genuinely really look after our clients and the proof is in the pudding, our clients use us again and again year after year and importantly tell their friends about their experience with us too which is great.

Where do you live and with whom?

I live between New Southgate and Arnos Grove with my boyfriend and our little boy, but I grew up in Islington where my mum still lives.

Why did you buy your current property? What’s your favourite thing about it?

We bought our current property because it ticked all our boxes (we viewed some real horrors) and our favourite thing about the flat is the size of the reception room, the huge windows and the front and back garden which our little boy and our bulldog love

What’s your dream house?

Dream house would be a lovely pink townhouse in Primrose Hill with a roof top terrace with amazing views over London. Would also love a villa on one of the lovely Greek Islands so I could escape the rain in London and maybe an apartment in New York and .....

If you weren’t an estate agent what would you be?

I always wanted to be a vet growing up or an airline stewardess or is cabin crew more politically correct nowadays?

When did you buy your first property and what was it like?

We are still in our first property, we bought it in 2006 and exchanged and completed a couple of days before Christmas without a scrap of furniture! Looking back, we were the most unorganised home buyers I’ve ever seen.

How long have you been an estate agent? What’s the most shocking/surprising thing you’ve seen on the job?

I’ve been in lettings since starting as an administrator in a branch in Islington in 2002 and haven’t looked back. I’ve seen the usual, people in bed having a ‘cuddle’, people in the shower, you name it I’ve probably seen it.

How has the local property market changed since you started out?

Massively, I remember when tenants could rent a studio flat for £165 per week and have a choice of flats too!

What are your top tips for the local area?

Belsize Village delicatessen, a small family run deli providing great food and great service. Chez Bob is very good for a quick lunch too

Are you good at Monopoly?

No, my little boy who is 5 beats me every single time, he bankrupts me and loves every minute of it! Actually thinking about it, he does that in real life too!

Hadleigh Residential