Chard Estate Agents - Earls Court area guide

Earl’s Court SW5, SW10

This has long been a popular area for renters and it’s easy to see why. Earl’s Court, both the East and West sections,  are in easy reach of High Street Kensington, Holland Park, Kensington Gardens, the Royal Albert Hall, Imperial College, the great museums and of course the Earl’s Court Exhibition Centre, one of the country’s largest indoor arenas.  

The area also contains a wide variety of properties, from cheap studios to £20 million properties in The Boltons, for instance, and there are many multi-million apartments in the main residential squares such as Bramham Gardens and Courtfield Gardens.  Most of the architecture is early Victorian and consists of upmarket residential squares, many with private gardens.  

Many of the houses have been divided into flats, and there are also mansion blocks as well as streets of pretty pastel-painted townhouses in the conservation areas of Childs Place, Kenway Road, Wallgrave Road and Redfield Lane - known collectively as Kenway Village.  

Although vastly gentrified since the 1990s, much of Earl’s Court was rundown and rather seedy for years and attracted overseas students and backpackers because it was cheap, cheerful and central. During the 1950s Earl’s Court became known as Kangaroo Valley owing to the vast number of Australian and New Zealand travellers, but it is no longer such a favourite haunt of the antipodeans, probably because it has been mainly priced out of their market.

Nowadays, there are not many whole houses – at least at affordable prices – left in Earl’s Court and the area is mainly flatland, abounding with Victorian conversions. Ideal for young professionals, singles and young couples, Earl’s Court is very near to all the happening events in Central London. It is not a family area and there are no fabulous shopping centres, just ordinary mini-supermarkets and convenience stores. Still, one does not live in Earl’s Court for wonderful retail therapy but for everything being near at hand.  There are, though, many little art galleries which showcase new artists, in the area.  

The Finborough is the award-winning local theatre and the Troubadour is a coffee house and music venue which has been encouraging new talent since the 1950s and still going strong. There is a Wagamama Japanese restaurant in Earl’s Court Road.