What makes a street desirable? In London’s beleaguered property market, where the latest ONS figures show house prices falling 3.3 per cent in the past year, that question feels more pertinent than ever for anyone thinking of buying or selling a home.

Property data website Brick View has identified 20 streets in London where the average transaction value has soared by comparing the average value of sales from July 2020 to July 2023 (the Covid era) with July 2023 to July 2026 (post-Covid). On the top residential streets the average transaction price increased dramatically, an indication of positive sentiment and buyer activity. But what makes them so popular? Why are they shielded from the troubles facing the wider housing market?

Rising prices on streets such as Queensway in Bayswater reflect recent regeneration and new luxury homes, but the majority of standout streets merely show what Londoners still want, if they can afford it: family-sized, Victorian houses with high ceilings, period features and gardens on leafy residential streets within buggy-pushing distance of green space.

There tends to be a Tube or Overground station a few minutes’ walk away. There is a great pub nearby and a good coffee shop, too — plus a decent school. Exclusive to Homes & Property, here are the top 20 addresses where people are clamouring to buy against the odds.

Queensway is one of the last central London pockets to undergo regeneration. “It has been out of fashion for a long time, with buildings that had fallen into disrepair and shops to match hence prices were low for a central location next to Hyde Park.

The potential for uplift was significant,” says Rosy Khalastchy of Beauchamp Estates. The glow-up was triggered by the £1 billion redevelopment of the old Art Deco Whiteleys department store into 139 luxury homes. There is now a Six Senses hotel, a Third Space gym, an Everyman cinema and a Blank Street coffee shop. Whole Foods is on the way. Three-quarters of the 139 homes in The Whiteley were sold before the summer, explaining the price surge.

Hamilton Terrace feels a world away from the noise, traffic and construction sites that comes with such regeneration. The wide, tree-lined street has an array of grand Victorian detached and semi-detached properties set back from the street with parking and back gardens.

“This is one of the London streets that the ultra-wealthy just get,” says Becky Fatemi of Sotheby’s. “These homes have a sense of space, which is rare here.” In fact, eight homes sold here in the last year, totalling almost £100 million according to research by Aston Chase. It has had its share of stardust sprinkled on it, with former residents including Jackie Collins and Robbie Williams.

High prices in Clapham and Balham have long pushed buyers looking for family-sized homes into Streatham Hill and Streatham Common, which have now become an extension of south-west London’s nappy valley. Woodfield Avenue in Streatham Hill touches Tooting Bec Common at one end, near the lido, and runs towards Streatham High Road, close to the Overground station.

This leafy pocket has some converted period flats but is mostly family-sized homes with gardens. Streatham resident Kris Shergold, a father of three, says: “The clearest sign of improvement is that a Gail’s has opened up on the High Road. There is a wide selection of pubs and restaurants and an M&S Foodhall. It also has a Starbucks and a WingStop — these are the things my kids care about.

The value for money is still excellent compared to Balham, but it’s next door.” Most of the top 20 streets in south-west London fall into the “spillover” category, where families have moved out to zones three and four in the pursuit of more space. St Leonards Road in East Sheen is part of the flow out towards Richmond. It is close to Mortlake High Street and the bend of the Thames to the north with Richmond Park to the south.

Buying agent Alex Greaves purchased a house for a family on Clarendon Drive in Putney last year who were moving from Notting Hill. “Their budget went further in Putney than Fulham and the gardens were bigger than those in Barnes and it offered them the blend of school options, space and value,” he says. He claims it is good value compared with some of west Putney’s most prestigious roads — although a family period house will still cost between £1.5m and £2m. Deodar Road in Putney has the scarcity factor. “There aren’t many spots in this part of London that have period architecture and a riverside position. Some of the best houses here even have gardens that run down to the river.” Access to the A3 is a major draw too, Greaves continues, as it is easy to get out into the countryside without crossing the Thames.

Willoughby Road is in a conservation area and sits between the Heath and the celebrity-studded Hampstead Village. It was once home to Ricky Gervais, who heavily renovated his mansion before selling it in 2015. “It connects Hampstead High Street to the Heath but it is relatively quiet, unlike some of the parallel streets,” says James Morton of Goldschmidt & Howland, which has a five-bedroom house listed for £4.35m. “There are a lot of family houses and many people have lived there for decades. The east side of the village is also slightly more understated, it has got beautiful character roads and is very convenient but it’s peaceful.”

The less chi-chi Constantine Road lies at the Parliament Hill side of the Heath and has access to all the same shops, pubs and restaurants. Here, however, a five-bedroom terraced house with three bathrooms sold in March for £1,732,500. Despite the proximity to Hampstead, it is cheaper than a modernised five-bedroom Victorian terraced house with a back garden on Wrentham Avenue in Kensal Rise. It connects to Chamberlayne Road, where you can find a wide range of cuisine, including a couple of Mexican restaurants, yoga studios and the Lexi art house cinema. Buying agent Nina Harrison says Wrentham Avenue “has big houses and the gardens are great, you can get off-street parking and you are outside the challenging Queen’s Park Conservation Area. The last point matters: you can buy a big house and really go to town.”

Lauriston Road is at the epicentre of Victoria Park village with its own pub, the Lauriston, doing pub quizzes and pizza, cocktails and karaoke. You’ll find the Deli Downstairs, Bruno’s for a glass of wine and My Neighbours the Dumplings and the Pavilion Café in the park, as well as the Sunday farmers’ market, Pilates and bootcamps.

Colworth Road in Leytonstone makes the list too but is up-and-coming rather than well-established as an address. It’s close to the green space of Epping Forest and the properties are late Victorian with wide fronts. “Young couples buy here to grow into a family home, coming from Hackney and looking for a place for the next seven to 10 years,” says Dario Esposito of estate agency Aucoot. “They find it peaceful compared to Hackney.”

Barge Walk is one of the few roads in the top 20 comprising apartment blocks. However, the location is enviable if you want convenience and concerts. It’s on the bend of the Thames on Greenwich Peninsula, close to the O2. The price growth can be explained by the fact that most of the flats were originally sold as shared ownership so the prices that went on the Land Registry were 25 or 50 per cent of the value; now they are being sold on privately for 100 per cent of their value. But it is popular. “Barge Walk is a modern development of flats rather than houses and most sell for less than £450,000, putting them firmly in first-time buyer territory,” says Matthew Wright of John Payne. “Buyers come from all over London.”

Woodhill in Woolwich is the overspill area for growing families from the more expensive Blackheath. “Woodhill is one of the very few roads in Woolwich with Victorian terraced houses,” says William Chidley of John Payne. “Most of our buyers have been priced out of Charlton and Blackheath. Woodhill sits right on the Charlton border, the other side of which a house of the same size will cost you around five to 10 per cent more.” The Elizabeth line is a big factor in rising values around here, too.

Homes on Frithville Gardens in Shepherd’s Bush tend to sell faster than on those surrounding streets. It is very close to Shepherd’s Bush centre and the Tube but is pretty and, as buying agent Harrison puts it, “has a stronger sense of being a proper family street”. This is down to the fact that there are plenty of whole houses still rather than flat conversions. “This makes an enormous difference at street level. Fewer people coming and going, less clutter and fewer of those enormous bins that are the great horror of Hammersmith & Fulham,” she says.

Stile Hall Gardens is at the most westerly end of Chiswick High Road as it rolls into Kew Bridge. Close to both the railway line and the M4, this keeps the average house price under the £1 million mark but it is not far off due to its family-sized, period homes. Extensive regeneration linking Brentford town centre with the high street, the canal and the Thames, is also driving up house prices nearby. “Stile Hall Gardens is a leafy, tree-lined road with impressive Edwardian homes and is very popular with families who seek a community feel,” says John Williams of Dexters. What has really made a difference is that the road is now closed to through-traffic, cutting it off from the South Circular, he explains. Chiswick High Road, the Thames and Gunnersbury Underground station are all on the doorstep.