Living in Surrey Quays: area guide to homes, schools and transport links

Striking architecture, fast links to Canary Wharf and a second phase of regeneration are pulling in young professionals and encouraging the newcomers to stay...
Anthea Masey12 February 2016

Once a thriving network of waterways on the south bank of the Thames receiving cargo from around the world, Surrey Commercial Docks — as Surrey Quays was then called — dwindled into dereliction before being closed in 1969. Despite being a mere hop, skip and a jump from central London, the place was abandoned and forgotten for more than a decade.


In 1981, when the London Docklands Development Corporation was formed, there were fewer than 6,000 people living in the area and most of the docks had been filled in.

During the 15-year major regeneration that followed, 5,500 new homes were built, mostly low-rise townhouses and flats, and waterside homes, particularly around Greenland Dock.

The network of canals created quiet and peaceful residential backwaters, while ecological parks and woodlands provided a green lung. The area is also home to London’s largest marina at South Dock. When Surrey Quays Shopping Centre opened in 1988, this newly emerging larger neighbourhood, where the borders of Kent and Surrey meet, adopted the name Surrey Quays.

Today Surrey Quays is entering a second phase of regeneration. A striking new library at Canada Water, described as an inverted pyramid by architect Piers Gough at CZWG, and a new public square with food stalls are beginning to flourish.

James Sellar, son of Shard developer Irvine Sellar, is building new flats overlooking Canada Water and a replacement store for sports retailer Decathlon, while property giant British Land is consulting on plans to redevelop the shopping centre, leisure park and the former Daily Mail printworks.

Renting

Lettings manager Sarah Mitchell at Kinleigh Folkard & Hayward says her tenants are mainly professionals working for big Canary Wharf employers and international students. Her landlords are a mix of long-standing residents who have moved out of the area and Asian investors. The rental yield on new build flats is around four per cent.

The most popular development is Maple Quays close to Canada Water station. “Tenants are prepared to wait for a flat in Maple Quays and expect to pay around £1,700 a month for a one bedroom flat and just over £2,000 a month for a two-bedroom flat.”

Postcode

Surrey Quays is in the SE16 postcode, the Rotherhithe postcode, which also includes much of Bermondsey.

Best roads

The homes overlooking Greenland Dock and flats in Maple Quays close to Canada Water underground station. Chris Early says the Lavender Road area next to the attractive Lavender Pond is also popular.

What’s new

A new town centre is being planned for Surrey Quays with British Land consulting on plans to redevelop the tired shopping centre, the leisure park and the former Daily Mail print works. King’s College London is possibly interested in establishing a presence here.

Development has already broken ground on the nearby Decathlon site overlooking Canada Water. Here James Sellar, son of Shard developer Irvine Sellar is planning a new store for Decathlon and 234 new homes. This is part of a larger joint venture with Notting Hill Housing that will build a total of over 1,000 homes in and around Canada Water.

There are major developments in and around Plough Way between Greenland Dock and South Dock. Marine Wharf is a development of 566 one-, two-, and three-bedroom flats, three bedroom duplexes and town houses from developer Berkeley. The final phase Endeavour House is selling off plan with two, three bedroom flats and three bedroom duplexes still available with prices starting at £537,500. The second phase of Mariners Place goes on sale in the summer. A Tesco Express is already open and an independent coffee shop opens next year.

Tavern Quay (www.tavernquay.net 0333 2527632) on Rope Street is a development of 76 flats from developer Vision with prices starting at £425,000 for a one-bedroom flat and £580,000 for a two-bedroom flat.

Housing association L&Q (0844 406 9800) is building Greenland Place, a development of 95 one-, two- and three-bedroom flats off Plough Way; the first phase is sold out but the second phase of shared ownership flats launches this summer. Prices in the last phase started at £80,000 for a 25 per cent share of a one bedroom flat with a market value of £320,000.

The same developer is building 151 flats at Quebec Quarter next to Russia Dock Woodland that will be launched soon for completion in September.

In the same area Barratt Homes (0844 811 4334) is building Redwood Park, a development of 212 studios, one-, two- and three-bedroom flats which includes a doctors’ surgery that will be ready at Christmas.

The area attracts

Estate agent Chris Early from Kinleigh Folkard & Hayward says Surrey Quays is attracting young professionals looking for their first home and buy-to-let investors looking to capitalise on the area’s growth potential and expansion and its excellent transport links to the City and Canary Wharf.

Staying power

Surrey Quays has many long-standing residents from the time when it was a tight-knit working class community. According to Chris Early, incomers often saw the area as a temporary home for between three and five years but he says this is changing and the second wave of regeneration is encouraging families to stay and put down roots.

Up and coming

Chris Early says “right-to-buy” flats on council estates are attracting first time-buyers and investors. “The flats are often more spacious than new build flats and can be up to £100,000 cheaper for the same number of bedrooms.”

Travel
Canada Water is on the Jubilee line and is one stop away from Canary Wharf and two stops away from London Bridge. Surrey Quays, Canada Water and Rotherhithe are stations on the London Overground. All stations are in Zone 2 and an annual travelcard including Zone 1 costs £1,284.


Council

Southwark is Labour-controlled, and Band D council tax for the year is £1,207.14.


Photographs by Daniel Lynch

Lifestyle

Shops and restaurants
Surrey Quays Shopping Centre now feels very dated and neglected. There is a large Tesco Extra and branches of Bhs, Dorothy Perkins, New Look and River Island. The centre is due for a revamp soon.

A favourite local restaurant — and reputedly one of the best Vietnamese restaurants in London — is Café East in nearby Mast Leisure Park. Canada Water Café in Surrey Quays Road is a welcome addition to the area.

Also highly regarded is The Yellow House in Lower Road, a former pub that has been turned into a bar and restaurant.

The Mayflower in nearby Rotherhithe village is the oldest Thames-side pub in the capital, named after the Pilgrim Fathers’ ship that set sail for America from Rotherhithe in 1620.

What the locals say on Twitter

@AndrewMcManus70
@Theyellowhouse_ best bar and restaurant in Surrey Quays by a mile. Great Pizzas, wonderful burgers, and friendly service.

@choukine
@surreydocksfarm @simplicity @CanadaWaterCafe @MayflowerPub @DowntownBSA to name a few!


@Shawzybaws
Cafe East - good food at excellent value


@thomleoncarver
#Bermondsey is really known for its cafes more than restaurants, a lot of builders work or reside here #FullEnglishBreakfast


Open Space
There are Thames-side walks and tranquil wanders around former docks. Southwark Park on Gomm Road opened in 1869 and is one of London’s oldest parks; it has a bandstand, boating lake and café. Areas of filled in docks have been turned into peaceful country and wildlife parks. The Russia Dock Woodland on Redriff Road is where the Russia Dock once stood; the nearby Stave Hill Ecology Park on Salter Road has views over Docklands. The Lavender Pond on Lavender Road is a former timber pond where imported wood was floated to keep it from drying out and cracking. The last two parks are managed for wildlife by the Trust for Urban Ecology.


Leisure and the arts
The Mast Leisure Park on Surrey Quays Road, behind the Surrey Quays Shopping Centre, has an eight screen Odeon cinema and a bowling alley. CGP has two contemporary art galleries in Southwark Park, the purpose-built Café Gallery and Dilston Grove in a former listed chapel. The local council-owned swimming pool is at the Seven Islands Leisure Centre in Lower Road.


The Brunel Museum, dedicated to the achievements of Marc and Isambard Kingdom Brunel, is in Railway Avenue.


There is a city farm in Rotherhithe Street and the Surrey Docks Watersports Centre in Greenland Dock offers kayaking, sailing, powerboating, rowing and windsurfing.

Three things you may not know about Surrey Quays

Where is the history of Surrey Quays on display?
There are several murals depicting the history of the docks. Two are in Surrey Quays Shopping Centre, while the rest are on the walls of a dockers’ shelter in Redriff Road.

Which tourist attraction brought one million visitors to Rotherhithe in its first month when it opened in 1843?
Marc Isambard Brunel and his more famous son Isambard Kingdom opened the first underwater tunnels in 1843. The twin pedestrian tunnels ran from Rotherhithe to Wapping and were an immediate hit, attracting millions of tourists. The tunnels were converted to take trains in 1869 and the shafts leading to the tunnels were abandoned. The shaft on the south side is now part of Brunel Museum, one of London’s most atmospheric music venues, and there are plans to restore it to its Victorian splendour with a grand circular staircase.

Where did Surrey Quays play its part in the Normandy landings in June 1944?
In the months leading up to the D-Day landings, South Dock was drained and used for the construction of parts of the two Mulberry floating docks that were transported to northern France and used to land supplies.

Schools

Primary schools

All of Surrey Quays primary schools are judged to be “outstanding” or “good” by the government’s education watchdog Ofsted. The “outstanding” ones are: Albion in Albion Street; St Joseph’s RC in Gomm Road; and Redriff in Salter Road. Chris Early says that houses and large flats within the catchment area of these schools go for a premium “We have seen some two bedroom houses selling for between £900 and £1,000 a square foot.”

Comprehensive

The local comprehensive school Bacon’s College (co-ed, ages 11 to 18) in Timber Pond Road is rated “good”; and the nearby Catholic comprehensive St Michael’s (co-ed, ages 11 to 18) in Llewellyn Street is judged to be “outstanding”. Compass School Southwark (co-ed, ages 11 to 16) is a new Free School in Drummond Road that opened in September 2013.

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