Hundreds of new homes add to Hammersmith's facelift

Hammersmith is a convenient place to live if Heathrow and the West End are on your routine agenda.

This area of travel Zone 2 is about as close-in as you can get in west London, with relatively affordable flats and family houses, and a lively arts scene — led by the Lyric, Apollo and Riverside Studios — that gives Theatreland a run for its money.

While locals lobby for a tunnel to replace the ugly and polluting flyover that splits the area in two, Hammersmith's tired town centre is getting a facelift. A package of improvements is bringing swish new homes and better public spaces. Even the listed town hall is having its former ceremonial steps reinstated to connect with a new town square and Curzon cinema.

In King Street — Hammersmith's high street — a car park site is making way for Sovereign Court, a new scheme with 418 homes plus offices, shops and restaurants.

It's just 150 metres from the Tube station and prices start at £499,950. Call St George on 0800 008 6977 for details. Also coming soon is another mixed-use scheme with 196 homes, this time by developer Grainger.

Ashlar Court, bordering handsome Ravenscourt Park, is a redevelopment of a listed Art Deco hospital accommodation block into 68 homes, including a pair of detached houses.

A rooftop extension maintains the red-brick building's fine symmetry, while an underground car park and a formal garden are being created behind the lodge-style concierge entrance. Prices from £750,000. Call Savills on 020 8987 5572.