How will the reserved British public take to Silkstream, Colindale's apartment development aimed at sociable first-time buyers? The flats are reasonably priced... £175,000 for a one-bedroom start home (plus a deferred equity/interest-free loan scheme to get residents in quicker), but it's the development's layout that's most interesting... an outdoor gym, and amenity areas on every floor, including table football, a sewing room, ironing areas (below), message areas with chalkboards aimed at getting the community to, well, commune. We like it. But will it feel a bit too college campus for homebuyers?

Technorati Tags: design, development, London, property, real estate

Mouseprice's ten fastest falling residential streets in the UK include a couple of London roads. Erebus Drive, in SE26, close to the river in Greenwich, is heavy on new-build apartments, but Russell Road in Barnet (NW9) looks like a fairly average residential road. You can see the full top ten on Mouseprice's actual report by clicking here.

Technorati Tags: London, property, real estate

Remember this? The latest London compulsory purchase order disgrace appears to be taking place in Barnet's Grahame Park Estate, where the council has apparently admitted that the price being paid out to residents won't be enough to allow them to buy back in again, after their homes have been demolished and replaced. Residents' choices are simple. They can move away (the most likely outcome... despite school or work ties); they can increase their mortgages to cover the price hike; or enter into a shared ownership scheme. Isn't the point of regeneration to improve an area for the people who live there? Full story, here.