a day ago
The corner of London where ‘street art' is pushing up house prices
A 30ft near-naked neighbour is never going to be everyone's cup of tea, and the lady with the shopping trolley scurrying to her flat next door clearly prefers coffee (and, I hazard to guess, not of the £4.50-a-cup variety). 'It's graffiti, it's not art,' she mutters, before sighing almost mournfully: 'That was a beautiful wall.'
The wall in question, either now more or less beautiful dependent on the eye of the beholder, is the side of a redbrick Victorian semi upon which a looming goddess resplendent in fluffy towels now lounges, fresh from the shower and reading her magazine against a backdrop of jaunty geometric shapes. A stunning work of street art? Surely. In fact, it's a world-first – an exclusive collaboration between acclaimed street artists Sophi Odling and Ansley Randall. One you would expect to find spanning three storeys-worth of domestic brickwork including both chimneys on the fringe of suburbia? Probably not. And indeed nor did the owners of the two flats inside behind an elegant latticed timber porch and smart shutters. They did not know what they were going to get, or who was going to paint it. Yet they asked for it all the same.
If this sounds a rather risky patronage it has nevertheless become such a regular occurrence in this little-known corner of south London as to barely garner a double take. In Penge – which is still necessary to place within context by naming its more famous neighbour, Crystal Palace, there are now some 298 works of legal street art across the town's buildings, walls, business shutters and gates, over a quarter on private homes (around one corner a beaming local postman with a robin greets you; around the next, a Japanese geisha).
There is another 211 in a disused multi-storey car park off the High Street which has recently revealed its largest work yet, 35m in length, on its roof: two vast eyes created by Salvadoran artist Abraham.O over seven days, soaking up 350 litres of paint. When you stand on them the grey and white daubs look a little like frost; the seer can only be fully seen when viewed 87m up.
This striking takeover, the brainchild of London Calling Blog sparked by recruitment consultant and street art photographer Steve Smith almost 10 years ago, has been created completely free of charge, and works to the rule the artists – some 400 so far, increasingly world-renowned – decide what they paint with no need to forewarn (although must be inoffensive and non-political, an ethos which wobbled when a decorative cow in a burger bun painted by Louis Michel appeared opposite Penge's McDonald's with the wording 'I'm not lovin' it'. The wording has now been removed).
The resulting art is now so prolific it has transformed the character of the area, developing in tandem with the arrival of artisan coffee shops, bakeries and an independent record shop, which thrive symbiotically. It is a shift which has, say estate agents and business developers, contributed to a new desirability within this once unfashionable spot, even helping to boost house prices. The neighbour with the trolley seems to be in the minority around here. One woman's graffiti is many others' gold – both in terms of art appreciation, and cash.
'Penge has been on an upward curve for probably 10 years,' says estate agent Dan Crowley, joint owner of Propertyworld, whose large signage blinks like a beacon here. 'Since it's become popular there has been a steep rise in the prices... You have this momentum and it probably outstrips the market generally.' He explains the 'entry point' was low, and great transport links including the London Overground's arrival are key, but the street art has helped to position Penge next to trendier London neighbours in the east.
'If the market has been rising at 5-6 per cent, it would be rising [here] at 8-9 per cent. A couple points above. A house that was selling for £450,000 10 years ago is selling for £650,000 now.' A glance at Rightmove shows four-bed terraces regularly on the market at £850,000. He adds: 'Undoubtedly, there is a new constituency of people who come to look at the art, who perhaps weren't aware of Penge… and see it is a really nice, exciting, energetic place to live. Anything that makes an area more interesting, more fun, always will lead to more demand… I think there probably are some old-schoolers who aren't particularly enamoured with it. But I think it's undeniable the art scene has attracted new people. Without wishing to sound clichéd – trendier, younger, funkier people.'
He believes having an art work on your home isn't 'a bad idea' either. Although it can 'split the market', he has witnessed it increase saleability, if not value. 'Subject to the artwork itself and the house, it undeniably could be more attractive to certain buyers,' he says. 'As human beings we often want something that reflects us, that perhaps we can show off…'
At Carnival Coffee Roasters which opened 18 months ago, replacing a fish shop with its bare concrete interior, manager Chloe Franklin, 25, explains they're flat out on Saturdays, many customers coming to see the art – but also view homes. 'A lot of new people go to the estate agents and then they tend to send them over here,' she says. Local commercial property consultant Mark Painter explains Penge has a low void rate on the High Street. 'The national average was 10-15 per cent vacancies, and last year we had literally one or two,' he says. The art has a 'phenomenal effect'.
Not all visitors are necessarily 'younger', though. Quiet but fiercely passionate under his bucket hat, Smith, 42, who leads large free art tours here of up to 100 people a few times a year – and raising near £10,000 for local charities using an actual bucket (they're glad a profit-making 'jogging' art tour has stopped) – exemplifies the growing reputation here by describing a chap who came on 'spraycation' to Europe specifically to view street art in 'Paris… and Penge'. And he was 83. 'People will come to Penge first, and Shoreditch on their half day off,' he boasts.
Nik Berry, 35, a data scientist whose home sports the towel-clad lounger, along with his neighbour, graphic designer Nancy Pose, 56, admits 'there's always people here taking photos that start speaking to us' – but they are 'lovin' it'. 'I'm happy people get to appreciate the work.' Nik moved here three years ago and Nancy one, both drawn by the art. He says he hasn't had his flat valued but Nancy suspects hers has gone up in a year. However, they got the piece for the community, they say.
They haven't alienated neighbours on the whole. Across the road in his five-bed Victorian property, Roy Reeve, 83, a retired diplomat who has lived here 50 years, looks at the lady all the time and loves her. 'I think it gives some life to the neighbourhood,' he says. 'It brings the place up. Penge has gone up very rapidly in the last couple of years.'
Off the High Street a couple of neighbours seem unperturbed too by a vast new piece across a terrace depicting foxes scrapping over chips. Smith asked owners here a few times for the wall and was refused, but new ones were keen (it is more usual owners come to him). Lydia Hammond, 54, who sees it from her front windows, loves it. She's been here since 1998. 'It was a very different area then,' she says. 'I have spoken to a few neighbours who aren't keen but the vast majority really enjoy it. It makes Penge a more interesting place to live.' The foxes have replaced helium balloons – pieces get repainted regularly (in total 1,747 have been painted, most replaced numerous times). A neighbour opposite preferred them. 'I don't think this is as good,' she says. 'I don't really like foxes'.
Emily Rising, 41, an infant-feeding specialist, is preparing for the fantastical bird she has dubbed a 'thunderchicken' painted across the side wall of her home in 2022 to be repainted in a couple of weeks. She of course has no idea what's coming. 'I wanted to be part of it, to have something different on my house,' she explains. She has been accused by one neighbour of 'destroying property prices' but believes actually they may have risen in the area by some £100,000 since she moved in eight years ago.
Former painter/decorator Kevin Walsh, 59, welcomes them, too. He has his bulldog Molly, captured by artist Irony, on the gates secluding his quaint cottage in Penge's conservation area. He believes it's now worth £700,000 – his mum bought it in 1977 for £12,000. 'The art does push up the prices,' he says. 'You're seeing a different set of people that don't mind spending four to five pounds on a coffee and then a pastry with it.' But he, like Smith, is quick to point out gentrification is absolutely not the goal. He gestures at a greasy spoon, barbers and bookies still outnumbering independents and high-end sushi restaurants. 'We've got posh bakeries, but we've also got a Greggs that's busy. So at the moment, Penge is a bit of both,' he explains.
Back in the car park 'gallery', Smith is also adamant the project has never been about commercialisation. He came up with it after chatting to a local chip owner about art accessibility. The chip shop then had the first piece on its shutters, prompting other businesses. But he quickly agrees '100 per cent' it has lifted Penge's desirability. He admits he'll never be able to afford to buy here.
Prior to the art scene Penge's greatest claim to fame might have been an obscure David Bowie lyric: 'You can walk around in New York while you sleep in Penge…' (Aptly, Smith's favourite piece here is a replica of the side of a New York subway train by artists Only and Zomby). Now it hits hotspot lists.
In fact, nowhere is Penge's desirability more starkly painted than this car park. Come September its artworks, including the eyes, will all go when it's demolished. Smith and his team have always known – they've repainted 29 times anyway and are set to one last time. Then a block of residential apartments will be built in its place.
