Greenwich

Greenwich packs a royal park, a World Heritage riverside and a working market into a few streets, and still costs less per square foot than anywhere else we cover. That combination draws first-time buyers, downsizers and investors in roughly equal measure.

The housing splits two ways. Around Greenwich Park and up towards Blackheath are Georgian and early Victorian terraces, some of the prettiest in south London. Along the river, at Lovell's Wharf, Ballast Quay and the Peninsula, newer buildings offer lifts, concierges and balconies over the Thames.

The DLR reaches Canary Wharf in eight minutes and Bank in twenty, and the river bus turns a commute into the best part of the day. Weekends are for the market, the park and the walk up to the Observatory for the view back across London.