Depends on how much you've got to spend on buying a property or renting.  The Old Town and Abbeville "village" are both nice areas but can be very expensive.  Equally Grafton Square and Crescent Grove have wonderful Regency style houses but with price tags to match.  There are quite a few estates in Clapham, nearer the Clapham North area which are probably best avoided.  Clapham Common Northside and West Side are great with huge houses overlooking the common.  There are a number of housing options on the High Street, too.  Clapham Park Road has got a number of apartment buidlings including some new-build which are in various stages of completion.

www.foxtons.co.uk is a good research tool to see what you can afford.

Have fun and welcome to Clapham!

(Message edited by GJ On 28/07/2008 05:26:26)

Yes I agree with the above, There are also some nice streets between Clapham north and the old town such as Sibella, Gauden and Chelsham Roads and Larkhall Rise but again most non-estate houses and flats here  are quite expensive. The high street is ok for socialising but might be better to avoid buying or renting in and around it as it can get very hectic and busy unless that is your life-style preference. Clapham Park road is very up and coming with new luxury flats and off it both Park Hill and Northbourne Roads have Chelsea style properties and a bohemian atmosphere but both both roads are very expensive. Kings Avenue is tree lined and lovely and you can get very good affordable properties flats and houses slightly cheaper as  its off the beaten track and you need a bus ride to Clapham Common or Clapham South.   

As with most places, the 'better' the area, the more expensive it is.  Personally, if money was no object (at all!), I think Crescent Grove and Grafton Square would be my choices; Park Hill and CC Westside are also very nice (although the latter is not strictly Clapham, in the interest of pointless pendatry..).

Actually Clapham Common Westside and the bits of the Northside in Wandsworth are technically regarded as Clapham Common as long as they're the bits within the SW4 postcode and not the SW11 side streets which are known as between the Commons or Battersea depending on who you speak to. Residents in the SW4 belt regard themselves as living in Clapham whilst many of those living in the SW11 side streets regard themselves as living in either Clapham or Battersea and this often depends on whether their side street home is closer to the Common or to Lavender Hill or Northcote Road.  If you're into post codes there are outlying bits of Clapham with SW9, SW8 and SW12 postcodes.

Yes and expensive it certainly gets! .... there's a massive newly refurbished Queen Anne styled detached home for £6,000,000 on Clapham Common South Side on sale through Hampton's International move that to Grafton Square, Crescent Grove or CC Westside and you could be talking nearly 8 figure sums. There are a couple of £7,000,000 homes in the Old town up for grabs if interested

Check out the Ferndale Rd area.  Although not cheap it is still SW4, you get more for your money than the old town or Abbeville.  The whole area is full of good quality Victorian housing, mostly three (or more) storeys plus some deccent school developments and new builds.  It also has the advantage of only being a short walk to both Clapham North station and Brixton station (Northern and Victoria line), Clapham High street and Brixton overground and Clapham and Brixton bus routes.  This is a distinct advantage considering the overcrowding of the northern line.  Despite being between both areas it is a quiet neighbourhood with a lot going for it.

If your an Aussie/Kiwi dont bother! We have more than our fair share :@)  

Not very nice - most of the aussies / kiwis I have met are very positive and enthusiastic people, and bring some new life to the area.

I think he/she was being a little sarcastic.  There are *quite* a few Aussies in Clapham, nee London in general.  I think Clapham has become the new Earls Court!!!

BUT the more the merrier!  Clapham is quite a diverse accepting place to live whatever your creed, colour, sexuality, Aussie-ness!

(Message edited by GJ On 01/08/2008 07:40:24)

That is not a nice comment to make!

I'm not Aussie or Kiwi but Quebecois (French-Canadian). But I agree it isnt a nice comment to make anout Australians or New Zealanders or anyone. i really like Clapham because it is quite central and cosmopolitan and there are quite a number of french, Americans and Canadians also living there. I viewed a couple of properties that I liked on Park Hill Road and Northbourne Road which i rather like.  But i also like the old town although i've been informed that it is a very hectic area. I understand there's a private french language primary school nearby in Abbeville and that Clapham Manor School is quite good. Is that in the old town? Thank you for your advice.

All right it was only a joke! I must be the only one thats been kept awake every weekend from loud parties and didgeridoo's 

Would say go for Old Town, very nice area.  Used to live there years ago.

Fear not - I got the joke - I too have been kept awake by our antipodean friends.  A neighbour let her flat in Old Town to 3 aussies and 8 of them moved in - hell on earth !

True aussies make  noise but  the man are so gorgeous and sexy!! a part from flip flop abuse lol..anyway welcome to Clapham..bisous

yes i love living here Aussies or no Ausssies, its all part of the fabric of the area. The leisure centre on any evening is full of Aussies and kiwis on two year pilgrimmages. As one time out publication puts it - you either love clapham or hate it - everyone has an opinion about Clapham. It won't be what it is if it were different.

I've written a guide to places to live in [LINK SiteName=Clapham Target=_blank]http://www.loveclapham.com/clapham-housing-rental-buying-guide/997[/link] here, hopefully that will help :o)

Very uniformed post about the Clapham North area.

There are lovely streets that you wouldn't know were there unless you walked round.

Mayflower Road, Tregothnan Road to name but a few. Also a mention for Ferndale Road which has some lovely properties.

Although owned by a housing association some of the most beautiful properties in the whole of Clapham are on Atherfold Road.

There are both near the circle bar which (at the moment) is one of the friendliest bars in Clapham.

I lived on Tregothnan Road for over ten years and love the convenience. Ten minutes from Stockwell to avoid trying to get on the Northern Line in the morning, or 5 minutes from Clapham North when it calms down at the weekend.

If you fancy going to a gig - Brixton Academy is ten minutes through the lanes.

I'm actually moving to Balham (hopefully) because I'm a bit tired of Clapham being viewed by the council as simply a drinking venue and like Balham for the fact it has shops.

Having said that, I've loved Clapham and will probably move back here in the future and will always be back at the weekend to sit on the common.