Life on Purley's Webb Estate - where celebrities flock and houses sell for 4 million

May 08, 2024

Hidden in Purley is the Webb Estate, dubbed 'London's best kept secret'.

If you stroll around this exclusive neighbourhood for long enough, it's easy to see why.

It's home to footballers, TV presenters and rockstars, while it also boasts two private schools and a restaurant and deli.

The gated community has around 220 homes, many of which cost more than £1 million. Currently, there is one seven bedroom home on the market for a whopping £3.25 million.

The estate feels worlds apart from the rest of Croydon , but is an ideal location for celebs wanting to travel into London, and is also near Gatwick Airport.

The Webb Estate guide describes it as a "secluded and exclusive residential area". It started as 260 acres of farmland which was transformed into Edwardian homes and landscaped gardens by entrepreneurial estate agent, William Webb, in the late 1800s.

The plots were designed so that "there is seclusion and privacy", with properties set back from the road and widely separated from one another.

It has even be described as a "garden village", which gives residents who live there the ultimate privacy.

The house prices

On the Webb Estate, there are homes on Birch Lane, Farm Drive, Briar Hill, Furze Hill, Foxglove Gardens, Furze Lane, Promenade De Verdun, Rose Walk, Silver Lane, The South Border, Upper Woodcote Village and Woodcote Lane.

According to Rightmove, the most expensive house sold on the estate in recent years was a nine bedroom mansion on Furzle Hill.

It sold for a massive £4.22 million.

As well as the bedrooms, the property has four reception rooms, cinema, recording studio and an indoor swimming complex.

In 2008 a six bedroom house on Woodcote Lane sold for £3.45 million, while in 2015 a seven bedroom home on Promenade De Verdun sold for £3 million.

And it's not just houses that are expensive to purchase, either.

In May last year, a three bedroom flat sold for £1.27 million.

Figures show the over the past five years, there have been 10 homes on the estate which have been sold for £2 million or more.

“The larger plots usually range from 8,000 to 10,000 square feet and have all the trimmings one would expect – including, of course, an indoor pool or cinema room,” Peter Bond, property consultant for Walter and Mair estate agents, previously told Surrey Life magazine.

Who lives there?

In order to live on the estate, it's safe to say you have to have a fair bit of money in the bank.

Crystal Palace footballer Wilfried Zaha moved into a seven bedroom £2.5 million property in 2015, formally owned by late former Eagles owner Ron Noades.

When the Ivory Coast international moved in, the Swimming pool had a Eagles crest emblazoned on the tiling. More interestingly, the home is also known for featuring on the Footballers' Wives TV series.

Also living on the estate is Francis Rossi, lead singer of Status Quo, who would reportedly often ride his motorbike around the estate's roads when he was younger.

Laura Hamilton, best known for presenting Channel 4's A Place in the Sun, and Sir Bernard Ingham, Lady Thatcher's former press secretary, also call the Webb Estate their home.

In 2011, it was also reported Canadian singer Michael Buble brought a £3 million house on the estate.

Is it a good place to live?

Laura, who has lived with husband Alex Goward and their children on the estate for the past six years, owns Lord Roberts on The Green, on Upper Woodcote Village.

The TV presenter, who appeared on Dancing on Ice in 2011, renovated the shop in 2017, mostly so the estate would not be deprived of somewhere to socialise.

She said: "It's a big part of my life and it has a lot of history - the estate and the shop.

"My husband used to go into the shop when he was little and used to buy sweets so it's very important to me.

"We have brought Lord Roberts [back] to what it used to be a long time ago."

Lord Robets on the Green was recently granted an alcohol license, meaning those who go there can now have a glass of wine or gin with their lunch. Although, it still closes at 5.30pm.

So, does Laura like living on the estate?

"I have lived on the estate for six years and we are seeing [more and more] people moving out of London and buying houses on the estate that might have lived in Clapham [for example, beforehand]," she said.

"Everybody is different. In general most houses do have large gardens, mainly because the person who created the estate - William Webb - his motto was 'garden first' so people take pride in their gardens.

"We have lovely neighbours that we don't see that much but we do see some often and people are very friendly and look out for eachother.

"I love living here. Sometimes when you sit in the garden it feels like you are abroad."

So would Laura recommend the Webb Estate?

"A few of my friends on TV have come down [to live] on the estate," she said.

"It's just like anywhere else as you do see residents walking around - sometimes they come into the shop.

"I think it's a nice place to live."

It appears many other celebs think the same, making the Webb Estate no longer "London's best kept secret".

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