Living in Soho: Energy oozes from Soho's every pore: the capital’s party core and epitome of London cool. Techno music bounces off the inside walls of eclectic record stores and into the narrow aroma-filled mosaic of alleyways. Artists, media workers, tailors, market traders, dealers and musicians pack themselves into this square mile pocket of London where radical and counter-cultural ideals emanate from the streets. Soho’s long had an explosive arts scene and creative people from Mozart to Behan have flocked here, allured by Soho’s edgy nature.

In Tudor times Soho was a hunting ground of open fields and duck ponds (hence the name ‘Soho’ which derives from an old hunting call) and what began as a royal park gradually deteriorated into squalor, slums, and sex shops in the 1960’s and 1970’s. Soho and sex have long been synonymous, but today the peep shows are giving way to über-trendy clothing stores, funky jazz clubs and cutting-edge production houses. These days you’re more likely to see a runner carrying piles of film canisters than a ‘woman of the streets’

Far removed from the highly trafficked tourist haunts of Trafalgar and Leicester Squares, Soho prides itself on being the spiritual home of the British film industry. Soho comprises of specialty bookstores, jewel-box theatres, and repertory cinemas, but the Italian coffee houses, heaving gay bars and diverse selection of ethnic restaurants are what make Soho most celebrated. The main streets and squares are Soho Square, Greek Street, Frith Street, Dean Street, Wardour Street, Berwick Street, Poland Street, Broadwick Street, Beak Street, Brewer Street, Old Compton Street, Shaftesbury Avenue, Great Marlborough Street, Regent Street, Marshall Street, Carnaby Street, Haymarket, Coventry Street, Soho Lofts, Marshall House

Whether you are looking to sell or buy a property, or wishing to let or rent, we realise it is an important and personal transaction for you. As an established West End Estate Agents our partners and staff have an in-depth knowledge of the Soho property market and will offer you honest and sensible advice.

Location of Soho

• Mayfair
• Fitzrovia
• Covent Garden
• Bloomsbury
  
  

Soho’s about as close as you’ll get to 24 hour living in London. The London Underground generally stops running after midnight, however the night bus service runs regularly throughout the hours of darkness, enroute through Soho via Regent Street, Oxford Street, Tottenham Court Road, Charing Cross Road and Shaftsbury Avenue.

The area is well-served by public transport and has an assortment of tube stations from which to embark on the dynamic centre of Soho.

Nearest Tube Stations:

• Tottenham Court Road (Central & Northern lines)
• Oxford Circus (Central, Bakerloo & Victoria lines)
• Leicester Square (Piccadilly & Northern lines)
• Piccadilly Circus (Piccadilly & Bakerloo lines)
  
  

Strewn around Soho are individual town houses and mews properties, while converted period buildings and smaller blocks provide studios, one and two bedrooms. New developments, some with underground parking, roof terraces or balconies, are to be found in Bouchier Street, Upper John Street and Marshall House just moments from Carnaby Street. More modestly priced flats can be purchased in high rise local authority blocks such as Ingestre Court and Kemp House and are popular for their stunning panoramic views.

The rental market in Soho is very buoyant and freehold houses are scarce. The demand for real estate in Soho far outweighs the availability as a large cross section of potential tenants from celebrities and city high-flyers to students all want a piece of the action.

History of Soho

In medieval times Soho was predominately farmland but in the 16th and 17th centuries the region became a hunting ground for London's aristocracy. Only when the City of London in the east became too crowded, after the Great Fire of 1666, did Soho become residential.

In the early-18th century the hub's wealthy residents left their Soho Square pads for the new-found Mayfair, replaced by writers, radicals, artists and foreign immigrants, chiefly Italians. Among the first residents were Greek Christians, remembered by Greek Street and on Frith Street Richard Frith constructed many of the houses.

Soho’s not the sleazy red light district of yesteryear and its seedy reputation exceeds itself. In the eighties legislation was introduced to reduce the number of sex establishments which had sprouted up in the decades prior and since then the area has cleaned up its image dramatically.

 Highlights of Soho

• Soho House
  21 Old Compton Street, Soho, London W1D 5JJ.
  Tel: 020 7734 5188
  
  
• Berwick Street Market
  Berwick Street, Soho, London W1
  
  
• Liberty
  Regent Street, Soho, London W1B 5AH
  Tel: 020 7734 1234
  
  
• Foyle’s Bookshop
  113-119 Charing Cross Road, Soho, London WC2H 0EB
  
  
• Agent Provocateur
  6 Broadwick St, Soho, London W1F 8HL
  Tel: 020 7439 0229
  
  
• Hamley's Toy Store
  188-196 Regent Street, Soho, London W1
  Tel: 020 7494 2000
  
  
• Carnaby Street
  Soho, London W1
  
  

• BKB
  19 Old Compton Street, Soho, London W1D 5JJ
  Tel: 020 7734 5656
  
• Bar Italia
  22 Frith Street, Soho, London W1
  Tel : 020 7437 4520
  
• Milk & Honey
  61 Poland Street, Soho, London W1F 7NU.
  Tel: 0871 075 1608
  
• Lab 12 Old Compton Street, Soho, London W1V 5P
  Tel: 0871 075 1605
  
• Alphabet Bar
  61-63 Beak Street, Soho,London, W1F 9SL
  Tel: 020 7439 2190
  
• Sun & Thirteen Cantons
  21 Great Pulteney Street, Soho, London W1F 9NG
  Tel: 020 7734 0934
  
• The Dog & Duck
  18 Bateman Street, London, W1D 3AJ
  Tel: 020 7494 0697
  
• Milroy’s of Soho
  3 Greek Street, Soho, London W1V 6NX
  Tel: 020 7437 0893
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Soho Restaurants

Alastair Little
49 Frith Street, Soho, London W1V
Tel: 020 7734 5183

• Busaba Eathai
  106-110 Wardour Street, Soho, London W1V
  Tel: 020 7255 8686
  
• Quo Vadis
  26-29 Dean Street, Soho, London W1D
  Tel: 020 7437 9585
  
• Balans
  60 Old Compton Street, Soho, London W1D
  Tel:020 7439 2183
  
• Randall & Aubin
  16 Brewer Street, Soho, London W1F 0SQ
  Tel: 020 7287 4447
  
• Zilli Fish
  36-40 Brewer Street, Soho, London W1F 9TA
  Tel: 020 7734 8649
  
• Masala Zone
  9 Marshall Street, Soho, London, W1F 7EJ
  Tel: 020 7287 9966
  
• The Red Fort
  77 Dean Street, Soho, London W1D 3SH
  Tel: 020 7437 2525
  
• Dell’ Ugo
  56 Frith Street, Soho, London W1V 5TA
  Tel: 020 7734 8300