Just north of the prominent Westerham, sits the town of Biggin Hill in south-west Bromley, on the border between London and Kent. Part of the contiguous make-up of London’s periphery, Biggin Hill is most notable for the sprawling RAF Biggin Hill base, a military airfield now known as London Biggin Hill Airport. Owing to its placement in London and access to the wide rolling pastoral landscapes of Kent, housing prices in Biggin Hill are typically on the more expensive side; averaging at over £1 million for a detached suburban property!

Part of the expensive nature of Biggin Hill has to do with its original settlers. Rather than families or individuals re-locating to the area out of necessity or sheer desire to live elsewhere, many of the original homes in Biggin Hill were bought for the purpose of being a second home, rather than to be lived in permenantly. Rather than aristocrats or other members of Britain’s upper classes, many of these homes were bought by members of the burgeoning middle classes forged during the industrial revolutions of the 18th and 19th centuries. As such, much of the developed land was built by independent families rather than through governmental development; owing Biggin Hill’s eclectic mix of architectural styles to this individualised development of the area!

A huge part of the fabric of Biggin Hill is the old RAF airfield, now the London Biggin Hill Airport. The RAF airfield was opened in 1917 and subsequently played a huge part in the RAF’s fight in WWII, as one of the chief commanding bases in the country. The airfield was purchased in 1974 by the Borough of Bromley, and was commercialised in 1992 for small, private civilian propeller planes.

Owing to the presence of the London Biggin Hill Airport, development around Biggin Hill is often slow and stagnant. The Borough of Bromley will not approve developments that could potentially interfere with the safety of the airport. However, Bromley’s local plan housing trajectory has identified suitable space for the construction of 52 new homes in the immediate Biggin Hill area, that should be all completed within the next 10 years!