This neighbourhood sits to the east of Balham City Centre, and, unlike the rest of Balham, falls entirely under Lambeth Council. The area is split between the south, which is suburban residential in nature, with several schools, nurseries and sports centres around the area, and the north, which is home to post-war and more modern flats, as well as a large trade park–with storage units and suppliers based in the north western part of the locality. Small green spaces are also available to the north and south with the Agnes Riley Gardens and Tooting Bec Common.

The southern part of the area, known as Hyde Farm Estate, was developed rapidly over a 20-year period during the Edwardian era. While the vast majority of the buildings are two-storey terraced houses, a few of the properties in the area are apartments within terraced houses, known as Tyneside Flats. There are also a few post-war flats, built as low-cost housing following the Second World War.

Hyde Farm Estate, which makes up a vast proportion of the neighbourhood, started to be developed from 1896, and was largely completed by the time the First World War was under way in 1916. The area catered predominantly to the City’s middle-class workers. Prior to this, the area was part of a 60-acre medieval field known as the Hyde (and later Hydefield), which was owned by Cambridge University’s Emmanuel College for centuries, who leased it to tenant farmers.

Henry Cavendish School opened around the same time that Hyde Farm Estate started being built, in 1898 and later reopened again in 1950, following its rebuilding from bomb damage. It was named after Henry Cavendish, a famous British scientist who discovered hydrogen, as well as measuring the Earth’s density.

While the area started off as a green neighbourhood for space-starved City workers to reside in, today much of that open space has been filled in. The main green space is Tooting Bec Common, which is huge, but unfortunately only accessible by two quiet underpasses through the railway line.

The area has two main planning areas–to the north, the Zennor Road Estate industrial site, and to the south the Hyde Farm conservation area, regulating the business activity to the north while attempting to preserve the atmosphere of the Edwardian neighbourhood to the south. The now disused St. Thomas’s Church on Telford Avenue has been ear-marked for redevelopment to serve an expansion of the local schools, which are oversubscribed.