Lavender Hill is a residential neighbourhood sat in between Battersea to the north and west, Clapham in the south, and Stockwell to the east. The area is divided by several National Rail lines, which surround Parkfield Industrial Estate and London Stone Business Estate. To the north the area is predominantly council flats, facing off Victorian terraces on Battersea Park Road, which represents the northern boundary of the locality. To the south the area is mainly Victorian terrace housing along even lanes. The streets become far longer south of Lavender Hill, which is the area’s high street, leading straight to Battersea.

The area is predominantly residential, with a few shops on Lavender Hill and Battersea Park Road. The council flats to the north are connected to the Battersea Park area, which suffers from a lack of connectivity. To the south the area is more congruous with Clapham and the Victorian suburban landscape, with easy connection to Battersea town centre. Furthermore, Clapham Common is just to the south of the area. Industrial estates separate the two areas, making walkability between the two difficult.

The history of Lavender Hill dates back to 1774, when an advertisement by a Mr. Porter was put out promising a reward in return for a lost pony which had been said to have been strayed or stolen around the area, which suggested the name was in common usage even then. The first building to reflect the name was built in 1790, and smaller streets would develop in the 1800s, including a row of cottages; the area generally retained its countryside nature until the mid-1800s.

Lavender Hill was called as such because the area was known for the production of lavender. The surrounding areas were well known for strip farming and market gardens, along with some piggeries. The area slowly developed into a neighbourhood for working class people moving from overcrowded districts such as Shoreditch.

While the southern residential portion is close to Battersea town centre (and in turn Clapham Junction railway station), the north is separated due to the large railway lines almost blocking from the south (this also blocks the south from Battersea Park). The northern portion is close to Battersea Park Overground and Southern railway station and Queenstown Road, but connections to Waterloo are more limited than Clapham Junction.

The Clapham Junction area is undergoing some major urban change. One Clapham Junction, a project by Mount Anvil and Peabody, launched in Summer 2022 and brings new one-, two- and three-bedroom homes to the heart of Clapham, just minutes from Clapham Junction station, which is by some metric’s the UK’s busiest station. An award winning new development, One Clapham Junction is composed of six building providing 307 new homes. The buildings are set around ‘The Square’, a traditional community square designed to host seasonal pop-ups, community events, performances and garden markets. In addition, Crossrail 2 is planned to come into the area as well (the earliest the scheme could be open by is 2030) providing even faster connections to central London. Plans for Crossrail 2 have been rather uncertain but recently, in Summer 2022, excitement for the initiative was reignited after a multi-billion pound funding package by the government was offered to Transport for London. No updates on the matter have been publicly provided since then, but it is hoped that the area’s connectivity will improve!