Site visits
The Trust's architectural and arboricultural consultants have begun to conduct some site visits where necessary, adhering to revised guidelines.
Please contact the Trust office - ideally via mail@hgstrust.org - to discuss this and arrange an appointment where possible. Messages can also be left on the office answering machine, but office staff are still working remotely so email is currently our primary channel of communication.
Central Square tennis courts
Since re-opening, our tennis courts on Central Square have been exceptionally busy. The booking system only shows available slots, so when making your booking, any slots you cannot see have already been booked by someone else.
Reminder emails for bookings are sent out ahead of the slot, and there is a link to cancel your booking if it is no longer going to be used. For the benefit of other users, please cancel your booking if you do not intend to use it, as this will immediately make it available for another user.
The Central Square tennis courts are now open for residents to book and use as of 12.30pm today.
Bookings must be made via the Trust website on this page.
These tennis courts are only to be used by residents for playing tennis by members of one household at a time, or for singles games with 1 other person, subject to social distancing.
Please remain at least 2m apart at all times and refrain from touching shared surfaces. The entrance gate to the court must be left open at all times, including when playing.
If we receive notification that these courts are being misused they will be closed.
Further to the government guidance published on 11 May 2020 we are reviewing the closure of the Central Square tennis courts, however they are not yet open or available for booking. Please check this website for an update as soon as a decision has been made.
The Trustees have decided that all regular gardening and estate maintenance works will be resumed. The work will resume from today, Monday 4th May 2020.
Please bear in mind that there may be a period of adjustment before all communal areas are back to the usual standard of maintenance.
Following government advice around the Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, Hampstead Garden Suburb Trust has made arrangements to protect the wellbeing of staff, trustees, contractors and residents, while continuing to carry out its business-critical functions as much as possible.
The Trust office is now closed to public access until further notice.
This primarily impacts site visits and inspections, meetings normally held in person, as well as visits by residents and their agents to the Trust office.
Trust staff are working from home, and have remote access to the majority of our systems. We are therefore able to respond to enquiries via phone and email during normal office hours (Monday to Friday 9am-5pm).
Advice to residents and their agents will continue to be given via email and telephone. Ultimately, some advice and decisions will be impossible without a physical site visit, and there will inevitably be delays where such visits or access to physical files in the office are not possible.
Arrangements will be made for Trust Council and other committee meetings to be conducted remotely.
Following further government guidance, we have also taken the decision to close our tennis courts on Central Square until further notice.
The Trust website will be kept up to date so please visit www.hgstrust.org to find out the most up to date information.
We would encourage you to direct your enquiries to the Trust via email to mail@hgstrust.org, or messages can be left when ringing 0208 455 1066. Trust staff will monitor voicemail messages remotely and we will respond as soon as is practicable.
The importance of Hampstead Garden Suburb in the history of 20th Century architecture and town planning cannot be overestimated. The brainchild of Henrietta Barnett, the Suburb was to be a model community with people of all classes living together in beautiful houses set in a verdant landscape. Laid out by Raymond Unwin, with Edwin Lutyens, the houses and flats represent the best of English domestic architecture of the early twentieth century.
Today, it is an environment of international significance. The eminent architectural historian, Sir Nikolaus Pevsner, described it as "the most nearly perfect example of that English invention and speciality, the garden suburb".
The Hampstead Garden Suburb Trust was set up in 1968 "to do all things possible to maintain and preserve the present character and amenities" of Hampstead Garden Suburb. The Trust operates a Scheme of Management, which ensures that the architectural standards of the Suburb's founders are maintained. The Trust publishes policies for the protection of the character of the Suburb and householders must obtain the Trust's approval before making changes to the external appearance of their property.
