It is a property truism that you pay for a view. Just how much depends on the precise location from which you are viewing the view. The estate agent's creed of location, location, location has once again been upheld by the variation in price among homes with views of Tower Bridge.

The iconic structure, which was completed in 1894, links Wapping on the north bank of the Thames, to Bermondsey on the South Bank. The estate agent Cluttons has monitored prices in the area and reports that there is now a 35 per cent difference between properties on the north and south banks, even in comparable properties looking upriver towards Tower Bridge.

Buyers who are keen on the bridge view but do not care much for Bermondsey can save themselves a small fortune by looking for a riverside property in Wapping. Those with their hearts set on Shad Thames, the fashionable riverbank street in Bermondsey, will pay a premium for the desirable address, which they would share with Clive James, Myleene Klass, Paul O'Grady and numerous wealthy hipsters. Bridge-view properties in the ten-acre Shad Thames enclave go for up to £1,350 a square foot, compared with a maximum price of £1,000 a square foot in Wapping.

James Hyman, of Cluttons' Tower Bridge office, says: “In London, homes on the north bank of the Thames command a higher premium than those on the south side, but Wapping and Shad Thames buck this trend because of the meteoric rise of Shad Thames as a desirable address.”

The dearth of atmosphere in Wapping may also have something to do with the price difference.

Explore Property

• Buying & Selling

• New Homes

• Overseas

• Interiors

• Investment

• Gardens

• Cool In Your Code

• Specials

Times recommends

• Analysis: frustration for everyone - except investors
• Spanish property: why it's crunch time on the Costa del Sol
• Buy-to-let: professional investors cash in on the credit crunch