There was a time when a boutique was a shop where you could buy trendy clothes. It now seems to have become a term that is attached to almost anything if someone wants to imply that it's something not run-of-the-mill or offering a personalised, unique or individual service. It's used a lot to describe hotels and now it seems it can also apply to flats as shown by the banner outside this new development going up by Regent's Canal in Camden.

What is a boutique flat? Small? Trendy? Expensive? Desirable location? Maybe all that and more.
Nearly every waterside location in London seems to be being taken over with deveopments like this at the moment. Who lives in them? I find myself wondering. Certainly when you walk around or through them on a weekend they often feel like a ghost town; no children out playing, no streetlife. We have a housing crisis in London at the moment and most of the development that's taking place doesn't seem to be doing much to help solve it.