New data highlights London’s boom towns — still registering annual price growth of almost 30 per cent — and the best areas for first-time buyers.
Even in London’s faltering property market there are still some places dramatically outperforming the rest — registering price growth of almost 30 per cent in a single year.
As well as identifying London’s boom towns, new data from JLL published today highlights the best areas for first-time buyers — where you can still buy a London flat for less than £200,000.
There are seven London postcodes with current growth of at least 20 per cent, led by Dartford, an area better known for its bridge and tunnel and its traffic jams than as a property success story.
Yet prices in Dartford have grown by 29.5 per cent in the past year, to an average price of £213,483 for a one-bedroom flat.
Hot on Dartford’s heels are Uxbridge, Harrow and Carshalton, which have all enjoyed price growth of between 22 and 24 per cent on one-bedroom flats in the past year.
Other locations with strong growth identified today include Camberwell, West Wickham(just east of Croydon) and Southall. Here starter flats have risen by about 21 per cent year on year.
“Typically the buyer will be a first-time buyer, and the bank of mum and dad is our favourite lender,” said Brett MacDougall, a partner at Hunters estate agent in Camberwell.
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| Top tip: Camberwell has been historically undervalued |
He estimates that an ex-council flat in the area would cost between £270,000 and £300,000, while buyers pay from £320,000 and £400,000 for a period one-bedroom flat.
An increase in the number of new-build flats is part of the reason prices in most of the top areas have increased, as developers’ premiums break price ceilings.
MacDougall said these homes are popular with first-time buyers partly because of the Government’s Help to Buy London scheme, which reduces deposit requirements to five per cent. “Because interest rates are so low, they are borrowing to the max, which they prefer to buying something they need to spend money on.”
His top tip is Camberwell, which he says has been historically undervalued for a Zone 2 location and has benefited from the regeneration of adjacent Elephant & Castle.
Meanwhile the JLL and Rightmove report also reveals the least expensive starter-flat locations, but they are a long commute away.
The most pocket-friendly postcodes in London are South Ockendon, Dagenham, and Erith, where average asking prices for a one-bedroom flat start at just under £146,000.
Other budget locations highlighted by the research include Romford (£170,000) and under-regeneration Thamesmead (£174,000).
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