HOUSE prices in some Home Counties towns are rising faster than London as demand for accommodation outside the city soars.
The value of properties in London rose by 11 per cent in the last 12 months – but prices in the south east are rising by a whopping 16 per cent, with some even equalling the cost of a brand new Range Rover or fees at Eton.
A semi-detached in Brentwood gained the most over the last year, with a 16 per cent rise from £457,314 – equalling £64,289, or 19 YEARS of train fares.
The biggest gain in value was a whopping £91,131 on a detached house in Maidenhead – equivalent to two years of fees at Eton and 14 per cent more than the average price of £748,507.
The lowest price rise was in Farnborough – but despite rising by just 12 per cent, it still gained £25,878 in value on top of the average price of £237,2015 – which could buy an Audi Q3 1.4 SE.
The figures were released by Garrington Property Finders who analysed Land Registry data.
Managing director Jonathan Hopper said: “Every year tens of thousands of Londoners move out of the capital to the surrounding commuter belt, driven by a desire for better value, more space and a wider choice of schools.
“But in addition to the usual shopping list for would-be commuters – good transport links, good schools and so on – many buyers will also have one eye on the potential for price growth when choosing a location.
“Our research shows just how ‘hot’ some of the Home Counties hotspots have become, with price rises outstripping those in London.
“The combination of both better value and better rates of capital appreciation is a compelling one, but the picture across the commuter belt is very mixed – and buyers need expert intelligence to identify the areas with the greatest potential.”
Just yesterday we revealed how the cost of a home along Crossrail’s new Elizabeth line has increased by 22 per cent over the two years.
The average cost of a home in postcodes surrounding the new line has risen from £344,242 in 2014 to £420,798 this year, Lloyds Bank said.
Abbey Wood, Forest Gate and West Drayton have seen the biggest property price hikes.
The cost of a home in Abbey Wood has climbed from an average of £197,077 in 2014 to around £288,789 now.
Meanwhile, house prices in Forest Gate and West Drayton have increased by 46 per cent in two years.
When completed in December 2019, Crossrail will stretch from Reading in Berkshire to Shenfield in Essex.
The newly designed Elizabeth line has been designed to ease pressure on the existing Underground network, particularly the busy Central and District lines, and the Jubilee link to Heathrow Airport.