London house prices: the capital's new £500k-plus neighbourhoods
10-18-2015
A new report reveals that in the past year, property prices in 45 London neighbourhoods, including Haggerston, Tooting and Peckham - have risen beyond £500,000.
Lizzie Rivera
From left to right: Hammersmith & Fulham, Barnet and Kingston are just three of the London boroughs where growth has pushed property prices beyond half a million pounds in the past year. Images: Graham Hussey
London's first-time buyers in search of good value are going to have to cast their nets even further as 45 London neighbourhoods join the list of areas where average property prices now exceed £500,000.
Surbiton Hill, in Kingston, south-west London, has seen house prices shoot up by more than 30 per cent to £562,038 in a year, according to a new Savills report that is based on Land Registry records of sales over the past 12 months.
Similar rises were seen in College Park and Old Oak, in Hammersmith & Fulham, where prices have risen to £505,595, and Hendon in the north London borough of Barnet, where family homes dominate a property market with average prices have reached £539,024.
"It's a classic case of the next door effect, with wealth spreading from affluent neighbouring areas such as Worcester Park, North Kensington and Hampstead Garden Suburb," says associate director of Savills residential research, Sophie Chick.
REVEALED: LONDON'S NEW £500,000 NEIGHBOURHOODS:
Barnet
Brent
Bromley
Camden
Ealing
Enfield
Greenwich
Hackney
Hammersmith and Fulham
Haringey
Harrow
Hillingdon
Islington
Kingston upon Thames
Lambeth
Lewisham
Merton
Redbridge
Richmond upon Thames
Southwark
Tower Hamlets
Wandsworth
New property developments, town centre regeneration and transport improvements are also catalysts for price boosts in areas such as Haggerston, in the east, and Herne Hill, in the south. While the 'Shoredification' of previously more affordable areas, such as Peckham and South Camberwell, has attracted more young professionals south of the river, pushing prices in these areas beyond £500,000-plus.
Bromley is another area where prices are now just above half a million pounds. "It's an interesting area," says Chick. "The two traditional wealthy commuter corridors out of London were the south-west leading to Surrey, and the north-west leading to Buckinghamshire. Bromley marks the beginnings of a joined-up south-east corridor that starts in Dulwich and Greenwich and ends at Kent."
While growth across the capital is expected to be slower than we have seen in the past five years, Savills still forecasts increases of two per cent over the next 12 months, leading to steeper rises over five years.
Barking and Dagenham and Bexley remain the only London boroughs where house prices average less than £300,000.
Both in the east, Barking continues to be a firm favourite of first-time buyers thanks to good-value homes and thousands of new-build flats. While highly rated local schools and good-value houses boost the family appeal of the Bexley's most popular areas, such as Bexleyheath.