The UK Property Professional’s (UKPP) London Residential Forum highlighted the impact the Crossrail development will have on the residential market.
The event saw industry experts come together to discuss features of the London residential market and which areas would see growth and further investment.
Nick Whitten, Associate Director of JLL kicked off the event with an overview of the market, highlighting Crossrail and the importance it would play.
“One quite significant game changer in terms of influencing the residential market is Crossrail coming into place,” said Nick.
“We did some research where we visited all 40 stations along the route and analysed a number of factors and the potential for new development.
“We determined that Whitechapel, Woolwich, Ealing Broadway and West Drayton to be the biggest areas which would prosper.”
Andrew Kennedy, Associate Director of Craigleith Finance, said growth would follow infrastructure with rail projects such as HS2 and Crossrail.
“We are finding more enquiries for the locations on Crossrail,” said Andrew.
“Ealing is one area where we have looked at a couple of projects, and people are now beginning to predict where Crossrail 2 is going and asking if these are areas to invest in.”
Andrew Moffat, Director of Property Lending at Wellesley Finance, added: “We’ve got to look at the commuter market because it represents more than one-third of the UK residential market, so we are always going to find more projects.”
Justin Kenworthy, Planning Director at Barton Willmore, said the town planning and design company was looking at suburbs in London for potential new projects.
“We are identifying areas like Sutton which will have improvements from Thameslink,” said Justin.
“Tooting Broadway is looking good with Crossrail 2 and of course Heathrow could see potential growth.”
Asked what impact Crossrail has already had on the capital’s residential market, Bob Sturges, Head of Communications at Omni Capital, said it has been huge.
“The average price for property within a 10-minute walk of London Crossrail stations has risen 43% since 2008. In prime central London – such as Bond Street – the figure is an eye-watering 80%,” said Bob.
“Even allowing for the steady price appreciation across all types of London real estate, these numbers are impressive (or depressing, depending on your point of view).”
Bob however felt that Crossrail would stretch further than the London market with many outer areas expecting to grow as a result of new transport links.
“Along the length of the line now under construction – from Maidenhead to Shenfield – sitting homeowners are benefitting ‘on paper’ from the Crossrail factor,” said Bob.
“In Reading – a major rail hub and commuter town, but not directly part of Crossrail – residential property prices are forecast to rise 43% by 2020.
“The opportunities for developers and their attendant financiers are obvious – particularly outside crowded, and arguably over-priced, Zone 1.”