Property expert and Regional Director of Portico London estate agents, Mark Lawrinson, has revealed 8 key hotspot areas for 2018:
1.Tottenham
Current average property price: £424,000
Average rental yield: 3.7%
Killer reason to invest here: “Tottenham is set to become London’s biggest regeneration story, with a £1 billion regeneration schemed called ‘High Road West’ set to transform the area into a modern and desirable place to live and work. Though the scheme will take up to 15 years to complete, the council plan to deliver at least 10,000 new homes and 5,000 new jobs by 2025, as well as a new public square complete with shops and restaurants.
Tottenham Hotspur’s new £400m stadium development will also be a catalyst for wider regeneration, breathing new life into the area, creating jobs and boosting property prices.
Currently Tottenham Hale is only 16 minutes from Oxford Circus on the Victoria line, with direct Tube and rail links to King’s Cross, Stratford and Stansted Airport, but it’s also set to become a key interchange station on the Crossrail 2 route.
If Crossrail 2 gets the green light, Tottenham Hale will become the ‘new King’s Cross’, and gentrification and quick commute times will draw more and more people to the area.
A one bedroom property in the area currently costs around £300,000, and the highest yields of > 4.5% can be found around Tottenham Hale station.”
2.Forest Gate
Current average property price: £442,000
Average rental yield: 4.1%
Killer reason to invest here: “Think you’re too late to cash in on the Crossrail boom in Forest Gate? Think again. Transport-led regeneration is the single most important factor in boosting house prices, and we expect Forest Gate to seriously smarten up when services on the Elizabeth Line start to run in 2018. Residents will be just 19 minutes from Bond Street and 12 minutes from Canary Wharf thanks to the Elizabeth line, as well as within close proximity to popular Stratford, which has experienced steep property price rises in recent years thanks to significant regeneration from the Olympic Games. Ultimately, Forest Gate has been an undervalued area for years – so prices still have a lot of room to go up. Currently, property prices are low and rental yields high – landlords will achieve a healthy 4.9% yield around Forest Gate station, or a 5.3-5.5% in Manor Park.”
3.White City
Current average property price: £682,000
Average rental yield: 3.3%
Killer reason to invest here: “The former BBC headquarters is at the heart of the multi-billion pound transformation of White City. The London landmark is being reinvented into a working, living and thriving community, complete with up to 950 new homes, new Grade A offices, plus plenty of restaurants and bars. The site will even house a Soho House hotel and private members’ club. Lots of businesses have already moved to the area, and we expect plenty more to follow suit.
Additionally, Imperial College is building a new research campus in the area, Westfield is currently undergoing a £600 million expansion of its White City shopping centre, and Hammersmith and Fulham council recently granted permission for the railway arches along Wood Lane to be turned into a string of trendy shops, restaurants, cafés and bars. Property prices here are still a lot cheaper than in nearby Notting Hill and Holland Park, so it’s becoming an extremely attractive part of west London to renters, homebuyers and investors.”
4.Wembley
Current average property price: £420,000
Average rental yield: 4.5%
Killer reason to invest here: “We’ve seen a hike in homebuyer and investor interest in the borough of Brent recently, and this is a direct result of the regeneration that’s sweeping Wembley, including the ‘Masterplan’ regeneration project for Wembley Park. £140 million is being spent on new community infrastructure, including a new primary school and nursery and a new GP surgery.
Nearby Brent Cross shopping centre is also undergoing a multi-million pound regeneration, which will see more than 200 new shops open up, plus 60 restaurants, a cinema, hotel accommodation, a new town square, and improved public spaces.
5.Whitechapel
Current average property price: £514,000
Average rental yield: 4.6%
Killer reason to invest here: “If you’re looking to invest centrally, Whitechapel is primed for regeneration.
Whitechapel Central is set to transform a former Safestore facility into a new urban quarter, providing 564 new homes, as well as flexible office space, shops, a gym and a café. There are also plans for a £300m life science campus at Queen Mary University London in Whitechapel, which will aim to deliver a long-term health boost to the East End, as well as attracting investment to the UK after Brexit.
Just 5 minutes from Shoreditch High Street and a short distance from tech hub, Old Street, Whitechapel’s location is also ideal for those looking to be near all the trendy amenities.”
6.Lewisham
Current average property price: £454,000
Average rental yield: 3.5%
Killer reason to invest here: “We’re seeing increased demand for property in Lewisham of late. This is because, instead of purchasing studio flats or apartments, first-time buyers are now looking to avoid expensive transaction costs and skip the first rung of the ladder in favour of larger two or three bedroom houses in slightly outer areas of the capital. South east London’s popularity is already on the rise, and now TfL are proposing to extend the Bakerloo line beyond Elephant & Castle to Lewisham, serving Old Kent Road and New Cross Gate. The new route would include four new stations, two on Old Kent Road, another at Lewisham and one more at a key interchange at New Cross Gate. If the scheme is given the green light, (and funding is secured), construction could start in 2023 with services aiming to be running by 2028/29 – so there’s a fantastic long-term opportunity for investors here.
7.Tooting Broadway
Current average property price: £662,000
Average rental yield: 3.4%
Killer reason to invest here: “All eyes will be on Tooting if Crossrail 2 gets the green light. A station is proposed for Tooting Broadway, which would make the area much more accessible to the rest of the capital.
Tooting is already an established and popular place to live, thanks to the “Northern line effect” which has caused patches of gentrification to pop up at all the stops along the line from central London. It’s also cheaper than neighbouring Wandsworth and Clapham, so there’s room for prices to increase.
8.Wood Green
Current average property price: £560,000
Average rental yield: 3.1%
Killer reason to invest here: “Wood Green in Haringey is an area that has been on our radar for a while now, and is certainly worth looking at as a long-term investment. Though it has remained largely untouched in terms of development of its high street and amenities, it’s easily accessible to popular Highbury and Islington, and offers some affordable Victorian property.
The Crossrail 2 route is set to go via Wood Green, and if this happens, it’s very likely we’ll see significant change to this whole area, which will push up house prices significantly.”
Mark Lawrinson, Regional Director of Portico London estate agents, says:
“If you can beat the new, tougher buy-to-let stress tests and have the cash to invest, it’s now more important than ever to select your specific location within London boroughs, right down to a postcode or street level. London is increasingly a capital of micro-markets, each with their own rental dynamics and capital growth potential – and so while prices in prime central London are continuing to settle, areas like Tottenham and Forest Gate are picking up momentum.”
You can read the original article from Portico here.
