Where to buy a home along the Elizabeth line: there’s still time to buy into the Crossrail hotspot of Acton
“All my friends have started to follow me and are buying houses here now, which is great for my social life. It also means I am saving a fortune on taxis to and from Parsons Green.”
Joking and cab fares aside, there is something to be said for critical mass in an emerging hotspot.
For the pioneers who took the plunge and bought into the west London market of Acton early, when the stakes and risks were high, the migration of like-minded buyers with the same plan of catching the area on an upswing is the ultimate vindication that they made the right call.
Much of Acton’s recent flurry of activity and growing popularity as a hub for home buyers is linked to Crossrail. From December next year, the line will see journey times slashed from 27 minutes to just nine into Bond Street, from 41 minutes to 16 minutes to Liverpool Street and from 44 minutes to 18 to Heathrow airport.
In short this district, positioned between White City and Shepherds Bush to the east, Ealing to the west and Chiswick to the south, looks set to become one of the best connected in west London.
“Thanks to the Elizabeth line, there is no good reason why Acton could not become as popular in the west as Farringdon and Clerkenwell in the east,” says David Rosen, senior partner at creative London property agents Pilcher Hershman.
“I always say the sign of a good area is ‘architecture, architecture, Tube station’ and in Acton’s case it’s ‘architecture, architecture, Elizabeth line’.”
So what of the architecture and, more importantly, the property up for grabs? A mixture of Victorian terrace and Thirties houses is being topped up with a healthy pipeline of new build, meaning the stock here is about as varied as you could hope for.
Flats in the area sell for an average £456,212 according to Rightmove, while terrace houses sold for an average £819,459 last year, with semis fetching an average £1,088,846. With an overall average price of £640,629, Acton was more expensive than nearby Acton Park (£565,269), but cheaper than West Acton (£745,811) or Acton Green (£695,983).
Agent JLL predicts house prices here will double by 2020 thanks to the Elizabeth line. Overall sold prices in Acton over the last year were 12 per cent up on the previous year and 15 per cent up on the 2015 level of £556,593. Arguably the danger is now no longer taking a leap of faith into the unknown but missing the opportunity to cash in on the growth. The time to take the plunge is now.
Kinleigh Folkard & Hayward has announced the launch of a new Acton office which will take its west London portfolio up to seven branches including Chiswick, Hammersmith and Holland Park. The introduction of a dedicated office by an agent that has been operating in and around the area for years cements Acton’s strengthening position. “We have traditionally covered the Acton area from our Ealing and Chiswick branches so opening a new office in Acton was a natural next step for us,” says managing director Lee Watts.
NEW DEVELOPMENTS
Prices at Hill’s Vida scheme in East Acton start at £450,000 for a one-bedroom flat and £532,000 for a two-bedroom home. Or there are the innovative Überhauses at Countryside and L&Q’s Acton Gardens development near Chiswick High Street. The scheme will deliver 10 Überhauses — ground- and first-floor duplexes with private direct entrance from the street. Two-bedroom homes start at £620,000 with three-bedroom properties at £690,000.