Where to buy in London in 2016: Barking and Dagenham tops list of cheapest areas to buy a home in Zone 5

London's travel Zone 5 offers some of the cheapest house prices in the capital - with quick commutes to the city, if you know where to look...
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Lizzie Rivera16 September 2016

Zone 5 house prices have risen nine per cent over the past year making it the fastest growing travel Zone in the capital, according to the latest data from Countrywide. However, there are still pockets of value to be found for tightly-squeezed London home buyers.

House prices around Barking & Dagenham's three train stations in east London are the cheapest in Zone 5, averaging around £270,000, so it's little surprise that demand for homes in the area has surged by 44 per cent in the past 12 months.

Demand in this east London area looks set to continue, following the Mayor's approval of a masterplan to build capital’s single largest regeneration site at Barking Riverside, bringing 10,000 new homes, wildlife reserves and a marina over the next 15 years at a development dubbed “Barcelona-on-Thames”.

ZONE 5: THE CHEAPEST AREAS TO BUY A HOME

Station Borough Av. house price 12-month price growth 12-month demand
Dagenham East Barking and Dagenham £257,243 18.6% 46%
Becontree Barking and Dagenham £265,251 6.9% 43%
Dagenham Dock Barking and Dagenham £269,671 16.2% 39%
Belvedere Bexley £276,876 19.8% 55%
Chadwell Heath Barking and Dagenham £279,296 5% 46%
House price data provided by Countrywide and demand data by eMoov, September 2016.


With average house prices of £257,000, Dagenham East offers "the last realistic 'first-rung' property step for aspiring homeowners to get their foot in the London door, making it popular among first-time buyers working in the city," according to eMoov founder Russell Quirk.

However, Belvedere in the south-east borough of Bexley should also be on first-time buyers' radar. It's the fourth cheapest place in which to buy a home in Zone 5, with average house prices of almost £277,000.

Direct train services reach London Bridge station in about 40 minutes, which also stop at Woolwich, an area set to gain high-speed Crossrail links from 2018.

Belvedere is also one stop from Bexleyheath, the London district where homes sell fastest - in just three weeks on average, according to the latest Rightmove research. It's popular with families who are drawn to well-rated local state schools and more affordable house prices.


THE FIVE MOST EXPENSIVE ZONE 5 AREAS:

Station Borough Av. house price 12-month price growth 12-month demand
Cockfosters Enfield £1,032,531 5% 38%
Cheam Sutton £941,280 21.2% 56%
Chislehurst Bromley £744,726 19.5% 42%
Twickenham Richmond £662,240 -0.1% 25%
Stanmore Harrow £654,850 -1.7% 15%

House price data provided by Countrywide and demand data by eMoov, September 2016.


Moving to Zone 5 doesn't necessarily mean affordable house prices. Cockfosters, at the end of the Piccadilly Line in north London, is the only Zone 5 area where house prices average just over £1 million.

Popular with families, this price is probably inflated by the multi-million pound homes favoured by Premier League footballers in one particular area, Hadley Wood.

Home of England Rugby: Twickenham is one of those London villages that hug the Thames and suit families who just can’t bear to leave the heart of the capital too far behind 
Daniel Lynch

Averaging With average prices of £660,000, Twickenham also makes it into the list of Zone 5's most expensive areas. Homes are almost 20 per cent cheaper than neighbouring Richmond - which is what finally lures south-east Londoners across the bridge, according to estate agent Mark Thompson, senior manager at Hamptons’ Teddington branch.