Brexit house prices in London: only Barking & Dagenham has dodged property slump in three years since EU referendum
Barking and Dagenham is the last remaining London borough to have dodged house price falls since the EU referendum, analysis shows today.
Every other local authority area has seen months of slumping property values following the June 2016 poll, according to Land Registry data.
The wave of downturns began in more expensive boroughs but has spread to virtually every part of the capital since the start of 2018, as Brexit chaos has intensified.
However, London’s last surviving property “warm spot” saw prices rise 1.6 per cent to an average of £299,002 in the year to June — the most recent month for which figures are available.
Across London, prices have fallen for 16 months continuously, with uncertainty over Brexit one of the major factors depressing the market.
Jeff Vedgen, branch partner at Barking estate agents William H Brown, said: “We are very lucky. The transport links are fabulous and the area is affordable.
“You see the same houses that you would in Chigwell or Enfield but you pay £150,000 less for them.”
The east London borough has benefited from a regeneration programme over recent years that has helped transform an area once voted “most miserable place to live in Britain”.
Famous figures from the borough include Downton Abbey’s Michelle Dockery and TV presenter Rochelle Humes.
Initiatives have included plans for a marina development at Barking Riverside and £100 million TV studios.
Pat Hayes, managing director of the council’s development agency Be First, said: “The pace of regeneration here is accelerating rapidly and the borough is a vibrant place which is complemented by young, aspirational people moving from overpriced inner London.”
Aneisha Beveridge, head of research at Hamptons International, which carried out the analysis, said: “Barking & Dagenham is the capital’s cheapest place to buy a home, with first-time buyers purchasing more than half of homes and supporting price growth.”