Blackhorse Road among London's fast-changing areas for 2020: council masterplan set to bring thousands of new homes and creative studios
Waltham Forest is one of London’s best-performing boroughs of the past 10 years, and this unassuming swathe of workers’ cottages, old factories and workshops is starting to emerge as a real alternative to trendy Walthamstow.
The council’s masterplan for Blackhorse Road is not only to oversee the creation of 2,500 new homes – developers are rushing to invest - but also to attract a new generation of makers, designers, artists and start-up entrepreneurs to breathe life into the area. To this end, the authority is insisting that new developments include workspaces and studios.
Blackhorse Road already possesses good Zone 3 transport links, with the Victoria line and London Overground. Schools include Hillyfield Primary Academy and St Patrick’s Primary Academy, which both hold “good” Ofsted reports, and Eden Girls’ School Waltham Forest (seniors), rated “outstanding” by the schools watchdog.
Why Blackhorse Road is tipped as one to watch in 2020
Blackhorse Road is changing, swiftly and for the better. Barratt London, London & Quadrant and Transport for London started work last summer on Blackhorse View, with 350 new homes of which half will be affordable and aimed at first-time buyers, plus 17,000sq ft of shops and workspace to a design by RMA Architects.
Design standards are generally looking high across Blackhorse Road: housing associations Catalyst and Swan are using CF Møller, the firm which designed phase two of the Darwin Centre at the Natural History Museum, to build 330 lower-cost homes on the former Webbs Industrial Estate.
Pros: Walthamstow Wetlands, London’s fantastic new nature reserve created around a series of Victorian reservoirs, is just to the west of Blackhorse Road.
Cons: a lack of much to do in terms of shops, bars and restaurants.
Average house prices in Blackhorse Road — and what there is to buy
Blackhorse Road is in E17 where average prices stand at £484,000 according to Rightmove, up from £378,000 five years ago.
The streets around Blackhorse Road Tube station are lined with neat terrace houses, originally built for local factory workers. A three-bedroom house would cost £500,000 to £550,000.
At Taylor Wimpey’s Eclipse development (taylorwimpey.co.uk) buyers could opt for a new flat, priced from £329,000 for a studio and with London Help to Buy available.