First-time buyer flats in west London: shared ownership homes need a deposit of just £6,000 at Hounslow Place

The average deposit a London first-time buyer needs to scrape together to get a foot on the property ladder has reached an incredible £140,000, according to recent research from Halifax.

So new homes on sale with deposit requirements nearer £6,000 will be of interest to any would-be buyer who does not have a six-figure sum burning a hole in their pocket.

Admittedly these homes are in a rather overlooked section of deepest west London. But with a Tube station on the doorstep and regeneration on the high street, smart first-time buyers should not write off Hounslow.

Clarion Housing has a range of one- and two-bedroom flats on offer at Hounslow Place, a good-looking, curvaceous, vaguely Art Deco-style building within an easy walk of Hounslow High Street.

In terms of access to public transport the location is great, with Hounslow East Tube station, in Zone 4 on the Piccadilly line, just a five-minute walk away. Heathrow trains take 13 minutes and you can be in South Kensington in 29 minutes.

Hounslow is one of London’s most multicultural communities, reflected in the great selection of Indian restaurants in the High Street.

Unfortunately, the High Street shops have a lot less flavour. There are too many discount stores, charity shops and banks, and not much to get excited about unless Argos and Primark float your boat.

But it is fine for everyday needs and there is a small shopping centre, anchored at present by Debenhams.

And Hounslow High Street’s fortunes are on the up, because five minutes from Hounslow Place, a £100 million project called High Street Quarter, by developers Barratt London and Wilson Bowden, will bring hundreds more new homes, a multiplex cinema, new restaurants, cafés and shops around a new public square.

There are a couple of small local parks within five minutes’ walk of Hounslow Place, but the nearest really big, wide-open piece of greenery is the beautiful Syon Park, a half-hour’s walk or a 10-minute bus ride away.

On the other side of the park are Kew and Richmond, which pass the coffee shop and browsing test with flying colours, while a little closer at hand there are also some nice cafés and restaurants worth getting to know in South Street, Old Isleworth.

A 35 per cent share of a one-bedroom flat at Hounslow Place, with a full price of £345,000, costs £120,750.

Buyers will need a deposit of just over £6,000, and as well as mortgage repayments will have to pay rent of around £314 a month and service charge estimated at £200 a month.

A 30 per cent slice of a two-bedroom flat will cost £138,750, and the minimum deposit is just under £7,000. Monthly costs will include rent at around £742 and service charge, again of about £200.

London’s property market is stuttering but in comparatively affordable TW3, prices are still rising.

Latest Rightmove figures put the average price in the postcode at £424,000, up just over £40,000 in the past year.

The average price of a terrace house is £410,000 and an average flat will set you back £236,000.

Within a half mile of Hounslow East station buyers can choose from grand Edwardian houses on the borders with Isleworth, classic suburban Thirties semis, and apartments both newly built and resale.

A budget of £350,000 to £400,000 would comfortably buy a smart two-bedroom purpose-built flat. Dexters is selling a top-floor flat in Witham Road, TW7 for £375,000. Call 020 8560 1177.

Hounslow also has a good stock of two-up two-downs for buyers who want their own front door and a garden. DBK Estate Agents has a two-bedroom terrace house in Spring Grove Road, TW3 with a guide price of £349,000. Call 020 8012 1490.

Or there are one-bedroom flats from £305,000 at Dominion Court, a small new-build scheme in London Road, through Chase Buchanan (020 8758 1755).

Get more bang for your buck a stop or two along the Tube line. Near Hounslow West station Foxtons has a two-bedroom house in Martindale Road, TW4, for £299,950 (020 8012 7021).