First-time buyer homes in east London's Royal Docks: new Thames-side flats close to Canary Wharf and Crossrail links start from £115k

Coinciding with the launch of the Elizabeth line and close to London City Airport, new homes being built at Silvertown, E16 offer excellent transport links.
£6 billion regeneration: the old Royal Docks will again be a huge, vibrant commercial hub, with thousands of new jobs and homes
Alamy
Ruth Bloomfield4 April 2017

Part of the £6 billion regeneration of the Royal Docks is Royal Wharf, coming right on time for the launch of the Elizabeth line, and superbly located for London City airport.

As housing developments go, Royal Wharf is a whopper. Up to 3,500 homes are being built on a site at Silvertown, E16, transforming an industrial zone where sugar once arrived into Britain.

Sandwiched between the ExCeL centre and the Thames Barrier, next year Crossrail services will start to run from Custom House station, offering locals quick links to the City and West End.

The first residents moved into Royal Wharf last year and over the next five years an anticipated 20,000 people, many priced out of Canary Wharf, will call this mega development home.

From £115,000: shared-ownership homes at Traders’ Quarter in Royal Wharf 

SHARED-OWNERSHIP HOMES FROM £115k

While Royal Wharf is affordable beside Canary Wharf, homes there aren’t exactly a giveaway. Studio flats at the Oxley and Ballymore development start at £325,000, and one-bedroom flats from £364,000.

However, Notting Hill Housing association can offer just over 50 flats from a significantly more realistic £115,000 in two buildings at Traders’ Quarter in Royal Wharf — Corsair House and Cape House.

That sum buys a 30 per cent share of a one-bedroom flat with a full price of £385,000. Buyers must raise a 10 per cent deposit of £11,550. Monthly costs will include mortgage repayments of about £607, rent at £618, and £170 service charge.

Traders’ Quarter in Royal Wharf: Notting Hill Housing association can offer just over 50 flats from £115,000 in two buildings — Corsair House and Cape House

Two-bedroom flats start at £131,250 for a 25 per cent share, which means raising a deposit of £13,125. Monthly costs include mortgage of about £690, rent of £804, and £250 service charge.

Three-bedroom flats are priced at £164,375 for a quarter share, requiring a £16,437 deposit, with monthly mortgage repayments at about £874, rent at £822, and service charge at £380.

HUGE POTENTIAL

At 38 acres, Royal Wharf will be an “urban village”. With a high street, market square and a riverside park, the layout is inspired by the side streets and mews of Belgravia and Bloomsbury.

£327,500: a two-bedroom flat in Garvary Road, E16, near Custom House station which will have the Elizabeth line. Call Dexters (020 7517 1199)

Transport links are pretty good even pre-Elizabeth line. The nearest station is Pontoon Dock on the DLR in Zone 3. There’s also the Emirates Air Line cable car linking the Royal Docks with Greenwich, while City airport makes weekends in Europe a breeze.

Sitting beside Thames Barrier Park, Royal Wharf passes the green space test. For now, though, it lacks much to do. There are a few restaurants, cafés and bars in and around the ExCeL conference centre but these are very much of the “business traveller” variety, and while there are plenty of shops at Canary Wharf, it’s a bit soulless.

But big plans are afoot and when regeneration beds in, the area has huge potential as a place to live, and to expect price growth. Buy into it today, and be prepared to exercise patience until the bigger picture is delivered.