Home search hotspots: London’s 'budget' boroughs for first-time buyers
Almost half of all the homes sold in London last year went to first-time buyers — the highest proportion since 2001. But while 2017’s newcomers to property benefited from major changes in the market, this year’s newbies will have to take the initiative themselves with some serious bargain hunting.
Last year’s first-timer surge was powered by a fall in the number of buy-to-let investors snapping up new-build property, and by council-driven affordable home building. The number of first-time buyers walking into branches of estate agents Hamptons International in November nudged up one per cent on the same month the previous year.
Meanwhile, Bob Weston, founder of Weston Homes, which builds well-designed new homes largely for the middle income level, is optimistic about further growth. “Normally the market gets slower in the last quarter of the year, but not in 2017. First-time buyer sales have actually risen, showing the appetite for entry-level homes.”
So where will first-time budgets go furthest this year? Here are some boroughs to investigate.
BARKING AND DAGENHAM
This outer London borough is the cheapest in the capital for first-timers. The average home costs 7.26 times the average salary for the area, a new study by property group CBRE has revealed.
One of the newest schemes under construction in Barking and Dagenham is 360 Barking where homes start from £305,000 for a 545sq ft flat.
The new scheme will comprise four interlinked curvy towers from eight to 26 floors, with 274 apartments. The site will have communal gardens and shared roof terraces, as well as a concierge service. It’s minutes from Barking station, with trains into the City in just 15 minutes.
“Barking is undergoing massive regeneration,” says Georgina Pope of CBRE, referring to the new 10,800-home Barking Riverside district which will be completed by 2021.
“With major investment into a new high street, new transport links, schools and public space there is much demand for affordable housing from both local residents and investors,” she adds.
WHERE TO LOOK IN BARKING
Available through CBRE, 360 Barking is already 40 per cent sold. Each of the 274 apartments has its own balcony and there is space outside to store 300 bikes. It’s a short walk to Barking Park with a children’s playground, boating lake and café. Call 020 7182 2477 for more.
The Rivermill Lofts development in Barking by Weston Homes overlooks the River Roding. The block of 199 apartments has parking and cycle storage and first-time buyers can save £5,000 on stamp duty. Just one loft remains for sale, a two-bedroom home priced at £360,995. For more information, call 020 8507 0924.
As an alternative, and closer to the centre of London, Upton Gardens, a Barratt Homes development, is in Newham. Upton Park, the former West Ham United football ground, is being transformed into 842 homes with one to four bedrooms — flats, duplexes and maisonettes.
The scheme will also include a gym, children’s playground and underground parking. Prices start from £329,995 and Help to Buy is available, as well as a discount on stamp duty. Newham council has bought 211 of the units for affordable rental homes.
CROYDON
In the fifth most affordable borough in CBRE’s ranking, Croydon council is actively trying to entice first-time buyers to live and work in this south London town.
“Croydon has its own mini economy independent of London, and great transport links,” says the council’s director of development, Colm Lacey.
New office buildings are attracting companies that would normally be based in central London, he says, citing The Body Shop’s recent relocation from London Bridge.
“But it’s not just about getting people to come and work here — we want them to stay,” he says.
Planning permission was granted in November for a £1.4 billion Westfield shopping centre that will create 7,000 new jobs and deliver 1,000 new homes. Construction will start next year.
A week after that decision, London Mayor Sadiq Khan signed off approval for a 794-apartment tower in central Croydon, which will be the UK’s second tallest building when finished in the 2020s.
It will also include 376,000sq ft of office and shop space, a swimming pool and gym and a public viewing gallery with views of London and Surrey. It will have the highest bar and restaurant in London.
So Croydon is aiming high. The council has just launched a bid to become London’s first borough of culture, splashing out £30 million on the overhaul of Fairfield Halls art and entertainment centre and a new programme of events.
“The longest of London’s boroughs, Croydon can offer first-time buyers an urban London feel in places such as Crystal Palace or a more rural life in Surrey villages,” says Lacey, who runs council-led development firm Brick by Brick.
“Most of all we offer them value.” Brick by Brick is building 3,000 homes across 50 sites in Croydon, half of which will be affordable. Any profit is reinvested in the borough.
WHERE TO LOOK IN CROYDON
Brick by Brick is building Regina Road, with 19 one-bedroom detached houses in Norwood, all for shared-ownership sale. Prices have yet to be released.
One Lansdowne Road, by Guildhouse Rosepride, will feature two towers of 68 and 41 floors opposite the Whitgift shopping centre, which will soon make way for the glitzy new Westfield mall.
Flats will range from studios to three-bedroom homes and 52.5 per cent will be available through shared ownership.
The site is just a few minutes’ walk from East Croydon and West Croydon stations.
NEWHAM
The first resident to move into Upton Gardens was Catherine Cook. The 842-home development is being built on the site of West Ham’s old stadium.
Born in Leeds, the advertising executive, 33, isn’t a fan of the football club — but she loves the layout of her one-bedroom flat, and the borough of Newham.
“It felt a bit surreal when I first moved in,” says Cook, a first-time buyer.
“I was so used to renting that at first it didn’t feel like it was mine, but it’s so comfortable and wonderful to come home to, that I absolutely love it.”
She bought her £350,000 Barratt London home in Academy House, a six-flat block, using the government Help to Buy scheme.