London travel zone house prices: which boroughs in Zones 1-6 offer the best-value property for buying a home?

The average deposit needed to buy a London home is now 1.3 times higher than the average salary, making the search for good value ever more pressing.

New research, exclusive to Homes & Property, has revealed the true cost of being a homeowner across travel Zones 1 to 6.

The Savills study shows that an annual household income of £247,484 is needed to secure a 75 per cent loan-to-value mortgage in Zone 1 on a home worth over £1.4 million — the average for that part of town.

An upfront 25 per cent cash deposit of £371,227 is also needed, based on a theoretical mortgage where the home is four-and-a-half times the income.

The salary requirement drops to £75,364 in Zone 5, where the average property price is £452,186. The buyer will need a 25 per cent deposit of £113,046.

So, assuming you can raise the required hefty deposit and stand a good chance of getting a mortgage, which Zones offer the best value?

Source: Savills Research using Land Registry

New data from property analyst LonRes shows a 17.5 per cent fall in sales across central London in the final quarter of last year compared to the same period in 2017.

However, transactions in Marylebone in Zone 1 were up 40 per cent, with new flats at The Chilterns, The Mansion and Marylebone Square now available.

“Marylebone is increasingly becoming the hub of central London and is merging with Mayfair,” says Gary Hersham of Beauchamp Estates.

Marylebone Lane links the two enclaves and is lined by boutiques and independent stores, with The Ivy Café at the top end.

“Young families move out of the area to Brook Green and Chiswick to get bigger gardens but British downsizers and investors are moving in,” says Becky Fatemi of property company Rokstone.

It is possible to find a home under £500,000 but it will be a studio flat consisting of one combined bedroom and living space with a separate bathroom. Knight Frank is selling a studio near Baker Street Tube station for £425,000. Call 020 3813 3647.

Covent Garden is also popular. Since its transformation started in 2006, the developer Capco has swapped many of the chain stores and restaurants for independent, designer or Made in Britain brands.

The Floral Court Collection of 29 luxury flats has been created out of the old Westminster Fire Station with new homes alongside. The penthouse launches in spring and prices start at £1.27 million.

The average house price in Zone 2, and income required for the theoretical Savills mortgage, is 46 per cent cheaper than in Zone 1.

This is the biggest cost gap between travel zones. On the northern line at the edge of Zone 1, Stockwell is cheaper than prime Clapham but still close to 200-acre Clapham Common and Clapham High Street’s bars and restaurants.

Due to its mixed housing stock of Victorian terraces and ex-social housing there is lots of choice for first-time buyers and young professionals. New developments are scarce but one- and two-bedroom homes are available at 330 Clapham Road.

This new scheme has shared electric car parking points and CCTV. It’s a short walk to either Stockwell or Clapham North Tube and prices start from £692,500 through Hamptons (020 3151 7649) and Notting Hill Genesis (020 7498 5613).

On the site of the historic Young’s brewery, moments from Wandsworth Town station in Zone 2, The Ram Quarter is part of a £600 million redevelopment that includes shops, restaurants and 713 new homes, from studios to four-bedroom duplexes.

Grant Emery, 36, and Krissy Bond, 28, moved from Cambridge to buy a £750,000 flat at The Ram Quarter.

“The heritage appealed,” says Grant. “It’s the best of both worlds. Our master bedroom is very large, the whole flat has underfloor heating and there’s a 24-hour concierge.”

It costs 21 per cent less to buy a home in Zone 4 than in Zone 3, with the average household income needed to secure a mortgage — based on the Savills model — dropping from £105,682 to £82,889.

Barratt Homes’ Kidderpore Green in Zone 3 in Hampstead, is a small luxury development of one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments and restored maisonettes, designed with downsizers in mind.

There’s a concierge service, landscaped gardens with an artisanal café and the Hampstead School of Art on site. Prices for two-bedroom homes start from £870,000.

So Resi Hackbridge, in the borough of Sutton and Zone 4, is aimed at first-time buyers. This shared-ownership scheme of one-, two-, and three-bedroom apartments is part of the New Mill Quarter regeneration and is just a few minutes walk from Hackbridge station.

It launched this month and prices start from £65,000 for a 25 per cent share of a one-bedroom home with a full price of £260,000. A 10 per cent deposit of £6,500 is required.

The most affordable travel zone is Zone 5 and includes areas such as Hounslow, Harrow, Chingford and Stanmore.

Simon Dalton of Preston Bennett describes Stanmore in north London as “affluent and leafy, with access to good schools”. It is surrounded by country parks and golf courses and is just 32 minutes to Bond Street on the Underground.

Housing stock ranges from large period properties to Fifties flats, and £300,000 will buy a one-bedroom apartment while a three-bedroom house will cost around £550,000.

Buckingham House comprises one-, two- and three-bedroom flats in the centre of Stanmore and has been designed for first-time buyers commuting into central London. Prices start from £425,000 with Help to Buy available. Through Preston Bennett (020 3151 7704).

Even though it’s on the outer rim of the capital and presents a longer commute, Zone 6 is nevertheless marginally more expensive than Zone 5.

This is a result of pricey suburban markets such as Ewell, Loughton and parts of Northwood that fall outside of the Greater London boundary but still have Zone 6 Tube stations.

Cane Hill Park in Coulsdon, Croydon, is a joint development between Barratt Homes and David Wilson Homes, and is part of a wider housing scheme that sits on the site of the former Cane Hill Hospital, which dates back to the 1880s.

There are three-, four- and five-bedroom houses available, with prices from £564,995 to £799,995.