Where to buy in 2018: the 10 boroughs with the cheapest average property prices for London home buyers

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Lizzie Rivera10 January 2018

Home buyers on a budget should look to east London according to the latest asking price data from Rightmove, which reveals London's top 10 cheapest areas to buy as the new year begins.

1. Barking and Dagenham
Average asking price: £312,248
Average annual increase: 3.1%

Asking prices in Barking and Dagenham are almost half the London average. Huge regeneration plans are coming to fruition in this east London borough, especially in Barking town centre, which is in Zone 4 on the District line with a direct journey to the City. By 2021, a riverside district with almost 11,000 homes will be connected to the Overground network, too.

2. Bexley
Average asking price: £371,996
Average annual increase: 3.8%

Bexley remains one of London's cheapest boroughs but it's on the rise. An area you may now have heard of is Abbey Wood, which is getting a significant boost thanks to its new Crossrail station. Once the Elizabeth line opens at the end of this year you’ll be able to hit the West End in less than half an hour and Heathrow in 51 minutes.

3. Havering
Average asking price: £412,698
Average annual increase: 5.4%

The London borough of Havering, in Essex, is also home to a stop on the high-speed Crossrail network in its main town, Romford. It is voted one of the top 10 happiest boroughs and there are plans for 3,500 new homes to be built across the borough over the next 10 years.

4. Newham
Average asking price: £415,700
Average annual increase: 9.8%

Asking prices in Newham, east London, rose the fastest of the top 10 cheapest boroughs in 2017. The borough has benefitted from the ongoing legacy of the Olympic games regeneration to the north, while the south of the borough is plugged in to the Crossraill route that will connect Reading and Heathrow in the west to Abbey Wood and Shenfield (via Forest Gate) in the east.

5. Croydon
Average asking price: £421,782
Average annual increase: 0.6%

The south London borough of Croydon stretches from Thornton Heath to Old Coulsdon. But it's Croydon town centre that has seen significant regeneration over the past few years, with new-build homes ranging from family friendly-houses to micro flats for first-time buyers.

6. Sutton
Average asking price: £427,686
Average annual decrease: 2.2%

Ten miles south-west of central London, Sutton offers plenty of open green space, and homes remain relatively affordable. The town is popular with parents who move for the excellent state schools, including five grammar schools, while the commute into Victoria and London Bridge is half an hour.

7. Lewisham
Average asking price: £455,129
Average annual decrease: 1.3%

There is a strong possibility there will be a Bakerloo line Tube extension from Elephant & Castle to Lewisham within the next 10 years and, if all goes to plan, house prices in the borough will increase. In the meantime, the south-east London borough is fairly well served with DLR and rail stations and interest from buyers in popular areas such as Blackheath, Brockley and New Cross remains strong.

8. Greenwich
Average asking price: £461,666
Average annual increase: 5.9%

This south-east London borough is home to two stations on the Crossrail network: Abbey Wood (which also straddles Bexley) and Woolwich. As such, there has been an uplift in house prices along with significant regeneration in the borough, with 5,000 new homes due to be built on the The Royal Arsenal Riverside development.

9. Enfield
Average asking price: £472,069
Average annual increase: 0.4%

Enfield Town in north London is served by three train and three Tube stations. It is also very well-connected to the motorway network. There is huge regeneration underway at Meridian Water, which will have up to 10,000 new homes and a new train station offering 25-minute commutes to Liverpool Street. The first phase of 725 homes and the station is due to be ready year. The below average price increase of 0.4 per cent is likely to be because the market is levelling out after a year in which the borough consistently had some of the biggest price growth in the capital.

10. Hillingdon
Average asking price: £473,681
Average annual decrease: 0.9%

Hillingdon in west London is home to West Drayton where homes are snapped up the fastest in London, selling in just 37 days. This is almost four times quicker than the slowest (and significantly more expensive) housing market in west London's Knightsbridge. West Drayton's relatively modest prices — a a two-bedroom flat costs around £300,000 — and a station on the Elizabeth line both contribute to the area's desirability.