800% in 30 years: Hackney home prices rise faster than Kensington & Chelsea

If you pooh-poohed the idea of buying a home in Hackney, prepare to be sorry and well, jealous.

Since 1987 the total value of homes in Hackney has rocketed by an eye-watering 864%. That’s 200% more than the surge in value Kensington & Chelsea and Westminster (661%) has seen.

While Islington saw a 660% rise in property, price were up 642% in Lambeth, 590% in Hammersmith & Fulham and 574% in Wandsworth.

According to research by estate agent Stirling Ackroyd, the price of a two-bed converted warehouse flat off Shoreditch High Street has shot up by 1,295%. In 1998, the home fetched £60,000, compared with £836,000 this year.

Managing director Andrew Bridges told the Standard: “Now, across London, the city of old has gone the way of the bowler hat — and our capital has developed a buzz from its under-loved corners.

“Old hotspots like Kensington or Westminster remain enormously valuable. But now London is looking east. As the capital’s economic and cultural heart grows outwards and eastwards, the city fringes are demonstrating the greatest dynamism.

“Today’s best opportunities exist because of an intricate pattern of new working and living spaces, which only a flexible approach to property uses can allow.  Development sites still exist in great numbers around the City of London, and are allowing a growing stock of all types of property.

“What matters most for successful neighbourhoods is a willingness to grasp new opportunities.  Investment in infrastructure is needed along the way, as we’ve seen with the DLR and the London Overground. But above all, planning rules that embrace change have been the biggest factor in the creation of new ideas and new wealth.”