New transport links and regeneration projects are making new-build properties in previously undesirable parts of London more attractive to investors, according to a report.
Property prices in these areas of the capital are expected to increase as a result, estate agent Knight Frank claims in its report on London Hotspots: Residential Development Opportunity Areas. Significant infrastructure improvements could see new-build property prices go up by over 30 per cent by 2016.
Nine Elms in south west London has the highest price growth forecast. Agents believe residential prices could hit £1,800 per sq ft, an increase of 140 per cent. Property prices in the area are expected to be boosted by the extension of London Underground’s Northern Line and the opening of the new US embassy in 2017.
The report said: “[Nine Elms] is set to undergo a complete change of identity as regeneration takes place. Tideway Wharf and Battersea Power station will boast hundreds of apartments, and Nine Elms Parkside, which is yet to be granted planning permission, would create an additional 2,000 residential units.
“Key to this area’s success will be the extension of the Northern Line. Under current plans, two extra stops are planned at NineElms and Battersea. If this goes ahead, the area would have direct links to Covent Garden, Soho and Fitzrovia, as well as South London,” it said.
Prices in the City of London are projected to hit £2,000 per sq ft, an increase of 118 per cent, helped by a number of wealthy residents moving into the area in the last five years. Transport links to the area are likely to be improved by a new station at Whitechapel, helping to sustain demand for property.
Knight Frank head of residential research Liam Bailey believes infrastructure improvements in the coming years will drive growth. The opening of Crossrail in 2018, which will serve Whitechapel, is going to be key for growth, says Bailey.
The report said: “The majority of areas achieve hotspot status because of new transport links, which will make them more accessible. Crossrail, the fast train service that will run across London from 2018, will further enhance the desirability of the areas around its stations in central London, and in particular the key transport hubs of Paddington,Farringdon and Liverpool Street.”
Hammersmith, White City and Earl’s Court in west London, as well as Marylebone and Fitzrovia near Oxford Street are also thought to be among London’s “hotspots”.
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