Mapped: The new property hotspots in London
House hunters are waking up to the potential of Crossrail, which is set to open fully in 2019
The blue dots represent areas with the highest increase in demand since last year, while the orange dots are those areas with the strongest overall demand.
The central London property market might be flat, but the suburbs are positively hot.
While demand for homes in zone 1 has dropped 20pc in the past year, demand for a property further afield, but within a commuting distance of the capital, is off the charts, with areas outside London, such as Reading, Luton and Slough, enjoying the fastest house price growth in the country.
According to demand-based research of areas in London, the strongest increase in demand over the past year has been in the outer boroughs near the new Crossrail stations, as people wake up to the commuting potential offered by the trans-London train line, which will run from Reading in the west, to Essex in the east, and is expected to open fully in 2019.
The top 10 hotspots in London
- South Ruislip – zone 5; 75pc
- Eastcote – zone 5; 71pc
- Ruislip Manor – zone 6; 71pc
- Debden – zone 6; 68pc
- Northwood Hills – zone 6; 67pc
- Hornchurch – zone 6; 66pc
- Ruislip – zone 6; 66pc
- Dagenham East – zone 5; 65pc
- Rayners Lane – zone 5; 65pc
- Dagenham Heathway – zone 5; 65pc
Park Royal and Hanger Lane in the outer London zones are seeing a huge growth in interest, as house searches move ever further from central London in the hope of finding an easy, and affordable, commuting spot.
London’s hotspots are mostly in the outer zones / Photo: High Level Photography / Rex Features
Meanwhile, areas around Acton and Ealing are in much less demand, as high prices have pushed people into more up-and-coming neighbourhoods further north and west.
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In Park Royal, in west London, the average price of a flat is £375,187, far lower than Ealing which lies a little further south. Both areas are near new Crossrail stations, although Park Royal is slightly further away.
Another hotspot is around Ruislip in north west London, where there is a cluster of neighbourhoods where demand is spiking and where house builders are particularly active. The price of a house around Ruislip is below the London average, with flats hovering below £300,000.
Russell Quirk, the founder of online estate agency eMoov, said: “It will be interesting to keep an eye on the parts of London due to benefit from Crossrail, particularly that pocket of Park Royal and Hanger Lane up to the Ruislip area.
“I expect homeowners already living here will see a significant value increase on their property over the next few years and those looking to sell, should certainly consider holding out until Crossrail is up and running at least.”
Crossrail is already heating up property hotspots / Photo: Crossrail
The scores were calculated by eMoov, which measures demand by comparing the proportion of properties sold over a specific time period to those for sale.
In most of the top 10 hotpots, house prices are below the London average, which has topped £500,000.
The biggest movers, ranked by demand increase year-on-year
- Park Royal – zone 3; 113pc
- Golders Green – zone 3; 86pc
- Hanger Lane – zone 3; 73pc
- Colliers Wood – zone 3; 57pc
- Cannon Street – zone 1; 54pc
- Euston – zone 1; 52pc
- West Ham – zone 2; 48pc
- Chigwell – zone 4; 45pc
- Upton Park – zone 3; 44pc
- Upminster Bridge – zone 6; 42pc