Still on track - house prices aren’t derailed by Cr...

With Londoners facing further delays with Crossrail, London letting and sales agent Benham and Reeves analysed house prices along the route and whether this has impacted house price growth.

Benham and Reeves looked at the average house price in the immediate areas surrounding each Crossrail station since it was approved over a decade ago and how these compare to the wider area each station is located within.

It also examined the same data since the first delays were announced last year and what impact these delays have had on Crossrail price growth since.

House prices since launch

According to the data, when Crossrail was approved amidst the financial crash in 2008, the average house price surrounding the stations sat at £330,770.

Today, these house prices have jumped 83.9% to an average of £655,103, compared to a jump of just 56.7% across the wider areas these stations are located in where house prices average £472,486.

The largest increase has been surrounding Tottenham Court Road and Bond Street, where property prices have risen 343.5%, from £700,000 in 2008 to £3 million today.

House prices since the delays

The latest announcement that Crossrail won’t be ready until 2021 has added to the string of delays to the project, with the first round of these revealed in September 2018.

However, house prices surrounding many of the Crossrail stations have continued to outperform the wider market – increasing by an average of 2.1% over the last year – while the wider areas in which they’re located have seen an average drop of 1.9%.

Once again, Tottenham Court Road and Bond Street have seen the largest increase over the last year, although Whitechapel has seen the third largest rate of growth in the last year, with prices up 27.3% compared to a drop of 2.3% across Tower Hamlets as a whole.

House prices by 2021

Based on the previous data on Crossrail house price growth, Benham and Reeves predict that house prices surrounding each of these stations could increase by a further 4.7% by the time the project is hopefully delivered in 2021.

Commenting on the findings, Marc von Grundherr, director of Benham and Reeves, says: “It’s clear that despite the ongoing delays to its launch, the future benefits of Crossrail continue to stimulate price growth at a top level in areas surrounding a station, although there are a handful of areas where Crossrail house price growth has lagged behind the wider area over the last decade.”

“This is, of course, due to the fact that while price growth has accelerated since 2008, some areas have now come off the boil due to their ever-increasing price tag and more recently due to wider Brexit uncertainty and a consistent string of delays to the project.”

He adds: “That said, figures suggest that despite these delays, house prices surrounding the majority of Crossrail stations continue to outperform the wider London market, and while not every station has been a silver bullet against poor house price growth, Crossrail remains very sought after amongst buyers with one eye on a future price increase.”

Fancy living above Crossrail? Last week, we looked at a landmark residential-led regeneration project situated above the new Tottenham Court Road Crossrail Interchange, which will provide 92 private apartments and penthouses. It’s set to complete in 2022.