Property

Evening Standard

25/02/03 - Property news section

Mind the hot spots

By Mira Bar-Hillel, Evening Standard

The Northern line worked hard to earn its nickname of the "misery line", with overcrowded trains, cancelled services and some of the worst conditions on the Tube.

For homeowners, however, it turns out to have a rather more positive message - in the form of soaring house prices. New research shows that homes along this most unfashionable of lines come with the highest price tags on the Tube network.

From Kennington to Edgware, from Morden to High Barnet, on the Northern line is the place to live if you want to see the value of your home go up.

A six- month study by the Woolwich analysed the average price of two-to-three bedroom homes across 228 Tube stops between zones two and six, and found properties on the Northern line are worth an average £270,456.

This is followed by homes along the Jubilee line at £259,279 and the Bakerloo at £258,352. The Jubilee has seen the most vigorous recent growth - property values have doubled since 1998 - and has moved from fourth place into second. House prices along the Northern line have grown by 92 per cent since 1998.

Those yet to step on to the property ladder should cast their eyes over the budget end of the Tube system, the Victoria line. This is the most affordable line for property, with an average price of £199,000, followed by the Docklands Light Railway at £210,162.

However, not even the most rarefied parts of the Northern line can hold a candle to West Brompton on the District line - the most expensive single stop on the Tube with the average home costing £489,082. Hampstead, Belsize Park and Chalk Farm on the Northern line record an average price of £485,713. Holland Park on the Central line and Westbourne Park on the Hammersmith & City line come in at £460,720.

Other exclusive stops are Warwick Avenue on the Bakerloo line (£394,000); St John's Wood on the Jubilee (£392,272), and Camden Town on the Northern line (£366,825).

First-time buyers could be better off in the outer reaches of the District and Central lines. with Dagenham (£118,219) the most affordable place in which to buy, having seen growth of 115 per cent since 1998.

Stratford (£154,071) has benefited enormously from its convenient Tube links and has seen growth of 134 per cent since 1998. Leyton (£159,088), also on the Central line, has seen 124 per cent rises. However, if the Central line remains closed much longer, who knows what the effect could be on property.

For City workers who don't want to travel far to work, the most affordable places in zone two are Brixton (£203,371); Bethnal Green (£186,825); Mile End (£209,065) and Bow Road (£209,065).

Andy Gray, from the Woolwich said: "Homeowners living on the Tube network have been real winners with growth in their homes' values reaching record levels in five years. But homeowners should 'mind the expectations gap' as we predict house price growth will slow to more sustainable levels as prices reach the peak of their affordability."

Find this story at http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/homes/news/articles/3550344?version=1©2003 Associated New Media

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