How Crossrail is boosting buying activity in Woolwich, south-east London

Property: How Crossrail is boosting buying activity in Woolwich, south-east London Buyers are snapping up homes on the Crossrail route and Woolwich is one of the hot spots.

Take note: Woolwich Arsenal (Travelcard Zone 4)

Woolwich Arsenal

The arrival of Crossrail, which will stretch from Reading and Heathrow in the west to Shenfield and Abbey Wood in the east when it opens in 2018, is boosting house-buying activity along its route.

Research by estate agent Hampton’s International has found that one in ten London sales are now within a mile of a Crossrail station. And eyes are on Woolwich in particular: the south-east London district will benefit from some of the largest cuts in journey times.

Residents of SE18 will be able to get to Bond Street in just 21 minutes rather than the 36 minutes it takes now, and to Tottenham Court Road in 19 minutes rather than 37. Journeys to Heathrow will be practically halved to 47 minutes, which shaves 40 minutes off the current time.

This is proving very attractive to buyers, according to local agents. Felicity J Lord’s Mariel Roe says prices have risen by ten per cent since Christmas alone as supply struggles to keep up with demand – although she believes the increased interest is not entirely down to Crossrail.

‘Woolwich is attracting new business in its own right – it boasts the highest concentration of studio space for artists in Europe,’ she says. The town has long been perceived as one of the last affordable areas of London but is now set to become the ‘Shoreditch of the south’, Roe predicts.

As yet, there’s little evidence of a Shoreditch-style hipster invasion but the area is certainly on the up, thanks in part to the smart new developments that are transforming Woolwich’s grimier spots.

Berkeley Homes’s redevelopment of the Royal Arsenal site is one of the area’s longest-standing and biggest. When complete, in around ten years’ time, the scheme will hold 5,000 properties, with 450 new homes to be released this year. These include apartments in Cannon Square, right on top of the proposed Woolwich Crossrail station.

 Royal Arsenal Riverside prices have risen from £450 to £550 per square foot since last June. Kevin Lasitz and Jose Dias paid £485,000 for their three-bed apartment after being impressed by the development’s history. The ex-military site was established by Henry VIII and manufactured ammunitions during both World Wars. 

‘We were sold the moment we walked in,’ says Lasitz. ‘It has plenty of space and a wrap-around balcony with views of the Thames, Greenwich Heritage Centre and the Royal Artillery Museum from every floor-to-ceiling window. The opportunity to actually live in a brand new, state-of-the-art building that is nestled in a historic setting is, for us, magical.’

 The pair’s investment looks to be a smart move. Commercial property advisers CBRE predict Crossrail will add around 13 per cent to house prices along the line by 2018 but in Woolwich, where the average house price is £272,136, that increase is expected to reach 19 per cent. The area may traditionally have boasted some of London’s lowest property prices but that won’t be the case much longer, says investment specialist Stuart Law of Assetz.

‘Woolwich is beginning to draw in young professionals and families alike and is fast becoming a hot spot for investors,’ he adds

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Above article from Metro UK.

Video from Berkeley Homes