Buying property in Newham

Newham is at the heart of the significant shift east in London’s culture scenes. The borough features a growing range of new arts and cultural offerings and sports facilities, which is bringing more people to the area.

The new East Bank District at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park will include a 550-seat theatre, collections from the Victoria and Albert Museum and a state-of-the-art BBC Music studio with access to the public for performances.

Additionally, London Stadium is home to the Premier League football team West Ham and UK Athletics. The London Aquatics Centre also offers swimming and fitness facilities to the public. On top of that, the borough has a growing number of retail and business offerings.

Running through the centre of the borough, Green Street is full of restaurants, shops and a historic market, called the Queen’s Market. Further elevating the city’s shopping and food scenes, the Westfield Stratford City Shopping Centre has more than 350 stores, 80 places to
eat and a 20-screen cinema.

The Royal Docks is also located in Newham and is a unique waterfront district and London’s only enterprise zone. ExCel Arena is located here and hosts a number of large exhibitions, conferences and events.

It’s also a growing hub for business, bringing tens of thousands of jobs to Newham and the wider area. There are additional cultural offerings here too, including the Brick Lane Music Hall and a sculpture trail.

As it’s an appealing area for students, young professionals and graduates, Newham has one of the youngest populations in the entire capital. The median age among residents is 32 years old, which is lower than London’s average of 35.6, according to the “Focus on: Newham” Report by Knight Frank.

In recent years, there has been strong population growth across Newham. Figures from the ONS show the number of people moving to the borough grew by 25% from June 2015 to June 2019. During that time, more than a fifth of these movers were aged between 25 and 29 years old.

With a wide array of employment opportunities within easy reach, Newham is a great location for young professionals and graduates. The borough is adjacent to a number of business hubs, including Canary Wharf and the City of London financial districts.

Additionally, Newham has a number of outstanding universities within close proximity, including the University College London, University of East London, New Loughborough University and UAL London College of Fashion. This naturally brings many students to the area as well.

The Borough of Newham and the wider area of East London has been transformed in the past decade after hosting the London Olympics in 2012, which helped put this part of the capital on the map globally. At that time, Newham gained a major station upgrade at Stratford with faster connections to Central London.

This part of the capital already has strong connections through underground and overground stations and bus routes. Now, once Crossrail is fully operational, Newham will be one of the best-connected places in East London as it will have five stations on the line, providing links to Central London, Reading and Heathrow Airport.

Maryland, Forest Gate, Manor Park and Stratford will be on the north east branch of the Elizabeth Line, and Custom House will be on the south east branch. Services are expected to begin sometime in 2022. The City will take about 10 minutes to reach from many areas in Newham, while Canary Wharf will only be three minutes from Custom House.

The exciting £1.1bn East Bank District development is underway in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. And Newham is home to a range of other major regeneration and development schemes. Over the next 20 years, £8bn worth of investment is expected in the area.

The regeneration being seen in Newham has boosted the local property market. With this continued investment, there are a growing number of new-build housing developments coming to the area.

During the last 12 months, the average sold price in the borough was £399,149, according to data from Zoopla. As the area has become more and more attractive to live in, house prices in Newham have soared throughout the last decade.

Figures from Knight Frank show the area has seen prices increase from £194,632 in January 2010 to £356,915 in April 2020, which is a rise of 83%. Despite this growth, it’s still one of the most affordable areas of London, which currently has an average house price of £505,700, according to Zoopla’s House Price Index for December 2021.

With a continuously growing population of young people, there’s a large demographic of tenants in Newham. As demand for housing continues to rise, rents have also been growing. And with this influx of younger residents, Newham is facing an undersupply of housing.

Newham provides good value for money for a range of property investors and has room for growth moving forward. House prices are expected to increase further, creating the opportunity for investors to earn strong capital gains.

Additionally, with rental demand so high and a short supply of housing, this makes it an attractive location for long-term buy-to-let investment. As only more new housing comes forward, this will likely attract more residents and new amenities, further elevating the borough.

With the amount of population and economic growth and regeneration and development the area is seeing, Newham is becoming a top property investment hotspot that is likely here to stay.