With its shiny 200-metre-long trains, the Crossrail project promises ‘to bring the world to London, and London to the world’. Improved journey times, eased congestion and the offer of more job opportunities are on offer, making working in London more accessible than ever.
Crossrail is around 80% complete, and will be fully open by December 2019, but what effect has it had on house prices for the surrounding areas? New research from Nationwide suggests that house prices are rising due to the ‘Crossrail effect’, but how exactly does this compare to the national average?
The Crossrail effect
The Crossrail project is a railway line that runs 73 miles from Reading to Shenfield, with forks leading to Heathrow in the west and Abbey Wood in the east. After being approved 10 years ago, construction started in 2009 and the new route, named ‘The Elizabeth Line’ will serve 40 stations. The surrounding towns and villages near these Crossrail stations will have increased access to employment both in the centre of London and Canary Wharf, leading to an increase in house prices.
Research by Nationwide examined how living in or near a town with a Crossrail station affected house prices in those areas, with emphasis on the stations outside the Greater London region.
Crossrail
House prices in the West
Houses near stations on the Great Western Mainline, which starts at Reading and travels east into London, showed rises in house prices that were well above the average. Three examples that stood out were:
- Slough – average rise of 39% since 2014
- Reading – average rise of 33% since 2014
- Wokingham – average rise of 28% since 2014
This compares to an average rise for the South East region as a whole at 22%.
House prices in the East
The ‘Crossrail effect’ was slightly subdued in the east, which Nationwide suggest may be the result of only two stations on the eastern side; Brentwood and Shenfield, reaching outside of Greater London. Many stations on the eastern side of the Elizabeth Line are already served quite well with travel links into London, meaning that while there was as increase in house prices, it may not be directly caused by Crossrail.
The research showed that:
- Brentwood – average rise of 43% since 2010
- Shenfield – average rise of 43% since 2010.
This compares to an average rise for the East of England region as a whole at 36%.
The senior economic analyst at nationwide, Andrew Harvey, commented: “Our analysis suggests that the Crossrail project has provided a significant uplift to prices on the western section of the line to Berkshire. Slough, in particular, has seen house prices rise by 39% since April 2014 – nearly double the average rate of growth seen across the South East as a whole. Average house prices in the town have historically been around 15 per cent to 20 per cent lower than the regional average, but the growth seen since 2014 means that prices are now just around six per cent lower than the South East average.”
The rise in house prices won’t come as a shock to many, as access to the capital often comes at a premium. It may however, come as a pleasant surprise for those already living near the route for the proposed Crossrail 2, running from Surrey to Hertfordshire. If approved, it could open as soon as 2033, bringing with it potential for another ‘Crossrail effect’.