It’ll be all right on the night
Now London has a 24-hour Tube, would other UK cities benefit from having one too? asks
IT’S official: London is the city that never sleeps. Well, not on Fridays or Saturdays now that the Tube is open all night on the Central and Victoria lines. Last weekend’s launch was such a success that London Mayor Sadiq Khan said it had “changed the face of weekend travel forever” and with the Jubilee, Northern and Piccadilly lines also starting 24-hour weekend opening from this autumn, estate agents are hoping it will also change the face of property prices and rents in London.
While many might think these are high enough already, some London property prices and rents have actually been falling recently.
A surge in the number of rental properties due to the race to beat the stamp duty rise on buy-to-let homes, plus uncertainty caused by Brexit, means that the average rent in Greater London has fallen by 0.5 per cent since last summer according to estate agents Countrywide, although it’s still a whopping £1,280 a month.
Countrywide predicts property prices everywhere in the UK except Scotland will fall by one per cent in 2017, having already seen a slowdown in price rises this year.
Yet other estate agents are suggesting that the night Tube will mean a rise in property rents and prices in the outer edges of London.
Karen Goodin, a partner at Heaton & Partners property search agency, says: “The new transport infrastructure will no doubt encourage first-time buyers and young professionals to look in and buy around London and make parts of outer London on the Central and Victoria lines much more appealing.
“I expect the new transport infrastructure to greatly benefit the capital’s housing market, in the same way that Crossrail has. After the fall in house prices in the wake of Brexit, the arrival of the night Tube is likely to boost property prices and make the London housing market stronger again.”
It’s a view shared by Nik Madan, president of the Association of Residential Letting Agents, who says: “It will make the prospect of living further out of London more attractive for renters, especially as rent costs continue to rise in the centre.
“However, it could be a double-edged sword for some parts of London. Transport links are a major player in influencing demand and in turn rent costs so as end-of-the-line areas become better connected, there’s a chance prices will rise.
“A quarter (24 per cent) of ARLA members based in London and the South East expect to see some rent increases around the Tube stations which are connected to the 24-hour service, as they become more desirable areas.”
According to eMoov.co.uk, the Central line cuts through some of London’s cheapest areas as well as the expensive central zones, with Woodford and Leytonstone in the east the most in-demand suburbs along the Central Line night service and Tottenham Hale, in north London, Victoria line’s most in-demand cheaper Tube stop area.
“The introduction of the night Tube should help boost the value of properties surrounding the stations, due to the benefit from the service,” says eMoov CEO Russell Quirk. So how would other cities with underground trains: Liverpool, Glasgow and Tyne & Wear fare with a similar arrangement? Alex Gosling, CEO of online estate agents HouseSimple.com, says: “These cities are all famed for having a great nightlife worthy of a weekend night service and a service like this could boost property prices, particularly in areas along the route popular with first-time buyers who are generally younger and likely to be out late at the weekend.”
Graham Davidson, managing director of Sequre Property Investment, agrees: “An increase in the Merseyrail service in Liverpool, even just at weekends, would have a positive effect on house prices on or close to Merseyrail stations,” he says.
“Whether buying or renting, good transport links are a major factor and any improvement will have a positive effect – possibly as much as 10 per cent on property prices and potentially even more on rents.” FOR SALE: Evesham Court in Walthamstow launched last month and has one and twobedroom apartments available on a shared ownership basis. The development is a mile from Walthamstow Central, on the Victoria line, and two-bedroom prices start at £199,250 for a 30 per cent share from developers East Thames (0300 303 7333; east-thames.co.uk) FOR SALE: In west London there’s Acton Gardens in South Acton, built by Countryside as part of the 10-year regeneration of South Acton Estate. A new urban village of 2,500 homes is being built two miles from Chiswick and a short walk from South Acton Town Tube station, on the Piccadilly line, which starts weekend night services this autumn. From £435,000 for one-bedroom apartments. Available with Help to Buy (020 8993 6923; actongardens.co.uk)