HIGHS AND LOWS OF THE HOUSING MARKET

THE second cheapest house sold in London last month was a Hounslow flat snapped up for just £82,000.

The property, on Wooldridge Close in Feltham, is proof you can find properties below the £400,000-odd going rate in West London.

But what are West London councils doing to create more affordable homes, and how can your everyday homebuyer find the bargains?

In Hillingdon the average price of a home sat just above £407,000 in July, two per cent below what it was a year before, but far higher than the average of roughly £313,000 five years ago.

At the same time in Ealing, average house prices sit at just over £477,000, almost unchanged on last year, but again far higher than the average price tag of just over £413,000 back in 2014.

In Hounslow July’s average price sits at just over £394,000, down 2.4 per cent on last year. Back in 2014 the average sale price sat at £331,000.

What are West London councils doing to bring their housing market under control?

Hounslow

Executive director of housing at Hounslow Council Peter Matthew said at the time of the last election, Hounslow Council pledged to secure 5,000 new affordable homes by 2022.

Of these, 3,000 should be socially rented (council) homes, plus 2,000 shared ownership or other forms of affordable homes.

To be counted as a newly ‘secured’ property, the council has to have granted planning permission, but not actually have built it.

These newly ‘secured’ properties might come from the council’s own building programmes, housing association projects, other public sector bodies like hospitals and government departments, and private builds (which will regularly have a proportion of units ring-fenced as to be sold affordable).

The council maintains a register of how many properties have been ‘secured’, and how many have actually been built.

Since 2014, roughly 3,700 homes have been built and completed in the borough. Included in that are roughly 750 council-built social rent properties, with another 700-odd planned for completion by 2022.

To support its social house building programmes the council has secured approximately 30 per cent of its total funding from the GLA.

Some of key projects helping towards the council’s overall targets are the Heston leisure and housing project, Civic Centre redevelopment Hounslow High Street Quarter, and Brentford Stadium and Kew Bridge developments.

The council also has plans for securing up to 25,000 new homes through its Great West Corridor and West of Borough plans.

Ealing

Ealing Council boasts of having the most ambitious social housing building programme in London.

Last year the council announced a target of building 1,138 genuinely affordable new homes by March 2022.

These homes will be available as social rent, London Living Rent or London Affordable Rent.

In recognition of the scale of the scheme, the Mayor of London will also contribute £100,000 to the initiative.

The 1,138 contributes to an overall aim of creating 2,500 new affordable homes by March 2022. The Council Plan Annual Update released last year says Ealing delivered 449 homes towards this target.

The Update notes: “We have purchased sites adjacent to committed development sites thereby enabling the provision of additional genuinely affordable homes.

“We will continue to explore any potential to purchase sites in the borough.”

The council has also agreed proposals to double the council tax charge for empty properties to bring more homes back into use.

The Update also pledged support for ambitious new housing targets in the Mayor’s Draft London Plan, which would see Ealing tasked with producing 2,807 new homes every year until 2029.

Hillingdon

The current London Plan target for Hillingdon is 559 homes per year and a spokesman for the council said the local authority had exceeded the target for each of the past five years.

According to council reports, against a target of 2,527 homes since 2013 the council has actually facilitated the creation of 4,041.

An increased target of 1,553 homes per year has been drawn up in the Draft London Plan, which is currently being reviewed by the Planning Inspectorate.

A Hillingdon Council spokesman said there has been a significant level of objection from boroughs across London, including Hillingdon, to the new targets and the methodology used to calculate them. The panel of inspectors is due to publish their report later this year.”

How to find the bargains in London’s property market

Russell Quirk, director at the Keller Williams Essex Market Centre, said it was surprising the range of properties going cheap. “Just looking at the Land Registry for this year, I found a property in Ilford, a flat, that sold for £67,500.” “There was a whole plethora of properties for around £80,000. One in Wembley, that was a flat, one in Bromley, another flat. If you search hard enough you will find them.” He said the average cost of a house in London is £469,000. His top tips for finding a cheap home in the capital are: Go to auctions, or bid at auctions online Often the territory of repossessions or those needing to sell quickly, auctions and online auctions should be a go-to for anyone seeking to snap up a bargain. Mr Quirk said: “You do have to be aware of what you’re buying, and be aware that when the hammer goes down in that room you are contractually obligated to buy that property.” However, risk can be minimised by looking at listings ahead of time, and going to viewings before the date. “You can get the catalogue in advance. You can go and look at the property and kick the tyres.”

He said his favourite auction was Allsops, but he said online auctions like Bambooauctions. com, and BidX1 were also worth a look. Move just outside London. Mr Quirk said: “Let me give you some examples. If you lived in Reading, 28 minutes from the centre of London, Reading has actually dropped in value by about three per cent, and you can buy a property there for about £295,000.

“Bearing in mind a lot of people living in South London, East London, and so on will spend 30 minutes crammed into a tube every morning anyway.”

Slough is another favourite spot for Mr Quirk, where house prices sit around the £290,000 mark, and Luton, where the average cost is £234,000 and where a fast service from the airport takes 23 minutes to reach the centre.

Look for infrastructure projects that might reduce house prices

Mr Quirk uses the example of the Heathrow expansion, which he said has contributed to reduced prices in Windsor and Maidenhead of about six per cent.

“As a consequence you will be able to find a property that is a little bit cheaper,” he said.

Most West London boroughs had already adjusted to the main projects, like Crossrail, and HS2.

Take advantage of uncertainty - and look for properties that have been listed for a while.

Mr Quirk said: “There’s rarely been a better time to buy something than now if you want to take advantage of political and economic uncertainty.”

He said questions over who will be PM, the spectre of stamp duty, whether we will still be part of Europe, and a number of other things, all created opportunity.

A seller with a property that has been up for three or more months may be willing to accept a price that’s as little as 80 per cent of the asking price.

“It means there’s maybe an issue with the property or the price, so therefore you can be cheeky when it comes to making an offer.” Have your ducks in a row Mr Quirk said: “By being in a good position in terms of you having your mortgage in order, your conveyancer lined up, and being good to go you’re in a wonderful position as a buyer in terms of your bargaining ability.”

“Then go out and have fun making cheeky bids.”

Go out and have fun making cheeky bids Russell Quirk, estate agency director