Crossrail: London Reborn?
Estimated reading time 7 minutes
£14.8bn is the expected cost of construction for Crossrail, with 73 miles of extra track length to be added to existing London’s transport systems, 200 million more journeys each year and 24 extra journeys to run at peak times of the day per hour.
It is Europe’s largest and most ambitious infrastructure project to date and the largest scheme in London for more than 20 years since the extension of London’s underground system with the Jubilee Line in the late 1990’s. Until now, London’s transport system has generated a land value of £9billion. The Crossrail will no doubt take precedence with many Brits living in Central London and its suburbs, noticing a major housing market shift with a significant soar in house prices, with the potential to sell up and move closer to London’s hotspots.
Regeneration, rejuvenation and re-development are key to the establishment of Crossrail, with many developers using Crossrail as an incentive for property investment and a way of ‘fixing’ the housing crisis. What separates Crossrail to other infrastructure projects is this idea to create more affordable housing to those in need and place areas of London onto a map of regeneration that were for a while unnoticed.
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Crossrail: catalyst for regeneration!
Crossrail is to attract an extra 1.5million people within a 45minute commute of London. In 2012, GVA, one of the largest commercial property advisers estimated that Crossrail could generate near to £5.5billion in added value to residential and commercial real-estate between 2012 and 2021. House prices in suburban locations, including Essex and Berkshire could see house prices increase by 20% and Central London will have an increase of 25%. Fast forward a few years since their prediction and Knight Frank’s Crossrail 2015 Residential Research has seen a noteworthy movement in house prices. Knight Frank has seen the fastest growth recorded around Central Crossrail stations with 82% house price uplift within a 10 minute perimeter of Bond Street Station. 61% house price growth was also recorded within the same radius of Tottenham Court Road Station since July 2008.
Uplifts around major Crossrail stations is indicative that the £14.8billion project will take the housing industry by storm. GVA’s Crossrail – Property Impact Study 2012, concluded that Crossrail ‘will be the catalyst for regeneration in key locations and a driver of London’s economic growth, in particular from a property perspective.’ Crossrail will improve the lives of many, regenerating areas of London that were for a while untouched.
3,000,000 square feet of residential, commercial and retail space
Ten major stations are to be built and within 500 metres of these stations, house prices have increased by 54%. 12 major property development opportunities were acknowledged and built with Crossrail in mind. Over-site developments (OSDs) are opportunities to develop for mixed purposes and will be located in the heart of London. Paddington Triangle as it is named is to become a 325,000 square feet development which will incorporate office and retail space as a way of re-vamping an old station and adding new life to the eastern end of Oxford Street. Crossrail has become the principal factor for regeneration projects, with a desire to fast-track long-term schemes in Maidenhead, Ealing and Southall. West Ealing has already been given the go-ahead for a brand new station which will accommodate the new Crossrail trains and transform the area with faster links to London than ever before.
Take a look at Crossrail’s vision of new stations to be built across the new route:
The number of planning applications approved by local councils has increased substantially and research by GVA has shown that from 2008 to 2013, 41% of applications within one kilometre of a Crossrail station had used Crossrail as an incentive for development. In total, 3,000,000 (million!) square feet of residential, commercial and retail space is underway!
Crossrail is expected to cut journey times into central London by an average of 15 minutes. A commuter will have nearly 25% cut off their average journey time in and out of London. Knight Frank’s Residential Research has illustrated how journey times will be cut:
Regenerating London
Woolwich station was not originally included in the plans for Crossrail, yet with funding from Berkeley Homes and the Royal Borough of Greenwich, the addition of Woolwich station was included. Royal Arsenal Riverside has had the first wave of new builds completed in conjunction with the Crossail. Statistics have shown that one in five new homes sold in London in the last five years (2009-13) were built within one mile of new Crossrail stations.
Within one mile of Canary Wharf’s underground station, nearly 2000 new builds are to be completed, accounting for almost a quarter of new property developments along the new route. Coupled with Central London, these areas of London account for two thirds of new homes, developing at an incredibly fast rate with the help of a recovering property market. JLL, a professional services and investment management company specialising in real estate forecasted a property price growth of 44% in Canary Wharf (2014-2020) and is set to become one the largest Crossrail stations. Galliard Homes is to develop Lincoln Plaza and Baltimore Tower. In 2013, a two-bedroom flat in Baltimore Tower sold off-plan for £607,000 and has recently re-sold for completion in 2016 for £800,000; a 32% healthy uplift in house price.
JLL’s report; Crossrail: Identifying Opportunities, forecasted the highest house price growth over the period 2014 to 2020.
- Whitechapel (54%), Woolwich (52%) and West Drayton (51%) are expected to see the highest house price growth with Woolwich a major regeneration hotspot.
- Greater London house prices are to rise by 36% during this period.
There is also a greater potential for a number of stations built and will become the main recipients for Crossrail. Tottenham Court Road and Farringdon are to be regenerated with a budget for Tottenham Court Road set at £1billion with 500,000 sq. ft. of retail, office and residential premises, public spaces and a new theatre. Galliard Homes identified Tottenham Court Road as one of four major Crossrail stations. With a 42% property price increase (JLL), Galliard Homes are to develop Hanway Gardens on Hanway Street, a one minute walk from the station. Farringdon is to have a brand new station and will become of Britain’s busiest train stations, connecting three of London’s airports.
So who is leading the way to invest in London property?
Galliard Homes, London’s leading property specialists has dedicated much of its efforts to regenerating London, in conjunction with Crossrail. Galliard Homes recognised an opportunity to develop new housing along the route and understands that Crossrail will ignite substantial capital growth. Take a look at where they have broken down area by area in their Crossrail property hotspots.
There is no doubt that Crossrail will become a game changer for the current property market with results highlighting a surge in property price and it is only set to continue. Gráinne Gilmore, head of Knight Frank UK residential research illustrates the impact of Crossrail upon the housing market, highlighting how 91% of tenants in London want to live within 1km of a transport link. With areas boasting re-development projects in conjunction to the Crossrail, it is of no surprise that Knight Frank predict an 18% rise in London property prices by the end of 2018. Crossrail has lent itself to significant regeneration projects across London and will only continue to prosper, adding economic growth to areas of London now on a path of rebirth.
‘It is worth noting that these stations have undergone, or are undergoing, serious re-development, with an overhaul of the public realm surrounding them, underlining the part played by regeneration in underpinning property price growth.’ (Grainne Gilmore, Knight Frank)
