'Affordable' homes in London: look to outer London areas like Barking and Colindale to find first-time buyer-friendly property being built

The answer to finding an affordable London home lies in outlying suburbs from Barking in the far east to Colindale way up north.

Both emerge among the capital’s leading future affordable housing hotspots in a new study.

At Barking Riverside — the huge regeneration of 443 Thames-front acres four miles east of London City airport — 1,100 new homes are under construction to be sold on a shared-ownership basis.

The latest review from Halifax, Britain’s biggest mortgage lender, reveals that the average deposit for a first-time buyer in the capital has breached the £100,000 mark, at just over £106,000, while the cost of a starter home has increased to almost £410,000. This has pushed a growing number of would-be buyers into the affordable housing sector.

Today’s study by property consultants JLL highlights the 10 key areas where these buyers could find affordable homes over the next two or three years. This is vital information for first-time buyers considering shared ownership, because demand wildly exceeds supply.

Some 1,000 new shared-ownership homes are on their way at Canary Wharf and Docklands.

Meanwhile, the little-known Zone 4 outpost of Colindale will contribute another 900 properties to the affordable market.

This comfortably exceeds the numbers on site at better-known central London regeneration zones such as Nine Elms at Vauxhall and Battersea, where 750 affordable homes are being built; or Canning Town and the Royal Docks, where 730 shared-ownership flats are on the way.

The vast majority of affordable homes are sold to buyers who already either live or work in the local borough — which means first-timers keen to secure an affordable home would be well advised to get to know the key areas highlighted in today’s study, and consider renting locally in order to meet eligibility criteria when the homes come to the market.

“Affordability issues are pricing more and more people out of home ownership,” says Nick Whitten, residential research director at JLL and author of the report.

“Demand for shared ownership has increased significantly in recent years. Despite this, the supply of shared-ownership homes up until now has been relatively modest.

“There are now more than 16,000 shared-ownership homes under construction in London. Around 7,500 of these are in 10 areas spread across the capital, indicating the likely emergence of new shared-ownership hotspots over the next three to five years.”

Source: JLL