A bird’s eye view of East London.
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London is known to remain expensive to buy or rent, so CNBC is researching which areas of the UK capital are cheapest right now.
Data collected by real estate agent Knight Frank and shared with CNBC shows that Barking and Dagenham were typically the cheapest district to buy a property in in the second quarter of 2021.
The average total price of real estate in Barking and Dagenham was £ 304,626 ($ 417,971), with a three-bed home buying in the district an average of £ 387,196 and a two-bed buying in the area costing £ 256,033.
Bexley turned out to be the cheapest London borough to rent, with total monthly rents averaging £ 1,191. A three bed house to rent is typically £ 1,523 and a two bed apartment rental in Bexley is typically £ 1,205.
Here’s a rundown of the top 10 cheapest neighborhoods to live in London.
London’s cheapest areas to buy or rent a home
Knight Frank’s data was based on its own research as well as on figures it had collected from the British property search portal OnTheMarket.
Despite pandemic real estate trends, Tom Bill, Knight Frank, Head of UK Residential Research, told CNBC on the phone that the “London house price heat map still looks the same as it did before the pandemic,” with these remote areas of the city still the cheapest renting and buying real estate.
Real estate market activity in London, like many major cities around the world, has suffered from public health restrictions from coronavirus as people have been urged to stay home.
As the restrictions eased and gave people more freedom to move home, the number of Londoners relocated to rural areas in search of more space, as the trend of working from home was set to continue in the longer term, increased.
Knight Franks Bill noted this trend, pointing out that areas like Wimbledon, Dulwich, and Richmond had seen some of the biggest rises in house prices in the past 12 months as people sought more space and greenery
Meanwhile, Bill said rent had fallen 14-15 percent in some areas of central London, and fewer international students and professionals from abroad had come to the city due to border restrictions. He believed that this drop in prices may have allowed some people to move a little closer to town
However, Bill said the drop in prices “has bottomed out” and has “reached the tipping point where it will pick up again”.
“Inexpensive” London neighborhoods
British real estate agents Foxtons found Newham to be the cheapest London borough to buy property, with an average asking price of £ 424,350. Foxtons found that Sutton was the cheapest district to rent property, averaging £ 331 a month.
However, Foxtons data was based on the areas where it has significant sales and rentals.
Purplebricks, an online real estate agent, also said Barking was a “good value” area in terms of property prices.
In addition, they found Bexley, Bromley, Croydon, Havering, Hounslow, Lewisham, Newham and Sutton to be other areas of London with lower house prices.
James Terry, Divisional Sales Director at Purplebricks, highlighted two counties in particular – Newham and Bromley.
Terry told CNBC via email that Newham was “very up and coming” with many new bars and restaurants opening in the area.
“Bromley has a unique atmosphere and doesn’t feel like a normal London borough,” he said, describing the area as “very green and family-oriented”.
“People can move out of an apartment in central London and buy a bigger house with room to grow and still get to London in twenty minutes,” added Terry.
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Correction: This story has been updated to correct the job title of Knight Franks Tom Bill.
