Developers zero in on affordable projects away from London as prices level out in the city centre
Builders such as Redrow are investing massive amounts on affordable housing projects by taking on regeneration of old neighbourhoods on the outskirts of the British capital
As London home price gains slow down and transactions decline after a doubling of prices from a decade ago erodes affordability, developers are turning their focus away from the city centre.
Cheaper land and availability of larger sites – sometimes from regeneration of old neighbourhoods – has seen some developers put more resources into these projects to meet the city’s housing shortage.
“The prime central London market has levelled out in the last two years, which reinforces the importance of investing in areas that offer value to buyers and where price growth is anticipated,” said Simon Halfhide, sales director at Redrow London, a unit of London-listed Redrow, Britain’s fifth-largest home builder.
“As such, we have focused our attention on sites in the outer zones of London, predominantly looking to key regeneration areas across the capital.”
Redrow is selling an apartment project in the western suburb of Southall, and one in West Drayton further west.
Both are a few minutes’ walk to train stations which will see journey times to the city centre shorten by up to half – to between 17 and 24 minutes – upon completion of the Crossrail link next year.