London house price hotspots revealed as the gap between the capital and rest of England and Wales hits £300k
The average property in London now costs almost £600,000 - double the price of a property in the rest of England and Wales
THE gap in house prices between London and the rest of England and Wales now stands at a staggering £300,000, thanks to 20 years of booming prices in the capital.
The average London home now costs £578,381 - almost double the price of property across England and Wales, where they average £278,750.
Twenty years ago, the gap in prices was remarkably smaller, with an average home in London valued at £105,266 - around £33,834 more than one in England and Wales generally, according to research by Lloyds Bank.
Prices are so high in London that a typical home in the capital now costs nearly 12 times average earnings, compared with just under four times average earnings in 1996.
The north east London Borough of Hackney has seen the steepest growth in house prices over the past two decades, with the average property price in the hipster hotspot surging by 702 per cent, from £75,569 in 1996 to £606,269 in 2016.
Hackney, which has undergone "gentrification" over the past few years, is just one of a number of previously cheap areas of London that are now significantly more expensive.
Waltham Forest and Newham, which were affordable areas 20 years ago, have recorded strong house price growth since 1996, with property prices in the areas increasing 617 per cent and 612 per cent, respectively, over the past two decades.
Pricier boroughs have also seen prices soar, with properties in Westminster going up from £190,438 in 1996 to £1,424,388 in 2016 – an increase of 648 per cent.
Andrew Mason, mortgage director at Lloyds Bank, said improved transport links into London from outer boroughs and the 2012 Olympic Games have directly benefited parts of the capital, leading to house price growth in some of London's less expensive areas outpacing that in "prime" London in recent years.
Lloyds said in 1996 average house prices were below £100,000 across nearly two-thirds (64 per cent) of London's boroughs - but 20 years later average prices are now more than £500,000 for more than half (58 per cent) of these areas.
Kensington and Chelsea, Westminster, Camden and Hammersmith and Fulham have retained their place as London's four most expensive boroughs over the last 20 years.
Kensington and Chelsea is the most expensive borough, with the average home there valued at £1.8 million - 11.2 times the local average salary.
Barking and Dagenham was found to be London's cheapest borough for house prices, with the average home there priced at £285,129 - 9.1 times average local earnings.
London property is so expensive that a tiny 8.5 ft wide house, which has gone on the market for the first time in 50 years, costs almost almost three times the UK average price.
The pint-sized pad has just 290sq/ft of floor space and is in need of a full renovation, but despite the size and condition, the posh pad is in the middle of Chelsea has an asking price of £600,000.
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