Rents in Olympia Boosted by Boris Bikes
Research claims area is now sought after by tenants
Rental returns in the area around Olympia have been boosted by the arrival of Boris Bikes, according to new research by Benham and Reeves Residential Lettings.
Olympia and Sands Ends in Fulham are two areas in West London listed among five former backwaters which the agent says are now sought after by top tenants since the arrival of the Barclays Cycle Hire Scheme.
The agent says this new research shows areas which were previously dismissed by tenants because they were too far from public transport are enjoying new found popularity as Boris Bikes mean the journey to the Tube station is now a five minute ride away rather than a half hour walk.
Figures confirm that these areas have seen huge jumps in rental returns since Boris Bikes were introduced. While rental returns across London have risen just over 5% since the first bike stands were installed in July 2010, in areas where the bikes stands were introduced but which were more than a ten minute walk from a London Underground or Overground train station there have been much more dramatic rises.
According to the figures, Olympia has seen rents rise by 20%, while Sands End has been boosted by a 25% jump.
The other three areas on the agent's list were all in East London - Walworth, where rents rose by 22%, Haggerston, up 16% and Cubitt Town, up 12%.
Marc von Grundherr, lettings director at Benham & Reeves Residential Lettings says: " As the Barclays Cycle Hire scheme has expanded outside of central London and into areas that are a lengthy walk from the Tube, we have seen a dramatic increase in tenant enquiries for those areas.
" Tenants realise that they can simply ride a Boris Bike down to the station for little or no money at all and do not have to worry about whether their bike is secure.
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Tenants also tell us that while they would be unlikely to cycle all the way to work, either because their workplace is too far away or because they do not want to arrive sweaty and red faced, a leisurely cycle down to a nearby Tube station presents no problem."
Transports for London's General Manager of the Barclays Cycle Hire scheme, Nick Alworth, says: " We have always known that Barclays Cycle Hire would bring a range of benefits to London, so it’s nice to see some of these further confirmed by this latest research. Since the scheme opened in July 2010, the popular and now iconic bikes have helped change the way people make short journeys across London.
"More than eight million hires were carried out last year and we expect many millions more to be made during 2014."
May 1, 2014
