Television Centre Provides Bright Spot For W12 Property

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Over thirty flats sold in the development for more than a million pounds

Television Centre flats proving popular with buyers

The previously moribund Shepherd's Bush property market has received a shot in the arm due to brisk sales of flats in the Television Centre development.

Units in the former BBC building are seeing strong demand at an otherwise largely inactive time for local home sales.

Over thirty flats at Television Centre and Wood Crescent development have sold for over one million pounds in recent months with prices of up to £2,450,000 being paid. Buyers have even been willing to pay more than £20,000 for storage space in the development.

Like surrounding areas in West London, the property market had been subdued in the W12 area and agents will be hoping this burst of activity will bring other buyers into the area.

Despite the gloomy outlook in other areas of the market, these sales helped to boost the overall average property price to £873,248 in the third quarter of the year - a rise of 12.7% over the same period last year and up by 25% over three years according to the Land Registry.

The highest house prices fetched during the period were £1,800,000 for a new five bedroomed home in Beech Terrace in Ashchurch Villas, pictured below and £1,750,000 for a six bed house in Emlyn Road.

When it came to flats, there were two very different trends. Once again, there was good news for local first time buyers, with the Land Registry recording 17 sales with price tags under £400,000 and some below £300,00, including a one bedroom flat in Mayfield Road which sold for £285,000.

Estate agent KFH says that reductions in the stamp duty bill, lack of competition from buy to let landlords and the popularity of fixed rate mortgages - which this year have made up 95% of new mortgages - are also helping to boost the rise of first timers. The agent adds,"Many first-time buyers are keeping a close eye on the market, ready to offer on properties they like
and feel offer value.

"Our analysis shows that in some areas, across the year to date, more than half the sales were agreed by first-time buyers. Poised to act, a third of these first-time buyers agreed the sale less than two weeks after registering; over a fifth were registered for just a week before a sale was agreed."

The latest figures from the Nationwide’s House Price Index show that prices nationally have continued to rise slowly with the average sale price now £214,534 up by 1.6% over the year.

Commenting on the figures, Robert Gardner, Nationwide's Chief Economist, said, “Looking further ahead, much will depend on how broader economic conditions evolve. If the uncertainty lifts in the months ahead, there is scope for activity to pick-up
throughout next year. The squeeze on household incomes is already moderating and policymakers have signalled that interest rates are only expected to raise at a modest pace and to a limited extent in the years ahead.”

The October 2018 RICS UK Residential Market Survey results show the recent softening in new buyer demand beginning to feed into a slightly negative trend for national house prices in the view of the surveyors’ industry body.

The report says:"A sustained softening in demand over recent months has likely driven the weaker price trends in parts of the country. The net balance for new buyer enquiries ticked down to -14% in October (compared with -12% last month), marking three successive reports in which headline demand has deteriorated.

" Affordability pressures, political uncertainty and a lack of fresh stock coming onto the market all continue to hinder activity to varying degrees."

The report adds that new instructions to surveyors continue to fall meaning stock levels remain close to all-time lows and rendering any chance of a meaningful turnaround in the near future unlikely. A net balance of 30% of respondents reported the level of appraisals being undertaken to be down on an annual comparison.

Looking ahead, respondents in London and the South East were the most negative with price falls expected over the next twelve months.

The numbers below are subject to revision as is it usual that some properties are added late to the Land Registry's database.

Shepherd's Bush Property Prices (July - September 2018)
Area	Semi-detached	Sales	Terraced	Sales	Flat/ mais	Sales	Overall Ave	Overall Sales
W12 0	742500	2	867909	11	432000	6	717053	19
W12 7	0	0	0	0	1047128	45	1047128	45
W12 8	950000	1	949000	3	479273	11	604600	15
W12 9	1750000	1	1193333	9	520577	13	837283	23
Total	1046250	4	1005826	23	823363	75	873248	102
Change over quarter	68.1%	100.0%	-7.3%	9.5%	-5.2%	-25.7%	-3.1%	-17.7%
Change over year	-31.5%	-42.9%	-23.7%	43.8%	56.6%	33.9%	12.7%	29.1%
Change over three years	-22.4%	-20.0%	-1.4%	-45.2%	78.1%	5.6%	25.0%	-13.6%
Change over five years	-10.2%	-42.9%	-0.7%	-58.9%	117.3%	-36.4%	44.1%	-44.0%
Change over ten years	52.8%	33.3%	57.3%	53.3%	203.9%	92.3%	124.1%	78.9%

 

Source: Land Registry

November 13, 2018