Since the outer boroughs of London tend to be cheaper to live in, an increasing number of people have opted to move away from the center to save on costs which has been made easier with new and improved transport links.
Here are my recommendations of where’s best to buy in the capital as well as some tips on how to save on rental costs.
If you are looking for an affordable region of London to buy a property, East London’s Barking and Dagenham rank the cheapest, with the average house costing £300,518.
Properties are around a 1/3 cheaper in this region than in the rest of the capital. It is also an area which is facing a lot of regeneration projects and is set to receive almost 11,000 new homes in its new riverside district.
Following Barking and Dagenham, Bexley comes in as the second most affordable area to buy in London. The average price in this South-East London region averages at £341,784 with an annual price change of 1.8%. While currently Bexley is relatively inaccessible, the new Crossrail, due to be completed by this Autumn, will improve connections into Central London. Now would be a good time to invest before prices start to rise.
Despite its delay till the Autumn of this year, the Crossrail has enabled many buyers to look further afield at properties in commuter towns. In 2018 alone, Londoners purchased £30 billion worth of property outside the capital, the highest level since 2007.
The most affordable commuter town is Chatham, North Kent, both for buying and renting property. Despite the hefty price of season tickets, commuting into London could save renters more than £8,000 a year. Following Chatham, Luton and Basildon are the next best affordable options for both renting and buying outside the capital.
If you don’t want to rent outside London, there are ways to save money without compromising on location. Rental prices in London vary drastically even within areas, depending on how many bedrooms are being rented. If you are planning to rent a property in London, another option is renting with friends or family members in a group of 4 for maximum savings on rent. The cheapest region for a 4 bedroom rental property is in Croydon, South London, at £508.41 monthly per person.
Even in some of the most expensive regions, renting in London is made much more affordable depending on how many people you plan to share a property with. While Camden is the second most expensive borough to rent a property, behind Westminster, it actually works out much more affordable to rent a property with two bedrooms, rather than a one bedroom property, or even just a room. The average room costs £999 to rent a month in Camden, whereas a two bedroom property will cost £1471.05 each month.
Therefore, if you are considering renting a property in London, I would recommend that you consider sharing a flat or house to reduce rental costs. Make an informed decision by studying which areas are cheapest for the amount of bedrooms you require.
