The London borough of Hackney is the fastest growing region in the last 20-years based on square metres with house prices up eight-fold.

Research from the Halifax shows London boroughs dominate the most expensive locations list with the highest rise in property prices per square metre in the country.

Nine of the top ten areas are all in London with Hackney house prices rising 753% since 1997 to £6,942 per square metre and 20 areas in Greater London costing in excess of £5,000 per square metre.

First time buyers are being priced out of London and to afford to buy would require a larger deposit or higher earnings to purchase their first home.

London dominates soaring prices

Russell Galley, Managing Director of Halifax said, house prices per square metre can be a useful measure for comparing price changes as it helps to adjust for differences in the size and type of properties between locations.

In the last 20 years southern England property prices per square metre have risen significantly with Greater London up 402% compared to 236% for the whole country.

The following table from the Halifax shows house price growth over 20 years from 1997 to 2017 for the top ten UK regions.

Town/Borough	House prices 2017	20-year rise
Hackney	£526,835	753%
Newham	£373,285	676%
Southwark	£520,497	644%
Lewisham	£429,893	618%
Waltham Forest	£447,979	615%
Lambeth	£509,427	585%
Hove	£394,002	550%
Tower Hamlets	£498,610	544%
Haringey	£577,312	535%
Brent	£531,313	535%

Hackney is leading when comparing 1997 to 2017 with average price per square metre increasing from £814 to £6,942 or 753%, almost twice the London average of 402%.

For buy-to-let landlords with existing properties in London the rise in house prices creates more equity which they can benefit from if they sell in the future.

Older homeowners have accumulated considerable value in their properties over this time allowing the equity release mortgage buyer to access this wealth to improve their quality of life, holidays or home improvement.

Outside of London twelve towns have recorded price gains in excess of the national average since 1997 including Sale up 280%, Leamington Spa rising 273% and Rushden higher by 264%.

Strong rise over five years

London also dominates in the shorter term over five years during the period of recovery after the financial crisis.

The following table from the Halifax shows house price growth over five years from 2012 to 2017 for the top ten UK regions.

Town/Borough	Price per metre 2017	5-year rise
Waltham Forest	£5,185	93%
Newham	£4,554	90%
Lewisham	£5,224	82%
Greenwich	£4,644	82%
Lambeth	£6,565	76%
Haringey	£6,384	75%
South Ockendon	£6,639	73%
Croydon	£4,068	73%
Barking & Dagenham	£6,639	72%
Southwark	£6,639	72%

Leading is the borough of Waltham Forest where house prices have increased from £2,682 per square metre to £5,185 or 93% in the five year period compared to Greater London rising by 57%.

For this borough over five years, house prices are higher by £215,865 rising by an average of £43,173 each year and average property values are at £447,979 in 2017.

For homeowners in London the higher prices give remortgage buyers an opportunity to release capital which they can use to improve their home.

In contrast, home movers may find the gap between their current home and the next increases which means they need a larger mortgage.

The most expensive area in the UK is Kensington and Chelsea with homes costing £11,192 per square metre on average, Westminster is £9,425 followed by Camden with £9,373 and Hammersmith and Fulham is £8,188.

What are your next steps?

Talk to our London City Mortgage advisers if you are an older homeowner releasing equity from your property, we can recommend the lifetime mortgage to access wealth for home or garden improvements or pay for care at home.

Start with a free mortgage quote or call us and we can take your details. Learn more by using the equity release mortgage calculator, property value tracker chart and mortgage costs calculator.

At LCM our mortgage brokers can provide advice if you are a first time buyer, moving home, want to remortgage your existing home to a new cost effective mortgage deal or are a buy-to-let investor.

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