BRITISH buyers priced out of Central London are being driven farther and farther west in search of affordable homes. As wealthy foreigners snap up multimillion-pound homes in Belgravia, Kensington and Knightsbridge, middle-class London buyers are moving to the edge of town, pushing up prices along the way.

The surge in the value of London’s top homes, which rose by almost 60 per cent over the past two years, according to Knight Frank, is now rippling out to the M4 and M3. Bolstered by gains made on previous properties, home-owners are taking equity built up in the centre of town to the end of the Tube lines. Savills research shows that the capital’s southwest suburbs had the highest growth in the second quarter of this year, up 8.1 per cent, or 31 per cent in a year. Figures from Hometrack, the property data company, indicate that prices are rising faster in Morden than anywhere else in London, closely followed by Uxbridge. Growth in the far reaches of southwest and West London outstrips the recent gains in last year’s hotspots of Hackney, Enfield and Bromley. Below we look at three rising stars:

SUTTON AND MORDEN

The price of homes in areas with the postcode SM, which includes Sutton and Morden, at the end of the Northern Line, grew by more than 25 per cent over the past year, but property here is still cheaper than many other parts of the capital. A semi in Sutton costs under £300,000 – less than half the cost of a flat in Kensington. Here a detached home costs an average of £393,000; buyers can find a terraced house for almost half that amount. Flats are an average of £158,700. “I used to deal mostly with local people,” says Rob Stevens, of Your Move. “But over the past year or two there have been a lot of new buyers from Wimbledon or Balham because they can’t afford the next house up. They come here because the schools are very popular and they want to get in the catchment area.”

Background

• West is still the best

• The Common calling

• The secret side of SW7

• The wealth of nations

• Which tribe are you in?

Background

• Blooming Bloomsbury

• Rebirth in the forest

• London: Happy nappy valley

• West is still the best

• The Common calling

The London property market

UXBRIDGE AND HILLINGDON

Property within the UB postal area rose by nearly 25 per cent over the year. First-time buyers can just about find a flat in Hillingdon for £140,700; semis cost about £239,300 and terraced homes from about £200,700. Heathrow is 20 minutes away by car and the Piccadilly and Metropolitan Lines will take you into Central London in just under an hour. A study by DTZ Residential, which advises property investors, lists Uxbridge among the best places to look for value for new-build. The cost of a new flat here is between £425 and £450 a square foot. Similar homes in Ealing Broadway and Wimbledon would cost £25 to £50 more per square foot.

RICHMOND, TWICKENHAM AND TEDDINGTON

Homes with a TW postcode have risen in value by more than 20 per cent over the past year because parents are prepared to pay handsomely for a home in a good catchment area. Stories of sealed bids and disappointed buyers are becoming the norm rather than the exception in areas where the number of buyers exceeds that of sellers. Good transport links are also a factor: South West Trains can whisk commuters from Richmond to Waterloo in 15 minutes. The location is also good for those with second homes in Devon, Cornwall and Dorset, says Mark Andrews, of John D. Wood in Richmond.

Rising interest rates have had little effect on the property market in desirable westerly postcodes. Dan Johnson, of Featherstone Leigh in Teddington, says competition for homes is such that many buyers miss out. “Some of our buyers are still renting two or three years down the line. You can imagine how desperate they are.” www.your-move.co.uk 020-8330 5056; www.featherstoneleigh.co.uk 020-8977 8118; www.johndwood.co.uk 020-8940 6611

For ideas on the best places to buy a home in Britain, go to timesonline.co.uk/buyingandselling

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