Focus on Ealing

Being called Queen of the Suburbs is a pretty big claim to live up to, but Ealing achieves it with both grace and ease. The avenues are wide and leafy, the beautiful Victorian houses are full of red brick detail and there’s enough communal greenery to attract both growing families and young professionals alike. Situated 12 miles due west of central London, Ealing is well served by fast and efficient transport links, a thriving high street and a cosmopolitan restaurant culture. Visitors will be immediately struck by the sheer amount of parkland available. Ealing Common, Walpole Park and Lammas Park not only serve as recreational spaces, but create that all important sense of neighbourhood and community that all residents seek.

Quick to spot the potential, leading developers have boosted the area’s housing stock by building the kind of luxury apartments with amenities that continue to be such a hit with London’s growing army of corporate professionals. St George have led the way with the superlative Dickens Yard, a luxury development of 700 homes situated in a choice location right in the heart of the main thoroughfare. Close to a golden triangle of attractive streets just north of Ealing Broadway, Dickens Yard boasts apartments with fine views of the historic town hall, underground parking, a fitness suite and a 24hour concierge service. Residents and landlords alike will also benefit from the presence of our on-site lettings office of where we are always on hand to offer plenty of friendly and professional advice.

Apex House, a development by Galliard is another new build that is priced at a slightly lower point and has proved to be just as popular, despite being positioned further west along Uxbridge Road. Apartments here cost between £350,000 and £650,000.

As the property market in Central London slows down, prices in Zones 3 and 4 – especially in the sub £2 million bracket – are showing a healthy increase. One and two bedroom flats in Ealing cost an average £428,000 and £527,000 respectively, while a three bedroom house will fetch £719,000. Average prices for four bedroom houses are just under 1 million. In Dickens Yard, where residents are ready to pay for luxury extras and proximity to the London Underground, a one bedroom flat can be bought from £600,000 with its two bedroom equivalent costing £980,000. Any questions about value for money in Dickens Yard can be answered by examining the following per calendar month rental values:

1 Bed – £1,500 – £1,800

2 Bed – £2,000 – £3,000

3 Bed – £3,000 – £4,000

These figures easily buck the average monthly rentals in Ealing which still come in at a robust £1,350, £1,850 and £2,600 per calendar month respectively. The fact that Dickens Yard properties can still generate 4% yields means that investments in the area are solid. So popular is the development that nine out of ten tenants renew their agreements immediately, with any unrenewed tenancies being agreed by new renters in a matter of days.

An interesting mix of traditional and contemporary architecture that blends harmoniously with the leafy surroundings is part of Ealing’s charm. The rule of thumb in Ealing is that the nearer you are to Ealing Broadway Station, the more you’d expect to pay with W5 being the most desirable postcode. Other areas that are worth looking at are the streets around the common: Pitshanger Lane and South Ealing. The area in general will galvanised by the arrival of Crossrail – a game changer of such magnitude that the effect has yet to be taken in by most Londoners. When fully operational, Crossrail will slash journey times into Central London by more than half and boost house prices in the area by 20% between now and the end of the decade. Even without this enhanced transportation network, Ealing is already well connected to the West End, City, Heathrow and the M4 corridor. The Overground mainline rail link takes passengers from Ealing Broadway Station to Paddington in around 10 minutes, while the Central and District lines run all the way through the City via Oxford Circus and Westminster. Ealing Common and South Ealing Stations are on the Piccadilly line network and provides an uninterrupted link to both Knightsbridge to the east and all five Heathrow Airport terminals to the west.

With its family-friendly atmosphere and wide open spaces, Ealing is part of a network of West London suburbs that stretches out along the approaches to the M4 motorway and down to the River Thames. Kew, in particular has become a magnet for individuals looking for a more cost-effective option compared to Chiswick and Gunnersbury. Benham & Reeves Estate Agents is due to open a new lettings office at St George’s Kew Bridge development, which offers a combination of first-class amenities and luxury accommodation, right by the river. Kew Bridge West and Kew Bridge Court are also much sought-after, especially now that there are plans to upgrade the Thames Clipper river taxi service into London. Further west along the Uxbridge Road from Ealing Broadway is West Ealing and Hanwell, other up and coming neighbourhoods that are in line for a Crossrail-inspired boost.

Strolling past Pitshanger Manor in Walpole Park or shopping on the Ealing Broadway before lunching at Charlotte’s Place by the common; Ealing has a charm and attractiveness that can only be enhanced by imaginative new developments and the arrival of London’s most ambitious transport initiative to date. Long may it reign as Queen of the Suburbs.

For more information about Ealing contact our branch here. If you are interested in the rental value of your property try our valuation tool which produces a free, instant report.