Buying a home near a London tube station will be most expensive within walking distance of High Street Kensington and cheapest nearest to Heathrow, according to new analysis of the capital house prices by Alexander Hall.
The mortgage adviser looked at mortgage costs across the London Underground network, including both the new Elizabeth Line and the Docklands Light Railway (DLR).
At the top end, the monthly mortgage repayments on a home near High Street Kensington would be £9,890 — assuming an 85% LTV on a two-year fixed rate of 4.77%. In contrast homeowners would be paying an average of just £1,316 a month for a property in Heathrow’s postcode.
Overall the Waterloo and City line is the most expensive tube line, although this only has two stops and is entirely within Zone 1. The average monthly cost for property on this line is £5,632.
The next most expensive is the Circle line (also wholly in Zone 1) where the average cost of a mortgage across the postcodes served by this line is £5,323 per month. This is followed by the Victoria line (average mortgage costs of £4,027 per month), the Northern line (£3,894) and the District line (£3,891 a month).
The DLR ranks as the most affordable line, with an average monthly mortgage cost of £2,610 per month, just beating the more recently opened Elizabeth line (£2,620).
Alexander Hall founds that the District line had the largest mortgage gap between the most and least affordable postcode areas on the same tube line. This line services both High Street Kensington, where monthly mortgage costs are £9,890 and Upney, in Barking East London, where mortgage costs are more affordable £1,642 a month.
Other tube lines with significant mortgage gaps includes the Piccadilly and Elizabeth line.
Alexander Hall director of partnerships Stephanie Daley says: “London property values have been holding steady over the past year and we know the capital remains home to the strongest housing market with respect to the price commanded for bricks and mortar.
“This is particularly evident when looking at the average monthly mortgage payment required, with this cost hitting almost £10,000 across the most prestigious pockets of the London property market.
“However, one weapon in the arsenal of London homebuyers is the capital’s outstanding transport links and the London Underground, in particular.
As our research shows, you can dramatically reduce the cost of your mortgage by looking further along the tube line that runs through your ideal destination. Whilst you may not want to adjust your expectations from High Street Kensington to Barking, you may well find that even a stop or two can help to cut the cost required to climb the London ladder.”
