Thursday 14 April 2016 8:14 pm

Area guide: Wembley – house prices have risen by 10 per cent in the last year

It may be the home of football, but Wembley’s also home to around 115,000 Londoners. And with its diverse housing stock and decent transport links, it could be your new home, too.

Research from estate agent Hamptons International recorded a “surge” in transactions in Wembley last year, as hundreds of new build flats went on sale in the area.

It’s also undoubtedly profiting from London’s affordability crisis, which has pushed first-time buyers into the suburbs, and it’s sandwiched in between popular or regenerating areas like Ealing, North Finchley, Harrow and Brent Cross.

Tipi by Quintain, a private rented scheme popping up soon

Apart from the famous arches, Wembley Arena and Fountain Studios – where the X Factor is filmed – there’s plenty of shopping on the High Street and, if you want to splash out, the London Designer Outlet, which also boasts a number of restaurants, bars and a cinema. Ealing Road, meanwhile, is known for its specialist gold jewellers popular with the area’s well-established Asian community.

Since the opening of the Lycée International De Londres last year, agents have also seen an influx of French families moving to the area.

And it’s very commutable, too, with the London Overground and Bakerloo Line running through North Wembley and Wembley Central and the Metropolitan and Jubilee Lines stopping at Wembley Park.

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According to David Fell, a research analyst at Hamptons International, “Prices have risen by 10 per cent in the last year to stand 34 per cent above their 2007 average as Londoners seek more affordable areas. Most of this growth can be attributed to HA9, where prices have risen by 14 per cent in the last year, compared to a London average of 10 per cent.”

It’s no wonder the developers have moved in. A 14-storey tower of new homes have shot up at 243 Ealing Road – a joint effort between Network Living and Hill – while Countryside’s Parkside Place is due to be completed this autumn.

In fact, most new homes are being built around Wembley Park; Savills is selling around 1,000 new homes at North West Village, 143 of which are being held back for the private rented sector by Quintain, which hopes to draw tenants in with promises of no agency fees and flexible leases.

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The ever-prolific Barratt London is also building over 200 homes – some of them available on Help to Buy – at Wembley Park Gate, minutes away from the stadium.

But there are whispers that all this new development is opening a price rift between North and Central Wembley – whose good schools and mock Tudor houses are popular with families – and Wembley Park, where most of the new flats are attracting young professionals and buy-to-let investors.

“There is a noticeable price difference between them,” says Bailey from Foxtons, “with a two bedroom flat in Wembley Central averaging £335,000, whereas a new build two bedroom flat in Wembley Park averages between £450,000 to £500,000.”