Londoners paying £42,700 premium to live near Tube and train stations
Home buyers in London are paying as much as a £42,700 premium to live close to a train station.
According to research from Nationwide Building Society, there is a stark pricing gulf between houses within 500 metres of a station compared to 1,500 metres.
Londoners face a significantly higher premium compared to other major urban centres. The price differential in Greater Manchester is £10,900 and for Glasgow it is £8,800.
When broken down by different tube lines, key Transport for London (TfL) links into Central London hike costs up even further.
Andrew Harvey, Nationwide’s senior economist, said that the research had found that “over 80 per cent of Londoners [say] being near a station was either ‘fairly important’ or ‘very important’ when choosing to buy or rent their current property”.
Harvey added: “London home buyers continue to be willing to pay a significant premium for being close to a station compared with those in Glasgow and Manchester.
“This is consistent with our market research findings and likely reflects the greater reliance on public transport in the capital.”
Nationwide found that 60 per cent use trains or the Tube every week, while this number drops to 37 per cent in Glasgow and 35 per cent in Manchester.
Stark differences by line
Houses along the Circle line carry the highest average price tag of £729,000, which can be credited in substantial part to the line only stretching as far as Zone 2 on both sides – with Hammersmith and Aldgate as its farthest extremities.
Proximity to the Bakerloo line, which only goes as far south as Elephant and Castle – nestled in the boundary of Zones 1 and 2 – commands an average of £617,000.
Meanwhile, Houses on the Northern line – the City’s key north-south connection – fetch £570,000.
For a property closer to the Jubilee, Piccadilly and Central lines, the average price ranges from £541,000 down to £488,000.
These lines stretch a distance out of London, with the Central line reaching into Essex – though the research only took into account London boroughs – while the Piccadilly line connects up with Heathrow airport.
The Elizabeth line and the Docklands Light Railway (DLR) carry less of a premium, with average house prices of £401,000 and £475,000 respectively.
City PM reported last week that London property is now classed as unaffordable at every income level.