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Best bargain in town: the home for less than £60,000
Ruth Bloomfield26.10.09
A flat has gone on the market for less than £60,000 in what is believed to be the capital's biggest property bargain.
In a boost to first-time buyers, the one-bedroom apartment in Erith is one among many cheaper homes coming onto the market, despite the much-vaunted property boom.
The move came as research showed that investors can still pick up properties for less than £100,000 in two thirds of London's boroughs.
Analysis by website Rightmove shows the most inexpensive home up for sale is the Erith flat, at £59,950. A former local authority property, it is purpose built and in a brutalist-style concrete block.
Other bargain homes include a one- bedroom, purpose-built flat in a period mock-Tudor style building close to Croydon town centre, on the market for £79,950. The study - which excludes homes sold under affordable housing schemes or at auction and retirement properties - also found the cheapest homes in the capital's most expensive boroughs.
Buyers seeking a Westminster address, for example, could consider a studio flat in a smart new-build block in Bayswater, for £137,950.
The average London property price stands at just over £306,000, according to latest Land Registry figures.
But James Hyman, for agents Cluttons, said: "There is still affordable property in central London, although it will tend to be found above shops or close to a busy road or be a former local authority property."
Prices in the most sought after central London neighbourhoods rose 2.45 per cent last month, the fastest rate for 18 months according to website Primelocation, with rises of almost five per cent in Westminster and Pimlico.
The average prime central London property now costs £1.33million, up more than eight per cent on a year ago.
Reader views (4)
Its not really Erith now is it, It's actually Thamesmead! thats why its cheap
- Aa, London
Nigel, London
Do you honestly think an average house in London will ever go for £90k. As for the £60k house in Erith, beggers can't be choosers. I paid £40k for a tiny ex local authortiy flat ten years ago, people thought I was mad or looked down their noses at me, I sold it three years later for £150k and bought a terrace house. Some people need a serious reality check and should not be stuck up their own back sides.
- Dc, London
Property is still overpriced - it won't be right-priced until a man earning an average salary can afford an average house with a 3x mortgage.
Historical perspective - 2 bed Victorian terrace flats in a much better part of London were £42,000 less than 20 years ago. Inflation may have increased that somewhat, but £60K for a one-bed flat in a truly ugly building in Erith doesn't feel like any kind of bargain to me.
- Nigel, London
It's Erith, and £60,000 to live in such a chav-hole
is no bargain.
- Tony, E14
