Waltham Forest in London leads the way for house price growth in the UK over the past 10 years.
Named London’s first ever ‘Borough of Culture’, Waltham Forest has been attracting plenty of young professionals in recent years, thanks to its affordable house prices and rising market.
At the heart of the borough, Walthamstow has a vibrant restaurant and bar scene and lots of independent shops, while the recently restored Lloyd Park, complete with William Morris Museum, attracts families aplenty at the weekends.
Back in 2012, you could snap up a home here for around £250K. Today, the average home costs 87% more than that, at £472,144.
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Outside of London, Dover is the next hot property destination right now, with prices currently 81% higher than they were 10 years ago, when a home could be yours for around £160K.
Today, owning a slice of the housing market near those famous white cliffs costs £295K on average.
Loved for its views of France, medieval castle and wartime tunnels, Dover also benefits from having lovely neighbours.
Nearby Deal, with its multi-coloured Georgian seafront and pebble beach, has just been voted the South East’s best place to live by The Times.
While neighbouring Folkestone is also currently undergoing a major regeneration, with the Lower Leas Coastal Park, harbour and railway viaduct already complete.
Thurrock comes in at number seven on the list, followed by Canterbury, Basildon and Thanet, home to the seaside towns of Margate, Ramsgate and Broadstairs.
Zoopla's Head of Research, Grainne Gilmore says: "The strong desire among buyers for coastal and rural living during the pandemic, coupled with a shortage of homes for sale, has resulted in strong price growth, especially in areas where homes are relatively more affordable."
On the up: the UK's top 10 boroughs for house price growth since 2012
| Area | Current avg price | % increase | Value added | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Waltham Forest | £472,144 | 87% | £220,068 |
| 2 | Barking & Dagenham | £319,597 | 87% | £148,659 |
| 3 | Newham | £391,889 | 87% | £85,062 |
| 4 | Dover | £294,846 | 81% | £132,250 |
| 5 | Greenwich | £401,401 | 80% | £178,750 |
| 6 | Lewisham | £433,444 | 80% | £192,902 |
| 7 | Thurrock | £306,454 | 79% | £135,570 |
| 8 | Canterbury | £351,977 | 79% | £155,716 |
| 9 | Basildon | £331,456 | 79% | £145,845 |
| 10 | Thanet | £288,057 | 78% | £126,437 |
What's happening with house prices in London?
After Waltham Forest, London's next top hotspots are Barking and Dagenham, Newham, Greenwich and Lewisham.
Currently undergoing a huge regeneration project, Barking & Dagenham remains one of the cheapest places in the capital to buy a home, with the average house price coming in at just under £320K.
Barking & Dagenham's excellent transport links, it's on the District and Hammersmith & City Tube lines, while the Overground runs from Barking station, offer easy access to London and the surrounding suburbs.
A planned multi-million pound redevelopment of the local shopping centre, Vicarage Field, is set to add high street stores, a cinema and music venue, alongside bars and restaurants.
Over in Newham, you can find one of the most popular secondary schools in the country. Brampton Manor sends more students to Oxford and Cambridge Universities than Eton.
Transformed by the Winter Olympics of 2012, Newham is rapidly becoming popular with young professionals on the lookout for slick city apartments.
Now home to the Queen Elizabeth Park, the London Olympic Stadium and London Aquatics Centre, Newham's proximity to Stratford's Westfield adds further allure for buyers on the lookout for a place in this property hotspot.
Yet Newham remains one of the cheapest areas in the capital to buy a home, with the average property costing £391K.
Greenwich and neighbouring borough Lewisham also make the top five.
One of the most attractive places in the capital to live, Greenwich has a wonderful park with views spanning the London skyline, a bustling market and plenty of beautiful housing stock to choose from.
Next door in Lewisham, it's still possible to buy a beautiful home for better-than-average prices, as gentrification is happening at a much slower pace here than in other parts of London.
Well-connected transport-wise, Lewisham is seen as one of the best value areas in Zone 2.
It has the Docklands Light Railway, with access to Canary Wharf, and enjoys good train links to London Bridge.
Then, when the much anticipated Bakerloo Line extension reaches town, it will also join the Tube network.
The top 10 London boroughs where house prices have increased the most
| Borough | Current avg price | % increase | Value added | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Waltham Forest | £472,144 | 87% | £220,068 |
| 2 | Barking & Dagenham | £319,597 | 87% | £148,959 |
| 3 | Newham | £319,889 | 87% | £182,119 |
| 4 | Greenwich | £401,401 | 80% | £178,750 |
| 5 | Lewisham | £433,444 | 80% | £192,902 |
| 6 | Havering | £399,668 | 78% | £175,237 |
| 7 | Southwark | £503,586 | 75% | £216,240 |
| 8 | Hackney | £548,475 | 74% | £233,816 |
| 9 | Redbridge | £455,758 | 74% | £193,917 |
| 10 | Bromley | £501,399 | 73% | £205,320 |
UK regions: average house price growth since 2012
Unsurprisingly, London tops the regions for the biggest house price growth in the last 10 years, despite property prices rising at a slower pace since the start of the pandemic.
Get the latest on house price growth with our House Price Index
Home values in the capital have risen by 71% since 2012, taking the average property price to £508K, up from £298K ten years ago.
The East of England makes number two in the regional charts with prices up 68% to an average of £324K.
In third place is the South East, where prices are up 68% to an average of £373K, while the East Midlands comes in fourth place, where prices grew 60% to an average of £213K.
UK house price rises by region over the last 10 years
| Region | Current avg price | % increase | Value added | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | London | £508,225 | 71% | £210,164 |
| 2 | East | £324,168 | 68% | £130,930 |
| 3 | South-East | £372,998 | 63% | £143,722 |
| 4 | East Midlands | £212,617 | 60% | £79,657 |
| 5 | South West | £294,660 | 56% | £105,759 |
| 6 | West Midlands | £209,347 | 54% | £73,298 |
| 7 | Wales | £186,058 | 50% | £61,779 |
| 8 | North West | £177,312 | 44% | £54,103 |
| 9 | Yorkshire & the Humber | £171,918 | 42% | £50,870 |
| 10 | Scotland | £149,636 | 27% | £32,258 |
| 11 | North East | £130,743 | 21% | £23,032 |
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