'I'm reaping the house price rewards of Crossrail – just four years late'

Homeowners near stations on the new Elizabeth Line are waiting with bated breath for house prices to surge as the line finally opens today – three and a half years later than originally planned. 

There will be a rush of properties for sale that sit along the line, also known as Crossrail, as sellers finally get to cash in on the side perk of a speedy commuting time – rising house prices.

In Acton, west London, an area about to benefit from better transport links to the centre of the capital, Salim Hussain, of Marsh and Parsons estate agents, has had hundreds of conversations with potential buyers and sellers about what the Europe's newest transport line will do to house prices.

However, the many residents in the outskirts of both east and west London, and speculative buyers and landlords, have had to wait years for such estate agent speculation to turn into reality.

Mr Hussain added: "Over the last four or five years, they have always been saying they will sell next year, next year, because they have been waiting for the line to open. Now that it is actually coming, people expect house prices to rise considerably.

“Of the people on my books who want to sell, I would say 30pc have delayed because it wasn’t the right time. Now, that’s changed and prices will rise by 5-10pc by November."

However, the house price bump will be muted compared with what many expected in 2018 – when the Elizabeth Line was meant to open. London Underground's latest trains are opening their doors in a completely different world. Weekday travel using the capital's transport system is at 60pc of pre-Covid levels. Five-day peak commuting is at just 15pc of what it was before the pandemic. Faster commutes matter less to buyers who need to be in the office less often.

Nevertheless, house prices will rise, particularly in the more far flung areas that will see the biggest differences in journey times. In 29 or the 39 stations along the line, the property market is “hot”, according to analysis by PropCast, a data company. 

Markets around the central London stations already well-connected are classified as “cold”. In Tottenham Court Road and Bond Street, just 11pc of advertised homes are under offer. 

This is a major contrast to Gidea Park, in the London Borough of Havering, which is the most competitive market on the line. Here, 80pc of available properties are under offer. It is followed by Abbey Wood, near Greenwich in south east London, where the share is 77pc. The commuter towns of Reading in Berkshire and Shenfield in Essex were also among the top 10 most in demand markets.

Now the line has opened, lives will change for those who moved to new hotspots, or invested their savings hopeful of a return. Some may be able to finally make a profit but others have been left trapped.

‘I had to wait four years, but now Crossrail has halved my commute’

For some, the opening of the line is a godsend. Pragya Adukia, 40, works as an architect. Her construction sites are in Liverpool Street in east London, while her office is in Canary Wharf. This has been a 70-minute journey from her home but the Elizabeth Line will cut this by 30 minutes.

She and her husband purchased in Acton in 2018, just before the delay was announced, because they knew Crossrail would cut their travel time to work and central London.

“When we bought, Crossrail was about to open. Then we thought it would be another year, and then another year. Then we just assumed it would never happen,” she said. While she waited, she spend two hours and 20 minutes a day commuting. From Tuesday, her travel time will be 40 minutes each way.

"Now I have a baby, time is so precious. I have colleagues who have the same commute time that I have had but they live further out with more space and a larger house and a bigger garden. Now, this makes me feel that I still want to live in London," she added.

‘I'll make a profit – but it's more difficult to buy a bigger home’

Alice ter Haar, 34, has been watching Acton house prices very keenly and will feel both the benefits and the downsides. She is hoping to sell and benefit from higher house prices. However, she and her husband also want to buy a bigger home, significantly stretching their budget.

Mrs ter Haar, who runs a training company called Badass Unicorn, plans to sell two properties in Acton. Four years ago, she purchased a two-bedroom flat with her sister for £515,000. "It was appealing because we knew that Crossrail would eventually increase the value."

Mrs ter Haar’s sister is now preparing to buy her out. "It’s not a good time for her to be buying off me, there will now be a bit of a premium."

The sisters upgraded the property, adding an office and doing up the garden. Mrs ter Haar expects the value to have climbed to £650,000.

However, the couple live in a flat he bought for £700,000 five years ago, which has not increased in value as much. Even if both sales see a small Crossrail-induced boost, the current housing market means they are limited on what they can do next. 

The couple will have to grapple with increased prices for their onward purchases as well as higher mortgage costs. "We will stay in the area, so everything will be just a bit more expensive. We are extremely conscious about what’s happening to the market and what we will be able to afford next year." 

They are thinking of buying in Hanwell, which is a little further out and where Crossrail will not open until 2023.

‘I still won’t get the full benefits of Crossrail until 2023’

The delayed project is still not complete and hundreds of thousands of residents in outer London must still wait for the true value of Crossrail. Tamsin Cogan, 28, and her partner bought a two-bedroom flat in Hanwell, west London, in March 2019.

"Hanwell wasn’t somewhere we would have considered but the promise of Crossrail – and the brilliant connectivity to east London – sold it to me,” Ms Cogan said. The couple purchased a 55pc portion of their home via the Government’s shared ownership scheme.

In 2021, Ms Cogan took a new job, based in Stratford, east London. Her commute takes an hour and 10 minutes on the Central line. "Fortunately I only have to be in the office one day a week, otherwise right now it just wouldn’t be possible. Knowing that Crossrail was coming played a huge part in my decision to take the role."

The Crossrail line to Hanwell will not open today and is part of phase three – which opens next spring.

"It is massively frustrating. I stopped believing that Crosrail would ever open. It felt like a mythical beast, like the Loch Ness monster. Then we heard it was actually opening, but now we have to wait another year. It’s exasperating."