Crossrail: Analysing property market performance along the Elizabeth Line

Property prices within a 10 or 15-minute walk of stations along the Crossrail route outperformed the wider local markets by an average of 7% from July 2008, when the project was granted Royal Assent, to December 2016, Knight Frank’s latest Crossrail report reveals. 

With trains due to start operating from late 2018, Crossrail will provide a much-needed high speed rail link to complement London’s existing transport infrastructure.

In the report, Knight Frank has analysed house price performance and the development pipeline of every station along the route. The report also identifies areas of opportunity along the Crossrail ine, as well as taking a look at Crossrail 2.

House price outperformance has not been uniform, and some stations have seen a slight underperformance compared to the wider local authority. We have examined this in more detail in the report.

The Crossrail line is broken down into three sections; the central, eastern and western sections. The highest rate of house price growth has been recorded in the central section, encompassing the stations from Paddington to Canary Wharf. Since Royal Assent was granted in July 2008, property prices have increased by 77% within a 10-minute walk zone of each station. House prices close to Tottenham Court Road station have seen the greatest uplift, rising by 85% during this time. This compares to 38% in prime central London over the same period. 

Some 22,699 private units are either under construction or have planning permission in the central section of the route.

The eastern section of Crossrail, running to Abbey Wood in South East London and Shenfield in Essex, possesses the largest development pipeline. In total, some 30,604 private units are to be built within a 15-minute walk of the stations along the Eastern section. At the end of 2016, property prices within a 15-minute walk-zone of each station had increased by an average of 58% from July 2008 – house prices close to Forest Gate station rose by 82% over this period. 

Spanning from Acton Main Line to Reading, the western section of Crossrail also includes a station at Heathrow Airport. House prices within a 15-minute walk of each station reported an average increase of 59% from July 2008 to the end of 2016, with Acton Main Line seeing values grow by 77%. The western section has the smallest development pipeline – 13,167 private units are either under construction or have planning permission. 

Read the Crossrail report in full.