Surveyor brands Nationwide London property findings 'meaningless'

Surveyor brands Nationwide London property findings 'meaningless'




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A chartered surveyor and member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors has questioned the importance of the findings from a Nationwide report released last Friday.

The report revealed that London residents pay up to £20,000 more to live closer to a tube or train station.

The building society found that houses and flats within 500m of a train station carry a 7% premium compared to those further away, which amounts, approximately, to an extra £20,300.

The prices in the Greater London area appear to get progressively more expensive the closer they are to a station.

Average house prices were highest around the Circle line, reaching figures of nearly £500,000, and the least expensive were properties in the areas served by the Central line, only reaching a maximum price of £275,000.

David Tropp, a member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, said he struggles to understand how reports like this can generalise on such a huge scale.

“I don’t think you can compare all of London in one report, take Clapham North for example, it is completely different to somewhere like Hampstead.

“You have to take diligence on each area as there are many factors that should be taken into account, especially for property investors, they should assess an area in terms of who you are going to target the property at.”

Although Mr Tropp criticises the report, he doesn’t think that property investors should completely dismiss the findings, and added: “The results seem a bit obvious really, but as a rule property investors should look at what an area offers, and if it is nearer to a transport link then of course it will attract people who need a convenient way to get to work.”

Around 600 million people use the Underground each year, according to Transport for London, and 34% of Londoners use either the National Rail or London Underground services to travel to work, compared to 8% of Great Britain.

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