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Housing crisis: £1m homes could soon be the norm in London by 2030

The average price of a home in London could top £1m by 2030, according to a new study by online estate agent eMoov which has mapped out what the capital’s housing market could look like in only a decade and half.

Taking the 84% house price growth that occurred between 2000 and 2015, eMoov then applied the same level of growth to the average house price in all of London’s 32 boroughs.

It found that, were we to continue on the same rate of growth, only 14 London Boroughs would have average house prices below £1m, while the likes of Croydon (£568,293), Bexley (£559,551) and Barking & Dagenham (£453,078), would be the only areas offering an average house price below £600k.

At the other end of the market, areas located in London’s ‘prime’ spots, such as South Kensington and Chelsea (£3.4m), Westminster (£2.1m) and the City (£1.5m), could all potentially boast eye-watering average prices that are significantly above the £1m average.

Russell Quirk, founder and Chief Executive Officer at eMoov, cautioned that the figures were ‘only a projection of what may happen by 2030’, but that they still underlined the difficulty for most people in getting on the housing ladder in the capital.

He added: “Getting on the London ladder is already out of reach for the majority and the picture painted by this research gives little hope for those aspiring to do so in the future. London will always drive the UK market in terms of value and so an increase in prices is inevitable.

“However, when you consider that in 15 years the price of property could almost double, it makes for a worrying outlook for the majority. This research highlights that the current mix of high demand, easily obtained credit and low supply are a volatile mix to be fuelling the UK and London markets with and what the outcome could be if it continues.”

Perhaps more alarmingly, the study predicts that London’s £1m average house price will significantly eclipse that of England’s average as a whole, which eMoov pegs at £457,433, again if the same growth experienced in the last 15 years continues at the same pace.

While utilising a rather broad metric, the research highlights the increasing disparity between London and the rest of the country’s property market, and the scale of the affordable housing problem facing new Mayor Sadiq Khan.

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