Underlying demographic pressures and new build development are not the only factor contributing to gentrification. Travel time to central London is a key driver of house prices across the capital and therefore any infrastructure improvements could have a significant impact on local housing markets.

With Crossrail currently under construction, there has been widespread interest in its potential effect on property values. Inevitably, an improvement in travel time will help to increase the value of the underlying housing market but it can be difficult to extract the effect from the wider market noise.

The East London Line offers an opportunity to examine the effects of improving transport links on house prices at a smaller scale. The line was connected into the TFL Overground network in 2010/11.

However, since 2007 the London housing market has seen boom, bust and more recently boom again. Most recently, price growth has been concentrated in central London and so identifying the effects by price growth alone are unlikely to yield any results.

Instead, we have ranked the 630 wards in London by house price in 2007 and again in 2012. By comparing the two ranks we can see how different markets have moved relative to the wider market.

Although correlation doesn’t imply causation, there is clear link between the East London Line and markets that improved their ranking over the period. Many of the markets in close proximity to East London Line stations have risen up the rankings by 50 or more places.

Taken from
Spotlight: The Demographic Pressures of a Growing Population