Ealing is one of London’s greenest boroughs, offering a wealth of open spaces and parks as well as being a major retail and commercial centre.

With ongoing regeneration and investment, much of which is due to the Crossrail project, young professionals and families continue to be drawn to the area. In central Ealing, plans for Ealing Broadway Shopping Centre and Ealing Filmworks will revive the centre creating exciting new destinations. All this will result in the area becoming more established as a prime location.

Good transport links to a number of key employment hubs are an important part of Ealing’s appeal. Once Crossrail is running from 2018, the borough will have five Crossrail stations (in addition to the seven underground stations serving the area) which will significantly cut journey times into central London.

The housing stock of Ealing is characterised by Victorian and Edwardian terraced, detached and semi-detached homes. However, change is underway and new developments are attracting demand from increasingly affluent occupiers.

Property prices

House prices in central Ealing are higher than the average of the wider borough. In the 12 months to February 2016, the average price of homes sold was £645k, 20% more than the average across the whole borough over the same period.

The house price premium for Ealing is seen across all property types. The average sale price of a terraced house is £767k in central Ealing compared to £617k across the borough over the 12 months to February.

However, when compared to more established prime locations such as Chiswick, Ealing offers good value for money. Comparing the cost of a semi-detached house in Ealing and Chiswick shows that you would pay on average 56% less to buy in Ealing. With Ealing looking more affordable on this measure it is an attractive option for young affluent families looking to upsize, particularly for its amenities and excellent state and independent schools.

House price growth for prime Ealing properties has been strong over the past year compared to neighbouring prime markets. Across all of prime west London, prices increased by an average of just 4.2% over the year to March 2016. Over the same period, the value of prime property in Ealing has increased by 6.7%.

^{Source: Savills Research using Land Registry}

The Rental market

As seen in the sales market, rental values in Ealing are also higher than the borough-wide average. In central Ealing, the median monthly rent is £1,700, which is 12% higher than the average for Ealing borough, according to Rightmove.

However, it is lower than the average for nearby Chiswick, where the median monthly rent is £2,200. Across Ealing, the average rent varies from around £980 per month for a studio to over £2,900 per month for a 4-bed property.

Demand

The demand for prime property in the area comes from a number of sources. While domestic buyers dominate, international residents are an important source of demand for the prime housing market across London, accounting for around a third of buyers since 2015.

In the prime markets of west London, 21% of buyers have been from overseas over the same period, with those from Europe the most prominent.

The largest employment industry for people living in Ealing is the Professional, Scientific and Tech sector, closely followed by the Information and Communication sector, according to the 2011 Census.

Over the next five years, Oxford Economics forecasts that employees in the Professional, Scientific and Tech industry will increase to become the largest employment industry in central London. Ealing is well placed to draw on the newly created wealth that will result, as Tech buyers in particular look to emerging and maturing prime markets.

Investors

Investment buyers have been attracted to the area due to strong tenant demand. According to the 2011 Census, 32.6% of households in Ealing are in the private rented sector, significantly higher than the average across London of 25.1%.

Demand for rental property comes from a wide range of tenants including families, couples and professionals. Corporate relocations play an increasingly important part in west London’s prime rental market. Over the last 18 months, 66% of tenants were renting due to employment relocation compared to 55% in 2014.

With UK tenants only accounting for 40% of tenants, the international nature of the prime west London rental market is evident, with the highest proportion of international tenants originating from Western Europe, accounting for 30%.

^{Source: Savills Research}