Most of us have experienced some form of home working during the pandemic, but new research reveals the areas where working was less lucrative than the home itself.
Homes in Bromley, worth an average of £545,800, saw their value increase by £67,300 since the beginning of the pandemic — equivalent to £85 per day — according to data from Zoopla.
This rise means that many homeowners in the borough are making more on their homes than they earn. The median salary is £33,595, according to latest ONS data.
In London’s cheapest borough, Barking and Dagenham, where the average house price is now £374,000, homeowners made almost as much as their salaries on their homes. House prices increased by almost £50,000 since February 2020, while the median annual salary is £26,700.
Likewise, in Havering, Waltham Forest, Redbridge and Bexley, homeowners made close to their wages on their properties during the pandemic.
Despite properties increasing by 11 per cent in value in Richmond — equivalent to £61,900 — larger median salaries of £36,372 meant that homeowners continued to earn more from work.
These rises in property values in outer London boroughs are reflective of the national trend. House prices increased across the UK by 15 per cent on average throughout the pandemic.
In the capital as a whole, the picture is more mixed. Property growth is slowest in London and homes have increased by just seven per cent in value — less than half of the national average.
Some inner London properties have lost value, as increased working from home has dented demand for a central location, with 224,000 inner London homes seeing values decline by five per cent or more. These are largely concentrated in Westminster, Kensington and Chelsea, Islington, Hammersmith and Fulham, Tower Hamlets and Southwark.
Westminster has seen property values decrease by £4,100 since February 2020, while in Kensington and Chelsea, total growth was just three per cent, despite properties actually falling in value.
“The London market looked like it was set to rebound in the first quarter of 2020, but the pandemic has impacted demand for homes in global cities,” said Richard Donnell, executive director at Zoopla.
“In contrast, values in outer London driven by domestic demand have continued to increase at a steady rate.”
Zoopla’s Value of Housing report takes into account the change in value of every home in the UK. Using Zoopla’s valuation estimate, it monitors the rise and fall of prices.
