So you want to know more about the residential property market in the London Borough of Havering and the area of Havering? Read on…
The London Borough of Havering is London’s most easterly borough bordering Essex with excellent commuter routes to central London. It’s made up of semi-rural locations and more urbanised centres such as Hornchurch, Upminster and Romford. Significant new developments in Rainham, Harold Wood and Romford are increasing the housing supply in the borough. New rail improvements including a new rail station at Beam Park and Crossrail connections from Romford, Gidea Park and Harold Wood.
With all this investment and improvements Havering remains one of the greenest and most affordable London Boroughs. Many parks, amenities, good transport links, affordable housing and access to one of the biggest jobs market (London!) in the world.
Havering has long been a destination for people who have grown up in the East London and who favour more space, more green space and a short commute into central London. The borough has been attracting a wider pool of buyers and renters from around London, and further afield in recent years.
Havering Key Housing and Economic Data:
Population of Havering: 257,810 (Source: ONS UK)
Average House Price: £392,681 (Source: Zoopla 2nd January 2021)
Average Rent for a one bedroom property in Romford: £989pcm (Source: Home.co.uk)
Average Rent for a two bedroom property in Romford: £1,244pcm (Source: Home.co.uk)
Average Rent for a three bedroom property in Romford: £1,532pcm (Source: Homes.co.uk)
Average Rent for a one bedroom property in Hornchurch: £945pcm (Source: Homes.co.uk)
Average Rent for a two bedroom property in Hornchurch: £1,264pcm (Source: Homes.co.uk)
Average Rent for a three bedroom property in Hornchurch: £1,560pcm (Source: Homes.co.uk)
Average Salary: £35,474 (Source: CBRE Residential)
Unemployment Rates (2017 to 2020): 4.8% (Source: Trust for London)
Housing in Havering
Havering has a high proportion of semi-detached and detached housing as well as the second highest number of semi-detached homes in London (42% of the stock).
Areas in Havering with a high number of detached housing tends to be in the affluent areas of Emerson Park, Upminster and Gidea Park.
The Havering area has a high % of owner occupiers with 2011 Census estimating over 74% as owner occupiers. The highest of any London Borough.
The London Plan has committed to a further 970 homes in Havering and this is largely in the form of new flat developments in the more urbanised areas of Romford (St Edwards Court, Papermill House, ) and Rainham (Beam Park and Napier and New Plymouth House site).
Transport in Havering
4 Underground Stations; Upminster tube station (District Line), Upminster Bridge tube station (District Line), Hornchurch tube station (District Line), Elm Park tube station (District Line)
6 Railway Stations; Upminster station, Romford station, Emerson Park station, Gidea Park station, Harold Wood station, and Rainham station.
Crossrail / Elizabeth Line
The much-anticipated introduction of Crossrail project has given a boost to the residential property markets around Harold Wood, Gidea Park and Romford.
Romford station has undergone a complete overhaul and will be one of the key stops on the eastern stretch of the Elizabeth Line. From Romford journey times to Canary Wharf will be approximately 28 minutes. Crossrail will only further make Havering more accessible to central London and beyond.
Green Space in Havering
Havering boasts 2,000 acres of open space throughout the area. Half of the borough is designated as Metropolitan Green Belt, which means the area is less built up then many London boroughs.
Over half of Havering is parkland and made up of 100 separate green spaces, including two country parks (Havering Country Park, and Hornchurch Park) and 40 local parks. Some of the open space highlights in Havering include:
- Bedfords Park
- Harold Wood Park
- Hylands Park
- Harrow Lodge Park
- Hornchurch County Park
- Havering County Park
- Raphael Park
- Upminster Park
The London Borough of Havering includes a number of key walking routes;
- Thames Chase Circle
- Ingrebourne Way (a strategic cycling route cycling route through Harold Hill, Hornchurch, Upminster and Rainham)
- Rainham to Purfleet Path
Leisure, Culture and Sport in Havering
Havering does offer an exciting cultural and leisure offering, Queens Theatre located on Billet Lane in Hornchurch produces over eight shows a year. Brookside Theatre is on Eastern Road in Romford within the historic Romford War Memorial buildings. Brookside Theatre offers a wide variety of events including musicals, plays, live music, comedy and other peforming arts. Fairkytes Arts Centre is a community arts centre located across from Queens Theatre.
There are many notable areas and buildings of historic importance throughout the London Borough of Havering. There are 11 designated conservation areas in Havering;
- Corbets Tey
- Cranham
- Gidea Park
- Havering-atte-Bower
- Langtons
- North Ockendon
- RAF Hornchurch
- Rainham
- Romford
- St Andrews
- St Leonards
Romford is the principal town in the borough offering cinemas, restaurant, bars, adventure golf, Saphire Ice & Leisure and one of the last remaining Greyhound Stadium in London.
Area Guides in Havering
Romford
Romford is the commercial and leisure hub of Havering and straddles between the East London and Essex border. Romford is popular with owner occupier and renters with an active residential property market.
Romford has become part of Greater London since 1965 and is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Havering.
Romford has arguably undergone more change than other towns in Havering in the last decade (it feels more urbanised than many areas of Havering). A number of major announcements regarding further investment in Romford to substantially increase the housing stock are ongoing or have completed. There are plans to develop Bridge Close industrial estate, Waterloo Estate, Seedbed Centre, former Romford Ice Rink and other key potential housing sites to deliver additional residential stock in Romford.
Romford is served well with road and rail links. You can be in Liverpool Street in around 30 minutes and Romford is within easy reach of the A127 and A12 providing access to central London and east Essex. Access to junction 29 or 28 of the M25 is approximately 10 minutes away.
Romford has a wide range of local amenities including cinemas, bars, shops, restaurants, and lots of green space. Romford boasts three shopping and leisure centres:
- Brewery (Romford) opened in 2001 on the former Star Brewery site. Occupiers in the centre include Costa, Argos, Cosmos, Metro Bank, McDonald’s, Nandos, Kidspace, Pure Gym, Sainsbury’s, VUE Cinema and many more.
- Liberty Shopping Centre underwent redevelopment in 2005 and is the largest covered shopping centre in Romford with approximately 432,000 sq ft of commercial space.
- Mercury Mall. Mecury Mall originally was called Liberty 2. It’s located very close to Liberty Shopping Centre.
Romford can still offer a traditional ‘night at the dogs’ at the Coral Romford Greyhound Stadium. The venue recently underwent a multi-million pound revamp and is generally busiest on a Saturday and Friday night.
Romford has a popular array of bars and clubs and has one of the highest concentration of bars and clubs outside central London. Given Romford’s location it attracts those living in other areas in Havering, Essex and East London as a mid way point.
Hornchurch
Hornchurch provides contrast to the more urban and retail feel of Romford. Hornchurch has a leafy and friendly feel. Hornchurch still boasts an active high street shops, cafes and restaurants with a mix of national and independent names.
Considered the cultural hub of Havering, Hornchurch is the home Queens Theatre, an arts centre and the magnificent Grade II listed Langtons House and gardens.
Hornchurch is located in the centre of Havering with good access to Upminster and Romford. There’s a contrast between larger detached houses to the Emerson Park side and smaller traditional housing towards the Elm Park. Hornchurch has a high number of 3 and 4 bed semi-detached and detached properties. There are flats, but this is a small proportion of the housing stock.
New builds are in the pipeline on the former St George’s Hospital site to the south of Hornchurch town centre. This site has planning permission for 290 new homes
Hornchurch has a reasonable night time economy with Sutton Arms, The Fatling, The Rising Sun, Hop Inn Micropub amongst many more.
Hornchurch is also the home of Stephen James Estate Agents located at 5a High Street 😉
Upminster
Upminster is located right on the edge of Havering and Greater London boundary, which means it’s not far from countryside and lots of outdoor activity.
Luckily for Upminster’s residents, there’s an underground station with services on the District line and C2C offering good connectivity to the rest of London, with direct trains to Fenchurch Street in 24 minutes.
Upminster has a strong reputation for schools in the area including Coopers Company & Coborn School, Hall Mead School, Upminster Junior School, Sacred Heart of Mary Girls’ School, and St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School.
Upminster is within easy reach of junction 29 of the M25 and access to Lakeside Shopping Centre and the surrounding retail parks, which is one of the largest retail areas in Europe.
Why Move to Havering?
- Half of the London Borough of Havering is designated inside the Metropolitan Green Belt.
- Lots of regeneration in London Riverside which will have positive impacts on the London Borough of Havering.
- Good retail and leisure facilities.
- Relatively affordable rents and property prices.
- Excellent access by road, rail, tube and bus to London, Essex, Kent and further afield.
Do you have a residential property you need to re-let? Stephen James can help today! Please get in touch or call us for further assistance with any property matters you may have on 07768585551.