Where to buy in east London: huge regeneration in Silvertown brings new waterside shared-ownership homes

Shared-ownership pioneers will reap rewards of E16 riverfront regeneration. 
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Ruth Bloomfield2 April 2019

Love the idea of waterside living but also want to get ahead of the game? Then the Silvertown peninsula in east London offers a double whammy. It has the Thames on one side, the Royal Docks on the other and it ticks the regeneration box, with £6.5 billion due to be spent on transforming this industrial wasteland.

Thameside West, a new neighbourhood, will bring 5,000 new homes plus shops, restaurants, bars, parks and schools.

Planned transport improvements include a new Docklands Light Railway station and pier for riverbus services, as well as a new road tunnel linking the area to Greenwich by 2024. A planned bridge over the Royal Docks will give pedestrian access to Custom House station, which will be part of the Crossrail line.

First-time buyers with pioneering spirit can buy into Silvertown this spring. New homes at The Refinery in Knights Road, close to West Silvertown DLR station and the Thames Barrier Park, and beside the area’s vast Tate & Lyle sugar factory, are on sale now with Southern Home Ownership.

From £120,750: a 35 per cent share of a one-bedroom flat at The Refinery, close to West Silvertown DLR. For sale through Southern Home Ownership, these homes will benefit from Thameside West regeneration

Prices start at £120,750 for a 35 per cent share of a one-bedroom flat. Monthly costs add up to £1,333 including rent at £514, mortgage repayments at £679 and service charge of £140.

A share of a two-bedroom flat starts at £157,500. Buyers will need to budget for rent of £1,032 a month, mortgage repayments of £885 and service charge of £180. The development also includes some three-bedroom flats, priced from £183,750 for a share. Rent on these larger homes is an estimated £1,204 a month, while mortgage repayments will come in at £1,033 a month and service charge will add £210.

The big downside at The Refinery is that buyers will need to play a waiting game if they want to enjoy the price rises that tend to come with regeneration.

The vast, complex process in this dockland district involves two main development sites and will take about 20 years to complete. Early buyers will have to accept life in an active industrial zone, with the hum of aircraft from nearby London City airport overhead and precious few local amenities at first, except for a few very basic shops in North Woolwich Road.

Coming soon, however, the new shops, cafés, and restaurants at Royal Wharf, a Ballymore development of up to 3,300 homes, will at least be a taste of things to come at Silvertown.

What can I buy in Silvertown now?

The E16 postcode, covering West Ham to North Woolwich, is one of London’s most affordable. Rightmove says the £405,000 average property price has been stable for two years. Homes range from £1 million-plus on Canary Wharf’s fringe to not much more than £200k for a slightly dated two-bedroom Canning Town flat.

£385,000: a one-bedroom, second-floor flat at the riverfront Royal Wharf scheme in West Silvertown

At West Silvertown, Outlook has a one-bedroom warehouse flat for £300,000 (020 8012 2645), or fans of new homes might try riverfront Royal Wharf. For houses rather than flats, you’re better off looking in Plaistow and Canning Town.

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