The Westfield shopping centre in having an explosive impact on the property market in Shepherd’s Bush.
Estate agents say the £1billion-a-year shopping mall, where stores include Prada, Gucci and Louis Vuitton, has transformed the image of an area where the best-known location was once Oil Drum Lane, the base of TV rag and bone men Steptoe and Son.
W12 saw some of the fastest rising asking prices in London last year, up 11.6 per cent to £545 per sq ft.
The rate of increase puts it not far behind Kensington W8 and Chelsea SW3. Research by Hamptons International shows that the biggest increase in asking prices came in W8, where they went up 14.8 per cent from £1,249 per sq ft to £1,467.
This was followed by the WD3 postcode on the rural fringes of north- west London near Rickmansworth, the E14 Canary Wharf financial district on the Isle of Dogs and SW3. The research suggests that the “Westfield effect” has had a bigger impact on prices than the “Olympic effect” around the main sites of the Games in east London.
A study from Lloyds TSB has shown that only two of the 14 postcodes closest to the Olympic Park — Dalston and Homerton — have experienced price rises above the London average since the Games were won in July 2005.
Shepherd’s Bush has also gained from the new transport links that were part of the Westfield development — particularly a fast Overground line to south London — and its location relatively close to central London.
The rise means prices in “the Bush” have overtaken traditionally smarter areas such as Clapham and is hard on the heels of Dulwich.
Simon Waller, sales manager at Winkworth in Shepherd’s Bush, said: “The Berlin Wall across the Shepherd’s Bush roundabout has been torn down and the good people of Holland Park and Notting Hill are targeting the Bush in a way they never would have before, particularly for family homes.”
Hamptons International head of research, Adam Challis, said: “W12 is on the edge of very high value areas but represents much more property for a given budget.”
The study showed that London’s least expensive postcodes are TW19 (Wraysbury near Staines), SE28 Thamesmead, BR1 Bromley, RM7 Romford and SE12 Lee.
‘It’s why I’ll be staying here in W12’
Mary Anne Popoff moved from Portobello Road in Notting Hill to Shepherd’s Bush five years ago when she decided to buy a property after years of renting.
When she moved again after retiring she surprised herself by wanting to stay in W12 rather than returning to “safe” W11.
The former tour operator boss, 61, said: “We decided to stay in Shepherd’s Bush because we were enjoying it so much. We like the multi-ethnic shops and we like Westfield — it’s very useful.”
Her Shepherd’s Bush house cost £840,000 and rose to £930,000, letting Mrs Popoff buy a smaller house for £660,000 plus a starter flat for her daughter.
Jonathan Prynn
