CBRE Hot 100

2017 winners in London’s

residential market
CBRE Residential 2–3
Hot 100 2017

2017 has drawn to a

close and so our
annual Hot 100
report is published;
find out where was
top in 2017.

Contents
Best performing locations 4–5
Most affordable boroughs 6–7
Student destinations 8–9
For young’uns and old’uns 10 – 11
Rate of turnover 12 – 13
Boroughs for renters 14 – 15
For internet junkies 16 – 17
Electoral turnout 18 – 19
Highest level of development 20 – 21
Best economic performance 22 – 23
CBRE Residential 4–5
Hot 100 2017

Top 10
Best performing
locations
The top ten highest value boroughs remain
the same as last year (although Hackney
and Haringey have swapped positons).
However, Newham, which has taken
the top spot for house price growth for the
last two years running, has been knocked
off its top spot, and indeed out of this
year’s top ten entirely. In its place, two
inner London boroughs take first and
second spot: Camden and Hackney.
Another marked change is the extent of
house price growth. This year only one
borough had house price growth above
10%. Last year all but nine boroughs
had double digit growth.

Table 1: House prices Table 2: House price growth

£ %
1 Kensington & Chelsea 1,341,895 1 Camden 13.4

2 Westminster 1,025,978 2 Hackney 9.1

3 Camden 839,626 3 Haringey 7.0

4 City 812,591 4 Waltham Forest 6.3

5 Hammersmith & Fulham 771,031 5 Barking 5.2

6 Richmond 669,070 6 Greenwich 4.9

7 Islington 656,011 7 Redbridge 4.6

8 Wandsworth 608,749 8 Bexley 4.5

9 Haringey 562,831 9 Islington 4.3

10 Hackney 558,097 10 Havering 4.1

Centre Point Residences, Camden

Source: Land Registry, House prices as at Q3, growth 2017 Q3 compared with 2016 Q3
CBRE Residential 6–7
Hot 100 2017

Top 10
Most affordable
boroughs
Using a simple ratio of average borough
house prices to average London earnings,
we can illustrate the most affordable
boroughs. Barking and Dagenham has
propelled itself from last year’s fifth most
affordable borough into the top spot this
year. It has displaced Bexley, which has
been the most affordable borough for two
years running, into second place. New
entrants this year include Newham, Enfield
and Hounslow.

Table 3: House price to earnings ratio

1 Barking & Dagenham 7.26

2 Bexley 8.48

3 Havering 9.10

4 Newham 9.13

5 Croydon 9.37

6 Sutton 9.50

7 Greenwich 9.77

8 Enfield 10.14

9 Hounslow 10.15

10 Redbridge 10.37

Source: House prices as at 2017 Q3 from Land Registry. 360 Barking, Barking & Dagenham
Mean earnings from ASHE 2017 survey
CBRE Residential 8–9
Hot 100 2017

Top 10
Student
destinations
London is well renowned for its high-quality
education and around 279,000 students
enrol at London universities each year.
This is unsurprising because according to
the Times World Rankings London has
four of the world’s best universities:
Imperial College London, University
College London, LSE and King’s College
London. CBRE research suggests London
universities have a vast range of students
coming in from non-EU countries, such
as China (30%), India (5%), and Pakistan.

Westminster has the highest number of

universities. However, Camden, with UCL
within its borough, has the highest number
of students living there. Tower Hamlets has
the second highest number of students
due to its central location and good value,
perfect for student life.

Table 4: Total students living in borough

Number

1 Camden 22,207

2 Tower Hamlets 19,129

3 Southwark 18,298

4 Islington 16,783

5 Westminster 14,309

6 Newham 12,701

7 Hillingdon 11,363

8 Barnet 10,325

9 Lambeth 10,248

10 Wandsworth 9,938

Source: HESA latest data refers to 2015/2016

academic year survey.
CBRE Residential 10–11
Hot 100 2017

Top 10
For young’uns and old’uns

London has been named the ‘best city’ for Table 5: Total Millennials living in borough
Millennials to live in the UK. This ranking
reflects the thriving economy, a sense of Number %
openness and tolerance structure, and
1 Tower Hamlets 137,525 45.1%
its leisure and entertainment facilities.
Across London as a whole there are 2 Islington 102,162 43.1%
around 2.8 million 17-37 year olds, which
is 32.5% of the total population. The 3 Lambeth 133,876 41.1%
borough with the highest share of
millennials is Tower Hamlets, which is 4 Wandsworth 129,895 40.2%
unsurprising given its proximity to the City
and Canary Wharf, coupled with its 5 Hackney 108,704 40.0%
reasonably affordable housing.
6 Southwark 125,503 39.0%
Although London is often perceived as a 7 Newham 126,342 38.4%
young person’s city, a recent survey by
BritainThinks has found that the capital 8 Camden 93,992 37.9%
appeals to pensioners because of its
excellent transport links, its vibrant cultural 9 Hammersmith & Fulham 68,740 37.2%
scene and even the opportunity to become
anonymous in a sprawling city. The outer 10 Westminster 88,045 36.2%
boroughs, such as Havering, Bromley,
Bexley and Sutton have the highest
share across London. However, perhaps
surprisingly the City is in fifth spot. This Table 6: Total elderly residents living in borough
is because although it only has 1,400
elderly residents this is nearly 15% of its Number %
total population.
1 Havering 47,113 18.7

2 Bromley 57,022 17.5

3 Bexley 40,794 16.8

4 Sutton 30,350 15.2

5 City of London 1,381 15.0

=5 Richmond upon Thames 29,410 15.0

=5 Harrow 37,251 15.0

8 Kensington & Chelsea 24,416 14.8

9 Barnet 53,419 14.0

10 Kingston upon Thames 22,982 13.3

Source: GLA, Experian, 2016 estimates

CBRE Residential 12–13
Hot 100 2017

Top 10
Boroughs for
turnover
Over the past year there were just over
103,000 home sales in London. With a
stock of just over 2.6 million private homes
in London, this means 3.9% of all stock
changed hands last year. However, the rate
of churn differs significantly across the
boroughs. Harrow has around 78,600
private homes, of these some 2,180
transacted last year, which translates to a
turnover rate of 2.77%; the lowest rate of
churn in London. In contrast, Islington, had
at 4,550 sales, around double the number
of transactions, but with a lower number of
private homes than Harrow, its turnover rate
is markedly higher at 7.41%.

Table 7: Lowest turnover rate Table 8: Highest turnover rate

% %
1 Harrow 2.77 1 Islington 7.41

2 Ealing 2.87 2 Tower Hamlets 5.82

3 Haringey 2.92 3 Greenwich 5.04

4 Camden 2.94 4 Wandsworth 4.93

5 City of London 2.96 5 Southwark 4.62

6 Enfield 2.97 6 Lewisham 4.61

7 Kensington & Chelsea 2.98 7 Sutton 4.53

8 Redbridge 3.15 8 Bromley 4.42

9 City of Westminster 3.16 9 Lambeth 4.30

10 Newham 3.20 10 Havering 4.23

250 City Road, Islington

Source: Homes sales from Land Registry 2016 data; stock Experian 2016 estimates
CBRE Residential 14–15
Hot 100 2017

Top 10
Boroughs for renters

The prime boroughs of Kensington and

Chelsea, Westminster, and the City have the
highest rents, all in excess of £3,000pcm.
Perhaps more surprisingly these boroughs
also have the highest share of renters.
Outer London boroughs are much more
affordable with rents in the ten lowest rent
boroughs below £1,400pcm.

Table 9: Share of private renters

%
1 City of London 44

2 Westminster 43

3 Kensington & Chelsea 39

4 Newham 38

5 Tower Hamlets 37

6 Camden 35

7 Hammersmith & Fulham 34

=7 Haringey 34

=7 Wandsworth 34

=10 Brent 33

=10 Hackney 33

Table 10: Highest rents Table 11: Lowest rents

£pcm £pcm

1 City of London £3,401 1 Bexley £1,058

2 Kensington & Chelsea £3,350 2 Havering £1,136

3 Westminster £3,333 3 Sutton £1,174

4 Camden £2,661 4 Barking & Dagenham £1,177

5 Hammersmith & Fulham £2,189 5 Bromley £1,266

6 Lambeth £2,104 6 Croydon £1,277

7 Islington £2,096 7 Enfield £1,300

8 Tower Hamlets £2,079 8 Hillingdon £1,303

9 Hackney £1,998 9 Redbridge £1,328

10 Wandsworth £1,961 10 Bromley £1,399

Source: ONS Census/ Experian 2016 estimates, Rightmove rents Q2 2017

CBRE Residential 16–17
Hot 100 2017

Top 10
For internet junkies

Broadband internet speed isn’t just Table 12: Average download speeds
important for those wanting to check their
social media accounts. According to the mbps
Department for Digital, Culture, Media and
1 Richmond upon Thames 50.8
Sport digital transformation can help boost
business productivity. A survey of 1,000 2 Kingston upon Thames 49.6
businesses found digital capabilities
helped boost revenues by 4.4% and reduce
3 Sutton 48.9
costs by 4.3%. Although placed 23rd, the 4 Hounslow 47.8
UK doesn’t fare too badly in the world’s
rankings for fast internet speeds (the US is 5 Bromley 47.0
20th, Australia 50th and China 111th ), it 6 Hillingdon 46.7
could learn something from its neighbour,
Ireland which is placed second with an 7 Merton 46.6
average speed of 44.85 mb/s. 8 Enfield 46.3

As London is the tech capital of Europe with 9 Havering 45.9

more than 130,000 companies based in
10 Camden 45.5
the capital, digital speed is hugely
important. However, the average speed for
internet downloads varies significantly from Table 13: Average upload speeds
borough to borough. Richmond upon
Thames has the fastest download speed of mbps
50.8 mbps. This is much higher than the
1 Kingston upon Thames 4.6
London average of 39.4 mbps. Kingston
upon Thames is a close second. Camden is 2 Richmond upon Thames 4.5
the best performing Inner London borough
with an average of 45.5 mb/s. =2 Sutton 4.5

4 Harrow 4.4

5 Hounslow 4.3

=5 Bromley 4.3

=5 Hillingdon 4.3

=5 Merton 4.3

=5 Havering 4.3

10 Barnet 4.1

Source: OFCOM survey period – year up to November 2016

CBRE Residential 18–19
Hot 100 2017

Top 10
Electoral turnout

This year’s election had the highest turnout
in a decade with 69% of the registered
population voting. Turnout in many of
London’s boroughs was higher than this.
The largest turnout was in Haringey and
Westminster at 75%, significantly
surpassing the national average. They have
a large student and millennial population
contributing to the ‘youthquake’ that shook
the election.
Average turnout increased by around 4%
in these high turnout boroughs compared
with 2015 – the biggest increase in turnout
was in Richmond upon Thames, which
increased 11% from 56% in 2015 to 67%
in 2017.
As illustrated in the political map of London
below, Labour was the most popular
political party in the majority of the
boroughs; clearly this is in contrast to the
resulting outcome.

Table 14: 2017 Voting results

2017 Turnout
Result Electorate Majority
Turnout increase

1 Haringey 152,749 49,389 75% 5%

2 Westminster 77,971 15,458 75% 5%
3 Camden 67,902 19,461 74% 2%
4 Lambeth 236,711 54,486 74% 5%
5 Southwark 170,644 22,734 73% 4%
6 Greenwich 129,684 10,651 73% 4%
7 Ealing 232,482 44,906 73% 4%
8 Bromley 288,898 63,399 73% 4%
9 Newham 150,708 45,505 72% 6%
10 Tower Hamlets 156,479 48,091 71% 4%
=10 Wandsworth 210,562 35,987 71% 3%
=10 Havering 154,221 31,703 71% 4%
=10 Kingston upon Thames 142,176 41,411 71% 5%

Conservative
Labour
Liberal Democrat

Source: Electoral Commission

CBRE Residential 20–21
Hot 100 2017

Top 10
Highest level of development

As is typical across the whole of the UK,

homebuilding in London falls woefully short
of the levels needed. The Mayor has
recently increased the target for London to
65,000 homes per annum to keep up with
demand, yet for the last decade or so, we
built an average of 19,000 units each year.
However, some areas are leading the way;
Tower Hamlets currently has 14,000 units
under construction with a further 12,100 in
the planning pipeline. However, Newham
has the largest pipeline with nearly 15,000
units with planning permission.

Table 15: Highest planning permissions Table 17: Highest under construction

Units Units

1 Newham 14,650 1 Tower Hamlets 13,982

2 Barnet 13,080 2 Newham 7,830

3 Greenwich 12,921 3 Greenwich 6,099

4 Hammersmith & Fulham 12,547 4 Wandsworth 5,257

5 Tower Hamlets 12,107 5 Southwark 5,243

6 Ealing 10,474 6 Brent 4,912

7 Wandsworth 9,794 7 Hackney 4,058

8 Lewisham 8,390 8 Hammersmith & Fulham 3,761

9 Westminster 8,019 9 Lambeth 3,278

10 Southwark 7,270 10 Westminster 3,090

Table 16: Lowest planning permisisons Table 18: Lowest under construction

Units Units

1 Richmond upon Thames 339 1 Merton 257

2 Redbridge 429 2 Kensington & Chelsea 375

3 City of London 543 3 Bexley 378

4 Sutton 575 4 Havering 400

5 Bromley 676 5 Richmond upon Thames 485

6 Merton 758 6 Enfield 509

7 Kingston upon Thames 1,268 7 City of London 571

8 Hillingdon 1,435 8 Kingston upon Thames 586

9 Waltham Forest 1,693 9 Sutton 739

10 Islington 1,789 10 Haringey 941

London Dock, Tower Hamlets

Source: Molior as at November 2017. Data refers to number of units
CBRE Residential 22–23
Hot 100 2017

Top 10
Best economic performance

The housing market is inextricably linked to

the underlying economic performance of an
area. As economic growth increases and as
employment increases, the demand for
housing increases. Last year’s second
place borough, Newham, takes the top spot
with the highest GDP growth last year and
is expected to grow the third fastest over
the next decade. Camden has both the
second highest expected GDP growth and
employment growth.

Table 19: Highest GDP growth Table 21: Lowest unemployment rate

% %
1 Newham 5.6 1 City of London 1.5

2 City of London 3.1 2 Hammersmith & Fulham 2.6

3 Southwark 2.9 3 Merton 3.0

4 Harrow 2.9 4 Barnet 3.1

5 Islington 2.7 5 Wandsworth 3.2

=5 Hounslow 2.7 6 Havering 3.4

7 Hackney 2.6 =6 Hillingdon 3.4

8 Hammersmith & Fulham 2.3 8 Sutton 3.5

=8 Greenwich 2.3 9 Kingston upon Thames 3.6

=8 Havering 2.3 10 Bromley 3.7

Table 20: Largest forecast GDP growth Table 22: Highest employment growth
2017 to 2027 2017 to 2027

% %
1 Southwark 34.4 1 Harrow 11.0

2 Camden 34.0 2 Camden 10.7

3 Newham 31.2 3 Greenwich 10.3

4 Hackney 30.7 =3 Tower Hamlets 10.3

5 Islington 30.6 =3 Hackney 10.3

6 Tower Hamlets 29.5 =3 Southwark 10.3

=6 Harrow 29.5 7 Redbridge 9.9

8 Hounslow 28.9 8 Havering 9.6

9 Lambeth 28.8 9 Islington 9.4

10 Merton 28.0 =9 Newham 9.4

Notes: GDP and unemployment rate refers to current estimates for the average rate over 2017.
Source: Oxford Economics
CBRE Residential 24–25
Hot 100 2017

Jennet Siebrits Mark Collins

Head of Residential Research London Residential
Senior Director Chairman

T: +44 (0)20 7182 2066 T: +44 (0)20 7182 2264

E: jennet.siebrits@cbre.com E: mark.collins2@cbre.com

Photography Front Cover: © encrier / depositphotos.com, P8–9: © DaLiu /depositphotos.com,

bottom image P10–11: © Wei Huang / Shutterstock.com, P22–23: © Marius_Comanescu / Shutterstock.com

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