We take a look at 19 zones undergoing major redevelopment works on a scale that makes them well worth a look for anyone considering property investment in London. These regional beneficiaries of the wider London Plan will benefit well into the future from significant regeneration projects already underway or imminent.
Are you a professional property investor? Or are you simply looking to invest wisely in your new home? Either way, these 24 areas should be on your shortlist. Billions of pounds will be pouring into these neighbourhoods in the next 10 to 20 years. So, why not get ahead of the curve and set yourself up for healthy capital growth in the future?
24 hotspots for property investment in London:
Central London
King’s Cross
Famous for the King’s Cross and St Pancras railway stations, this heritage-heavy hub has been redesigned over recent years by Allies and Morrison and Poprhyrios Associates. The initial stages of their masterplan included changing the historic Granary into an arts university. Not to mention converting transit sheds into retail spaces, with Argent Group Plc keeping long-term ownership of the site. Approaching completion, the growth of King’s Cross has recently attracted the likes of Google, who are building a vast new headquarters here. With so much commercial appeal and employment nearby, it’s the perfect location for buying or investing.
North London
Tottenham Hale
Major regeneration works are underway in Tottenham Hale. 2,000 new homes will be completed under the joint venture Argent Related. There will also be offices, shops, cafes, a revamped station and new town centre. The area benefits from Victoria line services into central London. There’s also the close proximity to the green open spaces around the River Lea and Walthamstow Wetlands to consider. Well worth considering for London property investors and home buyers alike.
Meridian Water
With a new railway station that opened in June 2019, Meridian Water is set for substantial growth. Although most Londoners won’t have heard of it, the local council plans to put this area on the map. £6 billion of investment over the next 20 years will create 10,000 new homes within the 210-acre regeneration zone located between Tottenham and the Lee Valley Regional Park. If Crossrail2 gets the go-ahead, Meridian Water station is also expected to be added to the line.
North East London
Walthamstow
The rejuvenation of E17 started some time ago with the mass exodus of hip East Londoners. Those who were priced out of Hackney and Stoke Newington to the south. Developers soon cottoned on and large areas of this rapidly gentrifying neighbourhood have seen new homes appearing alongside the Victorian and Edwardian terraces. Walthamstow’s time as London Borough of Culture in 2019 brought a further boost too. Today the area’s climb in popularity seems sure to continue.
East London
Barking and Dagenham
In July 2020, plans were approved to build London’s largest film studios in Dagenham. The project joins a raft of redevelopment across the borough often listed as the cheapest place to buy property in London. Planners Be First recently set the goal of 50,000 new homes and 20,000 new jobs to be created in the next 20 years. This is a very interesting prospect for property investment in this part of London.
Tower Hamlets
Nestled in London’s traditional East End, Tower Hamlets is set to undergo a £500m multi-phase regeneration scheme, dubbed Blackwall Reach. Half of the planned 1,500 new homes will be affordable. Residents will also benefit from a range of community amenities and enhanced green spaces. The project, overseen by the Swan Housing Association, should be completed by 2025.
Newham
Stretching from the Olympic Park to the Docklands and taking in much of London’s traditional East End, Newham is a diverse and vibrant borough that’s attracting a lot of investment. Plans are afoot for several large residential property developments, often referred to as ‘Micro Towns’ because of the additional facilities they bring to neighbourhoods. These include the Thameside West development of 5000 homes, 3,800 units at TwelveTrees Park and more than 3,000 homes at Silvertown Quays.
South East London
Greenwich Peninsula
London architect Allies and Morrison has a strong pedigree with its schemes for the Stratford Olympic Park and Argent King’s Cross development. Greenwich Peninsula is another major regeneration scheme in the making. An entire new neighbourhood, the Peninsula will be home to over 17,000 new homes once complete, 48 acres of open and green space and the Design District, which is already home to 1,800 creatives. A succession of new developments are underway, like Upper Riverside, a family of five buildings completed in 2020 that are already receiving very positive reviews on HomeViews.
Thamesmead
Developer Peabody is implementing a 30-year plan for Thamesmead. This includes repairing existing properties, as well as building thousands of new homes. A new boating and sailing club is also planned. Help to Buy units will be available as part of a selection of apartments and town houses.
Canada Water
Southwark Council has partnered with British Land to create the Canada Water Masterplan, which is currently underway. Covering a 53-acre area, the £3.3bn masterplan includes the creation of a new town centre and 3,000 new homes in Rotherhithe and Surrey Quays over the next 15 years. Canada Water station benefits from being at the intersection between the Overground and Jubilee Line. Accordingly, it offers outstanding connections from its Zone 2 location.
Old Kent Road
Southwark Council also has major plans to develop Old Kent Road, a 3-mile thoroughfare that passes through the borough. The council is backing its vision with a 20-year investment budget that will target its business, arts and cultural sectors. This will include up to 20,000 new homes alongside schools, parks, and community spaces. The upcoming Bakerloo Line extension will serve these new developments too.
Lewisham
Lewisham’s renaissance is set to continue with the ambitious New Bermondsey project. This micro town development will bring 3,518 new homes to the area. Deptford’s Convoys Wharf development also promises an additional 3,500 new homes.
South London
Croydon
Croydon’s £5.2bn regeneration programme is attracting plenty of property investment to the borough. Buyers want to tap into the low prices and swift commutes into central London. Although the £1.4bn Westfield shopping centre is a routinely delayed project, the developer is committed to finishing it. This should bring further regeneration to this still-growing suburb.
Nine Elms
Anyone riding a train south from Victoria will have witnessed the massive regeneration taking place in the Nine Elms area around Battersea Power Station. The 227-hectare development area spans across Wandsworth and Lambeth, with two new Northern line stations opening in 2021 to cater to new residents. Public spaces and outdoor areas are part of 42 separate projects supported by significant investment into this central riverside district.
Elephant & Castle
Identified as an Opportunity Area in the London Plan, Elephant & Castle could see 5,000 new homes by 2041. It will also be included on the Cycleway 4 transport route that will run between Tower Bridge and Greenwich. Part of the Central London Growth Corridor, the area is already beginning its development efforts, including the upcoming Roots in the Sky 1.4-acre urban forest office building.
West London
London Olympia
London’s ageing exhibition centre Olympia will transform themselves with a £1bn plan. This includes a new arts, entertainment, events and creative business quarter. Heatherwick Studio – responsible for the Coal Drops Yard redevelopment design, as well as the 2012 Olympic torch and Routemaster bus design – are involved in the scheme. The new venture will bring an extra £9m of consumer spending into the borough. It should also attract London property investors keen for a slice of the action.
Brentford
The Brentford Project is a 12-acre regeneration scheme by Ballymore. It includes a revived high street, new retail sites and attractive riverside residential developments. Companies like GSK, Sky and Sega already headquarter in the area. This makes it an attractive prospect for new businesses. Residents will also benefit from proximity to Brentford Gallery, situated on the tiny Johnsons Island in the River Brent.
White City
The development of the historic Television Centre building lies at the heart of the wider White City redevelopment plan. Having Westfield shopping centre on the doorstep further boosts the appeal of the area. White City Place now offers outstanding office and retail space, while new campuses in the area for Imperial College and the Royal College of Arts also promise a major investment boost to this exciting west London hotspot.
Old Oak & Park Royal
Hammersmith and Fulham, along with neighbouring Ealing and Brent, stand to benefit from this huge regeneration project being overseen by London’s Mayoral Development Corporation. The Old Oak and Park Royal development project brings the prospect of up to 25,000 new homes, making it the UK’s largest regeneration project.
Earl’s Court
Another huge Hammersmith and Fulham regeneration project is afoot at Earl’s Court. The site of the world-famous exhibition centre, Earl’s Court’s redevelopment is set to bring an additional 5,647 homes to the borough, alongside other community facilities.
Ealing
This leafy West London suburb is welcoming plenty of investment, including substantial new residential projects. Berkeley Homes’ Green Quarter is set to bring 3,745 new homes to Southall Waterside.
North West London
Wembley
With £1.5 billion already invested in Wembley since 2002, the transformation of this north-west London area is hardly a new story. However, the scale of the regeneration that continues to take place in and around Wembley means it’s still hard to ignore.
Tipi has made a major impact on the Wembley Park area with its rental developments Ferrum, Alameda, Landsby, Alto and Montana & Dakota. There’s also the small matter of Berkeley St. George’s 5,000 home Grand Union development in Stonebridge Park. Wembley’s ambitious target of 11,500 new homes, 10,000 new jobs and 30,000 sqm of retail space makes it one of the hottest development zones in Europe.
Brent Cross
The Brent Cross Cricklewood Masterplan is another giant redevelopment project for north west London. This $4.5bn scheme includes the regeneration of Brent Cross Shopping Centre and the creation of 6,700 new homes. Argent Related is again involved in the Brent Cross South town centre development that will include those homes, while the shopping centre is being developed by Hammerson and Aberdeen Standard Investments. Nearby Colindale has also seen significant development in recent years and is likely to benefit from the transformation of Brent Cross to the south.
…and one to watch: Waterloo
Plans are underway to develop the huge Elizabeth House building right next to the main entrance to London Waterloo station. Proposals include support for an extra 11,000 jobs in the area and further improvements to make the South Bank area an even more appealing place to live and work.
New London development plans
Development in London never stands still, and TFL has been at the heart of some of the city’s major projects in recent years. They’ve announced plans to develop the properties above three of London Underground stations (Paddington, Bank and Southwark), creating more than 600,000 square feet of prime central London development space.
Retail giant John Lewis has also entered the development game, announcing plans to create rental apartments on the sites of three current retail spaces. Of the sites, two are based in London, above Waitrose stores at Bromley and West Ealing.
A US-Korean development consortium has announced plans for a brand-new office mega-tower at the southern end of Blackfriars Bridge in the City of London. This planned cluster of three brick-clad high-rises will cost an estimated £1 billion to deliver. The developers plan to use a stepped design that allows for all manner of ‘green roofs’ and urban green spaces across the site.
Alongside the major property development plans for London, there’s also a healthy injection of government funding going into the capital for related projects.
In July 2022, the Government announced a new £54 million heat network funding plan. London will receive half this funding for innovative heat network projects in Haringey. The borough will be a large-scale test site for major heat pumps and insulated pipe networks that deliver heat recovered from industry to domestic buildings.
Want more London property investment ideas? Discover the best value new apartments in London according to residents.
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