Good transport plays a large part in regeneration, keeping both businesses and the property market alive, and homeowners are tempted into areas where transport links are being improved. If you're early enough, buying into these areas can be a smart move.
This article covers:
Docklands Light Railway extensions
The Docklands Light Railway (DLR) has grown successfully over the years and is set for more expansion throughout London and the south east. Transport for London spokesperson Judy De Hahn says that DLR improvements have a knock-on effect. She highlights Greenwich and Lewisham as areas where the DLR has been a catalyst for regeneration and, in turn, house price rises.
Extension work is being carried out with more planned. For example, an extension from Canning Town to London City Airport and King George V at North Woolwich recently opened.
Approval for a further extension from King George V under the River Thames to a new station at Woolwich Arsenal has also been granted, with completion set for early 2009. Mayor Ken Livingstone said: “The Woolwich Arsenal extension will be a vital new transport link that will regenerate the local area and play an important role during the 2012 London Olympic Games.”
Stratford International
The North London Line, between Canning Town and Stratford, is being converted to a DLR service and will link Stratford station to Stratford International. Six new stations will be built along this line. Stratford International will link the wider Docklands area to international trains from Paris and Brussels, as well as to high-speed domestic commuter services from Kent. This will regenerate whole swathes of London, Essex and Kent along the Thames Gateway area.
An extension east to Dagenham Dock is likely, particularly due to the proposed housing and economic development of Barking Riverside and South Dagenham as part of the Thames Gateway project. [http://www.thames-gateway.org.uk/]
Five new stations are proposed as part of this development.
Planning consent for a new station at Langdon Park, Tower Hamlets, has been granted, set to open in early 2008. Transport for London says the development will act as a catalyst for regeneration by stimulating new commercial and housing development.
Improvements to transport in the Thames Gateway
Ebbsfleet in Kent, in the Thames Gateway regeneration area, will benefit from the planned Ebbsfleet International rail terminus. The terminus - which as yet has no firm completion date - will be on the Channel Tunnel Rail Link and will have a journey time to London St Pancras of 15 minutes. Nearby Greenhithe mainline station takes you into London within 45 minutes. The area is close to the M25 and the A2, and there are more road improvements planned.
Stratford - the transport super hub
Stratford in east London, a major site of development as part of the Thames Gateway project, has already been the subject of much speculative buying with more expected - especially after the Olympic decision. The area will see a number of transport improvements, centred around Stratford International, due for overall completion in 2010. Improvements include a new Channel Tunnel link to Paris and Brussels, extensions to the Docklands Light Railway from Canning Town, and new services to Stansted airport.
East London Line extensions
There are proposed improvements to the East London Line, connecting north and south London. The improvements will involve connections to existing National Rail lines. Phase one will link Dalston in north London to west Croydon in the south, with completion set for June 2010. Phase two will see further additions to the line, linking Clapham Junction to Surrey Quays. There will also be an extension from Highbury and Islington to Dalston, with no firm date yet for these works.
Forest Hill in south-east London is set to benefit from the proposed extension and estate agents Kinleigh Folkard & Hayward describe the area as an "undiscovered pocket of south-east London", although speculative buying is already taking place.
For more information and updates on all transport improvements in London, contact Transport for London.
This article was last updated on 22 August 2006