Property buyers are spending more than £12,000 for just a square metre in the north London borough, figures show
Camden has been named the fourth most expensive borough in London per square meter, costing over three times as much as the capital’s cheapest borough, Barking and Dagenham, according to Office for National Statistics (ONS) analysis of 2016 property prices.
In 2016, when the average cost of property sold in England and Wales was £2,395 per square metre, one square metre of floor space – an area about the size of a red phone box – costs almost £12,671 in Camden, while in Barking and Dagenham, the same amount of space costs £3,994.
Unsurprisingly, ONS analysis revealed that 19 of the top 20 most expensive local authority areas are in London, with Kensington and Chelsea (£19,439), the City of London (£17,371), Westminster (£16,246) and Camden (£12,671) topping the list. Islington (£9,730), Hackney (£8,564) and Tower Hamlets (£8,545) also made the top ten.
Camden, with price per square meter recorded as £6,068 in 2006, is one of only five London boroughs to have broken the £10,000 per square metre price tag in 2016, doubling its figures over the last decade.
James Morton, Director at north London estate agents Benham & Reeves said: “Camden as a borough covers a multitude of different locations, and that’s the reason it has risen so well. With the likes of sought after Hampstead, West Hampstead, Belsize Park, St John’s Wood, Primrose Hill, Camden itself and parts of Highgate within the area, it is no suprise figures have doubled over the course of the last decade.”
“Moreover, what were the cheaper areas within the borough ten years ago are now catching up, which is also why Camden has seen an especially large rise.”
Having revealed Barking and Dagenham to be London’s cheapest borough based on price per square meter, Havering (£4,185) followed in at a close second.
Interestingly, Newham and Redbridge are in the top five boroughs that showed the lowest increase in house prices per square metre over the last decade, but this is still a fairly healthy 60-70 per cent rise.
ONS data covers houses and flats bought in England and Wales between 2004 and 2016. For more information about the cheapest and most expensive areas in England and Wales to buy property, visit visual.ons.gov.uk
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