If you don’t happen to be a Londoner or know the city well, the streets to the east of the capital may be best known for a certain long-running soap or the sound of Bow bells. 

Certainly it’s an area steeped in history, legacy and change, most recently perhaps the astonishing Olympian feats seen in Stratford in 2012. Our latest report on the East London Corridor – the seven boroughs of Waltham Forest, Havering, Redbridge, Hackney, Tower Hamlets, Newham and Barking & Dagenham – shows it is also uniquely placed in the story of London’s ambitions for much-needed housing.  

It is the most affordable place to buy, with six of the seven boroughs having a lower average house price than London as whole. Our analysis demonstrates that nearly 70 per cent of sales and rental demand in the capital is for homes that cost less than £450 per sq ft, but only a third of supply is expected to come forward at these prices. This presents an opportunity for the corridor to capitalise through new development. It will be in a very strong position to see robust levels of demand compared with elsewhere in London when Help to Buy ends in 2023, curtailing purchasing power.

Currently, however, housing delivery in east London is well short of what’s required – around 64 per cent of new London Plan targets – and the supply pipeline over the next five years suggests this underdelivery is likely to continue. Havering, Redbridge, Barking & Dagenham and Tower Hamlets face ‘a presumption in favour of sustainable development’ for failing to deliver 75 per cent of their requirement in the 2020 Housing Delivery Test, giving developers a significant opportunity to work closely with these boroughs to help bolster supply. 

In addition, the Mayor of London has been asked by government to collaborate with local authorities surrounding the capital to help boost delivery, offering potential for popular Essex commuter towns such as Brentwood and Chelmsford to take advantage of east London’s undersupply and the willingness of buyers to accept a longer commute if they can work from home more often.

Unique affordability and the lack of stock spells opportunities for development and regeneration to unlock future value growth in the East London Corridor while delivering desperately needed housing.  Meanwhile, the region is attracting public and private sector investment, led by the creative and digital industries in particular, which is consolidating it as an attractive place to live. 

Among the players is Dagenham Film Studios which will be London’s largest new film and TV production studio in 25 years, creating an estimated 1,200 jobs, adding £35 million a year to the local economy and helping to write the latest episode in the east London story.

Further information

Contact Bronwyn Jones 

Savills Spotlight: East London Corridor Development