Commuters prepared to pay huge premiums to live close to tube

According to a survey carried out by website hotproperty.co.uk, home owners can expect to add anything from £10,000 to £30,000 to the value of their property for every five minutes closer to a tube they live.

They also found that commuters are not prepared to walk more than 30 minutes to a tube station which, if correct, makes homes situated on the south of the A4 less desirable than their equivalent on the north side to those who rely on the tube for transport.

We asked two Chiswick property experts their opinion. Oliver Finn’s Christian Harper said “I would agree that the value of your property increases the closer you get to a tube station. I would suggest that the value would be greater than 10k - 30k in Chiswick but I think that we should ask the question why in more detail.”

He continued “Being close to a tube is very important to most of us but it is usually fair to say that many other attractions are usually close to the tube. So by living close to the tube you are also living close to the shops etc. So if as a buyer or tenant you want to live close to the tube are you really asking to live close to the hub of the area? If that were the case I would suggest they are prepared to pay a much larger premium.”

Tim Dalby-Quenet, Manager at Bushells' Chiswick office said, "It's certainly true that being close to an underground station has always been desirable but one also has to balance close proximity with noise, possible parking problems and pedestrian traffic.

“We have always valued properties according to their proximity to local transport links and other amenities but in our experience, each property in each road has to be considered on its own merit.

“I don't think this report changes the value of existing properties but it provides strong advice to potential investors and landlords."

November 6, 2007