Wealthy homebuyers choose Wandsworth

Posted: 25 Apr 2006 10:03:17 GMT

Convenience is the order of the day for the UK's high earners, with increasing numbers ignoring reputation and choosing locations only a short distance from work.

A new report has found that traditional London hotspots including Kensington, Chelsea and Mayfair are no longer as popular as they once were, with Tower Hamlets sneaking into the top five choices among the richest homebuyers.

The first choice for wealthy workers is now Wandsworth, according to research by Pan Peninsula, with Hammersmith & Fulham, Camden and Islington making up the next three.

It has been reported that the average high earner now commutes for around 59 minutes a day and 42 per cent of these want to reduce the time. Furthermore, 47 per cent would prefer to move house than change jobs or their mode of transport.

The report calculates that by cutting a commute time by just 20 minutes, Londoners can save the equivalent of around 8.3 days a year and so it is perhaps unsurprising that there has been a refiguring of homebuyer patters in the capital.

Andrew Covill, sales and marketing director of Pan Peninsula, commented: "The fact that people are choosing parts of London such as Tower Hamlets, Hackney and Southwark is great. It shows they have their priorities right and want to maximise their free time by being near their place of work."

The downside for the average homebuyer is perhaps that house prices could be expected to rise in areas that had previously been fairly stable.

Homebuyers and sellers alike are becoming more astute in the property market, however, with more and more taking the option of completing the transaction privately to avoid the fees typically paid in commission.


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