Hackney: A Home to Renewal, Rising Value and Racing Demand
The London borough of Hackney is steeped in history. With a transformation rooted in contemporary art and catalyzed by the Olympic games, Hackney has shifted from one of London’s “least-loved boroughs to one of it’s most desirable.”
A home to rising value and racing demand
In the past year, Hackney has experienced the fastest house price growth in the capital in rising by 9.5% between September 2016 and September 2017.
Its performance, however, is not exclusively tied to recent months. Over a ten-year timeline, Hackney still holds first place in London, leading the way with a rise of 124.3% between 2007 and 2017.
According to a report by Lloyds Bank published in 2016, “property prices in the borough have soared by 702 per cent, from £75,000 in 1996 to more than £605,000 in 2016.”
“Strolling around Hackney in 2016, you’re likely to come across more trendy pizza parlours, artisan coffee shops and independent fashion boutiques per square metre than any other borough in the capital.”
- Liz Connor, Gareth Richman, The Evening Standard
In April 2017, Hackney was listed as London’s newest £1 million flat hotspot. In 2006, the borough failed to have a single million-pound flat sale, yet after “a decade of steady regeneration and astronomical house price growth,” 47 were recorded in 2016.
A history of transformation
To think, however, that Hackney was once synonymous with “deprivation and urban grime” seems so far beyond its current status.
Yet the borough’s change took time. Hackney’s transformation was in flux for decades before it settled to where it is now. Circa 1750, it was forecast to excel “all other Villages in the Kingdom and probably upon Earth.” Though a century on, the borough was home to some of the highest crime rates in London. In the 1980’s, it was deemed to be one of the “poorest local authority areas in the nation” by its own council.
But its most recent (and perhaps most influential) wave of change took root in the early 1990’s, and began with artists. In offering cheap studio space in old warehouses just 3 miles from the center of London, Hoxton quickly became the newly adopted home of the Young British Artists, also known as the YBA.
In April 2000, Jay Jopling’s White Cube Gallery moved from the West End of London to Hoxton Square in Hackney. The gallery was the first to offer one person shows to the Young British Artists, including Damien Hirst and Tracey Emin.
The area gained more and more popularity, and in 2002, the White Cube Gallery received an additional two floors.
“Hoxton—which had previously been a little bit forgotten, seen as a little bit run down and unpleasant—suddenly got this reputation as the center of contemporary art in London.”
- Martin Phillips, Mansion Global
The White Cube, however, faced a bout of criticism. The Stuckists, a group of artists who “opposed the sterility of the white wall gallery system,” opened their own colour-walled gallery on a nearby street. Such conflict, however, acted only as a testament to the area’s centrality to the arts scene in London.
After announcing the closure of the White Cube in 2012, it was agreed that the gallery “led the transformation of Hoxton,” and that it was “one the dominant forces for the re-energisation and revamping of Hoxton.”
Hackney was undoubtedly a hub of creativity. Yet the development of this reputation soon pushed house prices up, and both Hoxton and Shoreditch became unaffordable. Though remaining in Hackney, the artists migrated eastwards to Dalston.
Likewise, property developers started gravitating towards Dalston’s potential, and began “rapidly replacing the worst of its public housing (and controversially, some historic buildings) with new apartments.”
Hackney’s house prices continued to grow, boosted in part by the Olympic games, for which Hackney held almost a third of the park. The Council capitalised on the way in which the games placed a global spotlight on the borough. The scope of the redevelopment was “extraordinary”, as detailed in “Hackney: A legacy from 2012.” Regeneration plans included a boost for sports facilities, arts and culture, housing and transport.
“Little has changed inside the arena—even some of the stars pounding around its track are the same—but the neighbourhood outside is transformed…The greatest risk of old Olympic parks is that they turn into deserts, but London’s is humming.”
- Assessing London’s Olympics, Five Years On, The Economist
In July 2012, Homerton, Dalston and Shoreditch, were recorded to have seen house prices rise by £100,000 since 2005.
Current demand
The borough is continuing to attract property developers. Quadra, for example, is a housing development close to London Fields and exclusively available to individuals over the age of 55. The “contemporary, airy-looking” project entered the spotlight in May 2017 with the associated controversy of age-exclusivity, though it has been described as an “aspirational product.”
The project’s selling points include nearby attractions, such as Broadway Market and London’s only Olympic-sized pool.
“It’s certainly easy to see why an older couple might want to move into a two-bed flat at Quadra. The neighbourhood is vibrant, walkable and full of youthful energy.”
- Rosie Spinks, The Guardian
(Image source)
Hackney Wick station is currently undergoing a £25 million revamp, with works set to be completed by January 2018.
In 2017, Hackney welcomed London’s first luxury outlet shopping district, Hackney Walk, which includes Burberry, Nike and Aquascutum, some of which are “housed in glamorously revamped golden railway arches designed by starchitect David Adjaye.”
“Hackney as a whole has seen 21% business growth since 2004, nearly double London’s rate. This new activity is concentrated primarily in media, technology and consulting.”
- Hackney.gov.uk
Hackney is steeped in history and character, and additional regeneration plans are set to enhance the borough’s reputation further, suggesting that rapid growth could continue in the coming years.
Capital at risk