New homes in Harrow

Spotlight on Harrow

Traditionally seen as a family location, Harrow's ongoing redevelopment and fantastic transport links have led to an influx of professional buyers. Prices have risen above the London average in recent years, yet this borough still offers good value for money. Heart of Harrow – transforming Harrow and Wealdstone town centres The Heart of Harrow is a programme to invest £1.75bn in Harrow and Wealdstone town centres. It will deliver 5,500 new homes, two new schools, around 3,000 new jobs and a range of upgraded infrastructure. Identified as one of the Mayor of London’s Opportunity Areas, this area is also set to benefit from nearly 70,000 sq m of new floor space for retail, commercial and leisure use.[1] Harrow town centre has already received over £2m of investment from the Mayor’s Outer London Fund, matched by £1m from Harrow Council. Streets have been redesigned and the overall environment made more modern and inviting with new pavements, benches, planting, signage and lighting.[2] As part of the Heart of Harrow scheme, developers will further enhance the town centre by creating a new public square and a central public library. Harrow View – the largest development in a generation On the site of a former Kodak printworks, north of the town centre, Harrow is about to see its largest single new development for 50 years. As part of the Heart of Harrow housing zone, plans now being consulted on include 1,800 new homes alongside offices, shops, a health centre and a primary school. Known as Harrow View, the scheme is expected to produce 1,500 new jobs and deliver £10m worth of infrastructure improvements.[3] A new civic centre to make room for more housing There are also plans to redevelop the vast Civic Centre site to make better use of the land. A new Civic Centre, just a fifth of the size of the existing one, and will be built in Wealdstone, paving the way for over 1,000 new homes – hundreds of which will be affordable – along with shops, cafes and a primary school.[4] With recent data revealing that 39% of buyers in the area are getting on the property ladder for the first time – outnumbering landlords two to one[5] – this site represents another great opportunity for first-time buyers. Fast connections to central London Harrow is in Zone 5, yet journey times from this borough can often be faster than those from Zone 2.  At peak times, trains from Harrow on the Hill to Marylebone station take only 16 minutes[6], while those from Harrow & Wealdstone to Euston take just 14 minutes[7].  The borough also has five underground lines, is close to the M1, M25 and M40 motorways, and has easy access to Heathrow airport. High-performing schools Harrow is known for the quality of its schools. Almost all the borough’s state primary schools are judged to be 'good' or better by government education watchdog Ofsted – with 11 judged 'outstanding'.There are also six 'outstanding' state comprehensive schools[8]. The most famous school in the borough is Harrow School. Founded in 1572 and set in 300 beautiful acres, it is a full-boarding independent school for boys aged 13-18, with a long list of alumni that includes seven former Prime Ministers. Current asking prices and rental yields As of January 2017, the average value of properties in the borough of Harrow is £515,002. This has seen an increase of 2.64% in the last 12 months and 39.73% in the last five years. For a two-bedroom apartment, the average asking price is £419,669 and the average asking rent is £1,424pcm, which means the gross rental yield is currently 4.10%.[9]   This content is correct as of January 2017