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Ah, Hackney. For some, the East End borough is a Shangri-la of desirable cafés, pubs and artisanal shops, along with access to the type of green spaces we all need when urban life gets a bit much. For others, it’s a clear illustration of the financial extremes that many London boroughs face, with streets of incredible affluence juxtaposed with areas of huge deprivation, as we reported last week about the Baby Bank recently set up in E5 to help struggling families. Millions of Londoners see these contrasts side by side daily.
But in Garrington’s Best Places to Live in 2022 research report, Hackney scooped the top London spot, coming in at a (somewhat lowly) 206 out of 1,372 UK destinations. Over the various categories to decide the champ (no surprise that Bath was the runaway winner) Hackney scored highest for its architectural beauty (184) and green rank (194), while the average family home cost more than £650,000.
That house prices run high, as a result, is no surprise. A quick survey on Rightmove reveals 400 properties currently for sale for £1,000,000 or more in Hackney alone, and you don’t get a huge amount of bang for your buck either if you want something like, oh, maybe a view. A canalside, one-bed warehouse conversion is a snip at £1,200,000.
If you are a fan of Amar Mustafa – aka ‘The REAL Estate Agent’ – on YouTube, who works at Prestige and Village Estate Agents (it’s unlikely given his tiny number of views, but be warned, you will be soon as his videos are adorable and surprisingly addictive) you’ll know that back in 2021 he introduced us to the top 20 most expensive streets in Hackney, via a series of short videos. Here’s his take on number 19 on the list, Mildenhall Road in E5, where house prices now average £1,203,750. Since then, prices have escalated even more, and on Hackney’s most expensive street, Groombridge Road according to Rightmove, properties had an overall average price of £2,545,000 over the last year, 17 percent up on its previous 2016 peak of £2,173,333.
The fact that the elegant street bears more than a passing resemblance to a certain Bath Georgian crescent? We’ll call it the ‘“Bridgerton” Effect’.
Here are the borough’s Top 10 priciest streets, although even last year other Hackney streets such as Lawley Road were contenders:
Groombridge Road, E9: £2,545,000
St Philip’s Road, E8: £2,425,000
Forest Road, E8: £1,800,000
Lavender Grove, E8: £1,629,166
Downs Park Road, E8: £1,590,000
Malvern Road, E8: £1,585,750
Wattisfield Road, E5: £1,550,000
Parkholme Road, E8: £1,549,000
St John’s Church Road, E9: £1,406,000
Maynell Road, E9: £1,325,000
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