Friday 15 November 2019 2:36 pm

Focus on Wood Green: First-time buyers flock to this up-and-coming North London locale

Known to many Londoners as the gateway to a night out at the Alexandra Palace, Wood Green is situated on the border between North East and North West London, just within the North Circular.

It is also home to Wood Green Animal Shelter, one of the largest in London which was recently the subject of Channel 4 documentary The Dog House.

But what of its property market?

While it is close to upmarket Crouch End and Muswell Hill, Wood Green’s house prices have consistently undercut the London average. This has not escaped the attention of first-time buyers, who were responsible for 48 per cent of house sales last year according to Hamptons International.

“With rising London house prices, buyers have taken their search to locations like Wood Green, which offer better value than their more established neighbours,” says Frances Clacy, research analyst at Savills.

‘Improving’ lifestyle offer

Hamptons International says the average Wood Green house price in the year to date was £545,090; 10 per cent, less than the London average. However, prices have been rising steadily. In 2019 alone, they increased by four per cent while London as a whole saw a 1.6 per cent fall.

But is it a good place to live? “Its zone 3 location and straightforward connectivity to central London is one of the reasons that Wood Green has strong appeal among first-time buyers and second steppers,” says Clacy. “There’s also the improving retail and going out scene, which provides the lifestyle offering people want.”

The high street still has a way to go, but highlights include Victorian-style boozer The Starting Gate, Charlie’s Cafe and Bakery and Turkish and Mediterranean restaurant Tarshish.

First-time buyer interest has led to a rise in new apartment blocks being built in Wood Green. New developments include Montmorency Park, a scheme of more than 400 one, two and three-bed apartments on the border between Wood Green and New Southgate, where prices start at £344,750 for a one-bed.

There is plenty of Victorian and Georgian housing stock in the area, too, often of a similar calibre to Crouch End but, for now, without the price tag. If Wood Green continues to buck the downward trend, that may not be the case for long.