Agency opens in Nine Elms and bucks trend by predicting growth

An agency that has opened a new office in the controversial Nine Elms area of London has published research claiming that “contrary to recent reporting” the location’s prices have “remained robust.”

Just last week the investment company London Central Portfolio, using data from the Land Registry and consultancy London Residential Market Analysis, stated that square foot prices for the new-build developments at Nine Elms were down eight per cent on their 2014 highs. This came, said LCP, as square foot values across the capital as a whole had risen an average of 23 per cent in the same period.

In June the buying agency Black Brick stated that “areas such as Nine Elms in Vauxhall and Earls Court in west London are particularly vulnerable” to economic uncertainty, and contrasted them with what it called “stand-out developments” like the Television Centre scheme in London that would be more robust in uncertain times.

However, now JLL - which over a year ago announced a new office in the Riverlight development at Nine Elms - has now produced, by contrast, an upbeat report.

“Contrary to recent reporting, JLL’s research shows that average new build values and sales rates have remained robust, nearly doubling since Riverlight – the first residential scheme – launched in 2011” claims a research report. 

“Across Nine Elms, average value growth for residential has been nearly 35 per cent between 2011 and the end of 2015, with an anticipated six per cent growth forecast by 2020. Furthermore, sales volumes across the area have broadly doubled year on year, with a modest tapering in 2015 in line with slower market activity for all prime markets” it continues.

Last week, technology giant Apple announced it was to have its London headquarters at nearby Battersea Power Station, providing what some analysts see as a lifeline for the large-scale redevelopment of the area.