Reading and Slough property prices double due to Elizabeth line

Rightmove’s new Elizabeth Line study reveals asking prices have more than doubled over the past decade in the local areas around Twyford, Reading and Slough.

A new study of millions of datapoints from the UK’s biggest property website Rightmove shows how local market activity in areas surrounding stations on the newly launched Elizabeth line has changed over the last ten years.

READ MORE: Elizabeth Line is opening, but not finished - here's why

Despite delays in the line opening, the number of buyers looking to move near the stations has steadily surged, with more than triple the number of buyers contacting estate agents in Twyford.

Twyford, at the end of the western section of the line and the next stop along from better connected Reading, has seen the biggest jump in the number of buyers contacting estate agents, more than tripling compared to ten years ago  at an increase of 245 per cent.

The report shows asking rents have risen the most in Slough, up by 44 per cent, followed by next-stop-along Burnham at 43%.

Tim Bannister, Rightmove’s Director of Property Science, said: "Our unique view of the whole housing market over the last ten years really shows how many areas near stations that are now either better connected, or have seen their journey times into central London significantly slashed, have received a lot of new attention from buyers and renters.

"As the Elizabeth Line opens, it does so with a backdrop of record rents in London, a rising cost of living and a shortage of available homes. Areas further out from central London which have lower asking prices or rents, but are now more easily commutable will be attractive to new buyers and tenants in search of somewhere affordable to live near the capital. Not only this, but new working from home patterns since the pandemic started two years ago will have many people weighing up whether they are prepared to commute from further away if they need to do so less often.”