New high speed rail services coming to Kent at the end of this year mean that the county is well-poised to spring out of the house price recession. House prices in Kent are set to catch up with the other home counties where rail connections to London have historically been faster. Estate agency, Savills, states that average house prices outside the M25 fall by £1,000 for each additional minute of rail travel on routes out of London. It also identifies that on this measure parts of Kent ‘provide relatively short commutes at relatively low average property prices’ and that reducing travel times to the Capital has the ability to add value to residential property.*

Kent prices are significantly lower than prices for comparable properties in Sussex, Surrey and the western home counties. With towns in Kent and the county’s natural beauty being more than comparable, some would say superior, the price differential is down to the county’s rail links and the ease of commuting into London.

Kent’s future reflects that of comparable European towns where high speed rail links have brought increased prosperity measured through economic activity and property prices. This echos comments made by London & Continental Railways after publication of a report that showed that Kent values are expected to soar by a total of £1.6 billion.
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The forthcoming rail improvements are expected to coincide with a rise in the general market for housing, as evidenced by the Nationwide price index in March revealing increases in both house prices and mortgage approvals. The figures show that in the ‘Outer Metropolitan Area’ newly built homes have increased in price by just under 14 per cent in the first quarter of this year. These figures support anecdotal evidence from house builders that sales levels are increasing as new homes purchasers take advantage of historically low prices. The increase in mortgage approvals comes after similar increases were recorded by the Building Societies Association in February. Further, despite the Halifax survey results in January also showing a rise, it is notable in both surveys that the results were described by their sources as a ‘surprise’. How many surprises do they need before they can detect a trend? Importantly these mortgage approval figures are supported in the Nationwide survey by new buyer enquiries, which are at an historic high, up to the peaks recorded in 2003 and 2006.

Within Kent, in areas such as Tonbridge and Malling, homes’ values carried on rising until July 2008, after many other areas across the country had already started to decline. According to the Land Registry, prices in the borough have only declined by eight per cent since the peak of the market. The area is well-placed to bounce back early as the impact of the new rail links start to be felt.

Tonbridge and Malling is the home of Kings Hill, the ‘cherry on the cake’ of Kent. Located in the area of Kent with the highest 10% of the county’s household income, Kings Hill is a great place to live for all the family with plenty of fresh air, a safe environment, a country park and good schools. Almost as many homes at Kings Hill were sold in 2008 as were sold in 2006, showing that its popularity endures, recession or no recession. Stock of completed homes at Kings Hill is already low following a number of sales since the start of the year and keenly priced homes now offer purchasers a chance to buy in before the ‘rail effect’ starts to be felt and prices start to rise. Such homes stands every chance of being an excellent investment in the years to come as demand starts to exceed supply.
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Prices in Tonbridge and Malling are particularly attractive for Londoners, who are paying almost double the amount in London for the same amount of accommodation. Even in Sevenoaks, less than 12 miles away, properties are over 41 per cent more expensive than Kings Hill, illustrating that Kings Hill offers excellent value for money.

As the closest location in the UK to Continental Europe, Kent is a European location with all the business advantages of the UK perfectly positioned between the markets of London (7m consumers) and Europe (454m consumers). It is easily accessible with superb transport links, is keen to attract foreign investment and is already home to over 400 foreign owned companies. There is fast motorway access to London (60 mins) London Heathrow (73 mins), London Gatwick (47 mins), London Stansted (71 mins) from the centre of Kent.

Kent is also home to Kent International Airport which is Kent's developing international freight and passenger airport and mainland Europe is 35 minutes away via Eurotunnel's car and freight shuttles.

High speed rail services already run from Ebbsfleet International to many European cities. Travel times from Ebbsfleet are Lille - 70 minutes, Brussels - 101 minutes and Paris - 125 minutes. From 2009, high speed domestic rail services between Kent and London will considerably reduce travel times from a number of locations across the county. London St Pancras will only be 17 minutes from Kent's Ebbsfleet International Station and 37 minutes from Ashford International Station. The county has seven freight and passenger ports.

More information about the homes for sale at Kings Hill is available by visiting www.kings-hill.com

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Note for editors:
*Planning in London, issue 64 - article by Lucien Cook, director, Savills research

Kings Hill is a development by Liberty Property Trust UK (formerly Rouse Kent) and Kent County Council in association with selected residential developers Antler Homes, Environ Communities, Hillreed Homes and Ward Homes.

Liberty Property Trust UK Ltd is a subsidiary of US-based Liberty Property Trust, a Real Estate Investment Trust listed on the New York Stock Exchange, which owns and manages more than 700 properties totalling 75 million sq ft, accommodating 2,100 occupiers. Liberty Property Trust UK Ltd and Kent County Council have formed a collaborative public/private sector ‘partnership’ having entered into a development agreement to create an exemplar mixed-use community. Kings Hill is the county’s flagship development for attracting inward investment and promoting regional economic growth and delivers in all areas of existing and evolving Government policy priorities.

For further information contact Jeremy Dodd on 01344 894500. Issued on behalf of the residential housebuilders at Kings Hill by RLS Public Relations Limited.

This news release (and illustration) is issued in accordance with clause 1.2j of the British Codes of Advertising and Sales Promotion and therefore cannot be subject to a transaction of any kind.
6.4.09 – Info 0904 Kent price differential