Clapham has firmly established itself as a home for both young professionals passing through and families looking to put down deeper roots. This is reflected on the High Street which caters for both and has become a shopping and evening destination in its own right.
As a corner of South London with several tube stations, its connections to the West End and The City are second to none. This makes it the top spot for north Londoner's house hunting south of the river. Over the last decade, those buying their first home or trading up in Clapham have increasingly stayed in the neighbourhood rather than moving on elsewhere. While across the capital as a whole buyers have generally moved further in search of extra space, Clapham Common and other open spaces have kept locals close to home.
The strength of the local market means sellers in Clapham have been able to achieve an average of 98.4% of their initial asking price so far this year, a larger proportion than at any time since 2014. It's a similar story across the rest of London too, where despite much talk of migration out to the country, London sellers are achieving more of their asking price than at any time in the last five years.
With fewer homes on the market than a year ago, it takes an average of 58 days to sell a home in Clapham, less time than in 2018, 2019 or 2020. Time to sell here remains higher than the London average, with homes selling faster in Outer London than Inner London. And while it takes longer to sell a house in London than anywhere else in the country, time to sell in the capital still remains low by historical standards.
RENTAL OUTLOOK
Rents in Clapham rose 2.4% over the last year, despite falls across much of Inner London. Rental growth here has been focussed on larger homes with gardens as tenants increasingly split their time between working from home and travelling the Northern Line into Zone One. Conversely, rents on smaller flats, particularly those without access to outside space, have remained close to where they were on the eve of the pandemic.
Until recently, London was the only region of the country where rents were falling, driven by Inner London. But there are signs that the tide is turning. For the first time since April 2020, the average rent in Inner London rose on a monthly basis. While the average rental home in Inner London cost 16.5% or £415 pcm less than it did this time last year, rents jumped 4.3% month-on-month between May and June, the largest monthly increase on record. Meanwhile, in Outer London, annual rental growth hit 9.4%, the strongest on record.
