New Cross: handy for Millwall

Another groundbreaking piece of social research in Monday's Evening Standard, looking at the impact of the East London Line on house prices:

'Exclusive research for the Evening Standard today showed the value of properties in areas such as Haggerston, Shadwell, Wapping and New Cross have risen sharply over the past two years.
Estate agents along the route from Dalston in the north to Crystal Palace and West Croydon in the south have seen a flood of enquiries from workers looking for quick transport links into central London'.

It includes summaries for some of the areas along the line, including New Cross and Brockley:

'New Cross/Gate [Average House] Price: £286,036 (+22.7%). Best roads: Billington Road and Pepys Road for Victorian houses. Why live there: Excellent if you are a Millwall fan. Good pubs include the Amersham Arms. “Outstanding” Haberdashers' Aske's Hatcham College. Who lives there: Musician Steve Harley grew up here.

Brockley [Average House] Price: £294,157 (+7.8%). Best roads: Five minutes' walk from the station, Wickham Road is rated one of the area's best. Why live there: The area is not short of green spaces with Blythe Hill, Brockley and Hilly Fields. Who lives there: actor David Haig and musician Nick Nicely'.

The article is based on the totally unbiased view of housing offered by local estate agents, who as usual are peddling two contradictory stories:

1. South East London is always already cheap, you can afford to live here.
2. House prices in South East London are always already rising, if you buy here you will be able to make money in the long run.

There's no questioning of the assumption that rising house prices are intrinsically a good thing - no interviews with people who might now not be able to afford to live locally (perhaps despite growing up round here) because of rising prices and their knock on effects on rents.

Anyway the fact that the Standard article highlighted the Millwall connection, complete with a photo of banner waving fans, should help to keep New Cross more affordable for a while longer!