Flats for first-time buyers in London's Olympic boomtown: Prospect East in Stratford launches shared-ownership homes from £106k

Shared-ownership homes are launching next to the Athletes' Village on the doorstep of east London's thriving Olympic Park neighbourhood.
Fast track: joggers alongside the Lee Navigation with the London 2012 Olympic Stadium in view, West Ham FC’s new base for the new season
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Ruth Bloomfield26 April 2016

Four years after the London Games Stratford is flying high, achieving what precious few Olympic cities have managed in the recent past: long-term regeneration on the back of two weeks of sporting exploits.

The Olympic legacy to the east London town already includes a major public park, landmark sporting venues and a giant shopping centre. There are also plans for a £1.3 billion cultural quarter called Olympicopolis, with an outpost of the V&A Museum, a Sadler’s Wells theatre and a campus for the London College of Fashion.

Housing is the backbone of the development. A report this month by JLL forecasts that prices in the area will increase by four per cent this year, and by 20 per cent between now and 2020. However, London Mayor Boris Johnson has promised that about a third of the new homes will be affordable and aimed at first-time buyers.

Where to start your search: London's shared-ownership homes

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East Thames housing association has just launched Prospect East, one of the first clusters of homes aimed at buyers priced off the mainstream housing ladder. Prices start at £106,500 for a 30 per cent share of a one-bedroom flat with a full market value of £355,000. Adding mortgage, rent, and monthly service charge of around £125, the total monthly cost for buyers comes in at £1,233.

Two-bedroom flats start at £145,500 for a 30 per cent share, with monthly costs calculated at £1,664, and there are also some three-bedroom flats at the development, priced from £173,250 for 30 per cent. These will cost £1,986 per month.

“We are building a sustainable community,” says Tony Harker, director of sales and marketing. “We are already selling private homes and we are getting a real mix of people — single people, couples, people with children, a few investors.

£106,500: 30 per cent of a one-bedroom Prospect East flat


“All the flats have some sort of private outdoor space, and there will also be linear landscaping built beside the homes. There are some commercial units and we hope to have a community café as well as a local supermarket. The site is right next to the Athletes’ Village where lots of new independent shops are opening up.”

Residents have the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park on their doorsteps, with running and cycle tracks, gyms, the Lee Valley VeloPark, now open to the public, and the Olympic stadium itself, which is in the process of becoming the new home for West Ham FC.

Prospect East: Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park is on the doorstep and linear landscaping will be built beside the homes


For shopping, the massive Westfield Stratford City mall is close at hand. And, since Prospect East is on the western side of the Olympic Park, it is less than a mile from the smaller but rapidly improving shopping and eating experience that is Leyton.

For commuters, Stratford is exceptionally well connected, with high-speed trains to St Pancras — and Paris — plus the Docklands Light Railway to Canary Wharf, and Central line Tube services to the City and the West End. This year the area was subsumed into Zone 2, making travel cheaper for residents, and next year the east-west Crossrail route will arrive, offering fast services to the City, West End and Heathrow airport.

STRATFORD: THE KNOWLEDGE

Past: Prospect East is on the site of the huge old Stratford railworks.

Future: the Olympic Stadium reopens this summer as West Ham FC’s home.

Trivial pursuit: the population is set to double by 2021, topping 40,000.

£359,000: a two-bedroom flat near Stratford international (Foxtons) 

What it costs: average prices are up 17 per cent in a year to £354,080.

First-time buy: Foxtons has a two-bedroom flat near Stratford International station for £359,000.

Eat: home-made cake at Sawmill Café in West Ham Lane.

Drink: Blackberry Mojitos at Print House in the High Street.

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