Under the radar: where to rent along London's DLR line for fast Canary Wharf commutes and high-speed Crossrail links

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Ruth Bloomfield29 August 2018

More than 30 years after the Docklands Light Railway opened, its somewhat exotically named further reaches remain a bit of a mystery to many Londoners. Pontoon Dock? Prince Regent? Really, who knows?

However, the swathe of the capital encircling the Royal Docks is the focus of a series of important regeneration schemes that are rapidly transforming industrial wasteland into convenient housing hotspots served by the DLR and close to Canary Wharf and the City.

Transport links will be improved still further in December when Crossrail launches.

A “period property” in this area means something built in about 1990 but if you are looking to rent a hassle-free contemporary apartment at a competitive price, Zones 3 and 4 on the DLR could provide the ideal solution.

CUSTOM HOUSE
Custom House will be a single stop from Canary Wharf on the Crossrail line which will give the area its first fast, direct links to the City and West End. You can also hop on to the Emirates Air Line, for a hair-raising half-mile cable car ride across the Thames to Greenwich Peninsula.

Proximity to Canary Wharf makes Custom House one of the more expensive options in the area. According to research by Rightmove, an average two-bedroom flat rents at just over £1,700 a month. Tom Crowe, sales manager at Harrison Property Partners, says the area’s focal point is the Royal Docks, the historic former heartland of London’s shipping industry.

It is now being redeveloped at speed and pioneering locals have been able to enjoy the heatwave, hanging out at the free manmade beach that opens from July until September, learning to row and sail at the London Watersports Centre, or trying their hand at wakeboarding at WakeUp Docklands. “Every time I have been down there it has been packed,” says Crowe.

The docks also have a new open-air contemporary sculpture park, The Line, while the Sunborn is a floating yacht hotel with a glamorous line in cocktails.

£1,350 a month: at Custom House, a one-bedroom flat in the Capital East building, with a private terrace and concierge. Call Outlook on 020 8012 2653

Custom House is also beside ExCeL London exhibition and convention centre, which has a growing number of slightly corporate-feeling cafés and restaurants, and a full programme of events, some interesting — the Cake and Bake show in October is surely a must for those with a sweet tooth.

The area is also greener than you might expect, with several parks, including Canning Town Recreation Ground, within walking distance.

On the south side of the Royal Docks is Pontoon Dock, right beside the ethereal and rather marvellous Thames Barrier Park, and on the doorstep of London City airport.

SILVERTOWN: 3,000 NEW HOMES
This is an area in flux thanks to a £3.5 billion regeneration of Silvertown, a former industrial zone where everything from submarine cables to sugar were once manufactured. Over the next few years the area will see 3,000 new homes built as well as millions of square feet of offices and shops.

Transport links will be enhanced with a new bridge installed over the Royal Docks giving pedestrian access to Custom House station and, of course, Crossrail.

An average two-bedroom flat in one of the area’s two main developments, Royal Wharf or Waterside Park, would cost around £1,660 a month according to Rightmove, although Harrison’s Tom Crowe says there are older buildings where you could find a two-bedroom flat for £1,350 to £1,450 a month.

In regeneration terms Silvertown is a work in progress, and Crowe says most renters coming to the area work either at Canary Wharf or in the City, gravitating to Silvertown for its comparative value and easy commute. Silvertown does have downsides. Flightpath noise will deter some, while those who want amenities right on the doorstep will be disappointed.

“It still needs more facilities,” adds Crowe. “The developments are obviously huge, and there are a few local amenities, but for anything major you would probably have to go into Canary Wharf. It is a bit like how Canary Wharf was 10 years ago.

“The reason people move there is that you can get a flat in a brand-new development that is bigger than you would get for the same money at Canary Wharf, if you are prepared to do a 15-minute commute.”

£2,102 a month: a two-bedroom flat at Western Gateway, E16, part of a warehouse conversion, is available to rent through Foxtons (020 8012 6728)
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WOOLWICH ARSENAL
Looking south of the river and Woolwich Arsenal is a more mature sort of regeneration zone. The area, where armaments were stored to see the British military through conflicts including the Battle of Waterloo and the Crimean War, and where workers formed the football club that eventually morphed into Arsenal Football Club, has been the focus of housebuilding since the early 2000s.

Its biggest development is Berkeley Homes’ Royal Arsenal Riverside, with thousands of homes and a Crossrail station to come, as well as a local pier with river bus services.

An average two-bedroom flat in Woolwich rents at £1,405 a month, according to Rightmove, although Marie Wale, lettings manager at Knight Frank, says this figure covers a multitude of sins. A new two-bedroom flat at Royal Arsenal Riverside, with use of a gym and pool, would cost around £1,733 to £2,058 per month. A slightly older flat, say five to 10 years old, would drop to around £1,516 to £1,625 a month.

In Woolwich town centre prices are lower still: you won’t get any frills but you can find two-bedroom period conversions and purpose-built flats at just over £1,000 a month.

Wale’s clients are almost exclusively twenty-something and thirty-something young professionals working in the City or Canary Wharf and lured here by the prospect of Crossrail. “You can also get more for your money here than you can at Canary Wharf,” she says.

There is also, she feels, more to do at weekends than at Canary Wharf, what with a popular Saturday farmers’ market giving the area some buzz, plus bars and restaurants in the Berkeley Homes development, and neighbourhood restaurants, as well as a full complement of chain stores and supermarkets in Woolwich town centre.

With Blackheath and Greenwich easily accessible for open space, cafés, shops, and restaurants, and the river on the doorstep, Woolwich is starting to look like the complete package for Generation Rent.

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