Olympics and 1st Time Buyer's in East London

Background

The success of the London Olympic Bid will lead the East London property market to outperform the rest of the country during the run up to the 2012 Games. For the next seven years, this part of London will experience the most intensive regeneration and development in the country.

Superior property price growth is a common factor experienced by all Olympic host cities during the run up to the various Games of the last few decades. Apart from the actual event itself, there are many causes for the relatively better house price growth experienced by cities hosting such events.

Causes of Property Price Appreciation in Olympic Cities

Area Regeneration

Prior to 1992 Barcelona’s coastline was one of the least desirable sections of the city. They seafront that now is home to the Olympic Village is now one of the most desired property locations. The Olympics' greatest legacy in Barcelona was the total makeover of an area that was once full of disused warehouses and dilapidated industrial land.

The Olympics helped turn Barcelona into one of the top tourist destinations in Europe. All these factor significantly affected house prices – Barcelona experienced above a three-fold increase in house prices during the six years prior to 1992.

In the words of DPM John Prescott the Olympics development programme, the largest in the country, will integrate with the regeneration work continuing in the Thames Gateway to ensure that we not only create an event, but a long-term set of leisure facilities, homes, jobs and thriving communities.

The Games will bring great environmental benefits by reclaiming contaminated land. The area proposed for the Olympic Village is the Lower Lea Valley in East London. This area has great potential as an environmental zone, with its unique network of waterways and marshland. At the moment, the area is described as a ‘brownfield site’. This expression is used to define areas which are underdeveloped, derelict, contaminated or vacant. As well as becoming home to the proposed Olympic Village, this area will be the biggest new park London has seen since Victorian times.

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