Roughly a decade after the plan was approved to turn it from a dilapidated former coal-fired power plant to a top-end living and retail space, Battersea Power Station opened at the end of last year — amid challenging times for the housing market.
House prices are falling faster than at any point since 2008, according to November data from Halifax bank, as rising mortgage rates reduce what buyers can afford and cause many to hold off from purchases, anticipating price falls. The Office for Budget Responsibility has predicted average UK prices will drop 9 per cent over the next two years.
The south London area is feeling the slowdown. In SW8, the postcode containing Battersea and much of the wider residential, cultural and business quarter Nine Elms, the number of sales agreed subject to contract last November was about half what it was in November 2021, according to property portal Zoopla.
Paul, 35, who did not want to give his real name, was renting a shared flat with his husband and two friends, roughly 10 minutes’ walk from the power station, until December.
“With rising interest rates, buying a home in the area is certainly out of our budget,” he says, “and we don’t feel like we are ready to move to the suburbs quite yet.”
Locals appreciate the proximity of shops and the river Thames to their homes © Steve Price/Alamy
At the same time, prices in the rental market are escalating rapidly. When their landlord told them he wanted to sell, Paul, his husband and the other tenants had to leave their three-bedroom flat. They had been paying £3,466 per month — and the price of similar, available local homes was about double that. The average monthly rent in SW8 has increased by 34 per cent in