Property Prices Crash Under the Flight Path

Property Prices on one recently built development under the flight path in Greenwich have crashed whilst those less than a few minutes walk away, but not under the flight path, nor in the noise contour, are flourishing. So it seems that the current general credit crunch effects cannot be applied.

A campaigner recently had their home valued and was told that their property value had decreased by £57,000 in 3 years. And this is just the tip of the iceberg other residents in the same development have lost over £100,000.

It's a tale of two developments - with exactly the same problems - but the only difference being that one is beneath the flight path.

London City Airport recently asked their friends to prove that airport expansion doesn't effect property prices. Interestingly their friends were not brave enough to use the area around London City Airport as an example. Instead they used Farnborough and Heathrow. Once again, it was a clear case of skirting around the real issue, something that LCA is so good at.

Something which is more valuable, and not tinged by the aviation industry is a study by Stop Stanstead Expansion group who were lucky enough to have a specialist to look at the effects of expansion on property values around Stanstead Airport. They estimated, after having looked at property data from over a period of years that: there had been a loss of £800 million on the value of local properties around the Stanstead areas.

What is more, Newham was also plummetting behind on the property front some time ago according to the Newham Recorder, well behind property trends elsewhere.

So how are the Government, house builders and land owners in the areas affected going to convince eager home owners to buy in the Thames Gateway which is overflown by LCA flights at low level? They say there is shortage of homes, but the Thames Gateway already has an image problem without Public Safety Zones and excrutiating noise levels of up to the mid - late 80dbs.

Developments such as Silvertown Quays, Tamesis Point and many others are going to have their work cut out. We'd like to see the developers be more vocal about the effects of expansion on the properties they are building- as the cat is definately out of the bag based on all the current evidence whether they like it or not. Why else wouldn't property agents be telling prospective buyers about the airport expansion plans and the associated noise, whilst others only like to show buyers around at the no flight time - Saturday afternoons.

All in all it's just another way in which residents are paying for the operation of London City Airport and the airlines, along with the £7million pound annual security that London taxpayers pay (which Richard Gooding has no intention of paying - see Wanstead and Woodford Guardian Q & A session with Richard Gooding) , the tax breaks, the pollution and effects on residents health. All picked up by...you, the taxpayer and local resident.

House Purchasing In the Radius Of London City Airport - Are you being told the truth?

Not only will existing residential areas around the airport suffer from increasingly annoying levels of noise from jets upon any expansion - but some of the new developments will be pushed into the second loudest noise contours surrounding London City Airport. That is not going to be a nice place to be at all if expansion goes ahead. Silvertown Quays, we recall is going to be subjected to a whopping 79db laeq. So in reality the noise levels are probably in the 90dbs range.

Interestingly when you look at the marketing materials of some developments by the airport there is no mention of the planned LCA expansion, masterplan, nor of the noise levels experienced or of any possible increase in those levels. How very strange that is. And the same is true of some agents showing prospective buyers of properties for re-sale on the south side of the river - not a mention of the planned expansion of flights - even upon asking directly about it!

Aviation expansion and residential areas do not mix - but so long as councils play down the levels of noise and the disruption from LCA and give planning approval, developers and estate agents will build and sell you the properties. Of course the problem comes after you have purchased the property and realise when you can't have your windows open, you are sealed in your home like a prisoner to drown out the sound of planes, can't spend time outside and you lose money on your property. Still, as long as the councils get their council tax (of which contributes to LCA's £7million security bill) that's all they care about.

And what motivates councils to approve the current level of housebuilding around LCA and also for some not to object to LCA expansion (we still haven't heard Sir Robin Wales's stand on this!). Well it is only one thing - greed. Once you have purchased your home, d0n't expect any help from the developer, Council or local Councillors because in the case of Newham and Greenwich it appears they'd rather not know.

Yes, it really is the case of fleecing the residents who live in the area and whom contribute to the community and regeneration for the case of collecting the gold coins. The Council seems to want it all ways (something they share with LCA!) - but it just doesn't work if you want to build a thriving residential community and the sooner they realise that housebuilding and aviation expansion in the high density housing areas of east and south east London is in conflict - the sooner they can allow the Thames Gateway plans to go ahead and get on with some decent, sustainable and community-building regeneration plans.

We can only wait and see if Newham Council puts residents best interests first: all 46,000+ of them in the noise contours and the many thousands beyond, or whether there will be a public inquiry which may highlight a few of those spun deceptions that are out there floating around from specific sources.

Enough is enough.