By Hugh Graham.
Black Brick: London’s Family Home Market Is Thriving — But Only If You Know Where to Look
London’s property market is deeply divided, with fierce competition for well-presented family homes below £1.5 million sitting alongside a stagnant super-prime sector and widespread overpricing at higher price points — a bifurcation that Black Brick’s Camilla Dell has been tracking closely, according to reporting in The Sunday Times.
Dell identified the structural reason behind the heat in outer prime London family neighbourhoods such as Fulham, Clapham and Wandsworth. “In the outer prime London family neighbourhoods like Fulham and Clapham we’re definitely seeing increased competition, sealed bids, not enough supply and more buyers than there is available stock,” she told The Sunday Times. The cause is partly demographic and partly tax-driven. “Part of the reason is people are moving less. In the days when stamp duty was lower, people would take baby steps up the housing ladder. Now they save and live with their parents for longer, and when they are ready to buy, they start with a family house. And that has caused increased competition.”
The data bears this out. PropCast analysis of 35 London postcodes found 26 were hot or very hot for properties between £1 million and £2 million, with Dulwich and Tulse Hill (SE21) recording 71% of listed properties under offer — a genuinely frenetic market by any measure. Homes in this price bracket sold 14% more quickly than at all other price points across the capital in 2024, according to Savills.
The picture changes sharply above £2 million. In the £2 million to £5 million bracket, 26 of the same 35 postcodes were cold or very cold — reflecting a smaller buyer pool, stamp duty friction above the £1.5 million threshold, and persistent buyer aversion to properties requiring renovation. Only 34% of properties listed above £1 million sold in 2024, according to TwentyCi, underlining the importance of realistic pricing and expert guidance in navigating this polarised market.
For buyers and sellers alike, understanding exactly where the heat lies — and where it does not — is where Black Brick’s expertise delivers most.
As featured in The Sunday Times
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