The WhatHouse? team recently headed across London to get a first-hand look at some of the latest properties for sale at L&Q’s Bow East development.
The development name is certainly very clear about its location. From Bow Road station, on the Hammersmith & City and District Tube lines, it’s an eight-minute walk eastwards along the A11/A118 and a short stroll from the River Lea.
We’re greeted by Sunny Sanger, head of regional sales for L&Q’s East region. He tells us about the site, which was previously derelict and now transformed into a development of 89 one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments in a range of tenures. This includes private sale, private rent and the ones we’re looking at today, available through Shared Ownership.
These were launched in early March, initially as an exclusive to residents of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets but later opened up to buyers across London. There are now just five units remaining for sale, three with two bedrooms and two with three.
It’s been very popular with single buyers and couples. Many have been looking in the area for its accessibility into and out of The City, but there’s also a vibrant local community and things are developing quickly to support a growing, diverse population as the Bromley-by-Bow Masterplan steadily delivers more of the intended 8,000 new homes and many new shops, offices, cafés and restaurants.
Open to first-time buyers and those returning to the property market, with a joint household income of up to £90,000, prices here start at £117,500 for 25% share of a two-bedroom apartment (based on a full market value of £470,000).
The show home we’re in has two bedrooms. Set back a little from the very front of the building, it’s silent indoors, the double glazing blocking traffic noise from the busy main road. We come through the front door to the open-plan kitchen/living room. Professionally decorated and fitted by Hatch Interiors, the show apartment has been given a striking and colourful styling throughout.
The interior design complements the specification of this unit. It has L&Q’s ‘Silver+’ standard, with kitchens from Symphony’s Koncept range featuring integrated appliances from Electrolux and Zanussi, whilst bathrooms are fitted with white Roca sanitaryware sitting against porcelain tiling. Sunny is keen to point out that the company is proud of its standard specification and the upgrades available to buyers with the budget and ambition to personalise their home.
In terms of price range, the most expensive property still for sale here is Plot 22, a three-bedroom duplex apartment over the third and fourth floor with a full market value of £600,000. A 25% share is £150,000, with a monthly rent of £937.50 and service charge of £174.04. This would require a household annual income of £74,257.
There’s still plenty of confusion about Shared Ownership, it seems, but the L&Q sales and marketing team is well prepared to overcome some of the misunderstandings about what it entails. Some people think that purchasing on a part-buy/part-rent basis means they will be living with strangers, for example, and are delighted to find out that that is a myth.
Demonstrating the cultural and artistic opportunities transforming the area, L&Q residents will be neighbours with Bow Arts; an established cultural space supporting over 500 artists which offers yoga classes, film screenings, and a large calendar of performance art. For a taste of Bow’s rich heritage, nearby Roman Road Market, dating back over 150-years, sells local produce alongside artisan street food vendors, offering the East London lifestyle ever-popular with the capital’s first-time buyers.
A wide selection of top-performing schools are close by, including the Ofsted ‘Outstanding’ Colegrave Primary School, Mossbourne Riverside Primary Academy and Chobham Academy. Tertiary education opportunities are also available at nearby Newham College, University of East London and Loughborough’s state-of-the-art postgraduate campus in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.
It’s a very well connected part of the city, too. Aside from Bow Road on the Tube (around six minutes from Liverpool Street and 17 minutes from Oxford Circus), there’s Bow Church on the DLR only five minutes’ walk from home (with journey times of four minutes to Stratford and Westfield, and eight minutes to Canary Wharf). Cycle Superhighway 2 passes right in front of the building along Bow Road and Mile End Road to Aldgate East. There are also a number of day and night bus routes stopping here.
Sunny commented: “Given the brilliant connections into central London, Bow is a natural choice for commuters, whilst the increasingly vibrant arts scene gives it’s a definitive East London feel. Through offering Shared Ownership at Bow East, we’re pleased to open up the opportunity to purchase a home in London to a wide range of first-time buyers.”
To find out more about all this for yourself, the show home at Bow East is available to view by appointment, or find out more at lqpricedin.co.uk/bow-east. Please tell the team there you heard about it through Whathouse.com.