The firm analysed house price growth from the start and end of each term running back over the last five terms and three individuals to have held the position.
According to the figures show that with the exception of Boris Johnson’s first term as Mayor and one that started in the midst of a property market crash, Sadiq Khan has presided over the worst period of house price growth in the capital.
Since he took office in May 2016, London house prices have climbed just 6.2%. While prices climbed by just 3% during Johnson’s first term between May 2008 and 2012, his second term did see them increase by a far steeper 54% until Khan took over in 2016.
During Johnson’s total time in the role, London house prices increased by 58% between May 2008 and 2016. This rate of growth has been surpassed by one man though. During Ken Livingstone’s two terms as Mayor of London between May 2000 and 2004, house prices in the capital shot up by 110%.
Interestingly, the rate of growth under Livingstone as an independent Mayor of London sat at 61% during his first term. This then fell to just 30% during his second term when he held the position as a Labour Mayor of London.
Despite an overall lower rate of growth, house prices in some boroughs have climbed notably during Sadiq Khan’s time in office. In Barking and Dagenham the average house price has increased 21% since 2016, while Newham (19%) and Waltham Forest (18%) have also seen some of the largest increases.
This hasn’t been the case everywhere though. The City of London (-20%), Hammersmith and Fulham (-15%), Kensington and Chelsea (-5%) and Westminster (-1%) have all seen house prices decline.
Islay Robinson, CEO of Enness Global Mortgages, commented: “It’s perhaps unfair to say that Said Khan has been the worst London Mayor in over two decades where property price growth is concerned and a comparison would mean allowing him a second term in the role.
That said, there certainly seems to be some correlation between a Labour Mayor of London and a poor performing property market in the capital.
Of course, we can only go based on what the numbers tell us and in the case of Sadiq Khan, he certainly seems to have helped stimulate boroughs at the bottom end of the property price ladder, while London’s prime boroughs have actually seen values fall during his time in office.”
