Izard drew parallels between Nine Elms and Canary Wharf 10-15 years ago.
Nine Elms in Battersea could be like Canary Wharf in 10-15 years’ time, Investec Private Bank’s business development manager Peter Izard has predicted.
While estate agents have warned about an oversupply of luxury property in the area, Izard thinks it has all the necessary ingredients to be a prime London location, like the commercial estate.
A key factor is the extension of the Northern Line on the London Underground, which is set to open in Battersea in Autumn2021. A US embassy also opened in the area in December 2017.
Izard said: “Fresh developments are creating new prime locations in London. We know the obvious ones – Nine Elms in Battersea.
“Battersea Power Station, with that shopping development and the regentrification of that, it’s like Canary Wharf of 10-15 years ago.
“I remember Canary Wharf when we were lending with a previous lender, there were spots around that area where it was oversaturated, and lenders didn’t get the point of lending there.
“Whereas now you look at Canary Wharf and they are still building but effectively the building has been predominantly undertaken now; Canary Wharf is a city within a city and the demand is still very strong.
“So I see Nine Elms as very much the same; allow it to bed in, allow it to be taken up as stock etcetera.
“Infrastructure is crucial… great transport communications and civic amenities are the key factors that make a property prime.”
The bank has noticed increased regeneration in the East and South of London.
Investec found that new build in 2017 made up £5bn worth of prime sales in England and Wales, 16% of the prime market.
Izard noted that a weak pound has benefitted foreign buyers.
Indeed, owing to the uncertainty created by Brexit he argued that the pound is currently undervalued against other currencies.
