Hayes in West London has continued to rise in notoriety over the past few years. Whilst the people of Hayes would be the first to say that Hayes is not the most glamorous area, in terms of value for money and investment potential, there are few places that can rival it.

We have put together the Opulent top 5 reasons to invest in Hayes and look to explain why property prices in Hayes have a bright future:

1) Existing Transport Links

Hayes has always had great transport links both into London and outside of London to Reading and the home counties. Hayes and Harlington station has recently been refurbished ahead of the grand opening of the Crossrail in June 2022. Travel times as they stand today without Crossrail are already very efficient:

• Heathrow Airport – 12 mins via Heathrow Connect Train
• Paddington Station – 20 mins via First Great Western
• Reading – 40 mins via First Great Western

As a result of the short commute times, more and more people have opted to live in Hayes, which has had a positive effect on house prices in the area.

2) Crossrail

From June 2022 the Crossrail, Europe’s largest infrastructure project is expected to go live from Hayes and Harlington Station. Crossrail is the largest infrastructure project in Europe and is set to overhaul the already short travel times to other parts of London, in some cases by up to 40 minutes.

The new service will see up to 10 trains an hour from Hayes and Harlington station with direct access to several of London’s key employment hubs. Typical journey times from Hayes once the service goes live will be as follows:

• Heathrow Terminals 1,2,3 and 5 – 5 Mins
• Paddington – 16 mins
• Bond Street – 20 mins
• Liverpool Street – 27 mins
• Canary Wharf – 34 mins

3) Regeneration

Since the arrival of Crossrail property prices in the vicinity of Hayes have increased 50% over the last 5 years (Hillingdon Council). Much of this has been attributable to regeneration and the amount of inward investment into Hayes to transform it into a thriving commuter belt town. Through an ongoing plan, the council aim to overhaul the entire Hayes Town Centre, a project that has just gone out to tender and is expected to be in the region of £200m.

In addition to this, the very site our Barnett Apartments sits on is part of a wider regeneration project that will see the creation of over 1500 new homes and lots of commercial area for businesses. This scheme itself is worth over £200m.

Another significant regeneration project in Hayes has been the Old Vinyl Factory redevelopment, the former home of EMI records. This £250m project is ongoing and will see the creation of 600 plus homes, 550,000 sq. ft. of office space and 70,000 sq. ft. of retail and leisure space including a 3 screened cinema, landscaped streets and cafés and restaurants.

All this regeneration has helped transform Hayes into a thriving community where we are seeing a huge upturn in the demand for property which in turn has meant prices in the area have risen considerably and are expected to continue to rise.

4) Heathrow Airport

Heathrow Airport is the world’s busiest international passenger airport and employs over 70,000 employees. There aren’t many towns that can boast having an international airport just 5 minutes away. Many of the airport workers reside in Hayes due to the short travel times to and from the airport. As the airport continues to expand with a proposed new runway and 6th terminal, demand for property both to live and to buy in Hayes, is only scheduled to increase and Heathrow is destined to plough even more money into the local Hayes economy.

5) Buoyant Local Economy

Due to the location of Hayes being conveniently located on the cusp of four major motorways and its excellent transport links, it has always attracted businesses to set up in the area. Some of the largest companies in the world are already based in Hayes, and with the arrival of Crossrail demand for office space in Hayes is set to increase even further. All these companies bring staff to the area, all of whom require property to live in hence increasing the potential target audience size of prospective tenants and driving property prices upwards.

Hayes is also very close to a large business park called Stockley Park that is home to companies such as Canon, Apple, Hasbro and Marks and Spencer to name but a few.

All of this has helped transform the local economy in Hayes.

To learn more about Hayes and investing in the London Commuter Belt, please get in touch with our team today by clicking here.