Continued expansion of the relatively new London Superloop could provide opportunities to property investors in the capital. Zoe Dare Hall explores the topic.
Rarely has a bus route been the focus of such excited dinner party conversation and school-gate chatter. But you can’t go a day in Blackheath in South East London at present without someone recounting their thrill at discovering the SL4 – the newest of London’s 10 new Superloop bus routes that form a neat circle around the capital, connecting outer London town centres with transport hubs.
Where commuters south of the river were previously reliant on the forever-clogged Blackwall Tunnel, now the SL4 whizzes them through the recently-opened Silvertown Tunnel to Canary Wharf. The route is quick (thanks to fewer stops and use of dedicated bus lanes) and currently free, to encourage people to use the new tunnel.
And while it may make marginal difference to house prices in already affluent areas such as Blackheath (average house price £686,000, according to Rightmove), it could have a marked impact on the desirability of previously less connected residential areas such as Grove Park, at the end of the SL4 route, where the average house price is £505,000.
The London Superloop effect
If you count the 10 London Superloop sections as one single route, “you get about 18 passengers a year, which make it the busiest bus route in the capital,” comments David Fell, lead analyst at Hamptons International estate agency who has been looking into the Superloop effect. Since the old X26 route was rebranded the SL7 – from Croydon to Heathrow – in late 2023, he points out, passenger numbers have risen by around 2m to more than 3m a year.
“The Superloop has successfully tied together Outer London neighbourhoods that aren’t well linked by train. While other bus routes tend to take people to the nearest train or tube station, Superloop is more likely to go door-to-door. This means the new links are good for connecting the big South London towns like Croydon, Kingston, Bromley, places well beyond the end of the tube,” comments Fell.
He adds that where existing routes have been “pulled into the Superloop”, passenger numbers have nearly doubled compared with pre-pandemic levels, despite fewer people using the bus more generally in London. “Increasing the frequency and cutting down on the number of stops have put London Superloop stops on a par with tube and tram stops in the minds of many house hunters,” says Fell.
Future expansion on investor radars
For investors, it opens up new areas of opportunity – not just those served by the current routes, but 10 proposed Superloop 2 routes, which could come into play by the end of this year, including the ‘Bakerloop’ line linking Lewisham and central London.
Being near a London Superloop stop will surely add to the desirability of new developments too such as Hadley Property Group’s Blackwall Yard on the SL4 route.
But the greatest impact of the London Superloop has been felt most keenly by renters, according to Fell. “The new route passes through some of the deepest rental markets in the country, so it’s tenants that are among the most likely to use the new links,” he comments.
“These are often places with limited rail and tube connections between them, meaning rents along the route generally sit well below the London average. The new connections have let tenants living in more expensive markets closer to work move out into cheaper areas, pushing up rents in some of the Outer Boroughs.”
This popular new public transport option also adds to the appeal of London neighbourhoods that are affected by the expanding ULEZ zone, point out Foxtons estate agency, and it’s helping to put “overlooked areas on the map for London commuters”, such as Walthamstow in East London, North London’s Hendon and Teddington in south-west London.
Where there are winners, there are losers, however. The residents of Bexley Village are frustrated at watching the SL3 swoop through on its way from Bromley North to Thamesmead without stopping. The London Superloop is the latest infrastructure innovation to divide the capital’s haves from its have-nots.
