Anary Wharf has been a slow fire since the late 1980s, when Margaret Thatcher decided to turn acres of abandoned East London docklands into London’s second-largest financial center.
Those early days were full of accidents and disappointments – the costs of the Docklands Light Railway rose and critics pointed out that the area became a ghost town once the offices were cleared.
But since 2012, things have changed radically. Canary Wharf is no longer just a place for bankers to make some money, it has become a modern destination in its own right.
You can relax in the Crossrail Roof Garden or Jubilee Park, shop in Crossrail Place or a range of underground malls, admire the boats in South Dock, learn to sail at the Docklands Sailing and Watersports Center in Millwall Outer Dock, eat at the sort of restaurants where an expense account is a help – particularly Roka (Canada Square), Ippudo London (Crossrail Place) or Hawksmoor (Water Street) – or stroll to West India Quay where landmark waterfront warehouses have been redeveloped with bars and restaurants.
The Canary Wharf Group hosts numerous cultural events each year, such as the Winter Lights Festival and public art exhibitions.
“When I tell people I live in Canary Wharf, the majority of people say, ‘Oh, it’s so boring, there’s no character,’ said Kevin Tang, 51, who has lived in the area with his husband Geffrye since 2000. Parsons, 56. .
Travel times Crossrail
Canary Wharf to:
Tottenham Court Road: 13 minutes
Paddington: 18 minutes
Heathrow: From 54 minutes
Times include ten minutes for interchange at Liverpool Street, eight minutes for interchange at Paddington, in effect until 2023
“I think people should come and see it now. It’s actually gotten a lot of character, because of its architecture. You feel very metropolitan when you live here, that’s what modern London is all about. And on the weekends it is busy with people coming to eat and drink and shop.”
The residents of Canary Wharf have gained momentum since the early 2000s as new towers have flown in. In 2011, the Canary Wharf area was home to 12,500 people, according to Tower Hamlets Council. By 2020 it had risen to 19,000 and is expected to rise to around 40,000 once all new housing in the area is completed.
New skyline landmarks include Herzog & De Meuron’s One Park Drive, a 58-story giant; prices currently start at £840,000 for a one bedroom apartment.
Significant investments have also been made in rental apartments. The largest to date is the Newfoundland Tower, which was completed last summer. The 636 apartments cost from £2,383 pcm for a one-bedroom flat and £3,335 for a two-bedroom flat.
Average house prices since the start of work on Crossrail
2012: £371,700
2022: £603,000,
Growth: 62 percent
Source: Hamptons
Beyond the official Canary Wharf estate, new towers are being built overlooking South Dock, technically in the Isle of Dogs The 53-storey Amory Tower (formerly known as The Madison) and the 75-storey Landmark Pinnacle – where studios start at £ 559,000 – both completed last year.
Kevin, a property developer, and Geffrye, who recently took early retirement from his career in finance, reserved a condo in One Park Drive in 2018 – the one-bedroom property, with phenomenal views from one of the top floors, cost something over £1 million.
In the meantime, they rented a flat at 10 George Square, a purpose-built rental block, in 2020 before moving into their home early this year.
They chose Canary Wharf in part because they were excited at the prospect of owning a home in Herzog & De Meuron’s first housing project in the UK. They travel a lot, so living in a vault, being locked up and leaving the house was another draw, along with the direct links to Heathrow that come with it. The long-awaited opening of Crossrail.
Their longer term plan is to move to Canada and they plan to use the flat as a pied-à-terre, with the option to rent it out while not in the UK.
James Hyman, head of living at Clutton’s estate agents, estimates that around 70 per cent of Canary Wharf’s flats are bought by investors who can rent out a two-bedroom flat for around £2,200 a week.
Potential owner-occupiers can get a little more bang for their buck by opting for a resale flat rather than something brand new – around £750,000 would buy a two-bedroom apartment.
Hyman thinks the biggest challenge the Canary Wharf market has faced in recent years has not been the pandemic and the absence of foreign buyers and local office workers.
It was the construction safety crisis and subsequent requirements for buildings to pass fire safety checks. “So many of those blocks still don’t have the proper documentation to satisfy a lender and that has somewhat suppressed the market,” Hyman said.
As a result, prices have risen by only three percent in the past two years.
Hyman agrees with Kevin that Canary Wharf’s appeal is its uniqueness. “It’s a very sophisticated part of London if you want modern purpose-built living,” he said. “It is owned by a Singapore based company, it is maintained to Singapore standard and is probably the closest environment to utopia.
“And Canary Wharf has changed a lot in the last 10 years. It is busy on weekends. The shop is West End standard, there are restaurants and bars. Many people who live in Canary Wharf do not work there. Historically, you only lived there if you also worked there.”
The future
The Canary Wharf Group has begun work on the five million square foot Wood Wharf development, which will include a hub for technology companies and more than 4,000 new homes to rent or buy. The wharf will also feature many new restaurants, such as street food sensation Mercato Metropolitano, which are opening “soon” at 10 George Street.
And at North Quay, there are plans to create a life sciences hub, several apartment buildings, a casino, nightclub and skate park.
To counter all this steel, grass and concrete, it was announced earlier this year that Canary Wharf chiefs are working with the Eden Project on plans to create a “green backbone” through the harbor area, with parks and gardens, promenades , bridges and floating pontoons through the center of the district.