House prices in Slough have sky rocketed over the last year as the town continues to be one of Britain’s leading property hotspots, a new report has revealed.
The cost of buying a property in Slough has increased by 19.6 per cent according to the Office for National Statistics, which is more than any other town in the country apart from Basildon.
The average price of a house in Slough is now £308,810, compared to the same time last year when they were worth on average £270,132.
Councillor Zaffar Ajaib, commissioner for housing and urban renewal suggested this showed that Slough was developing, but that the council were acting to ensure housing remained affordable in the town.
He said: “This news confirms what we already know – that Slough is booming and people want to be here, whether it’s for Crossrail, our highly rated schools, our strong economy or our close links to London.
“However, with success comes additional challenges – not least the pressure on housing. But it’s something we’re dealing with proactively.
“We’ve built around 80 affordable social housing properties in the past year alone, and we plan to be involved in the construction of 200 more each year.
“We are also planning to invest £100m into our existing housing stock, as well as an additional £40m in new properties for social rent.”
“And next week councillors are expected to sign off our plans to set up two separate subsidiary housing companies. By effectively becoming private landlords ourselves, we will be able to help people across the board, from those who can afford to pay market rates to those on more modest incomes, while buying up the poorer quality properties and turning them into decent homes for local people.”
The rise is in stark contrast to the Royal Borough’s climb of 2.3 per cent over the last year and shows that people are taking advantage of the cheaper house prices in Slough.
Despite the increase, the average Windsor property is still £177,551 more expensive than properties in Slough.
