The price gap can even be found on the same street, such as Church Road in south-west London. Wandering down the road from SW19 into CR4, prices for three-bedroom houses fall from around £400,000 to between £325,000 and £350,000. However, there are a handful of locations on the leafy outer extremities of north London where the pattern is reversed. Prices in Loughton IG10 in the Essex commuter belt are five per cent above neighbouring Chingford E4, according to the research. Mr Creffield said: “While home buyers are still willing to pay a hefty premium for a coveted London postcode, as the capital continues to grow and new transport links improve connections into the centre a pre-1965 London postcode will perhaps become less of a consideration.”
Postcode lottery: house prices can vary wildly, even on the same street
A Royal Mail spokesman said that there were no plans to update London’s postcodes despite campaigns from areas such as Ilford, where businesses called for the area to be redesignated E19. He added: “The postcode is a Royal Mail operational tool designed to ensure the accurate sorting, routing and delivery of our customers’ mail.
“Postcode boundaries do not necessarily reflect geographical or administrative boundaries. Royal Mail does not normally change postcodes unless there is a pressing operational reason to do so.”
Residents in Southall, UB2: 'Snobbery is the only reason for it'
Bikar Chatha, 69: “The difference is shocking, it’s only half a mile. This is a nicer area. In Hanwell there’s no room. It’s absolute snobbery because Southall is technically outside London. I would not pay to live over there.”
David Hurry, 52: “It’s just to do with transport links. You’re that further out but you pay for it — it’s sometimes the difference of £500,000 within a mile. If you put a Tube line in you would see a dramatic price rise.”
Residents in Hanwell, W7
Sarah Kern, 39: “I don’t find it surprising because here you really are on the edge of London. So if you go to Southall you have got that extra distance to travel and then you lose that connection to central London.”
Rozsika Szalay, 53: “I think the difference is because people on this side feel like they belong to Ealing, part of London. Hanwell is quite a nice area and we have Crossrail coming so perhaps price rises are down to that.”
