West Drayton has London on one side and open countryside on the other
(Picture: Alamy Stock Photo)At the moment Isabella Achcar’s commute to the City, where she is a shop manager, takes her more than an hour each way.
When Crossrail is fully up and running — with no need to change trains at Paddington — that journey will be cut back to around 40 minutes, and the 28-year-old cannot wait. “It will make all the difference to me,” she said.
Isabella moved from her native Brazil to West Drayton three years ago — her former partner was brought up in the area and she moved back with him.
She now shares a two-bedroom rented flat with her five-year-old son, Benjamin, and the area’s combination of good value and good transport links means she has no plans to leave.
“My flat costs £1,200pcm,” explained Isabella. “It would cost so much more in central London, but West Drayton is so accessible.”
With London on one side and open countryside on the other West Drayton, nestled at the point where the M4 meets the M25, is a great choice for buyers who want a foot in both worlds. It is also the last station on the western section of the line where you can use your Oyster Card.
With a child to consider Isabella rates West Drayton for its peace and quiet and plentiful parks. Stockley Park is just up the road, and the wilds of the 43-square-mile Colne Valley Regional Park, with its 19 nature reserves, river and canal, lakes, and walking trails is just to the west. The Ruislip Lido beach is a 20-minute drive.
Unlike some London suburbs, West Drayton isn’t a cultural desert either. In her spare time Isabella volunteers at the Southlands Arts Centre, housed in a lovely Queen Anne Mansion, has a great programme including a summer art exhibition and live music, as well as art classes.
Average journey times from West Drayton to
Tottenham Court Road: 47 minutes *
Liverpool Street: 53 minutes *
Heathrow Airport: 29 minutes
*Including interchange at Paddington until autumn 2023
“It is wonderful,” said Isabella. “I wanted to get more involved in the community and it has a big place in my heart.”
Station Road provides neighbourhood restaurants and a couple of pubs, plus everyday shops; for a much more extensive choice of high-street brands Uxbridge is about 15 minutes away.
And, possibly thanks to Crossrail, some new cafes, like Bean There Drank That!, have been popping up around West Drayton’s station, alongside local favourites like Madeirinhas Portuguese Delicatessen on Sipson Way. Isabella also recommends the Sicilian restaurant Positano, on Station Road. “The food is awesome,” she said.
Crossrail has inspired house builders to move into West Drayton with schemes like Redrow’s recently completed and sold-out Padcroft development of just over 300 flats, built on the site of a former Dairy Crest depot.
And West Drayton’s old RAF base – used to monitor air traffic during the Cold War - has been reinvented by Bellway London as Drayton Garden Village a 775-home development with a series of village greens and play areas on site.
Beyond new homes, there are streets and streets of semis built from the 1920s onward.
Josh Simpson, branch manager at Kearns Residential, estimates that a three-bedroom house would cost around £500,000 to buy or £1,650pcm to £1,700pcm to rent.
Average house prices since work on Crossrail started
2012: £233,550
2022: £379,270
Growth: 70 per cent
Source: Hamptons
A two-bedroom purpose-built flat would cost around £350,000 or around £1,400pcm to rent.
“People are coming to West Drayton from all over the place – a lot from elsewhere in the borough, but also from east London, south London,” he said.
“They realise that they can buy a whole house here for the price of a flat somewhere else.”
The flat market is a lot quieter. Prices, said Simpson, have barely moved since the start of the pandemic. “There has been a shift from people wanting a flat near a station to commute, and people working from home,” he said.
“Flats just really are not moving at the moment, unless they have some outside space.”
