West Londoners snap up Hackney properties

Claudine Morgan, director of Winkworth Hackney

West Londoners are deserting places like Kilburn and upping sticks for Hackney, according to Claudine Morgan, director of estate agents Winkworth in Lower Clapton Road.

Ms Morgan has been in the property business since 1997 and for that entire time has worked at the same branch of Winkworth, becoming a co-franchisee in 2006.

She rose through the ranks after working part-time as an administrative assistant following the birth of her first child and finishing university.

“I helped with the accounts, IT and systems networks, and from there I found I could sell properties.”

Ms Morgan’s eldest child is now 16 and she is in her early 40s.Originally from Wolverhampton, she lives in Hackney and has been based in the area since moving to London to go to university in Whitechapel.

“What I like about this job is the human interaction and the fact that every day is different,” she says. “People do say a lot of unkind things about estate agents, but I do like to pride myself on being open, honest and helpful.”

The way the market in Hackney has changed interests Ms Morgan.“When I started here a house in this area cost £75,000,” she says. “Now the same house now costs £750,000.”

It is a seller’s market with buyers paying sums that can exceed asking prices by as much as £70,000, but Ms Morgan says property in London is still the soundest investment anyone can make – and nowhere is that more true than in Hackney.

“Whereas previously people didn’t want to touch ex-council properties, now they’ll snap them up,” she says.

“The introduction of the fashion hub in Morning Lane and the regeneration going on around there and neighbouring areas is part of the reason. The coffee shops and markets have brought an innovative buzz.” And the Chatsworth Road market creates some family fun on a Sunday afternoon which incorporates the use of the school grounds.