New-look Barking: flats for first-time buyers in fast-changing east London hub are part of huge £2 billion regeneration

The skyline of outer London is changing as a series of ambitious regeneration zones creates modern new communities. Nowhere is this clearer than in Barking in east London, where a £2 billion regeneration is taking place, complete with skyscrapers, 6,000 new homes, smarter shops and an art house cinema.

First-time buyers can buy into Barking’s future with a home in its landmark new development for less than £84,000.

The first residents will be able to move in this summer at 360º Barking, a cluster of four towers of up to 26 storeys. Designed by award-winning architects Studio Egret West, the towers are being built on a derelict site in the town centre.

One in three of the homes is designated “affordable” and aimed at first-time buyers. These shared-ownership homes have gone on sale priced from £83,750 for a 25 per cent share. As well as mortgage repayments, buyers will need to budget for service charge at £138.17 per month, plus rent for the part of the property they don’t own at £576 per month. Visit nuliving.co.uk for more information.

The towers are almost opposite Barking station, from where trains reach Fenchurch Street in a super-speedy 18 minutes. An annual season ticket costs £2,020.

Green space is also only a few minutes’ walk away from home in the form of Barking Park, and Abbey Green, home of the ruins of Barking Abbey. Under the ambitious regeneration plans taking shape in Barking, a further town centre park is planned.

These proposals also include the demolition — not before time — of the Vicarage Field Shopping Centre and its replacement with 900 flats in more towers, plus space for shops, restaurants, and cafés. The plan is to offer the commercial space to a mix of well-known high street brands, along with independent and start-up firms. Work is due to start next year.

Meanwhile, another 900 homes are being built at Fresh Wharf, beside the River Roding, about 10 minutes’ walk away. This will include more cafés, restaurants and shops, with the first residents due to arrive in the autumn.

Other future proposals include upgrading Barking’s old-school street market and creating a community of houseboats at Barking Creek, both of which would give this rapidly regenerating London outpost some colour and character as well as thousands of homes.

House prices in Barking are pretty much the most affordable in London. According to the latest figures from Rightmove, property in the IG11 postcode sells at an average of £337,000 and prices have remained stable during the past two tumultuous years.

Barking is a good place to search for family-sized homes as well as starter flats. Estate agent Bairstow Eves is selling a five-bedroom Thirties house on the Faircross Estate for £500,000. Close to Barking High Street are a few streets of Victorian and Edwardian terrace houses. The same agent is selling a three-bedroom house in need of work in Faircross Avenue for offers in excess of £380,000.

For new-homes fans, three-bedroom apartments at 360º Barking start at £425,000 and two-bedroom flats from £299,999.

Or you could spend £250,000 to £280,000 on a two-bedroom purpose-built flat in a low-rise, slightly more dated building. Purpose-built one-bedroom flats are priced at about £200,000 to £250,000.