Canary Wharf is considered to be a blooming business district in London, after it was built almost a century ago. It was a brainchild of former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in the latter part of the 1980s. Now it houses, restaurants, bespoke shops, Credit Suisse, JP Morgan, luxury real estate, and other blue chip financial firms.
A real estate agent, James Hyman of Cluttons, characterizes the changes from the 1990s as, "Canary Wharf was established as a business district, but not really as a place to live." He further explained, "People who did live there had to get out at the weekends because it felt quite isolated and lonely. A lot of the bars and restaurants only opened Monday to Friday." Canary Wharf is called as London's mini Manhattan for having almost 16 towers scraping the skyline.
A new research by Knight Frank stated that there is a significant raise in its resident population between 2001 and 2011, at 89 percent, as reported by the current census data. In 2013, the property costs have increased by 27 percent, than the 10 percent in prime central London.
Significantly, Canary Wharf towers' amenities are the reasons for these increase in estate sales, according to Kiran Sandhu, associate working at Knight Frank. "They have to have the pool, the gym, all the leisure facilities -- all the add-ons --because that is what people want nowadays," said Sandhu.
Moreover, Canary Wharf will be more accessible in the near future as the Maine Tower, Cross Rail and South Quay will be linked to the London Train. It is expected to be done soon, giving direct services to the Heathrow Airport and West End.
Sandhu added, "We are seeing a shift of people who are cashing in on their homes in central London and moving to Canary Wharf because the transport links are just so fantastic."
Do you agree that it is nice to live in Canary Wharf considering the amenities and accessibility?
