EcoWorld and Ballymore are the brains behind London City Island, a huge development that’s been dubbed a ‘new mini Manhattan’. The 12-acre site in East London’s Leamouth brags views of Canary Wharf, The O2 Arena and a local ecology park, plus a string of first-class facilities. HomeViews chats to unit owner Gemma to find out her thoughts…
Gemma’s ratings (out of 5): Overall: 4 Lifestyle: 4 Design: 4 Location: 5 Value: 4
Welcome Gemma! Tell us a little bit about yourself…
I live in Leytonstone with my husband and our little boy and I am currently on maternity leave.
Gemma, Dan and Jackson
So you don’t currently live at London City Island?
No, we have bought off-plan and our phase 3 flat is due for completion in 2019. We plan to rent it out.
Why did you choose to buy off-plan?
We had some money to invest and I have a colleague who invests in property. He recommended the new London City Island development and then we arranged a visit.
Did you consider any other developments?
There wasn’t a site like HomeViews to look at, so we just went with a recommendation from someone we trusted and to be honest didn’t really consider anywhere else. We are not professional property investors but our instinct told us this development offered more unique features than neighbouring developments and we are excited about the long-term potential of owning here.
What was it that made you decide to invest here?
We fell for London City Island because of the mini city environment the developers Ecoworld and Ballymore are creating – with shops, restaurants, boutiques and I love that it will be home to the English National Ballet. The location and transport links are fantastic taking residents in or out of the city.
What is the one thing you wish you’d known before buying?
We have bought in phase 3 but the completion of this phase has been delayed by 2 years since the date we were told when we purchased (from 2017 until 2019). This length of delay is not something we had appreciated could happen when we bought. For some people investing this delay might not be too much of a problem but for us it has tied up our savings without a return, if I was planning to live here myself it would have been a much larger inconvenience.
Any advice or tips you can share with those looking to buy off-plan?
When we went to the open day there was a queue of people waiting in line to reserve their preferred flat, but I subsequently found out some investors had called in advance of the open day and registered their interest in specific flats over the phone. I would recommend to ask for the floor plans ahead of the open day so you can view the flats and the sizes before the day in order to make your preference easy.
Read HomeViews reviews on London City Island.
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