HOUSE prices in Newham have tripled in the past ten years, according to new figures.

Average costs in the borough have rocketed from £48,380 in 1995 to £194,979 this year, a rise of 303 per cent, research commissioned by the County Homesearch Company has shown.

The information which lists all the increases in house prices within all the London boroughs is based on official Land Registry figures.

The statistics show that out of all London boroughs, Newham has seen the biggest increase in house prices, followed by Hackney, Tower Hamlets and Waltham Forest.

The Guardian contacted a local estate agent in Stratford to find why house prices have rocketed so much in the area.

A spokesman for Property Mart Estate Agents in Leytonstone Road, said one of the reasons was the building of the Channel Tunnel link.

He added: "There is also generally larger investments coming in from central government. I have personally noticed a lot more development and construction going on in the area than ten years ago and that could cause house prices to rise so much."

Arabella Pappini, director of County Homesearch London, said the boroughs with the biggest rises were in central east areas where people have flocked to escape the relatively high house prices elsewhere in the capital.

She added: "With their good access to the city, these areas are ripe for regeneration and were ready to start the race to catch up with the rest of London."

The most modest house price rises are in the west London boroughs of Hounslow, Richmond and Hammersmith and Fulham, which have seen between a 170 per cent to 177 per cent increase over the last ten years.

A spokesman for County Homesearch said this was because they were already expensive boroughs ten years ago.