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London Up and Coming Areas to Buy a Property

pred02
pred02 Posts: 205
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edited 13 June 2012 at 2:03PM in House buying, renting & selling
Hi,

I've started my London flat search initially looking at Hackney however soon discovering it is quite pricey. Looking for up an coming areas to explore buy a 1-2 bedroom flat in the <£300k price range.

Really looking at a safe but up and coming area that has a bit of the village feel to it (bars, restaurants) and also good transportation links to the City, London.

I started also to look at Brockley (SE4) so wondering what other areas are recommended.

I thought it would be a good place to start a thread.

Thanks!
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Comments

  • bouicca21
    bouicca21 Posts: 6,507
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    Er, SE4 is Brockley not Bromley, but nice, as is Forest Hill (SE23).
  • brit1234
    brit1234 Posts: 5,385 Forumite
    In East London I would wait a couple of months till after the Olympics. East London is likely to have the biggest falls in London, my reason for this is the pre Olympic London hype and property fury will die off and reality will settle in after the games.
    :exclamatiScams - Shared Equity, Shared Ownership, Newbuy, Firstbuy and Help to Buy.

    Save our Savers
  • ILW
    ILW Posts: 18,333 Forumite
    bouicca21 wrote: »
    Er, SE4 is Brockley not Bromley, but nice, as is Forest Hill (SE23).

    Brockley is not "nice". It is typical dreary, slightly grubby South East London.
  • agrinnall
    agrinnall Posts: 23,344
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    You could read the other two threads on exactly the same subject (although possibly with different budgets) that have been started in the last few days - perhaps we need a single thread in which all recommendations for areas to buy in London are listed, and made a sticky so that people don't continually feel they have to start new ones.

    http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=4009743

    http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=4008279
  • R_P_W
    R_P_W Posts: 1,505
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    I think what you will find when asking this question is every person you ask will have a different opinion! Someone might say an area is nice and the next person say avoid it etc.

    We are in the process of buying in London (nearly done now) and as we moved from the midlands we had a bit of a daunting task ahead of us. We looked at a wide variety of areas, in the North, East, West and South. What we found was the only way to know was to go to the area and spend some time there - we were given some recommendations in certain areas of the SE but after spending 10 mins there we knew it wasn't for us. However there are nice places about that are not crazy priced just yet.

    In the end we found a flat that met all our needs in a nice area near Wimbledon and Southfields within budget.

    So I would recommend having a couple of days having a travel about and trust your instincts.
  • minipenny_2
    minipenny_2 Posts: 94 Forumite
    I second the above, we have done similar although we are moving out of london and into rural parts -

    We didnt know the area at all so I asked some people who lived near and they gave me some names of decent places around there but when I looked at them closer I didnt like them (no reason just didnt get that feeling)

    Then I saw somewhere and got a nice feeling for it. Schools and transport to London are our important things and that area ticks the boxes.

    Anyway my rambling means you really need to just go and look for yourself as RPW says what you percieve as nice someone else might not and vice versa
  • Panda78
    Panda78 Posts: 297 Forumite
    You have a good budget, even by London standards. Look around the Crouch End, Muswell Hill areas if you want to reach your maximum spend. Nice village feel and very quick links into central London.

    Southgate is zone 4 on the Picadilly line, which is quick into the West End and is a nice area.
  • BitterAndTwisted
    BitterAndTwisted Posts: 22,492
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    Any up-and-coming area that hasn't up-and-gone is unlikely to have a "village feel" with bars and restaurants. These pop up when an area has already been discovered and is firmly on the way up.

    For your sort of budget you might have to swap having that village feel for good transport links. I would be having a think about Highbury, Hornsey (Crouch End will be out of reach) or Walthamstow, most especially in either of the two conservation areas.

    The truly brave are migrating to Rotherhithe and Deptford but I wouldn't, not in a month of Sundays. We're even seeing some yummy mummies moving into gritty old Tottenham these days, poor loves. Which is OK as far as it goes as there are some half-decent streets with some fairly nice Victorian properties but the schools here are absolutely horrendous.
  • FTBFun
    FTBFun Posts: 4,273 Forumite
    I live in Peckham Rye which has good transport links and is fairly good value, and sort of "up-and-coming" if you keep well south of the BR line and a bit back from Rye Lane itself (which is safe but not that nice). Towards Bell-enden Road or south towards East Dulwich are the best bits.

    PS love the swear filter here!
  • Ivana_Tinkle
    Ivana_Tinkle Posts: 857 Forumite
    Crystal Palace? Lovely bars and restaurants, villagey feel, park (with dinosaurs!) and good transport links (depending where exactly in the City you need to get to). You'd have lots of choice for your budget.
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