buying a London flat- doing the right thing?

pickledpink

byrneand wrote: »

Clapham is not as safe as anywhere else:

http://www.upmystreet.com/local/police-crime/l/Clapham-86533.html

It has a car theft rate 65% higher than the national average and a burglary rate 139% greater than the national average.

If you compare this to wavertree (which is the closest place to toxteth i could find using google)

http://www.findaproperty.com/crimefacts.aspx?edid=00&salerent=0&areaid=6531

It has a car theft rate 75% higher than the national average and a burglary rate 110% greater than the national average.

I'm just pointing out Toxteth is percieved to be "not the greatest place in the country to live" and rightly so. Clapham and Balham compared to so many places in the country are not that great. People choose to live there because of its proximity to the city and the opportunities that this provides be them financial or creative (e.g. fashion, advertising etc..) that you cannot get elsewhere in the country.

As per TFL the journey time from Clapham north to Balham is 6-7 minutes and so it varies a fair amount. The point I was trying to make was that it makes your journey time significantly longer. Take a journey from Bank for instance:

Bank - Clapham Common: 17 mins
Bank - Balham:21 mins

The journey to Balham is 24% longer.

I lived in Clapham for 2 months when I first moved to London and have a number of friends there. When you come off any of the three stops there tends to be groups of youths on bikes, in hoodies. The fact that in my 2 years in London I know of 4 people who have been mugged in the Clapham area compared to 0 in 3 years in manchester and 2 in 23 years of living in Liverpool I would draw my personal conclusion that it is more dangerous (especially when coupled with government statistics.

i just popped clapham crime statistics into google and this was the top search result:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/2124789.stm

The quote "According to the statistics, the London borough of Lambeth - which includes Clapham - is the worst robbery blackspot in England and Wales. " were quite conclusive for me.

You are correct in saying that both Clapham and Balham have beautiful buildings which I would not begin to dispute... in the same way many areas in the uk do be they be perceived as being rich or poor areas.

You stayed in Clapham for 2 months - and I lived there for 30 years. I'd say I have FAR more knowledge about the area than you do!

And why are you quoting journey times from Clapham North to Balham???? The furthest tube station from Balham???????:rotfl: Most people recognise Clapham Common tube as the central underground in Clapham, and Clapham South is the next one along........and then the next one after that is Balham.

You obviously don't know the area otherwise you would know that. Parts of Clapham and Balham merge into one another; indeed, one road there comes under Balham while the opposite side comes under Clapham.

Balham is a very desirable area - hence the high prices - and why celebrities/professionals choose to live there.

I know the area lie the back of my hand, and in all my 30 years of living there I was never mugged/robbed/burgled/shot/stabbed or had my car stolen!:p

There are some pockets in Clapham (going towards Brixton/Stockwell) which have large council estates and gangs of hoodies - but that's a world away from the Clapham I lived in or frequented.

Do you seriously think people such as Gordon Ramsay, Fiona Phillips, Andrew Castle....not to mention professionals such as doctors/bank executives/film directors would choose to live in an area as bad as YOU'RE trying to portay it to be?:rotfl:

And as for you saying gangs of hoodies are stood outside the tube stations there - that's utter rubbish!! Not ONCE did I encounter a gang of hoodies outside CC/CS or Balham station! NEVER!

Incidentally, no-one takes much notice of UPMYSTREET - their data is often wrong.:p

pickledpink

GracieP wrote: »

That is more Streatham than Balham. And Streatham is an absolutely awful place. I wouldn't buy that house for £200k (unless I could flip it quick smart ) as I wouldn't live in Streatham if I was paid to.

SW12 is Balham, Gracie. You're wrong.

Anyway, you don't need to fret over the price of the property - you're not going to be able to buy it are you?:rotfl:

ixwood

ojosverdes wrote: »

Pickledpink,:A
..

That’s £300 left a month. And if needed I just won’t spend that £100 on clothes, or a bit less on entertainment. So could have £500 spare if I’m being careful.:cool:

Also will put some money aside for yearly skiing trip and summer holiday.

Thanks for the advise on renting the room out: it would be great if I can have £600 pm for that if needed!

Would like to do £100 a month of overpayment on the mortgage.

Also just got a 0% Credit card for 6months on purchases (£6000 limit) so I can buy some new furniture. (my rented flat is full of IKEA furniture 3years old – so in need of some new items) and will pay off in 6 months time or get a new Credit card 0%!) Had 3 in the last nine years and never paid a penny interest!!):money:

After paying £75000 on deposit and stamp duty I still have £9000 left in Cash Isa – so 5 times my mortgage payment in case I loose my job for being on the MSE too much!!!! :eek:

In the very very worst case I still have a flat in France I can sell (bought it 3years ago for €70.000) but that would be a shame as the rent covers the mortgage. Oh I shouldn’t forget to calculate in my outgoings: €400 on ground taxes a year I have to pay in France.

I’M GOING TO DO THIS!!!!!

How much will your skiing and summer holiday cost you? Do you think it should go into the budget? What about dentist? Credit Card repayments? Pension? Newspapers/magazines? Work lunches?

It sounds a bit tight to me. And £1800 pm mortgage for a flat in a evidently not great area sounds pretty crazy to me. That's a lot of money!

although having said that, whether you can afford it or not isn't the pertinent question anyway. It's whether it's a good decision or not and the consequences of that decision. Other than pickled, the consensus seems to be that it could be a bad move. I'd read the thread again and think long and hard about what you're doing.

Why are you throwing your hard earned deposit away so cheaply? Prices have only just started dropping and they won't stop for a year or 2 yet IMO. Bide your time and pounce when the times right.

And with flats and apartments (and grossly overpriced London) very likely to drop the most, is it really wise to lumber yourself with 3 of them at the worst point in 15 years?

You sounds set, but as long as know what you're letting yourself in for I guess. Hope things work out for you!

olly300

pickledpink wrote: »

SW12 is Balham, Gracie. You're wrong.

It's also the postcode for parts of Streatham.

Both places suffer from the London effect which is nice areas next to crime riddled council estates.

Unlike in lots of other cities in the UK council estates and council properties are not so segregated. So you could easily find yourself living next to council tenants.

Oh and Clapham Junction or Battersea ( as Clapham Junction is the just the name of the train station) is in Wandsworth.

lynzpower

streatham is SW2 in parts and sw16 too. Maybe gracie mistyped?

I dont tihnk anyone can suggest that crime isnt high in clapham- maybe not "high" for london, but certainly high when compared with outside., I live in Lambeth, and work a lot in clapham ( few days a month im there) Freinds of mine have lived there for years, and I go for drinks there fairly often. Ive never lived there cos I wouldnt pay the premium for what is after all dodgy city.

Few incidents that I can talk of.

*gang of hoodies rounding on my van eyeing my sat nav as I was parking up ( scooted off quicly)
* colleague ( lady in mid 40s) came out of the post office on clapham high st around lunchtime and was offered crack
*drug addicts dealing from a steps of a property NOT THIERS! worth 1.7million, flagrantly in the daytime until police "moved them on"
* 3 freinds have had thier bags snatched at various times of the day on the high st , always before midnight
*one freinds boyfreind threatened with knife at cashpoint on clapham high st friday night at about 8pm

so not LOADS of evidence, but certainly none of these things would happen in the celebrity village/ small town where my parents live. So you can see why the upmy street results will make anyone who is not used to living with the insane level of crime that we do when we live here.- shocked and think the area is a hole. theyd be right! It broadly is!!

Who cares where gordon ramsey lives :rotfl: loads of celebrtities live in dalston as well, doesnt mean its untouchable :rotfl: My mate moved into a block of flats opposite where Amanda holden lived in St Johns wood and there was a gang of hoodies with a machete outside her door. ( again we drove off sharpish) Ive had clients live in the same road as celebrities when I was a social worker.

Poverty is cheek by jowl with riches in this city, and its one of the most unequal cities on earth. the idiosyncracies are fascinating, one of the reasons Im here.

my rule of thumb is , vast majority is rough, there are some nicer bits, and they usually have a waitrose.

ixwood

pickled:-

1. Are you going to take responsibility for the debt when OP is in £50k+ of negative equity, can't remortgage and regrets buying?

2. You owe me 10K.

byrneand

pickledpink wrote: »

You stayed in Clapham for 2 months - and I lived there for 30 years. I'd say I have FAR more knowledge about the area than you do!

Another way to consider it is that you've become accustomed to it. The higher prices are due to the supply and demand factors of London, coupled witht he merits of Clapham/Balham relative to other parts of London (e.g as I mentioned E. London, NE and far West).

pickledpink wrote: »

And why are you quoting journey times from Clapham North to Balham???? The furthest tube station from Balham???????:rotfl: Most people recognise Clapham Common tube as the central underground in Clapham, and Clapham South is the next one along........and then the next one after that is Balham

You obviously don't know the area otherwise you would know that. Parts of Clapham and Balham merge into one another; indeed, one road there comes under Balham while the opposite side comes under Clapham.

- I took Clapham North - Balham to illustrate that there is a fair distance between the two areas. I then used Clapham common... "which is commonly recognised as the central underground in clapham" to show that a journey from Bank to Balham is approximately 24% longer than one to Clapham.

... Both compared to the majority of the country are pretty much holes. This is why most people as soon as they qualify as solicitors, lawyers, doctors etc.. choose to leave.

pickledpink wrote: »

There are some pockets in Clapham (going towards Brixton/Stockwell) which have large council estates and gangs of hoodies - but that's a world away from the Clapham I lived in or frequented.

.. is that Brixton/stockwell that's a mile away... or about 10 minutes on bike... probably want to keep a hoodie on to keep warm whilst your peddling though. I'm being sarky there but seriously as you walk out of any of the tubes after 9pm it's properly shady. As bad as any of the worst parts of Liverpool, Manchester, Birmingham etc. that I've seen and lived.

pickledpink wrote: »

Incidentally, no-one takes much notice of UPMYSTREET - their data is often wrong.:p

... find a set of data then that says clapham has crime rates within 20% of the national average.

lynzpower

I also was going to say about the budget being tight.
I dont think you wil have the ability to overpay 100 per month to be honest, as you have not budgeted for the things you do not buy every month.

I dont buy a holiday every month, but probalby spend 2k a year - therefore every month the money gets set aside for it. Likewise dental treatment. Without budgeting for everything I think you will be in very deep water.

Additionally, you have missed out the maintaince and service charge costs on the fla- not only the decor inside which sounds liek you wont need to do much decorating wise, but more the external fabric of the building. ,especially if yours is SOF, you will have to be puitting away at least a couple of hundred a month for major repairs such as roof/ guttering/ staircase work and other related maintainence? Who manages the property at the moment- or is it SOF.

I know as I bought a flat without budgeting and its exactly what happened. you need to be totally sure you can afford it and Im looking at your budget and I dont think you can- there is SO much you have missed. Do you really only spend 25 a week on going out? I bought a round of 4 drinks the other day in a fairly average fulham pub and it was 27 quid. Im not flamboyant at all, but thats what things cost.

Please please tread very carefully, and save yourself from making the mistakes that I made. It was only through finding MSE that now I could see my mistake- that I did not budget. If I had budgeted properly before hanf, I really would have saved a lot of heartache all round.

GracieP

lynzpower wrote: »

streatham is SW2 in parts and sw16 too. Maybe gracie mistyped?

Nothing to do with the postcode, just take a look at the map. Streatham High St is half the distance from that house as Balham's. Unless the postcode creates a temporal shift around it's streets that keeps the scum of Streatham out.

lynzpower

I totally agree, there is no temporal shift! Indeed the local hoods gravitate towards rich pickings, hence the deterioration of battersea of late. ( all IMHO of course)