Buying a House in London

pimento

Stoozer, I'd buy soewhere else than London. If you're worried about council tenants, you might end up living next door to someone like me and we couldn't have that now, could we?

mark55man

think OP knows his bit of london well, but is trying to explore the pros and cons of each decision because there seem to be about many radically different options

you should try looking up advice on decision making - pros and cons / life planning - may help you find a way to put all the information together

inflationbusting

You could easily get somewhere nearish Stratford for £250,000, and that would be a house. That is a quick commute away from Canary Wharf, and may be suitable for the long-term if the Olympics provides money for regeneration. However, there would be few people that would recommend the area at present.

Like I said, you aren't going to have your cake and eat it. You could probably get a house in a catchment area for good schools in the required price range but this will not be that close to the city. Or, you could get a place closer to the action, with a shorter commute to work, better transport links and a better social life. Of course, in each case you pay for the trade-off both directly, and indirectly.

Tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of Londoners have to make the same kind of decision at some point. It much depends on your own circumstances.

St00zer

mark88man

I don't know all of London, it is a big city therefore I felt it others could tell me of their part of London. As you say I just know my part of London...Which is Islington and I love living here. It is just unaffordable now though...

I also recently realised I don't like commuting long distances. I wouldn't mind a one off but not everyday. I think it is a waste of 1-2 hours everyday.

Althought 30mins on the tube is OK for me.

I recently looked at the tube lines and I concluded it would be a good idea to buy in a nice location that is on the Northern Line, Piccadily or Central as I think they are the major modern tube lines.

I would probably add Jubilee line to that list to.

Although the Victoria line is pretty fast from Walthamstow to Kings Cross as is the Met line from Wembley park to Kings Cross.

olly300

St00zer wrote: »

RacyRed

I am actually interested to hear what other people think. As is now apparent despite living in London not all our views are the same. Therefore I find this discussion interesting, useful and I have cetainly taken away quite a bit.

I would'nt want to buy in a high rise, even in a nice area.

Lots of people don't.

However the Barbican is a high rise and the flats are very expensive to buy and rent. They are also nice to live in if you don't have children.

Also there are cases where buying a high rise as a BTL is a reasonable investment for example if you are renting to students in certain parts of London.

St00zer wrote: »

I think if i go for a flat it would be in a period conversion.

Then you would have lots of maintenance costs which the freeholder could rip you off for and likely suffer from poor sound proofing. Even if you did have share of freehold you and the other freeholders would have to spend time working out how to get the best for your money.

St00zer wrote: »

I think what is pretty apparent is I should'nt go for the cheapest property either in which case £250K is not enough and limits my choices.

I think I need to go for atleast 3-400K to find the type of house I am looking for.

I was interested in buying in East London because of the potential....although it is currently not a nice area I think it is East London where a lot of money will be made from property due to the regeneration.

Or I could be totally wrong and the property prices in the nicer central parts of London will appreciate more as there is only so many houses/flats they can build here and therefore demand will pull prices up.....

I think the latter is what has been happening in the last decade and perhaps there is too much Olympic hype in East London?

What do others think?

All I know from looking and visiting some other cities with the Olympics lots of it is just hype and you have to wait another decade before your investment pays off.

Remember we are in a deflated housing market so whatever you buy now don't expect price increases for at least the next decade.

olly300

St00zer wrote: »

mark88man

I don't know all of London, it is a big city therefore I felt it others could tell me of their part of London. As you say I just know my part of London...Which is Islington and I love living here. It is just unaffordable now though...

I also recently realised I don't like commuting long distances. I wouldn't mind a one off but not everyday. I think it is a waste of 1-2 hours everyday.

Althought 30mins on the tube is OK for me.

I recently looked at the tube lines and I concluded it would be a good idea to buy in a nice location that is on the Northern Line, Piccadily or Central as I think they are the major modern tube lines.

I would probably add Jubilee line to that list to.

Although the Victoria line is pretty fast from Walthamstow to Kings Cross as is the Met line from Wembley park to Kings Cross.

Other people can tell you about their part of London but until you live there you don't know if you like it or not.

If you are from London you will have certain family and friends you see all the time, and ideally you don't want to be too far from them by road and public transport.

Also while you don't like commuting far unless you are say a GP or hospital consultant, then your place of work will likely change in the next decade as even if you stay with the same company it's not unheard for companies to move offices. I know people who have been with the same company for 5-10 years and the company has had 2 or 3 office changes in that time. So you should buy with an eye to transport links and connections.

St00zer

olly300 wrote: »

Lots of people don't.

However the Barbican is a high rise and the flats are very expensive to buy and rent. They are also nice to live in if you don't have children.

Very true, It is a lovely place to live and walk in the evening and one can easily walk to work if they work in Liverpool street/Moorgate.

Then you would have lots of maintenance costs which the freeholder could rip you off for and likely suffer from poor sound proofing. Even if you did have share of freehold you and the other freeholders would have to spend time working out how to get the best for your money.

Interesting point....Something that I was not fully aware of...Again another lesson to look beyond the pretty face I suppose. There lies the reason they call the block of flats purpose built!

Remember we are in a deflated housing market so whatever you buy now don't expect price increases for at least the next decade.

Very much agreed which is why I am not in any rush and would probably do myself a favor by saving up more money to buy a nice house in a decent area rather then buying any old flat just to get on the property ladder.

It would be a nightmare to sell such a house.

I am not really interested in doing Buy-to-Let...I just don't think people will make much money from it over the next decade as we have just come out of a massive boom.

Therefore I want to just buy a family home...and I have my sights on North and West London.

St00zer

Also while you don't like commuting far unless you are say a GP or hospital consultant, then your place of work will likely change in the next decade as even if you stay with the same company it's not unheard for companies to move offices. I know people who have been with the same company for 5-10 years and the company has had 2 or 3 office changes in that time. So you should buy with an eye to transport links and connections.

I think the key is to be living in a location where it is easy to get into central london e.g. no more then 25-30mins on the tube.

Blacksheep1979

RacyRed wrote: »

Do you travel by train into Moorgate Blacksheep1979? That would explain your great journey times. I'd be really suprised if you have such a short journey on the bus or the tube.

Nope, all tube and I have to change - very few of my friends/colleagues have a commute of over 40mins if they live in London (some out in the middle of nowhere do have significantly more, but that's not in London)

St00zer wrote: »

that is on the Northern Line, Piccadily or Central as I think they are the major modern tube lines.

you do realise that you've picked 3 of the oldest lines there? The ones that they always go on about being too old/deep to ventilate properly?

Thermidor

pimento wrote: »

You'd get a two bed flat for £250,000 in Bethnal Green. You couldn't be more central and it's an OK area.

Something like this perhaps?

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-28992083.html

Bethnal Green isn't central London!! It's MILES out! It's East London...........where the Kray twins went around shooting people.