London areas - where to buy? 7 February 2005 at 12:46PM edited 5 February 2014 at 6:52PM in House Buying, Renting & Selling 115 replies 168.4K views

starlight_3

I came up to London for a few days to visit a friend and was totally gobsmacked by the Canary Wharf site - I loved it. There seem to be a lot of new houses being built in the general area as well as apartment blocks with secure and manned receptions. We took the ferry up river and I was fascinated by the massive changes since I was there 20 years before. The other thing that struck me was the amount of wildlife using the river (not just the rowers!).

The flight into City Airport was excellent and once the Docklands Light Railway is complete it will be so easy to up and go if you need to.

However, as my years are starting to add up and the joints don't flex quite like they used to, I am happy not to live in London as it lends itself so well to the young and fit and I don't think I could keep up.

itgirlinuk

And its expensive to buy as well...That's the reason I have given up on the river view apartments, because they don't fit within my budget. :-(

Dan29

itgirlinuk wrote:

Any suggestions in South East London, within Zone 2?

Greenwich
Clapham
Canary Wharf

dippy

Dan29 wrote:

Greenwich
Clapham
Canary Wharf

Greenwich and Canary Wharf, I agree

Clapham Common is nice. Clapham North, North-east is rough.

loanranger_4

For pretty good growth prospects I'd look at the royal docks (e16) where the DLR extension is currently under construction.

You should be able to get partial dock views for that kind of money..

For a selection of property take a look at

http://www.royaldocks.com

Thanks

gromituk

There have been some gross generalisations on this thread, one of which was obviously flame-bait and would be laughted out of court, but some others could be taken seriously. On the other hand, you can perhaps benefit from some of the snobbery to the tune of a large amount of price differential for no apparent difference otherwise. I just wanted to emphasise that you can very rapidly go from a nice to a not-so-nice area and vice versa, which I appreciate makes choosing very difficult.

My objection to the proliferation of these gated apartment complexes is that it can turn their neighbourhoods into car-dominated ghost towns where if you are outside the walls you feel very isolated and vulnerable. And people are notoriously lazy about security, letting both vehicles and people "tailgate" in.

There is always a premium on new properties which I can't understand - they are not necessarily built any better than older places, and the NHBC guarantee is like a sieve.

If you want to live in the centre of the action, with night clubs and a vast selection of restaurants within staggering distance, you are going to pay more - and suffer the resulting rowdiness.

If transport links are not very good, you could consider taking up cycling - you beat the traffic, save huge amounts and keep fit. But it obviously requires confidence and the ability to withstand getting wet - about once a month if you are commuting.

Just a few thoughts - money saving is about lateral thinking, after all!

nickytv

I recently moved to Turnpike Lane. Been a Londoner for 14 years and lived north, south, east (but not west). Love this area. Zone 3 Piccadilly line, two mulitscreen cinemas, shopping centre, plus lots of ethnic food stores serving the diverse community. Not a lot of trendy bars but do you really want to pay through the nose to live somewhere with overpriced lattes served to the people-carrier driving double-buggy brigade? Alexander Palace just up the road. My one bed flat with roof terrace overlooking a park cost me 150,000 in September. I also paid NO STAMP DUTY as lots of streets are exempt as it is a regeneration area. As with anywhere, you have to do your homework to avoid dodgy bits - but it's commonsense really.

itgirlinuk

I know there are a lot of generalisations. But it helps me to get a view on how people look at things and what they mean when they say it.

I have decided to go for an area, which feels safe when you walk around and a flat that makes me want it. I know its gut feeling and its very emotional...but is that so wrong?

filigree_2

Personally speaking, if I had £200K I would look at Crystal Palace. Huge park, loads of transport links, numerous "trendy" businesses and a few bohemian type bookshops, junk shops, antique markets etc. Some streets are conservation areas but they might cost more than £200K. The sticking point for me (apart from cost) is that local schools are hugely variable.

It might sound odd but you could try http://www.ofsted.gov.uk for their reviews of local schools. It doesn't matter if you have kids or not, the Ofsted report gives a snapshot of the local area. It will tell you for example if the area is deprived, does it have a transient population etc. OTOH some reviews will tell you that a certain school serves an area with affluent families, high home ownership etc. If you do have kids, or plan to have a family, then local schools are an important consideration.

https://www.tfl.gov.uk will help you find routes from home -> work, which is an important consideration. You don't want to find yourself at the wrong end of a poor bus service with no access to tube or train.

Look at the travel zone and the council tax band. You could save a few grand on the asking price by choosing an apparently cheap area, then find out you have moved into an expensive borough - Haringey charges an astonishing amount for very poor services. Wandsworth's services are pretty poor too, but at least we aren't paying over £1000 a year for the privilige!

stratford_2

Ah, the good old 'where in London' debate! There's been some useful advice here and I think one bit of interesting advice I recently saw on a london home relocator's website was that you should buy a property within 10 mins walk of a tube or rail station - this will help its rental potential and resale value and keep your options greater.

I've rented in Fulham and Putney (cheap deals!) and my girlfriend has rented in Streatham, but I bought a flat in Stratford area a few years ago and am about to buy a 2 bed Victorian terrace in a great location - less than 8 mins from the station - for about the same price you're looking at. I agree with Jat100's views about this area - it really is still one of the most affordable parts of London with great transport links - central/jubilee/silverlink/dlr/mainline and, in 2 years, the International station - there aren't many places in zone 3 with these kind of links.
Good luck wherever you try!