Where to buy a house - South West / West / North West London

anuk

thanks hazyjo!

will be taking a walk around most areas mentioned above, so I guess that's quite a few busy weekends for me!

daveb975

Saying that, Surbiton in that area you've mentioned, has a good train service. Wimbledon does too but it will be too expensive.

I chose Redhill, Surrey. It's a bit boring but you could get an extremely nice 3 bed house for your budget and be at London Bridge for a walk to The City or the Jubilee line to Docklands in 35 mins. I'm 10 mins from Redhill Station so my door to door journey to Bank is around an hour.

I live in Surbiton, and I love it, but not sure it is right in this case.

A £300k budget is definitely flat rather than house money in the nice part of town. The OP is looking for somewhere with a garden, and even the few flats that have these would be more than £300k. Of course, the worse end of town is quite a lot cheaper, but is also not that nice.

The Surbiton train service is great for the West End, but for the City my commute is not much shorter than yours from Redhill because the trains only go into Waterloo.

You'd need to allow 10 minutes to walk to the station, 17-18 minutes on the train and then 20 minutes to either walk or get the (awful) Waterloo & City line to Bank.

It is a great area, but for two Citry commuters, I'd be looking for somehwere that feeds straight into London Bridge or Cannon Street and wouls still be a fair bit cheaper.

LadyBrunello

Yeah East Dulwich is safe and there is great community spirit. If you take a walk around the roads off Lordship Lane you will see for yourself... and it's still in zone 2!

LadyB:money:

abankerbutnotafatcat

I live in Surbiton, and I love it, but not sure it is right in this case.

A £300k budget is definitely flat rather than house money in the nice part of town. The OP is looking for somewhere with a garden, and even the few flats that have these would be more than £300k. Of course, the worse end of town is quite a lot cheaper, but is also not that nice.

Thanks for the insight into Surbiton, daveb975. I wasn't recommending it as a potential area for the OP - merely pointing out that it is one surburb in that general area along with Wimbledon that does have a quicker train service. I knew Wimbledon was expensive, but didn't know enough to comment on Surbiton.

Redhill actually has the additional advantage in that the trains go directly to West (Victoria) as well as East/City (London Bridge) for those trips to the West End. It's unfashionable but good value and has a Sainsburys so meets the basic needs!! £300k would buy an extremely nice, probably detached house in Redhill and for the Battersea-esque lifestyle (bars and restaurants) you've got Reigate on your doorstep (they are essentially one town with Reigate being the western part and Redhill the eastern part).

daveb975

abankerbutnotafatcat wrote: »

I live in Surbiton, and I love it, but not sure it is right in this case.

A £300k budget is definitely flat rather than house money in the nice part of town. The OP is looking for somewhere with a garden, and even the few flats that have these would be more than £300k. Of course, the worse end of town is quite a lot cheaper, but is also not that nice.

Thanks for the insight into Surbiton, daveb975. I wasn't recommending it as a potential area for the OP - merely pointing out that it is one surburb in that general area along with Wimbledon that does have a quicker train service. I knew Wimbledon was expensive, but didn't know enough to comment on Surbiton.

Redhill actually has the additional advantage in that the trains go directly to West (Victoria) as well as East/City (London Bridge) for those trips to the West End. It's unfashionable but good value and has a Sainsburys so meets the basic needs!! £300k would buy an extremely nice, probably detached house in Redhill and for the Battersea-esque lifestyle (bars and restaurants) you've got Reigate on your doorstep (they are essentially one town with Reigate being the western part and Redhill the eastern part).

Redhill sounds like a bit of a bargain at that price. I have been to Reigate a few times and always quite like it.

As a commuter, I don't think that there is any problem with living in the 'unfashionable' part of town as long as it is the part with the station! In Surbiton, it is the nicer part of town that is close to the river/station and Kingston town centre for shopping. The worse end has got none of those and is also a bit rough around the edges.

Richard_Webster

I have seen some properties advertised that are close to Cannon Hill, Wimbledon Chase Station, Morden station etc.

Ah yes, near where I spent the first part of my life. I just would never want to go back to living in London - all that frenetic commuting.

Two different worlds - those who live/work in London and those who don't.

Loopgames

South woodford is our 'dream area' to live in. I would love to live in the Firs estate personally but you are looking at £450 - £1mill +. The most expensive being about £3million. I would mind living in the cheapest house near those nice houses - maybe jealous. But still £450+ is way off your budget.

Try Wanstead if you can...I love the coffee shops there and the schools are supposed to be very good. Station is close buy and there is a lovely open green area with one of those old fountains that I've always wanted to take a photo of. Road links are good to A406 as well as central london from central line station zone 4 (I think).

The prices are going to be higher than your budget for those areas. I would focus on Woodford Green and Clayhall - more likely to find just as nice houses but without the tube being so close. Although there is one just on the market in clayhall a good 10 - 20minutes walking distance (depending on the length of your legs!) to the station:

Link

Schools are very good for primary schools and there is Ilford County for boys and Woodford County for girls near by.

fg22

I think you'll struggle to find a house in a nice area of zone 2 for that budget. You'll have to compromise on the property, neighbourhood or distance from the centre. If you want to live relatively centrally in a 2 bed flat, East Dulwich is nice and is safe (for central london). North Dulwich also has trains to London Bridge - though if anything it's more expensive. There are some good schools both state and private around though catchment areas can sometimes be very small.

GDB2222

Richard_Webster wrote: »

Ah yes, near where I spent the first part of my life. I just would never want to go back to living in London - all that frenetic commuting.

Two different worlds - those who live/work in London and those who don't.

Umm, where do I fit in? I live in a leafy suburb of London, and my commute is up the staircase to the top floor of the house.

Oh, and btw, I agree that commuting on overcrowded trains is the pits, and I gave it up 30 years ago.

neverdespairgirl

Richard_Webster wrote: »

Ah yes, near where I spent the first part of my life. I just would never want to go back to living in London - all that frenetic commuting.

Two different worlds - those who live/work in London and those who don't.

A man who is tired of London is tired of life, for London has within it all the world has to offer.

I love living in London - but don't commute, because we're central.