Where to buy in SW London?

Doozergirl

I used to know someone that lived on Queenstown Road, it was lovely. There's a wonderful restaurant that used to be called the Stepping Stone but has a new name now. We used to go there a lot!

There is also a far flung Battersea as Lynzpower says, I can recall walking for about a week back from a friends house to Clapham Junction. Needless to say, I never went there again!

olly300 wrote:

DoozerGirl don't understand you. My sentence contains an "or" in it.

It's a fact that South London has more train stations then tube stations, and trains run less frequently then tubes plus train fares (if you don't have a travelcard) are more expensive then tube fares.

Your original post was basically saying not to buy in Lambeth because its either rough or doesn't have a tube. ie. no-one would want to live there. I was just pointing out that plenty of people live there and that houses do still sell in Lambeth!

olly300

The only places I can think of that border battersea have train stations or tube stations i.e. clapham (northern line and clapham junction), wandworth (wandsworth town) and vauxhall (victoria line and trains in/out of waterloo).

The only place with an infrequent train service is wandsworth town but depending where you live is not a far walk from Clapham Junction otherwise you can easily get the bus to Putney.

olly300

Doozergirl wrote:

I

Your original post was basically saying not to buy in Lambeth because its either rough or doesn't have a tube. ie. no-one would want to live there. I was just pointing out that plenty of people live there and that houses do still sell in Lambeth!

Plenty of people do live there and you would know it if you ever tried to get on a train at Streatham Hill or Streatham Common, took a bus to Brixton or Tooting tube stations in rush hour. However tenants look for different things to home owners. If you want to rent your property out with ease it best to buy in an area that doesn't have a reputation for being crime ridden i.e. Brixton - you must have noticed all those CCTV cameras outside the tube station, or hard to get transport back to.

Doozergirl

:wall: Did you have a sense of humour bypass? It's London. People live there. You may not want to live in Lambeth, but hundreds of thousands of people do. Maybe half of them tenants.

It also presents as much opportunity as any London borough in terms of investment as the ratio rents:house value will be comparably high compared to more expensive areas. Streatham was also noted as 'up and coming' by P&K last week!

lynzpower

dead on doozer.

I personally am not a fan of those areas, and I personally wouldnt choose to live there, but lots of people do. A lot of my ( v middle class too) have bought in st. reatham ( as they like to joke of it) and brixton.

Lots of people think that brixton is nicely urban. I personally think its a hole, but hey, each to thier own.

From an INVESTMENT point of view I would look to areas which are OK, and are unlikely to deteriorate. Personally, I think brixton has got worse not better over the last few years, altohugh the police presence is much more visible, I dont think its made a huge amount of difference. I would personally choose a property in an area which a) is going to improve ( say tooting, vauxhall) or is fine anyway ( richmond, putney) I wouldnt choose an area that a) has higher insurance die to catchment b) may prove to be harder to let later.

I may be cautious there tho

Alan_M_2

Streatham & Brixton and surrounding areas - even as far as Tooting and Balham are strange areas, it can quite literally change street by street.

Over the years I did a fair bit of work around those areas in some lovely Victorian Terraced mansions, yet the next street was like a Bangladesh Slum. There are very localised pockets all over London which make it difficult to generalise about each area as a whole.

Personally I move out further each time I move, I'm now outside the M25 but close enough to get to Redhill Station which is 30 minutes to Victoria by Express which suits me fine.

I do see the attraction of the life in London, particularly the West end, but I no longer see the attraction of wanting to live there. It's appallingly expensive for what are not particularly nice areas, then the nice areas are really no longer in reach of the normal populous.

Maybe I'm getting old, in an Arthur Smith, Clarkson grumpy old man kind of way, but I like to wake up in the morning, open the window and see rolling fields and smell fresh air....before catching a glimpse of the M25 in the background

morg_monster

I live in Balham and it is certainly getting more gentrified - a waitrose and a big organic food shop have opened since last summer. I think it is the clapham effect filtering down further south - it is cheaper still to buy / rent in Balham than Clapham and you have the added bonus of the lowest council taxes in London (and they really are low) being in Wandsworth Borough not Lambeth. In the northern parts of Balham you can walk to Clapham South (zone 2) tube station in 5 minutes, otherwise there is Balham tube or the Balham and Wandsworth common mainline station which both go to Clapham junction, Victoria and London bridge without needing to change. So for somewhere which is not as expensive as some parts (but getting there) but still attractive to young professional renters with good transport links and poncey cafes (!), Balham is a good bet I reckon. I'd like to buy here if I could afford it.

kathyb1230

I live in Vauxhall, and personally I think it's a great place to live. Ok, it may not be the prettiest of locations, but within a 10 minute walk I can get to Vauxhall tube station, Vauxhall Cross main bus station, Vauxhall mainline train station. There's a massive Sainsbury's and a Tesco local, not to mention the corner shops on South Lambeth Road.
Never had any problems with crime, muggings etc, and feel perfectly safe walking home at night.
I can walk to Victoria in 30 mins if the weather's nice, or tube it in 6 mins.
I've got a 3 bed flat (admittedly it's ex-council, but never had any problems), and all this for what a 1 or maybe small 2 bed flat would cost in Balham or Clapham Junction. I rent 2 of the bedrooms out, and have never had trouble finding tenants because the location is just so good.
Anyway....that's just my opinion....no shouting please!!