Good areas for FTB in London

littlesaint

Hi,

It's a while since I posted on this forum. Last time was regarding a S21 notice that was served at the time of signing a tenancy agreement and I got loads of help with that, so thanks.

Since those days, I have moved in with my boyfriend, who is now my husband. We live in a one bed flat in Tooting. We love the area we live in and it's really improved in the past few years, however both rents and sale prices have gone up considerably.

Our flat is too small for us and earlier this year we decided to stay in our current place and invest the money saved into our deposit. We now have more than 10% and hope to have 20% by March after a gift from my husband's parents and further saving.

We'd like to invest that in a two bedroom flat or maisonette - a purpose built period flat rather than a conversion - ideally first floor with a garden. Our budget is £250,000 absolute max and really, we'd probably struggle to get more than £240,000 really.

There are some properties in the area that we could afford that come under our budget, but we would probably have to do some hard bargaining to get the better ones. So we are thinking about looking elsewhere.

I am interested to find other areas that are safe, have some nice bars and the odd decent Indian restaurants. My friend lives in Walthamstow, which I see has houses in our budget as well as flats. What about places like Leytonstone?

What do other forumites think? It would need to be in North, East or South London - anywhere in easy reach of the city really.

totallybored

I've lived in both Tooting and Leyton and I hated east London compared to Tooting. How about Streatham, not far from Tooting and it's not that bad. Commute can be much better than the northern line depending on where you work too.

Just spotted you work in the city, in that case there is the Thameslink train from Streatham station to Blackfriars and City Thameslink which is a very easy commute or London Bridge trains from Streatham and Streatham Common.

littlesaint

Thanks - it's useful to know your thoughts on east London. I had heard the Forest Gate end of Leytonstone was nice, though the couple of times I have been I wasn't bowled over.

I am freelance so transport is not a consideration for me. My husband is based in London Bridge / South Bank area. I have been to Streatham a few times (when I was signing on!). There are some nice houses there, though a lot are conversions, which we'd prefer to avoid. I like the Common too and as you say transport links are good. It has good pubs too. Just a little concerned about safety - I know a few people who have had some bad experiences there. Do you know which are the "nice" parts of Streatham?

We'd also consider Colliers Wood too - maisonettes seem more affordable there than Tooting. We'd prefer to stay inside Zone 3 if possible, but I would be interested in hearing about Sutton. We had a look at SE London but it doesn't seem to be vastly cheaper than Tooting and we'd prefer not to be too far East on the south side of the river as our families are in the north. Problem is we love this area so much it's a real wrench to consider leaving.

marny_2

Hello
I am also looking to buy a flat in London though not as a FTB, just wanting to relocate and I also have a budget of 250K.
I've recently been looking at south east London - so far I really like Brockley and Ladywell and Honor Oak Park looks OK too. These areas are quiet, good housing stock (though probably more conversions than purpose built flats) and nice restaurants and little independent shops. Also good transport links into central London - Brockley has a train station with trains to London Bridge as well as the ELL. Ladywell has fast trains to L Bridge (10 mins) and nearby Crofton Park goes to Blackfriars. With my money I can buy a two bed flat but not with a private garden, either no garden or communal garden. Have a look though you did mention you weren't keen on moving to SE London.

littlesaint

Hi Marny, those areas of south London are fine for us - just nothing too far east, you know Plumstead, Thamesmead etc. Actually I used to live in Forest Hill for a few weeks and liked it so would be happy living in either Brockley or Honor Oak Park. Not so familiar with Ladywell or Crofton Park though so would welcome any opinions on those places. We'd be happy with a shared or communal garden providing it is the right size, but we'd definitely want some outside space. Best of luck with your search.

marny_2

An old colleague of mine currently rents in Ladywell and loves it. She is looking to buy there now. It's quite a small area with pretty much everything you need locally - a couple of pubs, shops, post office, gift shop, bakery, deli, train station, and I remember going to the local park on a hill which I thought was lovely. Never been to Crofton Park either but my friend says it's OK, only a short walk up the road from Brockley. I do think these areas are 'on the up' so you could still get a good deal and possibly a bargain if the areas continue to improve. I'm also looking around Telegraph Hill (New Cross) and Nunhead but I prefer Brockley/Ladywell areas.

totallybored

Streatham Hill is better than the area around Streatham station. The roads off Streatham High Road on the right heading north past Streatham Hill station are full of maisonettes rather than conversions. Some first floor ones may have garden access too. I have to get a bus from Streatham some evenings and it's really not as bad as people say. You're only a 10 minute bus ride from Brixton and the Victoria line too. Streatham Common (around the station) is a bit quieter but not bad.

I've also lived in SE London and agree that Ladywell is nice and Crofton Park, they don't have the bars etc that Tooting does and are full of nice family houses.

Sutton is ok, might be better if you're looking for a house and possibly your 2nd place as you might feel too far out.

Somewhere else you could consider is Crystal Palace, loads of pubs and restaurants around the triangle and lots of young people live there.

phoebe1989seb

littlesaint wrote: »

We'd also consider Colliers Wood too - maisonettes seem more affordable there than Tooting.

Our 22 year old son and his g/f just bought their first flat in Colliers Wood - it's a two bed purpose-built ground floor flat with a small garden. They paid £225,000 with a share of the freehold in September. We've only visited once and don't know that part of London at all, but from what we saw it is close to the tube, with plenty of local shops/restaurants and the much nicer Wimbledon - where his g/f has family - is just up the road. They both have graduate jobs in central London and they plus her 18 year old sister - who has just started at UCL and has the spare room - are all happy with their commute and more importantly with two young women to consider, it seems a pretty safe area for walking back from the tube at night.........

They were originally going to buy an ex LA flat in Bermondsey which at £250k (offer accepted on asking price of £275k) was more expensive and had been renovated by interior designers so was excellently presented, but both sets of parents felt that whilst it may be on the periphery of some sought after areas, safety was more of an issue there than Colliers Wood.

GDB2222

Stupid question, I guess, but if you are thinking about 2 beds maybe you are going to start a family soonish? If so, maybe somewhere further out of London with great open spaces, schools and so on might be a better bet?

You can get 3 beds + garden in Welwyn GC for your budget, for example.

nollag2006

Clapham Junction has plenty of 2 beds in your price bracket, and would rent out easily if you ever wanted to do that, due to good transport links:
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/find.html?locationIdentifier=REGION^85386&minPrice=50000&maxPrice=270000&minBedrooms=2&radius=0.25

littlesaint

Pheobe - sounds like your son has a great set up there, especially with someone they know as a tenant. We'd definitely be interested in the Tooting end of Colliers Wood providing the right property come up. It's a big saving crossing the borough boundary.

GBD - I think we'd prefer to say in London for now. The second room is definitely with the future in mind but we'd prefer to move away from London completely in a few years time when we need something bigger. Thanks for the suggestion though. My friend lives not too far from WGC and she likes the area.

That property in Clapham Junction is really not for us. It's a great location, but we'd like a terraced flat / maisonette (purpose built rather than a conversion) with a garden.