London - Where to buy??

LookinginLondon

Hi All,
My partner and I are currently looking to buy in London, but, like itgirlinuk, we are struggling on areas. Based on conversations with friends who have been raised here, the areas mentioned as safe / upcoming are Dulwich, Peckham Rye, Honour Oak Park, Nunhead, Forest Hill and Ladywell. We are looking for a 3 bedroom, Victorian style terrace and my budget is around £350,000. We both work in the city so would be looking for a commute of no longer then 15-20mins if possible. It would be great to get some insight from people here about areas considered upcoming and within the catchment mentioned above.

Thanks
SB

ruggedtoast

SE London doesn't really change that much, I'm not aware of any places that are upcoming. If you are feeling brave you could have a snout around Deptford and Lewisham, though in my experience those areas come under 'absurdly over priced' rather than up and coming.

Few places in London are getting appreciably nicer at the moment.

BigAunty

Considering Peckham was one of the affected areas during the London riots, you might want to scratch that off your list.

It does have a lovely conservation area in the !!!!!!!en Road area, around the back of the Greggs bakery which got torched, that has a few lovely streets with a couple of decent restaurants and pubs but I don't know if your budget will fit.

It's a lovely bubble in a sea of general nastiness, though, otherwise it's pound shops, friend chicken take-aways, evangelical churches, filthy grocers, western union transfer shops and glowering gangs of youths.

Keep an eye also on the planned train route and timetable changes for that area. I can't remember the details but there were significant scaling down of some routes into the main London stations (Victoria, London Bridge) ahead of a planned transport change to link up better with west london but I can't remember the main details, only that some commuters were hacked off and were protesting about it.

EDIT - the conservation area is situated around B-E-L-L-E-N-D-E-N Road but MSE thinks the first part is an insult...A bit like email filters that won't let people discuss S!!!!horpe (S-C-U-N-THORPE).

LookinginLondon

Thanks for the post RuggedToast. Ok, as opposed to upcoming areas, where would you suggest as being the fairly safe, suburban, but also with an easy commute into London Bridge? I came across a really nice place in Ladywell which fell within my price bracket, however, a friend told me that the area isn’t fantastic which instantly put me off. I haven’t had a chance to see the area yet, but will be looking to do so in the next couple of weeks.

richardw

Another thing to take note of is that the overground service is being extended from Surrey Quays to Clapham Junction http://www.tfl.gov.uk/corporate/projectsandschemes/15401.aspx

jee

Which part of the city do you work? It's quite a trek to get across.

abankerbutnotafatcat

When you say 15-20 minutes commute do you mean door to door journey or train journey? Just the walk from London Bridge to Bank takes around 15 minutes (I do this every day). It might be easier to view it as a door to door journey of say 45 minutes or an hour?

If that was the sort of journey you were ok with, I believe that Coulsdon and Purley (both go into LB) are nice surburbs and they seem to have good housing stock (I live further down the line so go through them twice a day). They may be a bit further out of town than you were considering but the train journey into LB would be around 20 minutes.

hazyjo

So you need to get to the London Bridge (SE) side of London? When you say 'City', that's generally considered to be the EC parts of London (other side of the river).

Have you checked rightmove? Looking at Peckham Rye, 3 beds up to £375k (to allow for negotiation), there's one house only - and that's not exactly what you'd class as 'nice'. You will struggle to buy a 3 bed house in a good (or up and coming) within 5-20 mins of London Bridge. If you'd extend the commute, or consider a 2 bed, you might have more luck.

If you're insistent on your criteria, you might want to consider Hither Green. Can't think of anywhere else for that budget, etc that's near to London that I would consider living in. Unless you want to go to East London. Would go much further then.

Jx

marny_2

LookinginLondon wrote: »

Thanks for the post RuggedToast. Ok, as opposed to upcoming areas, where would you suggest as being the fairly safe, suburban, but also with an easy commute into London Bridge? I came across a really nice place in Ladywell which fell within my price bracket, however, a friend told me that the area isn’t fantastic which instantly put me off. I haven’t had a chance to see the area yet, but will be looking to do so in the next couple of weeks.

I am renting in Brockley at the moment but looking to buy in Ladywell (cheaper than Brockley). Ladywell's really nice. So is Honor Oak Park and Forest Hill. I'd like Ladywell though as it has fast trains to London Bridge which only take 10-15 mins - ideal for me and work. It's takes a bit longer from HOP and FH.

Kynthia

If you're looking to travel into London Bridge then it might be worth considering a going slightly further out to Greenhithe. It has a nice feel, is on the river, right by Bluewater and for that money you could get lovely good sized house.

Nearer in is Bexley village and Westcombe Park which I would consider.

Most people working in London commute for much longer than 20mins. I do 1.5 hours each way and I'd say door to door of just over an hour is the norm.

ruggedtoast

LookinginLondon wrote: »

Thanks for the post RuggedToast. Ok, as opposed to upcoming areas, where would you suggest as being the fairly safe, suburban, but also with an easy commute into London Bridge? I came across a really nice place in Ladywell which fell within my price bracket, however, a friend told me that the area isn’t fantastic which instantly put me off. I haven’t had a chance to see the area yet, but will be looking to do so in the next couple of weeks.

Greenwich and Blackheath are nice, but you'll struggle to find a 3 bed town-house in those areas for your budget.

With Greenwich you'll be looking more out towards Westcombe Park and Charlton.

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-21523950.html

Blackheath will see you pushed towards Lewisham or (shudder) Kidbrooke.

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-36262136.html


Dulwich village is nice but I don't know any of the other areas.

You can go further out and still have a relatively short journey to London Bridge, though personally I would much rather have a longer commute and not have to live in SE London.