We’d like to remind Forumites to please avoid political debate on the Forum.

This is to keep it a safe and useful space for MoneySaving discussions. Threads that are – or become – political in nature may be removed in line with the Forum’s rules. Thank you for your understanding.

PLEASE READ BEFORE POSTING: Hello Forumites! In order to help keep the Forum a useful, safe and friendly place for our users, discussions around non-MoneySaving matters are not permitted per the Forum rules. While we understand that mentioning house prices may sometimes be relevant to a user's specific MoneySaving situation, we ask that you please avoid veering into broad, general debates about the market, the economy and politics, as these can unfortunately lead to abusive or hateful behaviour. Threads that are found to have derailed into wider discussions may be removed. Users who repeatedly disregard this may have their Forum account banned. Please also avoid posting personally identifiable information, including links to your own online property listing which may reveal your address. Thank you for your understanding.
📨 Have you signed up to the Forum's new Email Digest yet? Get a selection of trending threads sent straight to your inbox daily, weekly or monthly!

Right area

Dear all,
Being a first time buyer, I am confused about how to look for the right area. I've been looking in Chelsfield area. I never lived there, but heard good feedback about it. It's a lovely village close to London. I understand that there can be a very good area and then just 2 lanes beyond can be bad! I am not sure how I should look for the right area. I use checkmyarea.com - but are they reliable? They show correct results for the area I live in currently.

Bluedrop.
There is more to life than increasing its speed.

Comments

  • pinkteapot
    pinkteapot Posts: 8,044 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    If you don't know the area, is it possible to rent first? That's what I've always done. It's really hard to get a feel for a place before you've lived there (unless you know people who live there).

    It can be that areas with bad reputations aren't that bad after all. There can also be 'good' areas that just don't suit you - maybe lack of amenities, lack of community activities, traffic bottlenecks, etc etc.

    When you buy you're ideally looking to live in the house for at least five years (given the costs of buying and selling) so, if possible, it's worth renting for 6 months to 'try before you buy'.
  • Nikkigb88
    Nikkigb88 Posts: 16 Forumite
    In my opinion one of the best things to do is go and look around the area yourself - and really explore it during the day and quite importantly at night too (as areas can be very different once it gets dark)! Last year I knew nothing about South London, kind of assumed it would all be a bit scummy, then started exploring and discovered how wrong I was. Then ended up buying a flat there! Of course in London and surrounding areas you're right - one road can be absolutely amazing then the next one can be the complete opposite, but there are areas where this can be avoided (which of course comes with a price). I actually read in a book that if you do find a property you like and are unsure about the street and area you should knock on some neighbours' doors and speak to them about it. Try and get chatting to locals. I guess it depends on how confident you are but I personally wouldn't like to rely solely on internet reviews. Good luck! :)
  • cattie
    cattie Posts: 8,844 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Chelsfield on the whole is very nice, with good links into London. However, as with all places, there are good and bad parts. Sometimes if you have a mixture of council and ex council properties then the area will not be quite as desirable as privately built and owned properties.

    As previous poster suggests, look around the area you are considering & ask questions of people you see out and about & don't be afraid to knock on neighbours doors to get their opinion of what life on that street is really like. Also, if there is a local paper, start buying it as often it can give an indication as to whether there is much crime or other unsocial behaviour in the area.
    The bigger the bargain, the better I feel.

    I should mention that there's only one of me, don't confuse me with others of the same name.
  • princeofpounds
    princeofpounds Posts: 10,396 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    It's all about time and familiarity. I would personally always prefer to rent if I didn't know the area at all, and buy later. Areas can differ from road to road and only locals will know that fully.

    Failing that, I would visit a lot, different times of the day and on different days. I would ask locals, like the neighbourhood shop owner, the publican, etc.

    I would also look up things like the ACORN profile for my neighbourhood, the online crime map and so on.
  • tggzzz
    tggzzz Posts: 5 Forumite
    I would also look up things like the ACORN profile for my neighbourhood, the online crime map and so on.
    Any suggestions as to where the ACORN profiles can be found? upmystreet used to be good, but now it is zoopla.....
  • Fire_Fox
    Fire_Fox Posts: 26,026 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    tggzzz wrote: »
    Any suggestions as to where the ACORN profiles can be found? upmystreet used to be good, but now it is zoopla.....

    Try Googling! :p
    Declutterbug-in-progress.⭐️⭐️⭐️ ⭐️⭐️
  • Lizling
    Lizling Posts: 882 Forumite
    http://guides.business-strategies.co.uk/mosaicuk2009/html/visualisation.htm


    Since I happened to have it open anyway. This one's Mosaic, not ACORN, but it does the same thing.
    Saving for deposit: Finished! :j
    House buying: Finished!
    Next task: Lots and lots of DIY
  • V_Chic_Chick
    V_Chic_Chick Posts: 2,441 Forumite
    Not entirely sure about the checkmyarea website - it seems a bit of a blunt tool as it fails to recognise that the area that I currently live in is a mixture of recent immigrants, usually from South Asia and the Middle East, and students.

    It also reckons that one of Bristol's most affluent areas (Clifton) has low property prices and tends to be inhabited by B, C1, C2 and D people . . . it's very much a mix of well-off professionals and students with high property prices.
This discussion has been closed.
Meet your Ambassadors

🚀 Getting Started

Hi new member!

Our Getting Started Guide will help you get the most out of the Forum

Categories

  • All Categories
  • 352.1K Banking & Borrowing
  • 253.6K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
  • 454.2K Spending & Discounts
  • 245.1K Work, Benefits & Business
  • 600.7K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
  • 177.5K Life & Family
  • 258.9K Travel & Transport
  • 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
  • 16.1K Discuss & Feedback
  • 37.6K Read-Only Boards

Is this how you want to be seen?

We see you are using a default avatar. It takes only a few seconds to pick a picture.