Would you buy in the "up and coming" area

Lilly_L

thanks for your advice I know exactly what you mean. when I came to London 10 years ago as an Alevels pupil, my aunt showed me around London. We took the DLR route from Canary Wharf to Greenwich and trust me when I looked at Mudchute/Island Gardens/Cross Harbour I was like holy moly this is hell hole. then I got a job in Canary Wharf a while back I decide to revisit Mudchute/Island Gardens/Cross Harbour what transformation in 9 years! and my aunt's mate bought a house in Crossharbour 15 years ago as it was cheap and ultimately a dump. now God knows how loaded she is.

not everybody in their 20s can choose the trendy areas to buy in London as their 1st property unless my dad is Bernie lol and everyone has their own criteria. Some wants leafy area some wants tube some wants space. with limited budget you ll have to make compromises.

hannhol

it's also worth bearing in mind that everyone is making compromises apart from the super super rich. and even they probably wish they had one more heli pad, or another place to store their yacht

however, i do think we should steer away from describing places as 'dumps' we may not like it but someone has to live there, and I think it's pretty rude.

Lilly_L

Agreed i don't really like South London due to the lack of tube link and other reasons no offense to anyone. its just personal preference I think its like many people hate East London. North London/West London is quite out of my affordable range esp i only want somewhere within Zone 3. so I only have East London left ......and I think East London quite suits a young poor struggling working class pleb like myself haha

hannhol

well i live in east london, born and bred, and can assure you with a well paid job in town, educated to post grad level and being 30+ I am no "young poor struggling working class pleb" so be careful of sweeping generalisations

Lilly_L

Yes I should make a start and stop calling anywhere dump. Many people call Canning Town a dump and I actually live here with my friends. It not leafy or posh but we love it here, fab shopping fab transport link, never had any troubles. neighbors are very nice and friendly. yet to be stabbed or mugged lol so yes indeed not a good thing to call anywhere a dump coz people actually live there

Lilly_L

"young poor struggling working class pleb" aka myself

i was taking the P out of myself Ms Dr

kwmlondon

Lilly_L wrote: »

Agreed i don't really like South London due to the lack of tube link and other reasons no offense to anyone. its just personal preference I think its like many people hate East London. North London/West London is quite out of my affordable range esp i only want somewhere within Zone 3. so I only have East London left ......and I think East London quite suits a young poor struggling working class pleb like myself haha

No offence taken, there are parts of London I feel very comfortable with and others I just don't feel like I belong in! The transport thing is a misnomer though, North London can be a nightmare for transport - I've got friends who live in north of Muswell Hill and it's a nightmare to get anywhere if you don't have a car. There's no train within miles, no tube - total pain. I live in Brockley and the overground (every 5-10 mins) puts me two stops from Canada Water and the Jubilee Line, a few more from Whitechapel and that's the District Line and Hammersmith & City. On the rail (every 20 mins) I'm two stops from London Bridge.

One of the problems with being in East or West London is that you're totally reliant on the Central Line. But I'm not trying to convert you! I'd live in SW London, but not West, I'd live in North London but not Hackney. You spend a bit of time somewhere and you either gel with it or you don't. I'm even getting a soft spot for Elephant & Castle (!?!)

Erisu

Hey Lili_L!

It seems like I'm on the same boat as you are but I've actually put down a £500 reservation cost to a 2 bedroom new build flat at Canning Town and had just sent off my solicitor fee's yesterday.

I took about 6 months property hunting, I literally went everywhere but mostly kept to North London and East London as potential places where I can purchase a 2 bedroom with a budget of around £220K.

I came across East City Point by chance 2 months ago on Zoopla so decided to go check it out. My first impressions of East London and Canning Town is it's pretty dead there and not much going on really but having heard the Government is pumping in £3.7 billion into regenerating Newham, I thought I'd go and check it out. Having walked around the area with my family and driven around the area at night, I saw a few sites being re-built with new apartments, the regeneration of Rathbone market and a proposed new town centre with Morrisons and other high street shops.

So I went to the Marketing Suite at East City Point and was delighted to find they had a 2 bedroom property still available at £230,000! So the following week I went back and put my £500 reservation fee down. My contract exchange deadline is 22 August 2013 with a completion date due for January 2014.

My reasons for buying in Canning Town are exactly for the reasons you mentioned in your first few posts of:

Being close to Central London
10 min walk to Canning Town tube station
A stop away from Canary Wharf
Close to o2 Arena
Close to Stratford Westfield

I was contemplating whether I should of held it off because as alot of users here say putting all your hope into a regeneration project is a big risk but then again with my type of budget, the places I've seen were a dump or just didn't have any good transport links Plus if I need wait more to save up another £20K or so, property will keep increasing.

So I think here I've compromised the location for a brand spanking new build really lol But holding onto hopes that in about 5 years time, Canning Town will live up to the promise it is scheduled to be!

Lilly_L

indeed I visited Muswell Hill as its the Middle class area I think i was viewing a place in Edgeward and passed by on the bus. The place looked so trendy and leafy. I fell in love with it instantly of course there is this factor I cannot afford Muswell Hill unless I want a studio for £250k but the transport there is appalling. its so in the middle of nowhere! I totally agree with you.
and yes I have heard plenty of horror stores about Central Line lol although I dont use it often. then lets be honest Canning Town has Jubilee line which is equally bad...my auntie lives in Forest Hill and she absolutely loves the transport there and closeness to central London (probs also because she used to love in Croydon lol).
hahahah and you are so funny! I know Im bl**dy developing touchy feely towards Canning Town as well after living here for a while just felt like I fit in with the locals! this is almost as bad as Elephant & Castle lol although I did hear Elephant & Castle is on the up due to government pouring in ££?

kwmlondon wrote: »

No offence taken, there are parts of London I feel very comfortable with and others I just don't feel like I belong in! The transport thing is a misnomer though, North London can be a nightmare for transport - I've got friends who live in north of Muswell Hill and it's a nightmare to get anywhere if you don't have a car. There's no train within miles, no tube - total pain. I live in Brockley and the overground (every 5-10 mins) puts me two stops from Canada Water and the Jubilee Line, a few more from Whitechapel and that's the District Line and Hammersmith & City. On the rail (every 20 mins) I'm two stops from London Bridge.

One of the problems with being in East or West London is that you're totally reliant on the Central Line. But I'm not trying to convert you! I'd live in SW London, but not West, I'd live in North London but not Hackney. You spend a bit of time somewhere and you either gel with it or you don't. I'm even getting a soft spot for Elephant & Castle (!?!)

Lilly_L

Heyhey we have such similar stories !
I have definitely come across East City point remind me is that close to Custom House or Royal Albert?

and gosh we are looking at the area for the exactly same reason. Where do you live now? in Fact I just left Canning Town. my friends and I shared an ex council house (although the landlord denies it lol) house very close to the Vermillion on the Barking Road. When I came for viewing it didn't actually look too bad although the house was utterly mining haha. Guess we all wanted to save some money by moving there. As time went by we all fell in love with Canning Town/Barking Road the food shopping was fantastic so cheap and its got everything you ever need with even a small Chinese supermarket lol not to mention the fantastic transport. I work in Canary Wharf so its literally 5min no change. then the landlord wanted to sell the house so they kicked us out which is another story.
all of us then moved to Isle of Dogs ultimately the posh neighbours of Canary Wharf and we all hate it. very bad for shopping only one Asda around and DLR is utterly useless wherever you wanna go you have to change either at Poplar or Canary Wharf pain in the backside.

I have actually seen the part of land where its opposite to the station being a flat land with the machines from Bouygues Development. As u know all these regeneration scheme s could be all empty talks form the councils so I looked up the Bouygues webiste and looks like the £600million phase two has indeedly kicked off last year which gave me some reassurance that the Morrison and shops are coming lol
In fact I have just made an offer as well in between Royal Victoria and Canning Town. I ll send the property link to you as a private message.