Where in London would you buy?

totallybored

Bits of Croydon are ok. There is also a direct train from East Croydon (it may also now go as far as South Croydon) to Earls Court.

morgyporg

Ewell? Not actually London but it is in Zone 6. There's Chessington as well, but you don't get as many trains.

gazzabboi

Look at further out like chelmsford/ colchester. Get to London liverpoot St in a hour.

Lizling

I'll second Croydon or Sutton. Neither place is amazing, but the transport is good for both Earls Court and out into Surrey and £150k would be ok for a 1-bed flat.

The journey in from Sutton wouldn't be that bad. You'd get the train to Wimbledon and pick up the District Line there. TFL reckons 45 to 50 minutes.


Or, on a different line of attack, Crystal Palace and use a scooter or something to get into work instead of public transport. Much nicer than Mitcham but just about within budget and does have decent transport links, just not to Earls Court.

Lizling

cattie wrote: »

The only SW area in London that I really know is Streatham & property there isn't particularly cheap because of it's good transport links.
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It's still perfectly possible to buy a studio flat for £150k in Streatham, and you might still just about get a 1-bed flat. Unfortunately it's not easy to get to Earls Court from there.

zizu73

Thank you all for your suggestions. I will let her know and ask her to have a look at some of the suggested areas. Of course 1 bed flat would be much preferable to a studio but understand the limitation of her £150k budget.

Strapped

tim123456789 wrote: »

I thought that but decided that a commute to Earls Court was not going to be fun



your idea of decent parts of Merton is obviously different to mine :rotfl:

LOL, I'm well connected

Merton is OK, so is Collier's Wood and even the parts of Mitcham (yes I said Mitcham :eek:) that are closer to Collier's Wood tube are too (and better value because everyone goes :eek: when they see a CR postcode).

princeofpounds

A lot of the areas being suggested are good ideas from a property point of view but not in terms of transport to work I'm afraid. No point being stuck way down the northern line having to head into town then out again to get to work.

Would advise her to look at the full transport map (with rail links as well as tube lines). Also, are Kensington Olympia and/or West Brompton (or any other stations) nearby to work? Improves your choices.

Finally, if she is moving to London for the first time I would ***strongly*** urge her to rent for a year before buying at least. Ideas about areas and jobs can change massively within a year or two. Owning a flat that is not centrally located can kill your mobility which is a really bad idea for the early stages of work. Also buying a place can vary massively from road to road; doing it without some local knowledge and experience can mean you buy the seemingly nice place that turns out to have the alcoholics' favourite meeting place outside. Even 6 months of renting in her chosen area can massively improve her eventual outcomes in terms of risk.

totallybored

Lizling wrote: »

It's still perfectly possible to buy a studio flat for £150k in Streatham, and you might still just about get a 1-bed flat. Unfortunately it's not easy to get to Earls Court from there.

There's a direct train from Streatham Common. Or a train from either Streatham Common or Streatham Hill to Victoria then the district line which isn't too bad a commute.

Cycrow

if she is fairly fit, most of the suggested areas could be doable on a bike, which would save money on transport as well.

i could cycle into central london from most of Zone 6 within an hour.

but 150k is going to be pushing it for a 1bed flat, you will be limited to which area you look in for that price.

a studio might be possible in alot of areas around that price.

ideally, u'll need around 175k