Where to buy in London?

eagerftb

Beckenham is a very nice area to move in. Connectivity to Victoria as well as London Bridge!

Fraise

Cornucopia wrote: »

Southgate.

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-42553534.html

Alternatively rethink the commuting cost vs. budget and buy something near Ebbsfleet in Kent (17 mins St Pancras).

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-43909862.html?premiumA=true

South gate is gorgeous,,very green and has lovely restaurants and top schools. It's very posh in parts too, plus it has the tube station and BR so easy and quick to get into Central London. But it is expensive....some of the houses there are fantastic though.

Fraise

cupid_s wrote: »

We are early thirties and no kids, but they are pretty much a definite for within the next 2 years or so. So somewhere with a decent primary school would be good, though we'd be happy to travel a longer distance to take them to school, especially if it was vaguely on our route to work.

Until then we will be going out quite a bit, museums, parks, bars, restaurants, plus tourist-type things as my OH hasn't really ever spent much time in London. Although I live in a lovely area at the moment, I never really go out there anyway, so the nightlife in the immediate area isn't important at all.

I think if you're looking for a forever house in which to bring your kids up, you really need to think carefully about where to move to, as you don't want to move again when you start a family.....it's expensive moving.

With 500k you're slightly limited on where to buy in London, but there's some beautiful pockets of a London that seem to remain almost a secret, or are small enough to be overlooked. Although Tooting is now up and coming and getting expensive, much of it is quite tatty, and the schools are really poor.

I think to get the most for your money you need to list all your requirements, and all the things you'd hate to live amongst.

Off the top of my head one of the nicest and most beautiful parts of London is Purley. It's Zone 6 but the trains get into London Bridge and Victoria in just 20 minutes. They run regularly all day long and into the early hours of the morning. There's also a couple of buses that go
all the way into and out of Central London, including night buses too.

Location wise it's fantastic, as besides being so quick and easy to reach Central London (you can see the view of the Shard and Gherkin from some roads in Purley too) , you're also just 10 minutes away from the new Westfield shopping centre that's soon to open and will have House of Fraser etc. already there's a John Lewis, Waitrose nearby, plus the Purley Way with every store you can imagine ....Next, PC World etc.....plus some very nice plush hotels.

You're also just 15 minutes from Gatwick, 40 minutes from Brighton, and 10 minutes from the M25.

Besides being easy to get into Central London' they've got a new underground two stops away from Purley, so you can always hop on there if you prefer the tube. There's also the tram which whizzes into Wimbledon in no time.

Purley is very green with large houses and big gardens. Crime rate is low. The area is middle class...bank manager types, and in the private roads you have rock stars ))

Being in Greater London but also Surrey you have the green belt around you, and lots of wonderful country pubs with gastro food, top restaurants plus things like golf clubs, flying schools, riding schools, gyms, leisure centres etc....and excellent schools too.

Here's a link to house in your price range as an example....

And no, I am not working on behalf of the Purley tourist board lol




http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-28302333.html




I think that one is sold (they are all selling quickly these days, unfortunately)', and it is a bit over your budget, but most people negotiate, and it should give you an idea of the kind of decent sized family house you can buy in zone 6. Remember, too, the influx from zones 3 and 4 are flowing over into z5 and 6, so the prices are going to rise pretty quickly.....

Tiglath

Another vote for Leystonstone or Walthamstow. With say Walthamstow Village you have the option of Tube or train into Liverpool Street - handy for when one option goes fubar. Barnet's also very nice.

Cornucopia

Fraise wrote: »

South gate is gorgeous,,very green and has lovely restaurants and top schools. It's very posh in parts too, plus it has the tube station and BR so easy and quick to get into Central London. But it is expensive....some of the houses there are fantastic though.

It is all of those things. But most importantly, it's a very easy commute to Euston - and also has various nightbus options for late night revelry.

If it were me, I'd be reluctant to go anywhere that involved a mainline rail journey and then a tube journey across central London. (The tube part alone can be 20-25 mins).

Fraise

Cornucopia wrote: »

It is all of those things. But most importantly, it's a very easy commute to Euston - and also has various nightbus options for late night revelry.

If it were me, I'd be reluctant to go anywhere that involved a mainline rail journey and then a tube journey across central London. (The tube part alone can be 20-25 mins).

Yes, it's very easy to commute into Euston. Southgate is a great place, and not that well known for some reason. There's a few hidden gems in and around London that only locals seem to know about. Same as Purley.

It's funny you mentioned the tube and BR. A friend of mine who lives near Southgate uses BR to get into Central London, as he finds the tube claustrophobic and busy. Luckily he works near to BR in The city (can't remember which station...) so he can get straight into work all the way by train.

I think it's a good idea to work out the timing of your journey door to door, rather than train/tube/bus journeys alone. If you're only a 5/10 minute walk from BR or a bus stop your total journey door to door can often be quicker (or the same) as taking the tube.

Cornucopia

I think people don't realise that the City is fairly compact, and you can easily walk from Moorgate (a terminus for trains from the North) to Cannon Street (a terminus for trains from the South) in about 10 mins.

The West End is slightly different.

The OP is talking about working at Warren St/Euston Sq., so within walking distance of Euston, St. Pancras and Kings Cross. I wouldn't be considering a South London location served only by Mainline trains on that basis. Unfortunately, Thameslink can be painfully slow across central London, too.

Finst

cupid_s wrote: »

Could you give me any more info on what Tooting is like? In particular any good and bad points. I have a friend who lives there and he really doesn't like it, and more to the point doesn't think I would.

But then I know some people who live there and think it's the best place ever. A girl at work has lived there for 5 years and is gutted that she can't afford to buy in Tooting and is having to move further out.

Like everywhere in London, areas have their good and bad bits. I notice someone else has written quite negative comments about Tooting.

The centre of Tooting (near Tooting Broadway station) is busy, noisey, and not somewhere I would like to live, particularly with family. The North Eastern corner where I live (near Tooting Bec station, and next to the park) is a lovely, quiet place to be in my opinion. Doesn't feel like London at all, feels far more suburban, and I've had squirrels, Jays, woodpeckers and all sorts appear in my diddy wee garden. Just a hunch, but I suspect your male friend lives in Tooting Broadway and your female friend lives in Tooting Bec.

If I could give you some advice (which applies to any areas you decide to look), drive around the area one weekend. London has a tendancy to have small pockets of nice and not-so-nice right next to each other, which makes generalising an area so difficult (far moreso than any other city I've been in)

Hope that helps!

Tiglath

Cornucopia wrote: »

I think people don't realise that the City is fairly compact, and you can easily walk from Moorgate (a terminus for trains from the North) to Cannon Street (a terminus for trains from the South) in about 10 mins.

True - I did exactly that walk last week. Took me 12 minutes.

macadamia_2

Have a look at Ham, Richmond. My best friend moved there at the end of last year. She's just under a mile to walk to Teddington station (across a footpath on the River Thames) and she almost lives on the river. It's so beautiful and peaceful but so close to Kingston, Richmond and Teddington. She walks to all these places. Her son goes to an outstanding school (OFSTED rated). It's called (something like) Greycourt School. Have a googlel and you'll find it. Her 3 bed house was 400 ++