Buying property in Luton

vandiola

Thanks everybody for the advice. I am limited to a small budget, which is why the area around town was so appealing. And I'd love to move to Milton Keynes, but a regular commute from there to London and the house prices just put it out of the question. I dont have kids, so I dont care about the schools too much, but if I do go for a two bed flat, I would want to be able to sub-let the extra room. That is my biggest worry, that I wont be able to rent it out, or the area is too unsafe

movilogo

Luton is very multi-cultural and like all towns there are good and bad areas. Check crime stats in desired postcode at www.police.uk site.

Luton has no good school (not even any private school)!

Houses in Luton were cheaper earlier but since this year, it has gone up dramatically and some are going over asking price!

One good thing about buying a flat in LU1 area is that if you ever need to let it, you will get tenants very easily.

ethank

movilogo wrote: »

Luton has no good school (not even any private school)!

Is this your opinion or fact? I checked the Ofsted results and most of the secondary schools in Luton are considered Good. Lea Manor, Icknield, Cardinal Newman, Lealands are all Good schools. Barnfield West Academy is rated as Outstanding!

gary224

i almost bought in Luton. near the tube station some good flats at good prices. its not as violent and bad as people tihnk. abut the same as east london but half the price.

some good two beds on offer for 100k to 120k and often hard to sell so can negotiate the price down 10 to 20%

double_mummy

have you thought about bletchley? the new estate near bletchley park is beautiful a 5-10 minute walk to the station and rentals there even for rooms are quite high but commuters love them also people who work in MK mon-fri and then go back north at the weekends

vandiola

^^Bletchley would be a bit expensive for me, otherwise I have been around the area and its lovely.

gary224

i had so many calls from estate agents in Luton this week cos i did some viewing last month.

They sound very desperate to sell cos alot of properties are going on the market and then are not sold.

A couple of the ones i viewed have been taken off the market and now the owners want to rent them. Its a great time to buy cos the estate agents are desperate and u can negotiate the price down alot.

movilogo

Since beginning of this year, good houses are attracting multiple offers leading to bidding war. I have also noticed that some houses were taken of the market because vendors failed to get the price they wanted. This is good because it shows buyers are not offering crazy prices. Usually market stagnate before imminent crash

Regarding schools, I stand correct what I mentioned. Ofsted ratings are pretty much useless. Primary schools are ok but no good secondary schools.

vandiola

Hmm, the two properties I have my eyes on are still up for sale. I did some further digging and found a flat that sold nearby quite recently for a ridiculously low amount. I also found out the area has a high crime rate (violent, sexual and burglary), so really need to rethink a lot of things

OLL1E_K

I can't comment on Luton with anything other than rumors and hearsay but it doesn't have the greatest reputation in terms of crime and so forth. If you were willing to spend an extra 15 minutes on the train on your commute there's Flitwick (its a silent "W", if you pronounce it the locals will lynch you...) just up the road, its on the same train line into London, has decent schools (i attended them, although this probably doesn't reflect well on any of them! :P), a nice area to live with better crime rates and any amenities you could possibly think of. House prices might be a fraction higher though, plus your commuting costs would obviously increase. Swings and roundabouts!