let to buy - prices sky high

jaylee3

Well I wouldn't pick either, as they only have 1 bedroom. I don't think many people look for one-bed. I am not fond of either area, but if I had a gun to my head, I would pick the maisonette. The area look a bit rough where the flats are.

Although the blocks of flats are close to the train station, which would be handy for commuting, the maisonette is not a million miles from a station, and is near to the M4.

And with £2000 a year charges on the one, that would put me off. That's a LOT!

The house prices are not likely to come down by the way. They are escalating, and are unlikely to come down. I think they're stuck like this for the foreseeable. And OMG they are expensive around London and the surrounding areas! You pay 150 to 200 grand for a tiny 1-bed sh1tbox in a hideous area! (And IN London, probably triple that!)

There are currently a few 1 bed flats in big high rise blocks, for £130-£150K on auction in South London, but the areas that they're in, I wouldn't walk around them in the daylight as they look so rough. And they look like you would need a shower after you leave the area! Dreadful places. About 50-70 miles north of London you can get much better for that money, and it's only 30 to 50 minutes on the train to central London.

Eg; You can get a 2 or 3 bed house for less than 100K in Milton Keynes. (Only 30 minutes on the train into Euston!) Maybe not the swankiest area, but they're certainly no worse than the areas that the two properties featured in the OP are in.

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/find.html?locationIdentifier=REGION%5E940&sortType=1&maxPrice=90000&minBedrooms=2&maxBedrooms=4&displayPropertyType=houses&oldDisplayPropertyType=houses&googleAnalyticsChannel=buying

And you can get 3 bed semis in really decent areas in Milton Keynes for less than the price that those two one bed flats are going for.

I don't understand it at all; why anybody would want to buy in or near London, when you pay such over exorbitant prices, just to say 'I live in London,' when you can get so much more for your money just 30 to 50 minutes north on the train.

So as I said, I wouldn't even buy either one. I would consider buying a bit further out, where you get much more for your money.

turtleneck

Hi Pixies, yes I am able to save a lot right now and pay off £2k of the mortgage for the last 3 months instead of the £500 it was.

Jaylee, it looks like all those MK properties are shared ownership?

If I lived in London then I'd certainly consider moving out a few zones, however I already live outside London. I know there are slightly cheaper areas like Bracknell and Basingstoke, but as I said the cost of driving to Reading every day would soon add up. I don't think these other areas near Reading are cheap enough to consider moving to.

If I saved £10k on a flat for example, the mortgage might be £60 less a month but I could easily be paying more than that a month for transport to work and to see family etc.