Where to buy in outer London with £200k budget?

zizu73

Hi there,

As it says in the title. My sister is planning to buy a 1-2 bed flat. Max budget £200k, she has 20% deposit. She works close to Earl's Court so ideally somewhere with easy commute to Victoria or Paddington. I was thinking maybe Sutton but not sure about the other areas further out such as Redhill, Dorking, Leatherhead, Epsom etc. What about Croydon? Is this budget realistic and if so where would be a good, safe place to buy. It's more a home than investment but wouldn't hurt if the value increases a bit in the future.

Thanks in advance.

kayfaz

Considered Reading? It has direct train links to Paddington and £200k budget should be ok for a 1-2bed flat near town centre/walking distance to train station

ReadingTim

As a resident, I'd second the Reading recommendation - £200k could get a Victorian terraced house in the town centre, rather than a flat, if that's her thing. Good leisure and retail facilities, as well as transport links to London, which will only improve with Crossrail. However, said transport will set you back over £5k p/a, and Paddington is a bit of a pain to go from...

hop3y

zizu73 wrote: »

Hi there,

As it says in the title. My sister is planning to buy a 1-2 bed flat. Max budget £200k, she has 20% deposit. She works close to Earl's Court so ideally somewhere with easy commute to Victoria or Paddington. I was thinking maybe Sutton but not sure about the other areas further out such as Redhill, Dorking, Leatherhead, Epsom etc. What about Croydon? Is this budget realistic and if so where would be a good, safe place to buy. It's more a home than investment but wouldn't hurt if the value increases a bit in the future.

Thanks in advance.

Come to Burnley, you can buy 4 or 5 houses with that.

eddddy

kayfaz wrote: »

Considered Reading? It has direct train links to Paddington and £200k budget should be ok for a 1-2bed flat near town centre/walking distance to train station

I guess the balance is that a season ticket from Reading to London zone 1 is just under £5k per year (or £460 per month).

Wherase a season ticket from Croydon or Sutton to zone 1 is about £2.2k per year (or £205 per month)

... which might impact on mortgage affordability.

zizu73 wrote: »

I was thinking maybe Sutton but not sure about the other areas further out such as Redhill, Dorking, Leatherhead, Epsom etc. What about Croydon? Is this budget realistic and if so where would be a good, safe place to buy.

Leatherhead, Epsom (and other towns around them) seem like very nice places to live, but they are traditional 'stockbroker belt' towns - which periodically appear in lists of 'Towns with most expensive house prices in the UK' etc.

You're talking about flats rather than houses, but the high prices tend to filter down. So you wouldn't get much for that money.

darrensurrey

Fire up rightmove and see what you can get for that budget. The places you've mentioned are fine but will have its "rough" parts like any town.

ReadingTim

hop3y wrote: »

Come to Burnley, you can buy 4 or 5 houses with that.

The commute to Earls Court is a bit of a pain though.

hop3y

ReadingTim wrote: »

The commute to Earls Court is a bit of a pain though.

Private Jet?

martindow

hop3y wrote: »

Private Jet?

Landing may be a bit tricky.

hop3y

martindow wrote: »

Landing may be a bit tricky.

Land in Turf Moor - deal done.

greensalad

I live in Woking, which is direct in to Waterloo, first stop on many services.

But I don't think £200k would get you anything that great, and it would need to be far away from the station.

Dorking is expensive. Very expensive, and difficult to get to London from.