Looking to buy in London with £280-300k budget - Bromley?

Dunney77

Thanks for your help guys - much appreciated!

I would love to stay in Central London but with my budget, I doubt it is possible. I know I wouldn't be happy living in ex-council flats regardless if they are in the city.

With a desire to live in a modern apartment/flat, a new build may be ideal but where can I find info about these developments.

My basic plan is to work in London for a fair few years in my youth so I would like an area with prospects of decent capital gains.

Is Croydon up and coming? In my head it doesn't seem a good place but who knows where will be booming in the next 10 years.

movilogo

Try to buy where a lot of people would say "it is a dump". There you will get largest bang for your bucks. The way London price is going up, in a few years time people will fight to get a house even in so called dump areas

Some areas outside London can be more expensive than some London areas - e.g. Watford is horrendously expensive. East London is still not that bad.

Look for new built - they are usually first come first served and far less chance of gazumping.

caronoel

Dunney77 wrote: »

Thanks for your help guys - much appreciated!

I would love to stay in Central London but with my budget, I doubt it is possible. I know I wouldn't be happy living in ex-council flats regardless if they are in the city.

With a desire to live in a modern apartment/flat, a new build may be ideal but where can I find info about these developments.

My basic plan is to work in London for a fair few years in my youth so I would like an area with prospects of decent capital gains.

Is Croydon up and coming? In my head it doesn't seem a good place but who knows where will be booming in the next 10 years.

Another vote for East Croydon

under half an hour to London Bridge or Victoria and Gatwick is a short hop away. Some lovely Surrey countryside within a 10 minute bike ride.

Lots of investment going in there over the next five years.

Other areas worth considering are those on tell southern loop of the Overground. Some good value areas (such as Denmark hill) and the train goes into Shoreditch which is a walk to Liverpool street

StumpyPumpy

Landofwood wrote: »

There are plenty of slow "stopper" trains from Reading to Paddington, taking around 50 mins with a guaranteed seat.

I think you missed my point. Which was essentially that the quicker commute times do not necessarily make the best commute, which would also apply in your case.

In any event if you need to get from Reading Central to Paddington for any time between 8am and 10am and want to get one of the slow trains you will need to get the 5:14am one or go indirect - the rush hour trains are all fast trains and packed, at least that was the case when I did it and I'd be surprised if it has got any better.

SP

Hermoine

Croydon may be on the up and up but trains from there go into London Bridge which is currently being redeveloped. This means trains are constantly being delayed, and the station itself is a mess, with additional queues to get onto the tube network in rush-hour. I commute from the next station in (Norwood Junction) and its a complete pain. It will apparently be lovely in 2018, when its finished, so it might be worth the short-term pain.

AlexMac

Might be worth considering places on the direct rail link across South London to Victoria; only two trains an hour by day with a few more in rush hour, but they are reliable and mainly run to time in my experience; Blackheath, Lewisham, Nunhead, Peckham Rye, Denmark Hill, Victoria...

Search by those places with your budget and you might be surprised; by place name or maybe using zoopla's 'draw your own' search area tool? And all increasingly improving areas (even bits of lewisham!) and most of those rail stops, from Lewisham in, are in Zone 2, whereas Bromley's zone 3 or 4 so a dearer comuute

benjus

AlexMac wrote: »

Might be worth considering places on the direct rail link across South London to Victoria; only two trains an hour by day with a few more in rush hour, but they are reliable and mainly run to time in my experience; Blackheath, Lewisham, Nunhead, Peckham Rye, Denmark Hill, Victoria...

Search by those places with your budget and you might be surprised; by place name or maybe using zoopla's 'draw your own' search area tool? And all increasingly improving areas (even bits of lewisham!) and most of those rail stops, from Lewisham in, are in Zone 2, whereas Bromley's zone 3 or 4 so a dearer comuute

£300k doesn't go far in Lewisham these days. The only 2 bed for that sort of price I can see within half a mile of the station is up for auction. Going slightly further away they are all tiny and/or grim looking ex-council places. e.g. A 2 bed flat with 37 sq m floor area! Blackheath will be even worse.

Can't really comment on the other areas mentioned.

You may find something within your budget going further out on the same line (e.g. Kidbrooke, Eltham).

Landofwood

StumpyPumpy wrote: »

I think you missed my point. Which was essentially that the quicker commute times do not necessarily make the best commute, which would also apply in your case.

In any event if you need to get from Reading Central to Paddington for any time between 8am and 10am and want to get one of the slow trains you will need to get the 5:14am one or go indirect - the rush hour trains are all fast trains and packed, at least that was the case when I did it and I'd be surprised if it has got any better.

SP

No that's not correct at all, you can take the 7:30, 7:34, 7:56, 8:11... I could go on.

Slow trains at similar times have been available for donkeys years, not sure how you missed them.