First-time buyer in London - Areas to look at?

MARTYM8`

Romford.

Certainly lively and excellent connections to the City - if you get the fast trains. You can party at work and then club it in Romford on the way home.

You could buy a 3 bed house near the station for that price there.

£330k doesn't get you much 2 bed wise these days in the 'classier' areas.

As for Croydon - south Croydon is nice but most of Croydon is not so nice and not so safe.

Cependant

You could get a flat in Lee or Catford. They both have good train links, and are near enough to central London to be able to get a cab home after a night out.
Croydon is pretty cheap but a massive Foxtons has just opened in the area so prices are going up.

butterfly72

One thing I'd consider when choosing a location is visiting home, especially if you are driving. Living the other side of London can add considerable time to your journey if you have to drive around the M25 or suffer the north or south circular for example.

heytink

We are currently moving to Leytonstone, that area of East London (Leytonstone/Walthamstow area) have a very nice feel at the moment , lots of shops and bars/pubs, still reasonably affordable (for London..) and only 20 minutes tube journey from central London and quite a lot of green spaces like Wanstead flats etc nearby.

Other than that, south of the river a couple of our friends have moved to Woolwich/Plumstead area which again, is a good area for those priced out of Greenwich and links into central London.

Biased obviously, but as you're young I think East London is definitely a fun place to be if you can get in before the prices get any higher (some places are already way beyond the means of most people)