how to know if the property is in a good area or not

msmicawber

What about Kennington/Oval area? It's SE and very close to central London and the City? It's a much nicer area than given credit for, as it tends to be overlooked since it's down the road from Clapham and other places that have got up themselves.

oasisfeverish

derek.gtalk wrote: »

I'd like to buy a house in zone 4~6. Seems Bromley borough is not bad, is it? My budget is up to 300k. Is it feasible for a relatively good area?

Bromley is good, but again you will have good and bad areas, I'm SE9 but come under borough of Bromley, properties here can range from 180k 2 bed terraced to well over the 1m mark within a 1mile radius.

Orpington, Petts Wood, St Marys Cray, Elmstead Woods, Sundridge Park, Mottingham, Beckenham all have properties within your budget, but you haven't stated if this is for a flat, house, semi, detatched, which will effect the area you want to move into.

Plus you are no more than 30 minutes by train to central London. Season Tickets range from £850+ from SE9.

Bromley has the Glades shopping centre and good transport links. And you are not far from the A2/A21/M25 roads.

claireabelle_2

My fella lives in Hither Green, which is quite quiet, with good overland train links, it's in Lewisham. Not so keen on Lewisham centre and Catford which border it... I think the nicest SE London areas are Blackheath SE3, Greenwich SE10 and Dulwich Village. I work in Camberwell (Peckham end), and the crime rate is pretty high, it's buzzing and cosmopolitan and more affordable though.

derek.gtalk

I'm looking for a house. Otherwise, I will stick to zone 2 or 3.

St Marys Cray does not seem to be a good area, even though there are some nice houses.

Actually I'm open to SE, SW, or South London, as long as the transportation to City & Canary Wharf is not too bad.

Melissa177

How about somewhere where the DLR links up? It will take you to Bank, and Canary Wharf...

My boyfriend moved to Limehouse at the weekend, and I was pleasantly surprised how quick it was into the City and Canary Wharf. It ain't cheap, mind...

derek.gtalk

Melissa177 wrote: »

How about somewhere where the DLR links up? It will take you to Bank, and Canary Wharf...

My boyfriend moved to Limehouse at the weekend, and I was pleasantly surprised how quick it was into the City and Canary Wharf. It ain't cheap, mind...

300k can only buy a flat in zone 2 or 3, and that's why I aim to zone 4~6.

sooz

msmicawber wrote: »

What about Kennington/Oval area? It's SE and very close to central London and the City? It's a much nicer area than given credit for, as it tends to be overlooked since it's down the road from Clapham and other places that have got up themselves.

That's SW8 where I used to live.

Surrounded by drug dealers and politicians...no idea which was worse. :rotfl: And every local school had 9 foot high fences topped with barbed wire.

When we sold we first had to wait for the 'attempted murder' sign to be taken down from the end of the road, before putting our place on the market.

Oh, and it was also conveniently just outside congestions charging (what...with politicians living in the area...what a suprise) so whilst we did not have to pay to drive outside our own place, we did have to pay £5 - now risen to £8 - if you wanted to go to the local supermarket.

On the plus point it's quite quick to walk over the river to nicer parts of London.

Bargain_Rzl

derek.gtalk wrote: »

300k can only buy a flat in zone 2 or 3, and that's why I aim to zone 4~6.

Not entirely true. It really depends on what your concept is of a "good area". You can have a pretty little 3-bed Georgian terraced cottage just round the corner from me for under £300k. I'm well inside Zone 2.

I live in north Camberwell, which I'm pretty sure you wouldn't like but there are some lovely parts of south Camberwell (around Camberwell Grove) and south Peckham (around the Bellenden quarter and Peckham Rye Park).

All the areas I would be inclined to call really nice have already been mentioned: Blackheath, Greenwich, East Dulwich (all ludicrously expensive), Crystal Palace, parts of Kennington (cheap when you consider its centrality, but you certainly wouldn't get a decent house there for £300k), Beckenham, Bromley.

I also like Forest Hill (also getting quite expensive now) and I have a real soft spot for Ladywell (zone 3, next door to Lewisham) which is relaxed with lots of parks and wooded areas, and has a villagey feel to it. I lived there for two years and loved it.

sooz - not all of Kennington is SW8, some is in SE11.

Generali

I reckon Hither Green is quite a good call. It is quite quiet and, whilst not the nicest place in London, doesn't qualify for hellhole either (and I'm pretty harsh on places).

IIRC, it 8-10 mins on the train to London Bridge and the train will take you on to Cannon St or Charing X. It's a pretty easy bike ride to Central London too (once you get up the hill to Blackheath).

Actually, it's on Generali's Shortlist of Places Most Likely to Boom (GSPMLB) next time the UK goes through one of these crazy property manias.

Doozergirl

Generali wrote: »

It's a pretty easy bike ride to Central London too (once you get up the hill to Blackheath).

says you?

Generali wrote:

I've been up Alp D'Huez twice on a road bike (second time on a granny bike!) and it's a proper, big mountain. It's huge and very steep. Even the Tour de France boys take over 40 minutes to ascend...

:rotfl:

(I have no idea where you're talking about actually, but I'd have to go and look at that hill before I attempted to ride up it!)