London Help to Buy- worth doing?

Petite_Anglaise

marksoton

Yes it is madness, but London is where our family live (& help towards childcare costs) and friends. I grew up in London suburbia- my life is here and our jobs are here. That's why we bother to stay on here.

We could go out and buy a 1-bed flat, but with a young child there will not be enough space. I understand the 'starter home' rationale for FTBs but buying a 1 bed makes more sense if you are a 20 something single person with no children i.e. it suits your current needs.

Those prices quoted above (£599k for a 3 bed, £530k for 2 bed) are London Help to Buy prices for new build properties i.e. they are grossly out of keeping with prices in that particular local area- my question was about whether HTB was an avenue worth pursuing.

From looking at the development and local area (Lower Sydenham) it's not actually an area we particularly want to be in, it just happens to be where there is a HTB development on the go.

Penge and Crystal palace are not further out really, just slightly over to the west- they are just on different train lines which will make our commutes more convoluted and factoring in drops off for childcare etc.

Giving up on HTB (despite multiple phone calls from the developers!) & going to keep looking in the Bromley/Beckenham area where buying a 2 bed flat on the open market is much more do-able.

Plus so much stuff has been on the market for months with reductions- going to make a few cheeky pre-Christmas offers I think!

Petite_Anglaise

Just to clarify- the £599k is for a 3 bed FLAT, not house. The £530k is for a 2 bed FLAT as well.

Cakeguts

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/find.html?locationIdentifier=REGION%5E391&minBedrooms=2&numberOfPropertiesPerPage=24&radius=0.0&sortType=6&index=0&includeSSTC=true&viewType=LIST&areaSizeUnit=sqft&currencyCode=GBP It is further out but probably had more choice/

steampowered

From that part of London it is your husband who is going to face the longest commute if he is going to West London.

Could it be worth looking further east to somewhere near a crossrail station, such as Abbey Wood?

When Crossrail opens in a year or so it will take you directly to Canary Wharf without needing to bother with the DLR and would also get your husband into West London very quickly.

Petite_Anglaise

Thanks for the ideas- not really considered Croydon, don't know it very well, even less Abbey Wood.

Will get looking on Rightmove etc
Plus need to factor in the local schools as well for catchments etc- that will probably be the decision maker for us.

Being somewhere near the Charing Cross/Cannon street line is handy for us- husband needs to get specifically to Leicester square/Soho area.

steampowered

Petite_Anglaise wrote: »

Being somewhere near the Charing Cross/Cannon street line is handy for us- husband needs to get specifically to Leicester square/Soho area.

That line goes off East, so you could consider Lewisham, Woolwich or somewhere a bit further out like Dartford.

marksoton

steampowered wrote: »

That line goes off East, so you could consider Lewisham, Woolwich or somewhere a bit further out like Dartford.

Perhaps Erith.... :eek:

Petite_Anglaise

We've checked out Lewisham for 2 beds- either half a million pound high rise apartments with no parking or very run down (ex-) local authority properties.

Anything vaguely affordable there is either up for auction or has an extremely short lease- both scenarios mean a mortgage is pretty impossible!

lewishardwick

Way over priced. That area isn't that great. It's going to be the over spill from Beckenham. £300k for a 1bed flat!

lewishardwick

I've just moved to Slade Green. Not prefect but affordable and more homes are coming.