Leasehold in Lower Sydenham , Freehold in Woolwich Arsenal or stay put ?

AngieAnn

Thank you all for taking the time to advise us on this!

The truth is that after going to Woolwich Arsenal we have some doubts on whether it is the right place to start a family. If the area doesn't improve due to the new builds then we would need to move at some point. On the other side we saw a fairly new house just 7 minutes from the new station which was in good condition and within our budget so we are not sure what to do as we share the feelings some memebers mentioned above about the area being split between expensive flats and council flats.

To answer some of the questions above, we are looking for a 2 or ideally 3 bedroom property and it is not for investment but for living there. However, it is important to keep the investing value of the property in mind. As bouicca21 correctly guessed, we were interested in the dylon project where we also have the advantage of help to buy. Without the help to buy our budget drops to ~380k which is a bit low for a freehold property in those nicer areas. (Which is sad because 380k is a lot of money!)

On the other side buying a new flat is easier due to the help to buy scheme and it will be nice and brand new as well as have nice appliances and be very spacious in this development but will come with drawbacks like a high ground rent (up to 500) raising with RPI every 10 years. And also a higher debt that includes a part that needs to be payed back to the governement (only considering 20% htb) And that is the issue with being a first time buyer. You can afford those nice flats due to help to buy and it is harder to get a freehold house.

However it seems that it might be worth saving a bit more and trying to get an existing starting home there (beckenham, crystal palace or other nearby locations) so we will need to think about that too.

Any other suggestions are also welcome!

bouicca21

But will the Dylon flats retain their value? Would you consider buying one if there wasn't a htb? Because your prospective buyer won't get that assistance.

With your budget you are really looking at a 2 bed. Always difficult to know whether to buy what you can afford now or save more. No one can advise you on that one. But if you are in for a 2 bed, you are definitely able to afford a nicer property in a way nicer area. A rightmove search putting the lid on at £350K, and centred on Penge + 3 miles (don't laugh, Penge is actually very nice) threw up several possible properties. I'll pm you with details of what I think is one of the best, but my priorities might not be yours.

always_sunny

Penge is defo much nicer than Lower Sydenham, and way better connected to.
Will any of you need to commute into town?

AngieAnn

always_sunny wrote: »

Penge is defo much nicer than Lower Sydenham, and way better connected to.
Will any of you need to commute into town?

Yes, so we will be taking the train every day

cashbackproblems

Have you considered the bromley, shortlands or beckenham junction areas. For 380k you can get a nice 2 bed flat near beckenham junction station. I ended up buying in shortlands as i have a smaller budget but i considered all those areas such as anerley, penge, sydenham but nothing clicked as much as shortlands did. You have both the victoria and thameslink lines.

I would avoid htb new builds they just wont keep their value and you forever have to pay rent to the government who get the market price on their share when it comes to selling. Plus the build quality is poor, what might look new now is just cheap ikea furniture and will fade in 5-10 years. A flat with a long lease is fine or a 2 bed house may just be possible in those areas. Also i really liked hither green and is in your budget

With penge/sydenham i was put off by the "racial mix" of people there it did not feel safe, and i speak as a non white person.