Another question about where to live in London

John-K_3

It’s time to move out of the central London flat, away from the bars and restaurants, and into a grown-up house, and I’d appreciate reading oeople’t Thoughts about where to go.

I’d like a good sized family home, an easy commute into the square mile, good schools, and a village feel to it.

I’ve an aversion to early 20th century houses with different coloured brickwork and roofs that come down to the top of the ground floor (i.e. like most houses in Dulwich) and absolutely need a garage or underground parking for two cars.

Where would people recommend? An “easy commute” at the minute means less than thirty minutes into a central London train station, and a walk at the far end, not a drive.

Budget is really hard to pin down. Given stamp duty, £2m is probably pushing it.

So far only Chislehurst seems to tick all the boxes.

jonnygee2

There should be loads of places that meet your criteria, given your budget. Where do your friends live? Where exactly do you often go to in central? Do you have a preference for North/East/South/West?

nicmyles

Mate, if you've got £2m knocking about, can you not just hire someone to figure this out for you?

You can buy a family home that most people would consider a good size almost anywhere in zone 2 in London or beyond.

John-K_3

jonnygee2 wrote: »

There should be loads of places that meet your criteria, given your budget. Where do your friends live? Where exactly do you often go to in central? Do you have a preference for North/East/South/West?

I work in the Square Mile, and my friends are all over the place.

There really aren’t as many as you’d think, vast swathes of West and North London are ruled out on one or other of the criteria, and there just aren’t many places left that feel like a village.

bouicca21

So what's your definition of a village - a green and a duck pond? Chislehurst is just suburbia with a bit of open space. But then so are Greenwich, Beckenham, Eltham and Crystal Palace.

It would be useful to know which station you need in the City.

steampowered

Greenwich? Northcote Road near Clapham perhaps?

If you want somewhere a bit further out, you could consider Borehamwood. 30 minutes to Farringdon, and you'd get a pretty big house near there for £2 million.

Lunchbox

Barnes (has a green with a duck pond!), Chiswick, Putney or Wimbledon.

John-K_3

bouicca21 wrote: »

So what's your definition of a village - a green and a duck pond? Chislehurst is just suburbia with a bit of open space. But then so are Greenwich, Beckenham, Eltham and Crystal Palace.

It would be useful to know which station you need in the City.

Cannon Street or London abridge are fine for me, but my wife needs Charing Cross.

By village I mean one central focus to the area, some green space, and some difference of character from the areas around it.

I’ve lived in Blackheath before, and would again, but it’s a long time since I’ve seen a nice enough house in the centre come up within budget. I looked at one in the Cator estate recently well North of what I want to spend, and even that wasn’t great.

John-K_3

nicmyles wrote: »

Mate, if you've got £2m knocking about, can you not just hire someone to figure this out for you?

You can buy a family home that most people would consider a good size almost anywhere in zone 2 in London or beyond.

This is a bit of a strange response, really. I can google, and have, but why not also ask on here?

I also think that you don’t understand how house buying works. Most people don’t have the full amount “knocking around”, we tend to take out a mortgage towards the cost.

Waterlily24

Not sure what it's like these days but I liked Bickley more than Chislehurst in the past.

Cakeguts

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-51317451.html

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-53714124.html

Just a couple of examples in places where you don't want to be.