Suggestions on where to buy 2 bed in London? (£220k commuting to EC3)

Retired_Mortgage_Adviser

AdrianC wrote: »

£220k within the TfL zones is possible. Even with two bedrooms.

Two or more beds, £230k and below, excluding SO and retirement, in "London". There'll be some just outside that are in the zones, there'll be a few within that might not be. But that's 110 properties to give you some ideas to start with.
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/find.html?locationIdentifier=REGION%5E87490&minBedrooms=2&maxPrice=230000&dontShow=retirement%2CsharedOwnership

They aren't even all in blatant warzones.

Sure, some are unmortgageable, while others need work.

Pedro_Su wrote: »

Any advice which budget areas to avoid? I wish I knew London better.

Based on my knowledge of east London, I would second what Adrian has said above. It's certainly possible, especially if you are open to doer-uppers but will need you to keep an eye open, be flexible, ready to move quick and accept that it's unlikely to be within a 5-10 minute walk from the nearest tube station.

Whether it a "good area for families", has "good schools" and which areas you want to avoid is entirely subjective. I've lived in many parts of inner and outer east London over the years which were/are considered dangerous or crappy or too-ethnic, but we were perfectly safe and happy in, working and bringing up our daughters.

But I have friends and family who would absolutely not consider living in the same places (for their own entirely valid reasons), to each his own.

If you mention a few areas that you know of and think are "good", I could suggest similar places in the parts of outer east London that I know well.

Pedro_Su

Thank you. You have a good point. Not every area which is looking a bit rough is dangerous.

GDB2222

I couldn’t get that link to Rightmove to work, but when I checked it was difficult to find much at the £220k mark at all. What I did find tended to fall into a few categories.

Houseboats.
Auction property, which usually sells for far more than the guide price.
Short lease.
Local authority property, which often has sky high service charges.
Places which are quite a long commute.

Celes

Woolwich is an option for non new builds. There are some seriously cheap properties there. Some areas are worse than others of course in Woolwich, but there should be a happy medium.

kazzamunga

Pedro_Su wrote: »

Thank you for questions,
Commuting time is important, but I would like to stay inside of Oyster card zones as train fares are too high. For the budget I would rather have shorter commute and flat than long commute and house. Train fares drain people finances. I know people commuting to London from Brighton. I would not like that. And I don't mind doer-upper.

As far as I know that rules out Dartford then - unless that's changed in the last few years, I remember getting fined at the station there because I thought I could swipe my oyster and I should have bought a ticket!

tetrarch

Dartford is outside the Oyster Zone and fares are considerably more expensive.

Both Dartford and Bexley Boroughs have a selective education system.

You don't specify the ages of any offspring, but if they are bright and at, or coming up to, secondary school then you may be able to get a quality education for a bargain price

Regards

Tet

(lifetime Bexley resident, with two grown-up grammar-school-educated daughters)

Pedro_Su

Dartford is Zone 8 since 2015 according railway website

kazzamunga

Ok! That changes things, though I still wouldn't be itching to buy there - it's pretty far out of London and it's not particularly nice (my cousin lives there and my employer's HQ is there). Some of my family live in Bexley (Welling) and I'd say it's preferable to Dartford in my limited experience! Schools are definitely good. Barnet also has really good grammar schools but it's probably too expensive and not sure you'd be interested in the commute (though the Northern Line is pretty quick).

Pedro_Su

kazzamunga wrote: »

Ok! That changes things, though I still wouldn't be itching to buy there - it's pretty far out of London and it's not particularly nice (my cousin lives there and my employer's HQ is there). Some of my family live in Bexley (Welling) and I'd say it's preferable to Dartford in my limited experience! Schools are definitely good. Barnet also has really good grammar schools but it's probably too expensive and not sure you'd be interested in the commute (though the Northern Line is pretty quick).

Thank you very much for your valuable insight. I have big hopes that Elizabeth line should be running soon which should improve connection to Dartford. Secondary schools will be more important for us in about 7 years time.
Barnet is great but way above my budget.