First time buyer in London - single occupant

Trillionski

Hello all,

Was hoping to get some property advice please.

I'm currently in the process of buying my first house. I've been researching for quite some months now and I've learnt that compromise is going to be my friend here but I'm not entirely sure how I should be planning my purchase as I don't only want to focus on the present.

Quick summary of my circumstances

1. Single - therefore I don't see this being my one and only property. Potentially if I meet someone down the line I'd like to move into my "ideal" home. Want to buy somewhere good enough to live for and build some equity to put myself in a better position 5/10 years later.
2. 75k deposit meaning I can probably buy at around 300k max.
3. Can probably only afford a couple areas which are not on the edge of London as I don't want to travel into work too much. For e.g East Ham or Woolwich Arsenal (leaning more towards this area)

So the area in which I've been looking at, it seems like there are some 2 bed freehold properties which do go for 300k. Not many but a few which gives me hope. The sacrifice seems to be the area as not many people say it's the best and I may have to live a little further out near from the cross rail station. Also some are not in the best of shape. It could be the case that I need a bit more cash on top to do some basic renovating which I'm not the most keen on. 

I've also seen new builds which are obviously leasehold but then I think to myself I get a shiny new house. I have to pay a lot more and can only afford a 1 bedroom but I won't have to touch anything and I might benefit from a better quality of living standard.


I'm leaning more towards freehold. I feel like selling the house in the future will be easier than selling the 1 bedroom. Or due to the area being one that's up and coming and 2 bedroom freehold could work out well for letting purposes. I don't know.

I've exhausted so many scenarios in my head - even commuter towns but I don't think it's for me.

Just wanted to ask what your advice would be if you was in my situation?

bouicca21

If your idea of a bit of Woolwich that is ‘not the best’ is Woolwich Dockyard, I’d look at Abbey Wood instead, and consider a flat rather than a house.

Trillionski

bouicca21 said:

If your idea of a bit of Woolwich that is ‘not the best’ is Woolwich Dockyard, I’d look at Abbey Wood instead, and consider a flat rather than a house.

The woolwich dockyard looks really nice but they're all leasehold new builds. I've only ventured into the main town centre but I'll go back to look into the roads a bit more later. Why do you suggest abbey wood and flat?

hazyjo

Have you actually been to East Ham?! Viewed the location/streets of the ones you can afford?

numbercruncher8

Think 300k for a 2-bed house is tough, but I reckon not impossible. 
You will probably need to be a bit more creative on the area though. If work is around Liverpool Street for instance then more areas are possible.
Depending on the individual case I don't think leasehold is automatically a bad thing, and millions of people in London must live this way. Can't really give much advice aside from 2 bedrooms gives a bit more marketability in future than 1. I would also rather live in a 2-bed inexpensive leasehold in a location that I liked rather than a 2-bed freehold house in a location that I did not (assuming equal sqft)

annetheman

bouicca21 said:

If your idea of a bit of Woolwich that is ‘not the best’ is Woolwich Dockyard, I’d look at Abbey Wood instead, and consider a flat rather than a house.

My dad lives in Abbey Wood, I grew up there (he's still there and being hounded for a buy out by developers due to Crossrail/gentrification). Both Abbey Wood and Woolwich Arsenal are cr*pholes, but I'd say Abbey Wood is the safer, family-friendly cr*phole.

Woolwich smells like animal produce and is very busy with litter flying about on the pavements. I couldn't contain my disbelief that the flats on the riverside are being sold for 1/2 a million - the place is a dump!

Out of the two, Abbey Wood is less of a dump but there's less there. 

If you can go up to 300K OP, choose Blackheath instead - please take my word on this!

bouicca21

The new stuff at Woolwich Dockyard is a bit of an island in a not so nice area.  Woolwich is a place of contrasts, yuppified on the old Arsenal site but with pockets of serious poverty almost on the doorstep.  OP you mentioned Crossrail as an attraction for you - well Abbey Wood is far nicer than most of Woolwich and is the Crossrail terminus.  

[Deleted User]

annetheman said:

If you can go up to 300K OP, choose Blackheath instead - please take my word on this!

I think you meant to type a higher figure?  Since OP's budget is already 300k.

If the budget REALLY stretches, here's a rather nice Blackheath 3-bed!:  www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/54394274 

And this 2-bed is rather nice, too!: www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/53804871

hazyjo

Not the worst in Blackheath outskirts, and better than Woolwich or East Ham.

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-63888702.html

Couple of others available not as nice. Lived in Blackheath. Know it well. Lovely place.

arthurdick

Another one here for Blackheath, out of the places mentioned so far, Blackheath is the best, I have lived in Greenwich, Lewisham, Eltham, Stratford and Forest Gate for the first 35 years of my life so know Blackheath pretty well and also a bit of the other side of the water.  As it goes, Lewisham is not as bad as people say, even Deptford aint that bad.

We moved out around 20 years ago to Maidstone and for the last 10 years, have been looking at moving back, I have no love for Maidstone at all and my heart has always been back in London areas, as Numbercruncher says, would rather live in a leasehold in a place I feel happy in, than a freehold in a place I  have no feelings for.

numbercruncher8

Despite what the estate agents might say, 0.6m isn't that close to a station, and that may not be the actual walking distance (as you need to walk along roads, not how the crow flies). Depending on where your work is and your walking speed, this could add quite a bit to your commute, ie 40 mins total door to door instead of 25-30m. Definitely do a 'trial run' if considering this, and many areas of London do not have nice walks at night, especially the cheaper areas (said from experience)

You may have to prioritise your aims a bit. If commuting to work is top of the agenda, having a place next to a well-connected station with frequent services with a slightly longer commute I think is preferable to having one 0.6m from one that is more poorly served (which many in the South East are). So, for someone that works in London Bridge, living next door (<0.1m) to East Croydon station would deliver a more frequent, quicker and safer commute than someone who lives 0.6m from Peckham, even though Peckham is a lot closer geographically. Same goes for some of these places in Blackheath as well.

However, if defending equity position is the priority you could think a bit differently. For instance, using the Croydon example there are an absolute avalanche of flats planned which may dilute the market, on the other hand not many houses are being built. Not many flats are suitable for a family (although families do live in them), a 2-bed house with a garden would broaden appeal.

Ultimately though a margin of safety is built in when you purchase, so negotiating hard/moving fast is probably the best option. Quite a lot of things I see around here are lazily priced, ie stick it on at the highest price the last place achieved, because 'house prices always go up, innit', and end up sitting around for a while before getting reduced. Every so often though there are people that simply need a quick sale. For example a block of flats near me had a 2019 'kite flying price' of £450,000, some reduced to £375,000 and taken off (may appear on Land Registry). Last year one came on at £335,000, sold almost instantly. I'd imagine that the sellers were quite keen and as a FTB you may be quite desirable.