Commutable Towns and Cities close to London

numbercruncher8

Just gotta be patient. 

I still maintain that at £200k, you can get a 1-bed flat in London, just not in a fashionable area. That doesn't mean it will be terrible. If you want to prioritise commute time over quality of accommodation and outdoor space, it is a better option. I don't necessarily know if OP wants this, but some people clearly do.

Prices are falling, and the range of properties that are within viewable range (ie up to £225k) will be getting better by the week. Two years ago even the most crummiest of places were £200k, I don't see it as the case now.

Just seems that a lot of personal opinion is sneaking into the thread. There must be literally over a million people living in the less salubrious districts in London, me included. There seems to be a presumption that just because you don't want to live there, neither will the OP.  But there are nice bits and bad bits of London in every place, often things can change massively in the manner of a few streets.

Manor Road in Chigwell has a reputation as one of the poshest streets, yet Limes Farm Estate lies just off it, etc. If someone wrote off that as 'it's nice but the bad bits of the estate is seeping in', and someone formed an opinion off that, that seems stupid to me.

I'm making suggestions based on personal experience as a guy of similar age having lived in various parts of London most of my life, people are writing them off based on hearsay. That seems snobbish to me.

[Deleted User]

numbercruncher8 said:

Just gotta be patient. 

I still maintain that at £200k, you can get a 1-bed flat in London, just not in 2020.

Fixed your post.

£200k would have bought you a nice Victorian 1-bed in zone 2, South East London, ten years ago.  I should know because that's what the garden flat next door to mine sold for back then.

Since I'm renting myself I'd love to see the prices fall to those levels, but the area's much nicer now than it was then, so I guess even with the worst depression in 300 years it won't happen. 

It's something I don't really understand though - if the economy totally collapses, WHY can't house prices reduce to what they were ten years ago?  I get that an asset has an inherent value that it will never fall below, but what's so amazing about what happened in the past decade that can't be undone?

blue_max_3

When you've found some, come back with the possibilities. I've got more than twice that and am limited.
Eg https://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-79111330.html

[Deleted User]

blue_max_3 said:

When you've found some, come back with the possibilities. I've got more than twice that and am limited.
Eg https://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-79111330.html

Here's one for £180k in Leytonstone.     Looks like a converted beer cellar!  I think it would be depressing, but at least there's a large park nearby:

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-88346573.html

numbercruncher8

Of course, you are most correct. You probably could have gotten a small house out in the outer zones at that price.

I don't think prices will fall to those levels for those types of properties, but I do think some other properties may come into range. The streets around Ilford station are cheap, and when Crossrail opens it will be incredibly well connected. IME though I think living there isn't that good, it's a very busy area and I believe the council houses many people temporarily in places in that area, as well as many HMOs in those streets. The place I posted earlier has a similar commute time, but is many times quieter. 

To me, it's a case of time vs money. OP lives a fair way from London - it's about an hour or more on the train. I don't see why he would want to move somewhere on the other side of London that is still an hour or more on the train unless it is for a very specific purpose (ie beach).

In very rough terms I don't think there is much difference finance-wise in buying a property at £150,000 and commuting in, than buying a £200,000 place and being in a London Zone. The cost of your season ticket (and any other London travel) totally offsets the saving you make on the mortgage. And that doesn't include any value for time. Assuming the rest of the journey is the same a 15 minute train ride as opposed to a 1 hr train ride saves 7.5 hours a week, or 30 hours a month, the equivalent of most of a week at work. That may be meaningful for some, but not for others.

Like I have said it really depends on what you value more.

GDB2222

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-77754853.html

One bed flat in London for £200k. Nothing wrong with it AFAICS. 

blue_max_3

GDB2222 said:

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-77754853.html

One bed flat in London for £200k. Nothing wrong with it AFAICS. 

The price is reflected in the 80 year lease. I wouldn't go near it myself and will only lose value fast as time progresses. But not too bad other than that. 

numbercruncher8

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-88346573.html
Ambivalent on this one. Wanstead is nice, this part not so nice. Some may regard it as its own area.
But it is near Wanstead Flats, and that is an excellent space.
The flat is renovated but the building itself looks in a poor state, surprising as I think it was a pub conversion.
Leytonstone is six stops from Bank and roughly 15 mins away, but the getting there doubles that easily.
If coming back late at night, I would not be comfortable with my partner walking from the station and may recommend a bus.

GDB2222

blue_max_3 said:

GDB2222 said:

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-77754853.html

One bed flat in London for £200k. Nothing wrong with it AFAICS. 

The price is reflected in the 80 year lease. I wouldn't go near it myself and will only lose value fast as time progresses. But not too bad other than that. 

You can extend the lease. At eighty years currently, it won’t cost a fortune.

blue_max_3

GDB2222 said:

You can extend the lease. At eighty years currently, it won’t cost a fortune.

When it goes less than 80, it attracts marriage value. As you say, not too expensive at the moment at around £1500 or so. But you don't want to be hanging around and you've already bust your budget. Obviously all property may reduce in the current market, so it is giving the OP a much better chance.