Buying in South-East or South London

londonjo88

I'm from Eltham and I think it's a really nice area - and there's 2 train stations on different lines so that's good for travelling into london. Currently living in Welling (south side) which is a bit more hit and miss but you will be able to get a nice sized 2 bed flat for your budget! Plus has a beautiful park, lots of supermarkets etc and only 15m drive to Bluewater or out to Kent.

happy_2008

IMO theres not too much wrong with Erith or Dartford! Dartford is becoming more and more expensive with alot of new flats building right next to the station. I have heard that Swanley is not a great area and this is reflected on the price of the properties.

D.L

Lambeth/Southwark/Greenwich if you want somewhere a bit more central. There is a real mix of ridiculously unaffordable and more reasonably priced. Reputation probably not the best although I've had no problems and on par with a Croydon

cattie

Beckingham is far too pricey for you I fear.

Sidcup is nice but not much in the way of shopping or much else. A good mix of houses & low rise private flats.

Eltham too where I've lived is very nice, oodles of open green spaces & good shopping facilites, but I'd avoid Middle Park Estate as while some parts are fine, some of the houses do look a bit tatty with junk & stuff in front gardens. The Progress conservation area is really very nice & the cottage flats seem to be very reasonably priced.

I've always liked Bexleyheath but understand there's sometimes bother at night when pubs & clubs close, though imagine that's only in the centre & not the residential areas.

Dartford is quite busy so good if you like an area that's not too quiet, but not sure I'd choose to live there.

However, noticing that you go on to say you'll need to buy a new flat, I think that seriously limits you. I can't see a new build 1 bed flat would cost less than £400k in area of the areas I've mentioned (apart from Dartford as I have no idea of new build prices there). A friend bought a new build 2 bed flat in Eltham about 18months ago & paid in excess of £500k with no parking space (that would have cost an extra £23k!)

numbercruncher8

I think you also have to factor in how long you intend to stay and how it fits in with your finances.

The problem is with HTB is that the flats tend to be over-priced for what they are. In a few years time they won't be new and ineligible for HTB so those premiums disappear. If prices fall, I think these flats, and 1-beds and studios at that will be hit a bit worse than average. By that time it'll be the new properties that get the discount.

A combination of high LTV, HTB and short time horizon could lead to a difficult situation later on. In 5 years time, the government part of the loan kicks in, if prices have fallen and you haven't saved, remortgaging can be difficult and you can't rent it out. It is worth bearing in mind for some London places prices are actually falling, have being doing so for the last 2 years and there doesn't seem anything to prevent them falling further. Some of the new builds built around 2016/2017 are worth less today than when they were built and still look a tad expensive relative to other flats.

In my view it is not written down but the loans favour those in careers with some fairly concrete upticks in salary over time and increasing level of savings. 

For most places on the list £260k is probably a 1-bed HTB at the most. The other options are to reduce the risk a bit and go for non-HTB properties: an older 1-bed is anywhere between £150-250k, an older 2-bed could also get into the budget.  

For me, safety in these London areas is a function of distance from the station: most times you'll be walking around alone at night is coming back from somewhere. I don't think any place is dangerous in the day but night-time is much different. This won't be easy to gauge apart from visiting the area several times at different times.

Having ranted on enough, in my view the area between South Croydon and Lloyd Park may be suitable. This is not urban at all, and also features two parks nearby for running.

I could suggest using the 'draw map' feature on Rightmove to save an area you are interested in and to filter properties by bedrooms and price. I think it's fairly likely as the year goes on, better and better properties will drop into the price bracket if prices decline.

movilogo

I would suggest that you skip leasehold flats and buy a house only. There will be a trend for people to move away from London as work from home becomes mainstream. So right now you would buy at the peak of the market. London prices won't rise fast any more - in fact likely to fall instead. Get a 2-bed house at least with some garden - if that means going bit away from London. 
Off course, it depends on how much you need to commute to central London daily and where your work can be done remotely.

Miranda25

londonjo88 said:

I'm from Eltham and I think it's a really nice area - and there's 2 train stations on different lines so that's good for travelling into london. Currently living in Welling (south side) which is a bit more hit and miss but you will be able to get a nice sized 2 bed flat for your budget! Plus has a beautiful park, lots of supermarkets etc and only 15m drive to Bluewater or out to Kent.

Thank you, will consider Eltham although they do not have Waitrose there or big Marks & Spencer for buying food and I do not shop in Lidl a lot. 
They have  a flat on Rightmove for £230k and leasehold -87 years remaining. How much I can go down in terms of leasehold length to be on the safe side please? I think I should not go below 100 years old or I am wrong? 

Miranda25

happy_2008 said:

IMO theres not too much wrong with Erith or Dartford! Dartford is becoming more and more expensive with alot of new flats building right next to the station. I have heard that Swanley is not a great area and this is reflected on the price of the properties.

Yes, this is a reason why I asked about Erith/ Dartford. They have new developments and as a first time buyer I have to find a new property in order to use government schemes.

happy_2008

Miranda25 said:

happy_2008 said:

IMO theres not too much wrong with Erith or Dartford! Dartford is becoming more and more expensive with alot of new flats building right next to the station. I have heard that Swanley is not a great area and this is reflected on the price of the properties.

Yes, this is a reason why I asked about Erith/ Dartford. They have new developments and as a first time buyer I have to find a new property in order to use government schemes.

If you are looking in dartford, i would recommend that you extend your budget to £280-£300k and you could buy yourself a 2 bedroom house. The difference in monthly repayments is probably the same as you would have to pay for service charge on a flat

Miranda25

cattie said:

Beckingham is far too pricey for you I fear.

Sidcup is nice but not much in the way of shopping or much else. A good mix of houses & low rise private flats.

Eltham too where I've lived is very nice, oodles of open green spaces & good shopping facilites, but I'd avoid Middle Park Estate as while some parts are fine, some of the houses do look a bit tatty with junk & stuff in front gardens. The Progress conservation area is really very nice & the cottage flats seem to be very reasonably priced.

I've always liked Bexleyheath but understand there's sometimes bother at night when pubs & clubs close, though imagine that's only in the centre & not the residential areas.

Dartford is quite busy so good if you like an area that's not too quiet, but not sure I'd choose to live there.

However, noticing that you go on to say you'll need to buy a new flat, I think that seriously limits you. I can't see a new build 1 bed flat would cost less than £400k in area of the areas I've mentioned (apart from Dartford as I have no idea of new build prices there). A friend bought a new build 2 bed flat in Eltham about 18months ago & paid in excess of £500k with no parking space (that would have cost an extra £23k!)

Thank you Cattie.
Even in terms of new flat I think it is a matter of time & effort. For example, right now they have studio in Bromley for £255k and 2-bedroom flat in Swanley for £270k. I am confused as there is no big difference in prices but huge difference in size of flat: 30 square meters against 62 sq.m. And I am looking for nice size, nice area and affordable. I am sure this combination exists somewhere in greater london :-))