Buy a flat in London now or wait?

Crashy_Time

Poster_586329 said:

Alan2020 said:

RoisinDove said:

Alan2020 said:

I find this thread comical, in the inner zones of London £300k will buy a flat where you can exist. 

Many of these people haven’t lived life. It reminds me of someone who asked me to help a friend buy a property mortgage free out of an inheritance. So I found 2 houses one to rent out and the other to live in all bought mortgage free. Anyway this person didn’t like it and asked me to come and view a flat in London. I genuinely feared for my life in this ex la flat, but this person bought it. Absolutely grotty, the irony was she said she loved the London lifestyle- I didn’t want to be cruel and point out she had an existence style.
Lifestyle in most suburbs of England is something achievable at about an income of £30k as a single person, in London I put it at about £120k

If anyone sits in the tube and look at peoples eyes, they are all sad - as my friend once eloquently put it, London is the city where dreams are broken 

Where do you suggest I live? I have considered other cities, but a life in a small town or suburb would be 'existing' for me. I looked at Crawley at the suggestion of an acquaintance, but what would I do there as a single women with no kids, and no support network nearby? She loves it there because her main social outlet is mum and baby groups, and for 260K she was able to buy a 3-bed semi with a garden for the kids, and her husband can commute to work in London. I agree - I would also like to live there if I were in her position. It's a good place for people with families. I think I would spend all my time going to either London or Brighton, and my lifestyle would be curtailed by having to always worry about train times and the expense of them. 

You seem to think the 'London lifestyle' is vapid and grotty, that it's about going to overpriced bars and wasting money. One of the reasons I love London is that I can meet people from all over the world so easily and do just about any hobby I want. Not so easy in a small town. 

I am just sharing my opinion, ultimately its up to you to decide what to do.  You ask for advice mine is;
Go to potential places have a look at what you can get for your money
Take a look at this for instance, you could probably get it for £300K if you negotiate a bit
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/84782305#/
You could leave central London at midnight and be home in  37 minutes and live in a comfortable house, have a car, drive to the woods or take a train to the beach, be at the one of the largest shopping center - bluewater, in the country in several minutes drive.  Right at the doorstep are several pubs and restaurants, you are literally where Charles Dickens spent his life, perhaps go to the museum there.

Alternatively you can have a small ex la flat, in a grotty neighborhood where if you ever have a child would be difficult to raise.  The only advantage you will get is that you can stay later than midnight/last train time and perhaps save 15minutes on the commute and the possible increase in value if prices go up and you aren't landed massive bills for the leasehold

If your salary is £120K then London is realistic to have a reasonable home and lifestyle.

You should go and look at places before you make up your mind, otherwise you don't know what you are missing.   

That place looks like my idea of hell!

This flat in SE London which I posted earlier looks more appealing:

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/73745835#/

You'd be minutes from a landscaped Victorian park (Hilly Fields), and a short walk from a farmer's market.

Depends what OP wants of course, as these properties will appeal to very different people.

That one has already reduced price by 20k, the OP would be wise to wait for more price drops IMO, of course rising mortgage rates are the other thing to think about but the OP sounds like they should just find cheaper rent somewhere for a while TBH.

blue_max_3

I've just bought! Paying nearly £17,000 per annum for rent was getting old after nearly three years. Mortgage free now and can't wait for my asset to increase in value. Got a bit of a discount on it, but having the cash was stressful enough. 
Been looking for nearly three years, so know what I got was already good value. That's the 'secret' I suppose.

misslolu

Alan2020 said:

I just was trying to say, maybe if you lived in a cheaper place you might have been able to travel to a lot more than 20places. A lost opportunity for little gain.
I am not taking any offence, this is a forum for people to debate and there is nothing personal so don't worry!
I am politely saying perhaps you need to look at the views of people who have lived and owned properties both in and out of London, a London centric view is ignorant as well.
Do you think in your flat you can store a car, a caravan, a boat, a road bike, a mountain bike, a paragliding kit, a surfboard, a pair of skis, a snowboard, a BMX bike, have an outdoor kitchen, have a personal study, a guest bedroom, full music kit including drums and guitar and practice without disturbing your neighbours?
Young people highly value the things I mentioned, but the vast majority of young people in "central" London (forget the rich kids) cannot afford to do this.  Yes, there are lots of museums, galleries'  and events to go to in London, which if you haven't realised, people outside of London can afford to do this on a daily basis, by hopping onto a train with a cheap off peak ticket.
But the same young person in London has a subset of the life of a younger person living within visiting/commuting distance of London.
As you point out, you grew up in London, similarly there are people who grew up in a tiny village and think London is terrible.  I beg to differ and say that if you are smart you can have the best of both worlds.  Once your income exceeds a certain level, you can have a piece of many worlds.

This is a bit of a weird comment, you have no idea where he might or might not be able to travel to just because he lives in Lonon. People always have this weird idea that people in london all live in £1k 3 foot square studios and live on rice & beans, when most of us share cheap enough houses with flatmates or rent a decent sized 1 bed in the outer zones to save money.

Funny enough, i'm about to buy in Kent because I can't quite afford to live in London, but having grown up in the suburb life(and not liking it very much) i'm very much anticipating spending a lot of my time in London still as i'm lucky i'm not too far away. Let's all remember that we all have very different ideas of what's "fun" and "a good use of time". I hate museums, galleries and most outdoor activities, but I do like restaurants, jazz cafes & poetry events. By default, London or any other major city would be a better fit  for me than a sleepy village. Also I live near enough the actual biggest shopping center in Europe which is actually in Stratford not Bluewater, the novelty wears off after the first few months.

Weathergirl_76

I read on one of these boards, that Beckenham in Kent was a good area, easy to get into central London, green space and a nice little town. 

I purchased my first property in 2001, I had a good deposit and got a self-certified interest only mortgage (i couldn’t afford repayment). I did nothing to the house, except live there. I think I painted it! My circumstances changed 3 years later and I had to downsize, and sold it for £70K more than its purchase price. It was sheer luck and the market. That then allowed me to put a very good deposit down on my current house. It was cheap rent really and I was very lucky that house prices boomed that year. I don’t know what mortgages are available now, I hear it’s not as easy and self-certified mortgages don’t exist anymore,  but my point is invest if you can, a good property in a good location will always be a good investment. Make sure it’s somewhere you don’t mind spending a lot of time in, if you do end up WFH. One of the main reasons why I want to move, is to have a split level so I have some separation between home and work. I live in a bungalow and I am in the lounge virtually all day for work and in the evenings. Good luck! 

joshiesaunt

I get you OP.  Save the suburbs for when you're ready - you'll know when it's time.
Areas in London to consider - Deptford, New Cross, (SE14/SE8/SE10 bordering).  Prices for flats in converted houses in Hither Green (SE13) are falling and it has excellent overground links to London - 9 minutes to London Bridge or less.  One stop to Lewisham to drop down to the DLR/City airport etc.  Upton Park/Mile End (on the tube)  are grotty but cheap and may benefit in the future from the Walthamstow/Hackney overspill although it hasn't happened yet.  Crystal Palace and Sydenham also have a nice vibe.
It might be worth looking along the Crossrail line - i know you said you didn't want as far out as Abbey Wood but how about Woolwich - you can even get a house on Plumstead Common (which is a lovely local area) for £325K or less?  Woolwich has Thameslink, DLR, normal overground and Crossrail is coming.  Prices have gone up but are currently static so might be a good time to get in.  It's easy and quick to get to Greenwich from there.
Personally i prefer to be on an overground line that is two/three stops into central London rather than a packed tube.  However, some of the lines run 24 hours now at the weekends and hopefully this will be expanded in the next few years to all lines all week (although TFL in dire straits at the moment).
Needless to say, a few of these places are 'gritty'.  I would definitely avoid LA estates in Bermondsey as a single woman.  It doesn't feel like a safe place to walk around, especially at night.
I love Brighton but some areas close to the station are grotty.  Also check out the rail ticket costs especially if you need to be in London a few times a week.

RoisinDove

Thanks for the advice, everyone. I've now started viewing places and have seen a few places in London this weekend. All of them are on the market for between £265K and £280K, and they were all nice places, just small. I would not hesitate to buy any of them if I were living my 2019 life, travelling every other weekend, and in the office 5 days a week, but I will have to consider whether WFH from there would make me feel caged in. 
I am a bit concerned about the service charge on leasehold flats, having read some horror stories about them increasing to crazy amounts and the flat owners having no power to do anything about it. Is this a real concern? Does it only really happen with those new build blocks with loads of flats in, or would it also be of concern in smaller, older developments? 

RoisinDove

joshiesaunt said:

I get you OP.  Save the suburbs for when you're ready - you'll know when it's time.
Areas in London to consider - Deptford, New Cross, (SE14/SE8/SE10 bordering).  Prices for flats in converted houses in Hither Green (SE13) are falling and it has excellent overground links to London - 9 minutes to London Bridge or less.  One stop to Lewisham to drop down to the DLR/City airport etc.  Upton Park/Mile End (on the tube)  are grotty but cheap and may benefit in the future from the Walthamstow/Hackney overspill although it hasn't happened yet.  Crystal Palace and Sydenham also have a nice vibe.
It might be worth looking along the Crossrail line - i know you said you didn't want as far out as Abbey Wood but how about Woolwich - you can even get a house on Plumstead Common (which is a lovely local area) for £325K or less?  Woolwich has Thameslink, DLR, normal overground and Crossrail is coming.  Prices have gone up but are currently static so might be a good time to get in.  It's easy and quick to get to Greenwich from there.
Personally i prefer to be on an overground line that is two/three stops into central London rather than a packed tube.  However, some of the lines run 24 hours now at the weekends and hopefully this will be expanded in the next few years to all lines all week (although TFL in dire straits at the moment).
Needless to say, a few of these places are 'gritty'.  I would definitely avoid LA estates in Bermondsey as a single woman.  It doesn't feel like a safe place to walk around, especially at night.
I love Brighton but some areas close to the station are grotty.  Also check out the rail ticket costs especially if you need to be in London a few times a week.

Thanks for the info...Have looked into a few of these areas already. Woolwich/Plumstead look like good value and prices may well increase with Crossrail coming and all, but I'm a bit unsure about the safety of the area. From looking on street view, it seems very, very gritty. Have also heard lots of bad things about Woolwich over the years....perhaps it has improved? Hither Green looks nicer/leafier, from what I've seen on street view, but not too familiar with it either. 

fewcloudy

@RoisinDove

Hi, just wondered if you ever did buy somewhere in the end? Don't know about you, but I am back in office 5 days a week now and have been for some time, and I think was one of your concerns re. small flats... 1yr+ later a lot might've changed.