Where to buy a flat close to London

jeaniemsm

Romford, chadwell heath all on the tfl line, goes to Liverpool street in under 30 mins, moorgate is walking distance or 1 stop on the tube from Liverpool street.

These areas are fairly "cheap" for London so a decent flat at 250k is doable

MysteryMe

I was thinking the area around Stratford / Westfield which is on both central line or national rail to Liverpool St or DLR into Bank which is another easy walk to Moorgate. There is a lot of regeneration on and around the Olympic Park site of both office and residential, and also the area around Fish Island to the east.  I'm not sure on prices though.

efes_shareholder

MysteryMe said:

I was thinking the area around Stratford / Westfield which is on both central line or national rail to Liverpool St or DLR into Bank which is another easy walk to Moorgate. There is a lot of regeneration on and around the Olympic Park site of both office and residential, and also the area around Fish Island to the east.  I'm not sure on prices though.

250k may get you an ex authority flat in stratford
I guess it all depends what type of lifestyle you want etc as to where is a good shout.

IamWood

Thanks very much for all the helpful comments. Really appreciated.

What about the idea of renting a room for a few months in London to get a feeling of it before doing anything?

lisyloo

Well a couple of things.

when we worked in London I first tried a hotel (travelogue) and then serviced apartments. It reduced our financial risk but let us try different areas and also to see if we loved/hated it. pre-pandemic we loved it but I hear it not everyone’s cup of tea, it’s a bit “marmite”.

also I did some comparisons between buying and renting.
the cut off point (with some huge assumptions) was 9 years.
many people are surprised by that but it was a 2nd property with cgt & extra stamp duty vs the “lost opportunity” of a pension salary sacrifice scheme with a 45.8% uplift (20% income tax+12% employees NI +13.8% employers NI).
 
We decided to rent in zone 1 at £55 per night.
small flat but great location.

I think the decision to rent was the right one for us.

have you compared with your lost opportunity cost I.e. what else you’d do with the money.

we left London early due to the pandemic, a risk we never expected.
have you considered what would happen if things don’t work out as you plan?

there are known unknowns like death, job, sickness, but unknown unknowns like ........well I can’t tell you can I :-) but imagine something really unthinkable like being told it’s illegal for you to travel to your second property. Previously people would have said that’s ridiculously risk averse, but maybe not now.

also I’d say it’s not just money.
we paid a lot to be in central London, but with all the things we did and experienced I don’t regret the spending for a minute. I was there with my partner so maybe different but we had an amazing time Both evenings and weekends.
if your offspring has a career that can only happen in London e.g. high end fashion, then it could be make or break.

a bit of a mixture of heart & head there but based on 6-7 years being in London and some completely unforeseeable risks.

K_S

@iamwood I endorse the gist of the above post. Renting and later buying is not a huge deal but the other way round is less straightforward.

London has a very mature rental market and there are plenty of properties available for all budgets and requirements. Plus, though one city, London has many micro-environments within a 5 mile radius of Moorgate and even more when you move further outside.

In my younger days, when I worked in Aldgate, I rented a flat in Whitechapel and absolutely loved it. Reasonable rents (in relation to proximity to Central London), walking to work, the diverse neighbourhood, Brick lane market, all the different restaurants and drinking holes within a stone's through, plentiful public transport, walking distance to Victoria gardens, etc.

But the same kind of area might be hell for others, they might much prefer other less busy areas in London or mostly residential areas, etc.

Newnoel

What a great predicament to have! Have a look at the Metropolitan and Circle and Met lines to see how far you are willing to commute and work back from there.

Certainly should be plenty in your budget as you move out towards Barking:
Properties For Sale near Barking Station | Rightmove

IamWood

Huge thanks to @lisyloo, @K_S, @Newnoel

Very helpful comments!

Newnoel

One other area that is worth considering is Bromley by Bow.

Properties For Sale near Bromley-by-Bow Station | Rightmove

Only 15 minutes to Moorgate on the tube, or about the same to Canary Wharf by bus.