Buying question: overlooked by big high rise social housing block - a bad buy?

lika_86

One thing to think about, what are nearby facilities like? Is there a supermarket nearby? Places like that can often be a bit bereft of things like that. Corner shops are fine for a bit of bread or milk but sometimes you want a decent-ish shop from say a Tesco or Sainsburys without the need to do an online order. Equally I'd be checking out what is in your Deliveroo radius from the house. If you workout, check where your nearest gym would be (if not you need one near home). 

I would look up actual crime rates for individual streets on your route to and from the tube rather than looking at borough level statistics, boroughs are huge and areas vary hugely.

Also check night bus links etc or be prepared for taxi rates from central London if you're likely to ever be out late.

annetheman

lika_86 said:

One thing to think about, what are nearby facilities like? Is there a supermarket nearby? Places like that can often be a bit bereft of things like that. Corner shops are fine for a bit of bread or milk but sometimes you want a decent-ish shop from say a Tesco or Sainsburys without the need to do an online order. Equally I'd be checking out what is in your Deliveroo radius from the house. If you workout, check where your nearest gym would be (if not you need one near home). 

I would look up actual crime rates for individual streets on your route to and from the tube rather than looking at borough level statistics, boroughs are huge and areas vary hugely.

Also check night bus links etc or be prepared for taxi rates from central London if you're likely to ever be out late.

That's a really excellent, helpful list of things to check, thank you so much. I will be turning your list into a table and then a PowerPoint presentation!

elsien

Again, when I bought my house, there was a derelict factory at the end of the road. Which is now a supermarket and a mosque, so a definite improvement. 

Tower block several streets away – no, it wouldn’t bother me. I’ll be more concerned about who was directly overlooking my garden.

And for what it’s worth, in my street  more recently, there has been a murder and  a club closed down for a gun incident. I still feel safe living here due to the specific circumstances of the incidents. It’s rundown, but it’s not inner city rough. Would I buy here if I was looking now, possibly not. But I have no issues with staying now that I am here.

FlyMeSomewhere79

I live in a nice area but I have a public footpath alongside my house, after 15 years of living here, 2022 was hell because yobs suddenly thought it was a jolly jape to get regularly punch and kick our front door at night and run off down the Snicket, punch and kick our back fences and rip them to bits, put our window through.

Next door on the other side of the footpath put CCTV up and it has sorted things but the thing is I felt trapped because I knew the footpath would make the house a hard sell. We have now sold and hope to complete soon but plenty of viewers had the jitters about the footpath even though it looks quiet and harmless.

It's whether if you started to get problems, if you would be able to sell in and get out.

baser999

user1977 said:

I wouldn't be bothered about the tower block. It looks like a fairly typical inner-city view, and the tower isn't the biggest or next door.

OP, are you certain it’s all social housing? Could be private

user1977

baser999 said:

user1977 said:

I wouldn't be bothered about the tower block. It looks like a fairly typical inner-city view, and the tower isn't the biggest or next door.

OP, are you certain it’s all social housing? Could be private

Without revealing the location too closely, I can confirm the tower block was definitely built by a council as social housing.

annetheman

baser999 said:

user1977 said:

I wouldn't be bothered about the tower block. It looks like a fairly typical inner-city view, and the tower isn't the biggest or next door.

OP, are you certain it’s all social housing? Could be private

Certain about the medium rise - the one being built - it is 100% social and says so in the planning docs. The low rises I'm not sure are 100% social housing, tbh. The high rise, I think is a mix of social and private - I've seen at least 1 1-bedroom flat for sale in it, not recently, but when I was doing my research!

Honestly, I see at least some of this becoming private eventually *if* the area undergoes some modest gentrification.

I was discussing gentrification with some people and they pointed out that generally, the more social housing in an area (or even part of an area) the less likely it is to become gentrified -- this usually starts with some of the nicer streets becoming awash with priced-out professionals and young families.

I think if it happens in this area, houses like mine near the social housing, though identical and full of character on the end of the leafy street, are likely to be last on the desirability line for those types of trendy buyers.

That's A-okay with me though, it means I might grab a bargain and just have to wait a longer time to find a hopeful & happy desperado like me in 10+ years!

I don't think it'll be a problem though because have a horrible feeling they're going to reject my offer because I'm a chain buyer . Just bracing for the rejection tomorrow. I hate house-buying!

AlexMac

I’m amused by the detailed socio- cultural- economic- class & (implied) ethnic analyses of where one should live?

Go with your gut; if you like the place, buy it. 

Our first house in 1975 was a wreck for (a now unbelievable) ten grand in then slummy Brixton. We loved it. Never regretted the buy. Never got mugged and only got tribally burgled once as we had crap window locks (which we then remedied- so no repeat)

Amazingly the house (blinged up, but presumably with the same new roof and CH that we put in with a Council “home improvement grant “ shows as having sold for over £1million this year!

so go for it

FlyMeSomewhere79

AlexMac I'm not sure what you are accusing us all of, but this isn't 1975 and things have changed and the characters in the less salubrious areas can be far more dangerous or far more anti social.

Nobody has said anything wrong on here, people are just giving an honest answer to her question based on modern day experience or feeling. 

Nobody is saying that she shouldn't buy the place if it really feels like home to her but there's no escaping the fact that it will be a difficult hone to sell especially of she starts to find herself being target of any anti social behaviour which is a sad fact of life and living on a public footpath has not been easy for me so I've not just made this up to be bigoted. Like I said this isn't 1975!

annetheman

I don't think they meant to accuse of anything untoward. Really I think I am being the typical hysterical house buyer and clutching my pearls about social housing, tower blocks and deprived areas. I'm still going to buy it, after all that faff  

So it turns out my offer is accepted! But they won't take it off the market until I have a confirmed valuation from my sale. As Shared Ownership, everything is in the hands of the Housing Association. Is there a Shared Ownership Sale Hell megathread?! There must be!

I'm going to hand this over to my higher power and meditate. Thanks so much for all of your opinions, you really helped me get a lot of preconceptions out of my head and settle my compromise with my spirit!

I might delete this so I don't have a photo of my potential new house on the internet but appreciate your help