How to decide area to buy a flat in London?

arthurdick

user1977 said:

arthurdick said:

DullGreyGuy said:

arthurdick said:
Rotherhithe is ok also Bermondsey  both got good London feeling, if you ignore the crossbow incident

Thats part of the London feeling no?

Nickfirsttimebuyer said:

Budget up to £450K

What are you expecting for your budget? Will you buy a former council flat? Would you be ok with 50m2 but two beds rather than a larger 1 bed? Outdoor space presumably optional?

Yep the crossbow incident is a good point (no pun intended) about being part of the London feeling.

Surely every area in London has "incidents" you require to ignore!

Yep, much the same as all around the country, many places have bad incidents but the residents in those area's just carry on with life.  it seems to be part and parcel of life nowadays.  

Nickfirsttimebuyer

Hello @EssexHebridean
Can you please send me the link for this maisonette please?
Thanks 🙏

EssexHebridean

Here you go @Nickfirsttimebuyerhttps://www.stowbrothers.com/property/newbury-road-highams-park-8/

Stow Brothers are a pretty decent agent too - they do a lot in the area.  This one may not be for you depending on what sort of thing you like as it is quite quirky - at a quick glance it stood out to me as being rather nice though! 

Albermarle

arthurdick said:

user1977 said:

arthurdick said:

DullGreyGuy said:

arthurdick said:
Rotherhithe is ok also Bermondsey  both got good London feeling, if you ignore the crossbow incident

Thats part of the London feeling no?

Nickfirsttimebuyer said:

Budget up to £450K

What are you expecting for your budget? Will you buy a former council flat? Would you be ok with 50m2 but two beds rather than a larger 1 bed? Outdoor space presumably optional?

Yep the crossbow incident is a good point (no pun intended) about being part of the London feeling.

Surely every area in London has "incidents" you require to ignore!

Yep, much the same as all around the country, many places have bad incidents but the residents in those area's just carry on with life.  it seems to be part and parcel of life nowadays.  

I suspect it always has been, not just nowadays.

Millsandovis

Walthamstow and Highams Park are nice. Both have overground trains direct to Liverpool Street. There’s some lovely Warner flats as well in Walthamstow around the St James’ area and on the Warner estate. 

arthurdick

Albermarle said:

arthurdick said:

user1977 said:

arthurdick said:

DullGreyGuy said:

arthurdick said:
Rotherhithe is ok also Bermondsey  both got good London feeling, if you ignore the crossbow incident

Thats part of the London feeling no?

Nickfirsttimebuyer said:

Budget up to £450K

What are you expecting for your budget? Will you buy a former council flat? Would you be ok with 50m2 but two beds rather than a larger 1 bed? Outdoor space presumably optional?

Yep the crossbow incident is a good point (no pun intended) about being part of the London feeling.

Surely every area in London has "incidents" you require to ignore!

Yep, much the same as all around the country, many places have bad incidents but the residents in those area's just carry on with life.  it seems to be part and parcel of life nowadays.  

I suspect it always has been, not just nowadays.

Yes, absolutely that is true, it always has been, I don't think it will ever change, maybe get worse.  I just hope that the O.P finds somewhere that he will be comfortable with, no area is going to be 100% safe but some area's are just worse than others, if he can feel safe in his own home and surroundings,  then he is almost there.

annetheman

Maybe a bit of a wild suggestion, but since you seem really undecided and these are really varied areas, could you rent some Air BnBs in your shortlisted areas for a few days each, and then at least you have lived experience to go on? Assuming it's just you moving, this will be quite a neat way to experience them all.

If my opinion is worth anything:

Greenwich is one of my favourite areas in London, but honestly I would concur with the above and look North of the river - always better transport links. Most areas in south, your main issue will be only a few transport options.

Tower Hamlets is quite a large borough - there are some real rough areas and some extremely pricey ones, so hard to guage what it is that appeals to you here. Walthamstow is kinda further out but near some great areas for social life and things to do. Dulwich is kind of dull but pretty. Battersea definitely if you're prioritising social life convenience.

EssexHebridean

Millsandovis said:

Walthamstow and Highams Park are nice. Both have overground trains direct to Liverpool Street. There’s some lovely Warner flats as well in Walthamstow around the St James’ area and on the Warner estate. 

The ex warner places are lovely - I was born in one (Hawarden Rd) then we lived in another one (Winns Avenue) from when I was 6 weeks old until I was nearly 6. I don't remember much about the first, but definitely do about the second!
They tend to be a little larger than some flats as well as they are purpose built rather than being "house split in 2" don't they. 

Walthamstow has the massive advantage of a lot of it being close to the Victoria line which makes getting into the West End super-speedy. Having lived there all my life until we wanted to buy somewhere and couldn't afford to buy there, it does still make me chuckle to hear it being described as a cool and trendy place, mind you! 

Schwarzwald

i guess i had a similar profile to you (m/mid-30s) when i bought in E3, Bow 2+ years ago.
3-bed converted to 2-bed to have larger living space and garden.
E3, Bow is super well connected into central London (central, districtrict H&C lines, DLR to Stratford/Canary Wharf, A12), very residential though feels pretty concrety, and definitiely "up and coming", though i personally think this is a long term game and Bow will never be as popular as for example Brixton or Peckham (for cultural reasons).

Bow feels fairly safe, no incidents in the 2+ years i've been living here, except bike theft.

If your budget is 450k, you should be able to find a decent 2-bedroom flat.

If i could chose again though, I would probably go West (Chiswick), North (Finsbury Park) and South (Brixton). But Bow is so well connected for now it really works well, especially into Liverpool Street but also Heathrow via Elizabeth Line.

if you have friends who bought already, i would consider if you can afford buying near them.
If you plan to have kids, schools should be a considerationt too (but maybe that is the second property after this one).

Millsandovis

EssexHebridean said:

Millsandovis said:

Walthamstow and Highams Park are nice. Both have overground trains direct to Liverpool Street. There’s some lovely Warner flats as well in Walthamstow around the St James’ area and on the Warner estate. 

The ex warner places are lovely - I was born in one (Hawarden Rd) then we lived in another one (Winns Avenue) from when I was 6 weeks old until I was nearly 6. I don't remember much about the first, but definitely do about the second!
They tend to be a little larger than some flats as well as they are purpose built rather than being "house split in 2" don't they. 

Walthamstow has the massive advantage of a lot of it being close to the Victoria line which makes getting into the West End super-speedy. Having lived there all my life until we wanted to buy somewhere and couldn't afford to buy there, it does still make me chuckle to hear it being described as a cool and trendy place, mind you! 

Been here since I was 3 and about to sell in my 30s so know exactly what you mean! It’s very bizarre to see how much it’s changed in recent years. Know what you mean about how deceptively big the Warner flats are as well, I’ve always been really shocked when I’ve worked in them!