Where to buy house for under 300K?

Bookworm105

Momanns said:

If you're set on Victoria, start with a train map and follow the lines out. Certainly areas in Kent, Sussex & Hampshire around the 1hr 20 mark that may have houses for around £300k but you're probably looking at being on the edge of the 1hr 20 and towards the coast

start by considering the annual travel cost as that will be rising every year and eroding the ability to save towards the next property 

ThisIsWeird

Mnoee said:

ThisIsWeird said:

I must be missing something, but for quality of life, why not Cambridge? Seemingly possible to buy even a semi for £300k - cycle to station, just over an hour to London. 

I think you're missing that they're shared ownership at that price. You can get 35-50% of a semi... 

Ah, I thought it was £350k when I searched https://www.onthemarket.com/details/16128233/
But there's a few terraced and flats for less. Not very desirable examples, admittedly, but, a lovely place to live.

LHW99

What about Grantham?

https://www.onthemarket.com/uk-house-prices/grantham/

martindow

Those fares from Grantham are off peak and it will be considerably more expensive if you are commuting.  It is always a balance as towns with fast trains to London can be appealing, but the fares will be very expensive due to the distance.

MysteryMe

A monthly Grantham to London zone 1-6 season ticket is just under £900 a month

This is a handy tool to calculate potential travel costs

https://www.nationalrail.co.uk/tickets-railcards-and-offers/ticket-types/season-ticket-calculator/

Cloysterpete

I really respect people who commute to work, I don’t know how they manage it, it’s not something I could ever do. I’ve been thinking about buying a place closer to work because I have a 15 minute walk and I don’t enjoy losing half hour from my day.

pieroabcd

The only time that I saw it Maidstone looked particularly cute and cheap (3 years ago).
The train went directly to Victoria, but quite uncomfortable 

lincroft1710

Cloysterpete said:

I really respect people who commute to work, I don’t know how they manage it, it’s not something I could ever do. I’ve been thinking about buying a place closer to work because I have a 15 minute walk and I don’t enjoy losing half hour from my day.

I am presuming this is not a serious post

ReadySteadyPop

Albermarle said:

If you are focused on direct trains to Victoria, then are you are mainly looking at South of London, or Kent.

The former means mainly expensive areas in Surrey. The north part of Kent could be a possibility as plenty of cheaper housing  in Gravesend, Gillingham etc . Many 2 beds for around £300K, although probably not the most desirable of areas.

This shows the state of the UK market bubble, a 2 bed in a rough area for nearly a third of a million pounds, laughable really, this won`t last though, I think interest rates could be moving up again next year and flats in undesirable areas will go back to the 100-150k price range that they belong in, if you have 300k save it for a bargain in my opinion.

ReadySteadyPop

ThisIsWeird said:

Mnoee said:

ThisIsWeird said:

I must be missing something, but for quality of life, why not Cambridge? Seemingly possible to buy even a semi for £300k - cycle to station, just over an hour to London. 

I think you're missing that they're shared ownership at that price. You can get 35-50% of a semi... 

Ah, I thought it was £350k when I searched https://www.onthemarket.com/details/16128233/
But there's a few terraced and flats for less. Not very desirable examples, admittedly, but, a lovely place to live.

Dreadful looking house, probably you can hear every sound from neighbours, heartbreaking that people would contemplate that price for such poor quality of life, I suspect it won`t sell for that though, or if it did the buyer would be looking at a sizeable loss in future.