FTB in London - which areas to focus on?

arthurdick

bouicca21 said:

From the other threads I think OP needs to be on a line into Victoria, Greenwich etc go into Charing x.  Plumstead Common has the additional problem of being a bus ride/longish walk to a station which adds considerably to the journey time.  

bouicca21 said:

From the other threads I think OP needs to be on a line into Victoria, Greenwich etc go into Charing x.  Plumstead Common has the additional problem of being a bus ride/longish walk to a station which adds considerably to the journey time.  

bouicca21 said:

From the other threads I think OP needs to be on a line into Victoria, Greenwich etc go into Charing x.  Plumstead Common has the additional problem of being a bus ride/longish walk to a station which adds considerably to the journey time.  

I do agree,  they are not on the Victoria line, I didn't see that they needed the Victoria line, didn't see the other threads, or I may have done and forgot.   there are a few good houses between Lewisham and Blackheath that are within  easy walking distance to the stations, they both serve Victoria.  

arthurdick

MysteryMe said:

My sister has lived in Lee S12 for many years, I stayed with her for a while and it seemed fine, Hither Green is next door and that's fine too. Compared to areas I know in East London, the  transport links are not great, no tube just an overland rail service and the trains can be crowded but that was pre pandemic so might be different now. You can get a bus to Lewisham and get the DLR.

I was brought up in Newham, very hit and miss. There are pockets that seem nice enough, my old road near Plashet Park has undergone some gentrification last time I looked but the borough is one of the most deprived areas in the country and there are areas I definitely wouldn't be wandering around at night.

I do admit, the lack of tube is not too good,  I think that where I am early retired and have my free transport pass so I tend not to think about the tube too much, where I have all the time to get somewhere, I just use a bus or walk to whichever station I need depending on where I am going.  The Lizzy line and DLR are very handy though.

Rumana03

In all honestly you want to look in areas where most of the properties are owner lived in and not rented. Areas with a high amount of rental properties tend to have more issues. Speaking from personal experience here.

I lived in Barkingside for 4 years and originally that area used to be seen as quite posh and houses are large and beautiful. By the time I left the area it had gone downhill. Rented properties everywhere. Lived next door to a rented property where the people were drug dealers. Someone in the house at the end of the road was also a drug dealer. Car doors were checked every night by theives. Constant stabbings happening. It was just a nightmare.

You can check online for crime stats for areas you are looking to buy in.

bouicca21

arthurdick said:

I do admit, the lack of tube is not too good,  I think that where I am early retired and have my free transport pass so I tend not to think about the tube too much, where I have all the time to get somewhere, I just use a bus or walk to whichever station I need depending on where I am going.  The Lizzy line and DLR are very handy though.

I am reminded that when I first got married and moved south of the River to Lee, my family were aghast - moving across the River? It’s terrible there are no tubes.  Husband - we can’t possibly live north of the River, they have no trains and are dependent on the tube …

dinosaur66

i like blackheath / not like being in london at all / but 650k will only buy a council estate property/

Rumana03 said:

In all honestly you want to look in areas where most of the properties are owner lived in and not rented. Areas with a high amount of rental properties tend to have more issues. Speaking from personal experience here.

I lived in Barkingside for 4 years and originally that area used to be seen as quite posh and houses are large and beautiful. By the time I left the area it had gone downhill. Rented properties everywhere. Lived next door to a rented property where the people were drug dealers. Someone in the house at the end of the road was also a drug dealer. Car doors were checked every night by theives. Constant stabbings happening. It was just a nightmare.

You can check online for crime stats for areas you are looking to buy in.

i never new that/ all those nice houses in longwood gardens have now been split up into flats

the area was changing slowly when i left london but barkingside as you mentioned was considered a posh affluent area .

shame 

Rumana03

dinosaur66 said:

i like blackheath / not like being in london at all / but 650k will only buy a council estate property/

Rumana03 said:

In all honestly you want to look in areas where most of the properties are owner lived in and not rented. Areas with a high amount of rental properties tend to have more issues. Speaking from personal experience here.

I lived in Barkingside for 4 years and originally that area used to be seen as quite posh and houses are large and beautiful. By the time I left the area it had gone downhill. Rented properties everywhere. Lived next door to a rented property where the people were drug dealers. Someone in the house at the end of the road was also a drug dealer. Car doors were checked every night by theives. Constant stabbings happening. It was just a nightmare.

You can check online for crime stats for areas you are looking to buy in.

i never new that/ all those nice houses in longwood gardens have now been split up into flats

the area was changing slowly when i left london but barkingside as you mentioned was considered a posh affluent area .

shame 

I know I felt so sad about it. Before moving there about 10 years or so before that I went to Barkingside for a work event and it was my first time there...I remember thinking wow what a beautiful area. 
Eastern Avenue (although that's Gants Hill) seems to be practically all rental properties. And with time all the surrounding areas are following suit. 

zagubov

A problem you might meet is that due to population pressure, single-person freehold property in London is being squeezed out of existence.
It looks like it's full of houses but they're increasingly subdivided into flats and/or bedsits.
Freehold houses have lodgers in their spare rooms guest bedrooms.
Ownership of freehold properties is limited to couples, or more rarely, friends.
Even rental properties are the same but with more flatshares/ HMOs.
You need to be prepared to sacrifice numbers of rooms, roomspace, driveways, parking spaces, gardens, etc. in a way that other cities don't.

RHemmings

Emmia said:

Have you looked at Catford? I know several people who've moved there in the last couple of years.

The truth is North London is better served with transport than South London, but there are price implications - stretching your travel time a little might also help. If you're commuting in, where do you need to get to, and how long are you willing to spend on the tube/train/bus as that may dictate your search area somewhat.

My experience of London, especially South London, is out of date. But, I lived for a couple of years in Forest Hill. I remember it being a good place to live. I went back and looked at it last year, and it seemed fine to me now, based on that quick look. 

Out of curiosity, I had a look at the house prices there. The OP doesn't specify a number of bedrooms (in this thread at least). Two bedroomed houses in Forest Hill are available within the 650k budget, but without checking I think that the OP is looking for three bedrooms and the possibility to extend, e.g. with a loft conversion. 

When I lived in FH, I visited Catford frequently. My memory-impression was that Forest Hill was a touch nicer overall than Catford. But, I would have been fine with living in Catford. FH is also a bit closer in and it was a bit more convenient to travel into Central London. The line from FH goes to London Bridge, and on to Charing Cross, however. Not to Victoria. 

If I was thinking about Forest Hill again, with the OP's budget, something like this might be interesting. https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/153195071#/?channel=RES_BUY  

It's somewhere in the ballpark of how far I was away from Forest Hill Station when I lived in Kemble Road. 

Note: Because I haven't lived in Forest Hill for a long, long, time, this is not a recommendation of the area as my information is out of date. Consider this post more 'ruminations'. 

bouicca21

Forest Hill was up and coming a few years ago but is now definitely up.

i like Catford, lovely properties, very friendly, and the transport links are good in general but not so much for Victoria/Westminster. 

Emmia

bouicca21 said:

Forest Hill was up and coming a few years ago but is now definitely up.

i like Catford, lovely properties, very friendly, and the transport links are good in general but not so much for Victoria/Westminster. 

You can go into Waterloo, and that's walkable to Westminster or get the tube