Richmond upon Thames - good place to buy?

[LittleFrieda]

My neice is thinking of buying a flat/small house in Richmond upon Thames. Is it a good time to buy there? It looks incredibly expensive for somewhere pretty far out. What about the plane noise.

Anybody have any insight?

She is a first time buyer and has up to £500,000 to spend.

[sh77]

Richmond is beautiful and probably one pf the best areas in London to live. We looked at several properties there but could not bring ourselves to move out of Central London. We had a bigger budget but could not get what we wanted. Supply seemed very limted a year ago. Tell her to look at the Alberts cottages. Not sure if they have gone above 500k.

[Gigondas]

Plane noise is ok - depending on what flight path is. She is right that it is expensive - I think Alberts is around that mark but they are popular so may well get into price war.

Hard to tell if good time- prices don't seemed to have dipped particularly but I think you need to think about what is right for you as a place to live as much as whether it's an investment

[narmada]

I have t o differ from Sh77 and say the plane noise in richmond can be awful - it depends on where in richmond. Over the green it can be really noisy, likewise up on richmond hill. The planes are every 1 minute 30 seconds from around 5.30 am to 11 pm.

It's a nice place to live but is very expensive and a bit rah rah rah.

x

[Rhubarbgarden]

I love Richmond - it's the only place in London I would actually like to live. We can't afford the sort of house/space/garden we want there though, it's so expensive. Your niece's budget won't go very far. The plane noise wouldn't bother me at all but would be a big issue for DH; it's one of those personal things.

[likeatonneofbricks]

the plane noise is HORRENDOUS north from the station, the planrs aer frequesnt and go really low - I'm amazed the paths aer allowed over area withsuch prices. But this par of Richmond is possibly slightly cheaper, i.e. where 500 can buy a small house. The quieter parts are more expensive unless it's a long hile to the station or just into Twickenham?

[likeatonneofbricks]

*the planes are frequent
*part of Richmond
*hike
sorry for typos!

[Alinta]

I lived in Richmond for a very short time but had to move due to the noise from aeroplanes. If you are under the flight path it is relentless and I would have gone crazy. The noise started just after 5am and it was something like every 2 minutes that a Jumbo jet would fly over. The planes don't go over Richmond Hill, so there are some areas that are unaffected.

[LittleFrieda]

Thanks for the replies.

The plane noise sounds awful.

She doesn't know the area well (she is born and bred in North London) but she likes it there. I wonder if she should rent there for 6 months to make sure she likes it, prior to commiting herself to buy.

[cybbo]

Kingston not as pretty but far better flight wise- and its a bus ride from Richmond

[BIWI]

Renting would be a really good idea. I like Richmond but I find that the traffic through the town centre is often awful. And the plane noise would definitely drive me nuts.

[likeatonneofbricks]

I think she should just go and view a few places - it will be obvious where the planes are bad. She can walk around the block a few times for 15 minutes and it be clear. Paths change slightly om some days/time of day so best to view twice. Renting for 6mnth would be horrendous if in the wrong place. But I agree that the Hill is much quieter (furter from station) and it's bettter around the green but hugely expensive.

[LittleFrieda]

She has looked at a few places but feels she doesn't know the place well enough to decide which roads are good and which roads are not so good.

Would she get more for her money in Kingston?

[Gigondas]

Yes probably ( but still not cheap) but its a different area (though still very nice). Why does dn want to live there as doesn't sound like knows much about it?

[LittleFrieda]

Gigondas - Good Q. Her boyfriend lives in R and they socialise a lot there so I think it seems an attractive choice to her in that she wants to live somewhere where it's fun in the evenings and at weekends.

[Alinta]

I think she should wait until the house price crash has been seen out. It's starting to get interesting again.

Seems like almost everywhere (bar London) is crashing. Once London goes it'll be fun. Then your neice and all the other20-40 year olds who have been priced out of the market might just have a chance of owning their own home.

[thomasbodley]

Like Alinta, I honestly wonder about the state of the property market in London. Here is a first time buyer who has HALF A MILLION QUID to spend.
Unless she's a lottery winner, the chances are that the OP's niece has family helping her financially.

So money from TWO generations is needed to finance the purchase of a 2-bed (probably only 600square feet) flat, on the outskirts of a suburb, blighted by the Heathrow flight path.

But having got past the bearish outlook, I'm another who thinks the OP's niece should rent first. It's crazy to spend that kind of money without doing some due diligence first.

[Lulabellarama]

She should look at Wimbledon.
Much quieter re. planes, easy access to Richmond, beautiful area and slightly cheaper than Richmond (though still crazy prices)

[Mrsrobertduvall]

I love Richmond but we decided against living there years ago because of plane noise and also parking....a nightmare.

[QuintessentialShadows]

Barnes and Putney are also nice.

[likeatonneofbricks]

Personally I think KIngston is not a patch on Richmond - Richmond is very charming and also has a practical tube station, traffic around K is a nightmare, air seems bad in the centre. For going out and shops ditto - a lot of choice in R itself plus tube to other places.

[likeatonneofbricks]

Barnes is nice but mainly for older people or families, Putney has rough areas.

[Kewcumber]

I love the area, wouldn;t live anywhere in London now. It is expensive but on the tube line and good train line and has lots of lovely open space around.

£500k will buy her a very nice 2 bed flat with some outdoor space or if she's not fussy about the best location a 2 bed house.

I got used to the plane noise, don;t notice it at all. But renting before buying seems sensible.

[KatieMiddleton]

She'll be extremely lucky to get a flat in The Alberts for £500k and you're talking downstairs bathroom, horrendous parking and two bedrooms at most. Richmond has not really been affected by the recession so no better time to buy is coming (IMHO). 2 bed flats much better value than houses round here and there's quite a lot of spacious 1920/1930s stock.

We have secondary glazing upstairs and don't hear the planes. It can be a bit noisy in the garden sometimes but I I do love living here. If I had no dc i'd buy a really nice one/two bed place in Chiswick for same money. It's very close but much better independent shops, restaurants and bars. Richmond is brilliant for families but short on decent nightlife and restaurants.

[QuintessentialShadows]

Richmond is indeed lovely, we live a stones throw away, and I do recommend the area.

However, it is a very "family" area, with many very big houses. Buying now is like buying at the height of the property market, wouldn't she be better off buying something bigger with potential for price increases in the future, rather than a possibly drop or stagnation?

I would never ever in a million years buy in Richmond, if "all" I could afford was 500k.... Why buy a hovel in a nice neighborhood, when you can have a castle in a less fabulous place? (Well, hovel might be over exaggerating slightly)

Has she thought about the council tax? We pay £368 pcm in Richmond for a 3 bed.

She can get something really nice in Putney, she does not have to buy in the rougher parts.

[QuintessentialShadows]

Actually, this is not so bad