Help us find a place to live! SE London and beyond

[whatsagoodusername]

We are looking for a house to buy with the massive budget of £250k. We are currently in Mottingham, SE9, and DH commutes into Angel on the northern line from London Bridge. We have been looking at Eltham and Kidbrooke, but I think we will be unhappy with the size of house we will be able to afford.

So we have decided to look a bit further, but I have no idea where to look! I don't drive at all and while DH has a license, we don't have a car and would rather not. So near a station with reasonably frequent, fast service into London (London Bridge or St Pancras ideally, but any station will do).

We need a 3 bedroom house with a garden, no structural work needed but happy with cosmetic improvements. Close to good primary schools as DS1 starts reception in 2015 and DS2 the year after. Based on what I have seen so far and where we have been living, I think we probably want upwards of 1000 sq feet floor space (the DC have a lot of toys!).

Any ideas? I know it's not a lot of money, but I'm hoping somebody can come up with a nice, not too pricey area for us!

[ilovemybabies123]

Kent :) direct train lines to st Pancras and London bridge. Rochester or Strood are nice

[bundaberg]

i live in crawley and I think that it would suit your requirements... i believe three bridges station goes direct into london bridge

[bundaberg]

this kind of thing available for your budget

[Putthatbookdown]

Tonbridge/Tunbridge wells
Sevenoaks nice and nearer to London

[DancingLady]

Plumstead or Woolwich? Think Plumstead's nicer.

[whatsagoodusername]

Thanks everybody! I'll look into these.

Bundaberg, is there much noise from Gatwick in Crawley/Three Bridges? I quite liked the look of that house, and the DC would love the airplanes, but not sure how noisy it would be? People always complain about being near airports!

[bundaberg]

no, not noisy at all. i don't think we're actually under any particular flightpaths or anyhting

[CreamyCooler]

I'd second Crawley (really fast train service) or the outskirts duch as Copthorne or Crawley Down if you are after a bit of a villagey feel. or another option is Bexleyheath/barnehurst/welling in Kent.

[GillyBillyWilly]

Hither green!!!!!

[DancingLady]

Gilly you won't get a 3-bed house in Hither Green for 250k! Catford, maybe, only just - it's going up (a bit).

[littlecrystal]

I don't know Sydenham are that well but this is within your budget and seems a good value for money.

[bundaberg]

just to add, the house I linked to is in Three Bridges so only a few mins walk from the train station, but there are other areas where you'll potentially find more houses and are just as nice maybe 10-15 minutes walk/cycle away.
There are quite a few footpaths criss crossing the town, so some areas that look out of the way may not be!

in fact... i may quite soon be selling a 3 bed end of terrace if you're interested

[SanityClause]

Surely you could find what you wanted in Mottingham?

Something like this?

[barebranches]

you can def fine a 3 bed in mottenham fir below 250 surely... mine cost 220.
kidbrooke is trying to be blackheath and is massively overpriced!

[LondonJax]

You could look at Ashford, Kent. We live about ten miles away and hubby uses the high speed from Ashford International to St Pancreas frequently. It takes about 35 minutes. Plus, of course, you have the Ashford to Paris etc going form there. It took us two hours literally door to do when we went to a friend's wedding in Paris recently. John Lewis home store opened in the town this week and there is a designer outlet place plus the usual suspects for shops. As far as supermarkets, depending on the part of town, you have Waitrose, Sainsbury, Asda and Tesco. There is also an out of town cinema and restaurant complex. I don't know much about schools, DS goes local in our own town. But a quick look at Rightmove shows semis and detached houses in your budget so may be worth asking around. Like most places it has its good and bad areas. We moved down here from the Bexleyheath area sfter thirty years in the area and wouldn't go back. But, as I said, we are ten miles away from Ashford proper so I am basing my view on Saturday shopping and cinema trips.

[LondonJax]

Hope you can decipher the above! I hate these bloody tablet things!

[GillyBillyWilly]

Oh I totally didn't read the op properly! I thought it said £350k!
I'm in HG at the mo in a 2(and a half) bedroom house.
There's a really nice house on my road for £325k at the mo so was going to say the op could move in and be my neighbour

[DancingLady]

I'm in HG too, it's very nice but prices have gone crazy in the last couple of years! And we're on the 'wrong' side of the tracks...

[GillyBillyWilly]

Ooooh dancinglady... Wonder if we have seen each other!

Which side is the wrong side?!

[AllabouttheE]

Around Sidcup you could try Albany Park. It's within budget but houses shift very fast. There are none for sale at the moment it would seem.

And Bexleyheath, Barnehurst, parts of Crayford and Dartford.

But everything is sold on rightmove at the moment so not so helpful

[DancingLady]

Gilly the side nearest to Lewisham Hospital is considered the 'wrong' side. The side near to Manor House Gardens is posher :) But the 'wrong' side has Cafe of Good Hope and Cissy Wears so is pretty great.

[GillyBillyWilly]

Oh im not on any of those sides! I'm near leahurst road/ennersdale road ... Kind of!

[GillyBillyWilly]

Actually that probably means I'm on the wrong side then

[GillyBillyWilly]

I'm on the "good" side of the railway line but only JUST! I wouldn't say my road is good or bad... Pretty average!

[tillyo]

Dartford. You could get a very nice house within walking distance to town centre and station. We currently have a good size 2 bed for £100k less. Train takes anything from 25-50 minutes to London. Depending where you go in and fast/slow train. Got snow very good schools aswell