Norbury vs Thornton Heath

[kcbh27]

Hello all!

We are deep into the house-hunt and am having so much fun. ( 8-) )

But - I am finding such differences in the pricing of some houses and I simply cannot see the differences.

For example: There is a house in north Thornton Heath that looks amazing, has been cared for, has attic dormer, conservatory, new kitchen (no dishwasher)... etc. All to a very high standard. The garden is immaculate and the house is a 5 bedroom. - All for the low, low price of £600k
Then:
There is a house only 2 minutes away. Just across into Norbury. Its very similar but: No upgrades, 4 bedroom, garden cared for but basic, closer to a busy road, on a through road... But it is only £25k less. (£575k)
Smaller and, while cared for, not upgraded in the least.

I was expecting a much more significant difference between the two. Is there something that I am not seeing that I should be taking into consideration? I don't think that I could do the work required to bring the one up to the same standards, for £25k. But I am still open to the house if there is something else that I simply do not understand (first time buyer in the UK - we have property in Canada).


AND

Are these good neighbourhoods to raise my babies in...?

Thanks in advance.

[dontcallmelen]

Their is usually a reason. Like anywhere good & bad parts I wouldn't be rushing to live in either area,if you have a budget of 575k would buy a albeit smaller home, but in a what would be, considered a nicer area.
Also depends on what you are looking for is it space versus location/transport/parks etc etc

[BoiteDeStinkyweed]

Thornton Heath really isn't a very nice area. Norbury is better, closer to Streatham which has some lovely parts.

[NappyValleyHippyCrack]

Thornton Heath is not a great area. Lots of crime and it's quite impoverished. Norbury isn't a huge deal better, some nice roads. Chaotic high street. The price difference could possibly be down to post code. Thornton Heath is CR7 (Croydon)
Nor bury is SW16 so a 'proper' London postal code.

[titchy]

To be blunt they're pretty shit areas......

[220hawthorn]

I grew up in thornton heath. My mum still lives there. Shit hole , run down especially the high street which is worse every time I drive through it. As with everything house prices are absolutely mental round there. South Norwood which is a stone's throw away from t heath high street is one of the highest priced areas of all premier league football teams according to a survey last week. There are good links to London bridge and London Victoria. Thornton heath and norbiry are on the same line. Buses to brixton from where you can get the tube or other buses into.central London. East croydon can also be got to from.either station or via bus and that's a gateway to a lot.of places and that's what is probably pushing up prices. I went to norbury manor school. Not sure what schools are like now to be honest. I personally wouldn't live back there if you paid me. Some very rough parts, especially some of pollards hill and areas in t heath such as thé bottom.of norbury avenue, westminister ave, Buckingham ave / gardens, Highbury avenue used to be notorious. Handy if you like shit loads of chicken huts and barbers shops on every parade of shops. To be honest streatham not a lot better either x

[GreenBeer]

I live in Norbury and it's nice but l wouldn't live in TH. The high road in Norbury is improving and it has great transport links. There is a resident association who are working hard to keep improving it.

There was a time when balham was considered a shit hole. Hard to imagine that now.

[Belleview]

Given that norbury has such a quick train into Victoria, is a walk from streatham, and has two parks, why is it so overlooked? What exactly is so bad about it? Streatham is often recommended on here, and, at least on the map, norbury is continuation of streatham.

[meadowquark]

Read online Croydon Advertiser, the crime section in particular, and see where the majority of criminals / convicts come from. Perhaps that will help you to make up your mind. I lived in South Norwood and moved to Shirley few months ago. As much as I love South Norwood I wanted better schools and safer environment for my growing boys. I would not live in T.Heath but would consider Norbury, Upper Norwood, South Norwood but ONLY if I had babies or grown up kids - not at teenager stage.

[indieblack]

MN is very quick to label anywhere in London that isn't majority White and Middle-class a shithole. However, TH is pretty rough and ready and parts of it can feel unsafe esp. at night. Norbury seems ok but dull though an ever increasing amount of baby and toddler groups are springing up often run by local parents. I live in S Norwood bordering Upper Norwood/ Crystal Palace and we've found it friendly, green and v family orientated. You'd get a nice 3-4 bed here on your budget. Let us know what you're looking for and I'm sure you'll get great suggestions.

[pinkdelight]

We bought in Norbury when we had DS1 then realised we were in one of its many school black holes. But at least we weren't in Thornton Heath, which is significantly rougher. We ended up selling at a loss and moving to Upper Norwood/Crystal Palace and love it here. As it sounds like you can afford it, you should definitely consider those areas rather than Norbury and Thornton Heath, although the side of Norbury that goes up towards Beulah Hill (around Downsview primary) is okay. Have a search around SE19 and surrounding areas.

[pinkdelight]

belle it's probably overlooked as it's a place you drive through rather than a destination. The high St is functional, just, but nothing special. There's only one pub - a wetherspoons - apart from the Norbury Edge nightclub which I never ventured into. The rail service is probably the best thing, and the relatively affordable housing. We were okay living there, it's nice enough, nicer than T Heath, but it's just a nowhere kind of place.

[TremoloGreen]

No they're not good neighbourhoods op, sorry. When I had to fly from gatwick a lot, I would lock the car doors just to drive through thornton heath.

I have friends living in South and Upper Norwood, those areas seem ok, a bit lacking in shops cafés etc; but you are near enough to crystal palace. Even they are thinking of going private or moving for schools... there are probably commuter zones in Surrey that are better for a similar price and not much longer on tge train?

[TremoloGreen]

Look at that esher, epsom chessington thread further down...

[GreenBeer]

When you drove through

Honestly OP these threads never go well because someone who's scared to drive through will make a stupid comment, someone who lived there 10 years ago wouldn't go back etc. You need to go and see how YOU feel there.

There's another thread at the mo about affording to live in London. Do you want to be in London or commuterville?

Fwiw we were advised not to buy in Norbury but lucky for us we did. Our house price has gone up massively and we probably couldn't afford our house now.

[pinkdelight]

The Crystal Palace triangle is in Upper Norwood, Tremolo, so no shortage of nice shops n cafes. Good schools too - Paxton and Rockmount outstanding primaries, kingswood and David Livingstone close too, and Harris CP, Harris Upper Norwood, Kingsdale and the up n coming Norwood School for secondary. As long as they're careful about catchments, OP should be ok hereabouts without going private.

[loraflora]

Move to CP if you can afford it. Thornton Heath and Norbury are a bit depressing.

[PiratesMam]

I agree with the poster who said Norbury is overlooked - the transport links are great and you can walk to Streatham Common from there. The high street is pretty shit but so are most London high streets -eg West Norwood which now has houses going for close to a million. I don't think you'd lose money buying in SW16. My mum loves in Norbury and her road is really quiet, neighbours lovely and she's accidentally made quite a lot of money out of it!!

[PiratesMam]

*My mum LIVES in Norbury. Although what she gets up to there is her business...!

[TiredAssShowgirl]

I live on the Streatham/Norbury boundary, have done most of my life. Norbury over TH any day. Norbury isn't amazing but is fine. Thornton Heath is awful, only place worse is Mitcham. Could give me a free mansion and I'd laugh in your face. There is a reason the nice big house is cheap. If you do the work to the Norbs one, it will be worth more than the other one definitely.

Selling on, an SW16 postcode would sell, CR7 you will struggle with - people filter by postcode. I refused to view anything in TH, we gave up on a house and bought a flat rather than live there.

Also Norbury train station is Zone 3, TH is Z4 - makes a difference to commuting. School wise i can't help, i went to faith schools out of catchment and a long time ago but in terms of places to live and grow up, Norbury is fair enough.

[marshmallowpies]

I think some of the Norbury roads on the edge of Streatham Common are lovely, we used to walk around there lots and ogle the big houses with views towards the common - but we ended up staying in SE27 as I like the convenience of having multiple train lines (tulse hill to Blackfriars as well as the London Bridge - Victoria loop) and the choice of bus routes is so useful. The far side of Streatham Common just seems a bit cut off to me unless you drive (although of course there is Norbury station too).

The one thing I keep seeing on the local FB group is mention of trouble at Streatham Vale park - kids being harassed by older gangs of kids there, large dogs, etc. There are the odd tales of similar occurrences on Streatham Common but not nearly so often as I read about them happening at Streatham Vale.

[southeastdweller]

I used to live near Thornton Heath and everyone's right about it being a shithole. Crap shops, too many crowds when the Crystal Palace are playing at home, lots of begging, the worst Tesco I've ever been in...just awful. Norbury is a little better and will slowly become nicer as more and more first time buyers move there (as they're starting to now), the type that are priced out of Balham and Streatham. I can't see T.H ever improving, however.

For your budget, you should just about be able to find a four bedroom house in C.P. If you can stretch to £650k you'd have even more choice.

[Meandyou150]

Worked in norbury recently -sorry it's a complete shit hole by and large with a few half Decent pockets

Thornton Heath I wouldn't touch with a barge pole, wouldn't walk down the street after dark honestly

[orangina01]

See if you can find something in West Norwood SE27, bordered by West Dulwich, had had lots of regeneration, and there are fab transport links via train and bus. Prices have risen a lot but you should still be able find something. I wouldn't venture to Norbury or TH but that is just me!

[MrsPatterson2014]

I moved from TH precisely for the reason that I couldn't bear the thought of my children growing up there. We wern't even in the heart of the Heath just on the border with SE19. Terrible, depressing place. We were there for 20 months, had a lovely house. Moved to Penge, smaller house. Love it here. Have a look at SE20, for your budget you should be able to get a decent property.