East Ham

[kirinm]

Urgh after having another offer rejected we are having to be realistic that we are being priced out of Leyton / Leytonstone.

Any opinions on East Ham?

[ftm123]

Bumping for you. I've met young mums who live there, and they don't think it's terrible. No glowing reviews, but they aren't desperate to leave. As one of the last "affordable" places in London it is attracting young professionals. Have you considered round by Valentines park? I have heard similar not inspiring reviews, but the area will be more impacted by cross rail.

Sorry to hear you are being priced out. Not sure who all these buyers paying that much for a 2 bed flat are, and what the knock on impact to the price of family homes is going to be.

[soundsystem]

Very up and coming. Not a great deal there yet, but there wasn't much in Leyton two years ago.

Have you thought about Forest Gate?

[Moving15]

Have you thought about south east London?

[maybebabybee]

I grew up round there. My mum now lives in nearby forest gate. I still have friends in East ham.

There are very few places in London I would not live but that is one of them. Whoever said it was up and coming - it isn't. It has hardly changed in 25 years. It's now worse if anything.

[maybebabybee]

I also second south east London, as a life long east Londoner now moving south east due to being priced out of east.

[newlabelwriter]

Lovely friend of mine has recently moved there and loves it, it's still very up and coming but that's reflected in the still (in London terms) affordability. She said the community are lovely, largely Hindu/Muslim . She's very happy there and they moved from West Hampstead (if that's relevant!)

[twilightcafe]

As long as you're not expecting gastro pubs and naice cafes, then East Ham is OK as far as areas go - but not what you'd call up and coming.

I also have family in Forest Gate - and the area hasn't improved at all. Newham Council is spending money on regeneration in Stratford and Canning Town. The rest of the borough has been ignored.

I strongly recommend you spend some time in the area - day and night - to see whether you could live there.

[maybebabybee]

There is just no way East Ham is up and coming. It has literally not changed at all since I last lived there in 2003. Unless it has got worse.

Forest Gate is fairly nice, but only in certain parts.

[umiaisha]

Yes maybebabybee, it is a dump for want of a better word.

Think it comforts eastham newcomers to keep telling themselves that it is on the up. Personally I think it is worse than ever!

[maybebabybee]

umi that is exactly what I thought the last time I was there a few weeks ago - you used to at least have some half decent shops on the high street...now it is literally: pound shop, betting shop, pound shop, betting shop, pound shop, betting shop....

[Turbinaria]

I grew up in East Ham and can't believe the changes over the years - from a family neighbourhood where you knew all the neighbours to not even sharing the same language with a significant proportion. BTLs HMOs have a lot to answer for. My good memories from there are definitely in the past!

[Turbinaria]

The day my parents exchanged to move out the police had sealed off their part of the road due to a stabbing right outside - a sign that they were doing the right thing if ever there was one.

[XingXingFox]

I also grew up there and have family there, I second maybebaby. We're priced out of Havkney but I'd go south east rather than East Ham!

[kirinm]

Haha you all kind of confirmed my suspicions. I couldn't find anything positive about it online.

Ftm - we are still looking in Leyton but not much comes on and when it does you're up against other people who seem to have a spare £50k floating around.

I'm in the SE at the moment, peckham. Most parts of the SE are too expensive though unless I'm overlooking somewhere?

[maybebabybee]

What's your budget? We've just bought in Hither Green. But a flat, not house.

[kirinm]

Max is £450k but we both need a decent commute. I've never heard of Hither Green. I'll google it.

[maybebabybee]

It's lovely (imo). Lovely Victorian houses, nice little cafes popping up, lots of young families, lots of green, close to Greenwich and blackheath. No tube, train only, but straight into Charing x/London bridge.

I assume you are looking for a house rather than flat though, in which case yes, I think 450k may be a stretch. But it would be a stretch to buy a house for that anywhere in London apart from the really shit bits.

[kirinm]

No we are looking for a flat! Ideally we wanted to get back on to the tube but we are giving ourselves this week's viewings in our preferred areas before having to re-think the whole thing particularly staying with the trains rather than tube.

[IShouldBeSoLurky]

If you're happy with a flat you could find something in Brockley I reckon

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-37736580.html

[maybebabybee]

Oh for 450k you could get a lush flat in Hither Green. Ours is an immaculate 2 bed Victorian conversion for 340k.

You may even be able to afford Forest Hill actually.

[kirinm]

Should've specified. We need garden with direct access to it. We do like Brockley though.

[maybebabybee]

But OH and I decided area was more important than being on tube line, depends what your priorities are I think.

[IShouldBeSoLurky]

If you could push your budget a bit, how about this? www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-38127213.html It's been on the market since late September - I viewed it then and it's lovely.

[BasinHaircut]

It's a shit hole.

[ftm123]

Not sure if this will work (or be allowed) but you could try joining the Leytonstone Life facebook group and posting that you are looking to buy a flat, and if anyone knows anything not yet on the market to let you know. You will have to have something on your profile to indicate you have an interest in the area.