300k deposit 30k salary - possible to buy in London?

[LondonSpoon]

Would it be possible to buy in London with 300k deposit and 30k salary if so where?

[sparechange]

That is only going to give you about £170-180k if you go for the highest borrowing multiple, which won't be enough
Have you looked at shared ownership?

[firesidechat]

You have a £300,000 deposit op?

That is more than £180K spare.

[Artandco]

A small place maybe. £460-480 is the max really and that does limit size and location

[sparechange]

Sorry, I just totally misread your post! With a £300k deposit, you've got about £450k in total. Knock off £20k to cover stamp duty and legal fees, and you've got over £400k, which is totally do-able

The area depends entirely on your priorities. How many bedrooms, garden, flat vs house, transport priorities. Do you want somewhere up-and-coming for growth potential, or somewhere established and nicer?

[LondonSpoon]

I'd be looking for growth potential. I have other money set aside for lawyers fees and stamp duty etc.

Probably more than one bedroom. I currently work in north London but would potentially look to rent it out in the short term with a view to maybe moving in in the long term.

[EssentialHummus]

Of course it's possible to buy in London with those figures!

Do you know London? Any particular areas you know / like / don't like? How many bedrooms do you need? How many of you are there? Are schools a priority? Where do you need to commute to, if at all?

[sparechange]

Do you already own somewhere else? Because if you do, you'll get clobbered on stamp duty.

I don't know North London well enough to know the growth pockets, but I would start with looking along the proposed route of CrossRail 2

Also, you are very close to cash buyer territory with that deposit, so could look at auction properties?

[LondonSpoon]

I have lived here all my life but am only really really familiar with north London. Currently work in haringey but have mainly worked in Camden.
Lots of friends spread across north London though but none have bought and I'm clueless about the market and property in London.

I probably wouldn't be living there initially so I'd like an "upcoming area" if possible. Size not an issue as no specific plans for it.

[sparechange]

I'd start by having a play around on RightMove.
Put your budget in, and your preferred postcode and see what comes up. Then extend the search area to +1/2 mile, then +1 mile etc etc

You can get a feel of average prices by area, and what comprises you make to get more space/outside space/period property in each area. Zoopla also has a function where you can draw a map of your preferred area, but there seems to have been a big drop in the number of London agents using Zoopla recently, so you won't get the best selection of properties on there

[LondonSpoon]

Thanks I'll have a look my biggest problem is that I don't have an exact area as I'm not attached to anywhere in particular.

[whois]

You can borrow 5x salary so 150 plus 300 = 450 although don't forget you have to pay stamp duty so realistically 420 max.

2 bed flat in an Abraham maisonette in Leytonstone so a separate reception room and separate kitchen, space to dine and a small 2nd bedroom. Private garden.

Or a 1 bed in lots of zone 3 type places.

A 2 bed ex local maisonette in archway.

Just get on right move and start looking.

[LondonSpoon]

On right move now. What do people think of archway as an area?

[whois]

Work out how near to a train station you want to be.
Work out max commute that is acceptable on what train lines are good.
Go check out some areas to see which you like.
Decide if you want period niceness or ex LA space. Decide if train track noise or road noise is an issue. Decide if you want to be near a park.
How many bedrooms.

Do right move searches from all acceptable train stations at your budget and filter yourself by requirements.

[whois]

Archway is cheap comparatively for zone 3. It's ok. Bit gritty like a lot of zone 3 locations I think.

Check out Tottenham Hale - lots of money going into regeneration and you can have a 2 bed in the new hale village for your budget.

[southwest1]

Look at South East London, you can still get a decent sized house near Plumstead Common for that, or Abbey Wood way. Cross Rail will put Abbey Wood and Woolwich 20 minutes from central London and prices are going up and up.

[LondonSpoon]

Ive spent a lot of time working near Tottenham Hale and it's just z bit too close to Tottenham for my liking as much as I love haringey it seems to be floundering.

[whois]

Yeah Tottenham Hale suffers from its geography - lots of 'islands' cut off from each other separated by roads, rail tracks and the canal. Also the retail park sucks the life/spend so no little shops or cafes or anything.
It's cheap and well connected to central london tho!

[madmaxi]

With a budget of £450k you can look at zone 2, 2 beds in places like Stroud Green or Stoke Newington (at least for ex council) which are already established and pleasant areas. Finsbury Park is also well connected and definitely improving.

[LondonSpoon]

Thanks I'll definitely be looking in Finsbury Park

[FellOutOfBed2wice]

Not north at all but have heard the next big investment area is Manor Park/Ilford because of Crossrail. This was from a friend who's very savvy in the property game and is a buy to let landlord.

[whois]

Not north at all but have heard the next big investment area is Manor Park/Ilford because of Crossrail. This was from a friend who's very savvy in the property game and is a buy to let landlord.

Yeah, but currently I think neither are THAT nice to live in at the moment. Better if you are a BTL investor and don't actually want to live there but want to see capital growth.

Forest Gate is on xrail and prob slightly nicer than both of those. 2 bed flat for £450 do-able.

Personally I'd go for a larger ex-local (if the block is nice enough) in a nicer/more happening area than a period 2 bed somewhere like Forest Gate as a lot of that housing stock is very run down and divded up into super-HMOs.

[concertplayer]

Flat versus house
Remember houses are freehold ie you own the land
Flats can be freehold but are usually leasehold
You need to check the number of years left on the lease,
and as you will be sharing communal areas the amount
of maintenance/ground/rent sinking fund you will have to pay.
Flats can seriously eat into your running costs . If the lease is under
90 years forget it.
Most people try to buy a house if they can as they tend to go up
more and do not want to depend on a freeholder.
But you may like flats and less responsibility

[NameChange30]

Do you already own a property? I know sparechange already asked that, but I can't see an answer.

If you were buying somewhere to live in yourself, and it was the only property you owned, yes you could buy somewhere decent.

If it's a buy to let and/or you own more than one property, it will be much less affordable because the mortgage interest rates and stamp duty will be much higher.

[justjuanmorebeer]

I loved living in Finsbury Park/Stroud Green such a great place.

[MrsPJones]

If it is a BTL speak to a broker. How much they will lend will more likely be based on the rental income rather than a multiple of your salary. Also, there is a new designation of 'consumer BTL' being a 1st time buyer you would fall under. Some lenders do not like BTL for 1st time buyers.