Where to live near London? Safe, green and open-minded place

[lamii]

Hi all,
Could you please give me tips on places near London to buy a flat/house 250K cash, in a safe area, green and open minded. We are both europeans ;)
I love London, want to relocate there but I'm scared of crimes and pollution!

[QueenMortificado]

When you say "near" how near do you mean? Outer London? Home Counties?

Btw there are no guarantees of a crime-free area

[juliascurr]

Kent - Whitstable, Rochester, Margate
all have lots of artists and writers

[Belleende]

Hitchin!

[Artandco]

Whitstable? That's not London it's miles away!

[Toomanycats99]

I live near Sutton. Lots of parks and a safe borough I believe. Won't get much for £250 though. Prob only a one bed flat.

[BikeRunSki]

I'm not sure that £250K and bear London are compatible.

[superram]

We live in w5 and a one bed flat is at least 300k but usually 400.

[YelloDraw]

I'm not sure you can get anything in London for £250k.

[rallytog1]

Having lived in Rochester, i would say it's a long way from open-minded.

[Pardalis]

You may get something in Bexleyheath. It's fairly open minded but close to places where people aren't. Lots of green spaces. Good primary schools and a grammar school area

[Ilovenannyplum]

Bexleyheath is absolutely madness for buying at the moment. Houses literally sell about 30 seconds after they go on the market.

I'm never moving again

[Ohdearducks]

Upper Plumstead is OK we have a lovely Nepalese community here and lots of Europeans, Plumstead common and Winn Common, East Wickham Green Space, not far from lovely Greenwich Park either. Stay away from the high street though it's rough down that end.

[Squeegle]

How far do you mean from London OP?

[Ohdearducks]

Some properties available in Plumstead
m.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/flats/london/plumstead/?campaign=372188403&gclid=CMTAkuCppNACFRThGwodhL0FuA&gclsrc=aw.ds&dclid=CO3DpuCppNACFdUkFgodBFoKgg

[freshstart22]

Plumstead will definitely be up there one day but I wouldn't move there personally. Place is as rough as.

[southwest1]

Not a description of Plumstead that I recognise. I've recently moved away after 8 years living there and loved it, never felt unsafe there at all. Though I sold my two bed terrace for £325k so unless prices have dropped loads you won't get anything fr £250k.

[Ohdearducks]

Freshstart I've been here 11 years and never had any trouble, lower Plumstead has its problems but where I am is so quiet. I take it you've lived in the area? Maybe you could tell the OP which parts you think they should avoid if you've had trouble around here.

[Turbinaria]

You might find that Bexley was one of the few London boroughs to leave the EU in the referendum. OP unfortunately with your budget all you can but is a studio flat in a decent part of London otherwise it's rough areas or commuter towns.

[Lucy7400]

Need to know how far from London you want to be and if you will be working in London so which station do you need to commute into?

However,250k is a very tight budget. Any chance of a mortgage to top it up?

[lamii]

Hi all! thanks for your ideas. We are freelancers so we need to be in London let say twice a week. I would target countryside-ish places but we don't own and don't want a car so car-free friendly. Commuting from Whitstable is expensive. A bit closer?

[Lucy7400]

Are yoy always going to be working in the same part of London? If so, where? How long (door to door) do you want to commute for?

Need to know the above. You could easily add another hour if you have to travel to the otherside of London if you live on the opposite side to where you work.

[Mandolinoparadiso]

How about Kidlington in Oxfordshire? There's a new station there – Oxford Parkway – which has an excellent service in to Marylebone in an hour. There are good cycle paths into and around Oxford, and a good bus service.

[Lucy7400]

The other thing is the cost of commuting. We are in z4 where the house prices are bonkers. We could move out and have a tiny mortgage. But we would end up with a huge commuting bill. I would rather the money went on the mortgage than the train company!

[mrsmortis]

How about North Essex? Witham, Kelvedon, Marks Tey, Colchester? All about an hour out of Liverpool Street. You'd probably get a 3 bed semi in any of those within walking distance of the mainline station. Colchester has the advantage of being a university town so it's more international that some places. I went for a meal there last weekend with a couple of German's, a Frenchman and a Spaniard all of whom live locally.