Retiring TO Greater London, but where?

[TheAnnoyingSatsuma]

Musing about moving into a London Borough for our ‘golden years’. Where would you look with a £500k budget for a 2 bedroom house (not a flat)?

Obviously don't need schools, or good commuter links, but would like to be able to get into town by public transport off-peak.

[Caspianberg]

By greater london, do you mean zone 6 area? or do you want more central?

[Doyoumind]

That's not a huge amount of money. What kind of area do you want to be in? What amenities? How well do you know London?

[TheAnnoyingSatsuma]

Outer fringes/Zone 6 is what I had in mind, but I would like to be in a London borough and not just in the travel zone area.

[TheAnnoyingSatsuma]

Thanks for replying. I know the central and southwest/west pretty well but the rest is a mystery!

[NoSquirrels]

House not flat because...?

Family ties - north, south, east or west? Travel times can vary hugely if you need to cross the city to visit your relatives.

What is behind the move - how do you envisage your retirement? Lots of theatre and galleries 5x nights a week or more local-based?

[TheAnnoyingSatsuma]

No specific requirements I don’t think, other than relatively straightforward access to the centre, private parking, and a villagey feel if possible.

[WaynettaSlobOnTheSchoolRun]

Woodford is quite nice, lots of cafes, central line into central London and stratford, seems to be plenty in your budget.

[Caspianberg]

Maybe somewhere like Hampton? The nearby parks are huge, and the overground isnt far away

www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/52072733?search_identifier=c5c3b0c8052fe017db244c2b6d6ea3b6

[TheAnnoyingSatsuma]

Family are just within M25 to the west and south, so that would be the obvious starting point but as I am familiar with those areas I’d be interested in suggestions elsewhere, may the Bromley/Kent side or north London.

We’d be soaking up the culture - galleries, museums - live music and watching sport. Not every day of course but 2-3 times a week.

[sunshinesupermum]

£500K for a house in a London borough that feels villagey and walkable to shops etc? Not sure there is anywhere you'd really like for that budget TBH. Where are you moving from?

London is a great place for your golden years as so much is within a reasonable travelling distance but as I'm already in my golden years already and live in London Zone 2/3 I'd recommend a flat over a house any day.

I appreciate you'd prefer a house but this does depend on the location you'd be happy to live in. If you are desperate to have a garden look for a ground floor or basement or one with a terrace. Flat prices are better value than houses here now as there are so many new builds. Although I wouldn't go for new bulid personally due to room sizes eg bedrooms are often tiny, you can get good sized flats in older buildings.

[TheAnnoyingSatsuma]

Caspianberg - interesting, thank you.

Woodford looks interesting. I have seen Wanstead mentioned on other property threads, is it similar?

[skippy67]

Beckenham or Hayes in Bromley.

[TheAnnoyingSatsuma]

Sunshine, we are west of London at present.
We want freehold and no maintenance charges which rules out most flats.

[eyeoresancerre]

Surbiton might suit. Lovely high street, cafes & restaurants. Can walk along the Thames and 20 mins on the overground into central London. Thames Ditton is nice too and Esher; but may be out of 500k price range.

[TheAnnoyingSatsuma]

Thanks Skippy - it’s so hard to identify specific areas and get a sense of them just by looking on a map.

[sunshinesupermum]

Yes I understand you'd like freehold and no maintenance charges but it does depend on your actual age re looking after the property yourself plus the costs that incur. I'm 71 and prefer to pay via service charges not to have to worry about roof leaks etc.

Keep an eye out for council tax too. I'm in Wandsworth which is really cheap, other boroughs can be a complete rip-off!

West and southwest of London are likely to be more expensive than east or northeast and depending exactly where your family lives within the M25 I'd stick to locations where the journey is as simple as possible. All these things become harder the older you get. My DD and her family live in Redhill and it is an hours drive which is enough for me. Public transport to them is not easy with two changes.

[BonnyE]

Beckenham is nice.

[ShirleyPhallus]

Quite honestly with that budget I think you’d be better off in a 2 bed garden flat. You could get something lovely in Blackheath, Greenwich, Crystal Palace - all villagey feel and lots of independent cafes / bars / shops but close enough in to London to feel like you’re not too far from the action

[Lumene]

Worth considering ex council houses to expand your options. There are little groups of smallish houses scattered around London in nice areas and go for slightly more affordable options.

[inwood]

Beckenham, Sundridge Park, Chislehurst

[TheAnnoyingSatsuma]

I’ll have to work on DH about the pros of flats, some good points made.
Good shout about council tax too.
We do like Greenwich so will have a nosey in that general area.

[TheAnnoyingSatsuma]

Gosh, Beckenham is popular!

[eurochick]

You could probably find something in that budget in the area between Croydon and the m25. Kenley, warlingham, caterham, etc. But not all of those are within a london borough (although they are closer to the centre than many bits of London boroughs - the boundary around Greater London dips in in that area).

[NoSquirrels]

depending exactly where your family lives within the M25 I'd stick to locations where the journey is as simple as possible

This x a million!

Greenwich & Blackheath are lovely, but SE rather than SW.

I’d go for a flat in a share of freehold block if I were you. You get more control over the charges etc. It all depends, really - as with everything there is good and bad but if you are willing to consider maisonettes and flats you can get a lot more for your money and quite possibly a much more practical living situation as you age.

If I were you I’d move in as close to the centre as I could, on £500K. But I like city life!

[BubblesBuddy]

There are so many nice flats in your price range but houses - no. I would look at Ealing, Harrow on the Hill and Richmond or Kingston on Thames.