Where would you live in London for 400k?

[Etherealhedgehog]

I'll preface by saying that I'm London born and bred, also that I love my job and really need to be in London for it for the next few years - so leaving really doesn't feel like an option right now.

We have one DD. That's probably our limit but we really want three bedrooms so we can have space to work from home regularly, making it more feasible to manage pick ups etc around our jobs once DD is in school.

Other requirements: we'd love a garden but get that that's unlikely. Failing that we'd dearly love at least a balcony for the hot days. Regretfully we won't consider ex-council (which is limiting) because we've seen too many properties (including one we had to pull out of purchasing) that have been whacked with really enormous major works bills in the last few years, and we can't take that financial risk.

Commute of up to 60 mins to central London. Good schools.

Budget is 400k, 425 tops - but that would have to be good to go/no refurb required.

I'm finding Rightmove pretty disheartening at the moment - hoping the combined wisdom of Mumsnet can inspire me. Where would you look?

[MrsDThaskala]

What about Cheshunt, Enfield, Bush Hill Park, Cuffley??

[AllTheCakes]

If you are considering a commute of up to an hour, then you could look at the commuter towns? You would certainly get more for your money and still have the same commute. Wear Sussex would fit the bill for example, depending on where in central you need to be.

[DaisyNGO]

"Commute of up to 60 mins to central London. Good schools."

But you want London? Bit confused.

If you go to Bedfordshire, you could get a 30 min commute to Euston and a nice 3 bed house.

[Talipesmum]

Whereabouts in central London - which mainline stations are best?
Worth a look around Woking / west byfleet. There are a few houses that come up in that window, and the commute is v easy.

[ISeeTheLight]

Fit that budget I'd look east. Newbury Park, Romford, Dagenham etc. You should be able to get a house for that budget.

[ESGdance]

Do you want to be in a London suburb on a tube line - or would you consider an overground train line? Is 60mins door to door or just the train journey? Which part of London do you both need to get to? Do you want to be near family / friends in London or do you visit family / friends elsewhere - as this would determine which area you should look as no point doing a 3hr round trip to visit family / friends regularly on the other side of London - or adding a 2hr across London schlep if you want to visit regularly family in the north / south / east / west

[MyCatHatesWhiskas]

Where do you work in London? Where exactly would you be commuting to? Any areas with family links you want easy access to?

[AwkwardPaws27]

You can just about get that in Romford or Harold Wood (both zone 6, 30-40 minutes on the Elizabeth Line to Liverpool Street) still. That budget would get you a three bedroom terrace with garden, possibly a semi. Possibly parts of Upminster too (c2c line to Fenchurch Street).

If you are willing to go outside London, how about Chelmsford or Billericay?

[areyouhavingagiraffe]

I am currently looking in the Romford area; have a budget of 600k. Most houses here start at 490ish. I think maybe Harold Wood may come in under the ops budget, but elsewhere may be difficult

[WildStallyn]

Agree with the pp - you shoul ind something that fits the bill in the outer east London boroughs.

How about this in Harold Wood? Walking distance of a zone 6 station so cheap and potentially very quick commute depending where in London you need to be, a couple of decent primaries and In hearing great things about the secondary school Redden Court lately.

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/114729659?utm_campaign=property-details&utm_content=buying&utm_medium=sharing&utm_source=copytoclipboard#/&channel=RES_BUY

[ComtesseDeSpair]

Two bedroom garden flat in Forest Hill or Sydenham (SE23 and SE26) reasonably easily found for up to £425k. Or, Plumstead and Welling borders, where you could feasibly get a terraced house within your budget. Plumstead especially is up and coming, especially around the Common, and will benefit from proximity to Woolwich and Crossrail.

I assume you’re looking within London to avoid high train fares in commuter towns (and also having to live in a commuter town?)

[Lovelydovey]

Croydon?

[Vbree]

Croydon, some parts of Sutton.

[Etherealhedgehog]

@ESGdance this is part of the challenge - we have family in Greenwich and also the NW (of the UK) so no location ideal for both. We have been considering east but relatively close to the river for getting to Greenwich - East Ham, Plaistow etc - but it seems there is very little we can realistically afford, eg. lots of places at 450, needing work.

Jobs currently in Holborn and Strand, but that may not be forever. Happy with Overground or mainline train or tube (60 mins door to door) but we would really much rather live in London than a commuter town, though if there are any that you think are particularly amazing in our budget then I'll certainly have a look!

[AwkwardPaws27]

@areyouhavingagiraffe

I am currently looking in the Romford area; have a budget of 600k. Most houses here start at 490ish. I think maybe Harold Wood may come in under the ops budget, but elsewhere may be difficult

Not necessarily - my neighbours (nicely presented) three bed semi has just gone on fir £450k, & we've had some terraced houses go for £380-400 on our road in the last year or so (nosing at house prices to remortgage with extra borrowing!). We're a mile from the station so not far.
You won't get Gidea Park for that budget but within 1-1.5 miles of the station there's houses under £425k.

[areyouhavingagiraffe]

I have been looking in Gidea Park, Hornchurch, as well as North Romford (but still south of A12). I have not seen anything for less than £480K. And that is a minimum. Send me a link to your neighbours house and I would gladly view it

[Etherealhedgehog]

@comtessedespair we actually viewed Plumstead this weekend and I agree, the area around the common is lovely. But stuff currently listed there seems out of reach. Areas further from the common more affordable but we really didn't get a good vibe. Similar experience in East Ham - nice bits out of reach, affordable bits did not have a great feel to them. This is basically why I'm feeling a bit disheartened - I know that even a year ago we could probably have bought in these places. But we'll have a look at Welling - that part of London works quite well in terms of access to family in Greenwich and the NW (via M25)

[AwkwardPaws27]

@areyouhavingagiraffe here it is - www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/116541401#/?channel=RES_BUY

We love our road - its got some nice leafy trees, it's quiet, and you are only 10 minutes walk to the shops or 15 to the station.

[GreyPurbeckMarble]

You aren’t going to find anywhere in London for 400k with a garden

[Calmestofallthechickens]

Definitely SE London - Plumstead, Welling, New Eltham are all quite affordable in that budget, easy to get to Greenwich and into central. Much more leafy than North London.

[AwkwardPaws27]

(Don't worry about the scaffolding, the house next door is having a loft conversion)

[Etherealhedgehog]

@areyouhavingagiraffe I hope you find somewhere. This is basically why I'm feeling so disheartened - it seems like even all the go-to affordable places are mostly out of our reach now. If we were to move properly out of London there would be an argument for heading to the NW to be near family (and get more for our money) but for aforementioned reasons we really don't want to do that right now. But I think I haven't been stretching my definition of East London far enough - it sounds like there may be areas further out we should check out, though I'm worried that being far from a station makes what should be a short commute quite epic - but clearly we can't actually afford what we want so have to compromise somewhere!

[areyouhavingagiraffe]

@AwkwardPaws27, ha. Funnily enough I spotted this on RM earlier and discounted it. I don't like the layout, and it isn't extended, am also looking for a place with bay windows upstairs and downstairs. I also guarantee it will go for more. I had an offer approved on a house nearby (off Mawney Road, a few mins walk from here) earlier this year but pulled out due to no building regs for works. I offered £500K.

[areyouhavingagiraffe]

@Etherealhedgehog, thanks. I think I have a good budget, and I am going to need it, but currently don't like anything. I have also completed my Sale now, so I am not seeing things out of absolute desperation, which is what I was doing before.

[AwkwardPaws27]

@Etherealhedgehog I get the disappointment - I was priced out of home (Walthamstow) years ago which is how I ended up in Romford (I didn't want to leave London, we're zone 6, have red buses & are still in a London borough).
Its quite nice here though - DH and I have discussed moving away but at the moment being here suits us. We're expecting our first and the town centre has some nice independent coffee shops and cafes, decent library, new leisure centre with an ice rink, primaries are good, and it's close enough to central London for free days out to museums etc.