£500k to buy in London. Three kids

[Batteriesallgone]

Where should we go?

Don’t know london at all (went to Natural History Museum once as a child!). Need a three bed. House or flat. Good transport links to central London. Good primary schools.

Is this possible? I know London is crazy prices, and it’s huge, I have no idea where to start looking on rightmove. Love the idea of living as close to central London as possible but don’t know if that’s too idealistic / unaffordable / ridiculous.

Possibly serbs depending on the freeholder. Ex-LA flats - in my limited knowledge - tend to have a nice layout and good sized rooms, but am under the impression a lot of them are owned by CF freeholders who happily slap you a bill of a few k to do basic upkeep to windows or stairwells. But yes in principle we’d be happy with an ex-LA flat as long as it had some form of communal outside space.

Streatham, Greenwhich and Croydon are very dangerous for England

Utter nonsense.

OP, south Croydon is worth a look. Lots of green space, plenty of bars and restaurants (try Crushed Bean, Matthews Yard, Coffee Shotter, TMRW for your fix of cold brew and crushed avocado), and excellent transport links into central London.

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-54226230.html

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-72949442.html

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-67694059.html

How about the Eurostar Trainline area? Greenhithe gravesend. It's approximately half hour from ebsfleet to st Pancras. You can easily get to Stratford in that time too. Right near Bluewater shopping centre too.

Found this good value for money
www.rightmove.co.uk/new-homes-for-sale/property-75640421.html

Maybe I’ve missed it, but why has no one pointed out more that with 3 children your search must be school based? Catchment areas are tiny and those 3 beds that are within it (historically) will often add 100k to a price tag for a house identical to another 4 streets down (which is out of a catchment area). Private schools have long waiting lists. Friend of mine lived in swanky hipster area of Hackney near Victoria Park some years back. She made the mistake of waiting until child was 1 year old to tour and sign up to the private school across the park. She was on the waiting list for years. They had already moved out of London when the school rung them up middle of reception year to ask if they still wanted to be kept on the list, as there might be availability coming up in year 1

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-67641385.html

This is on the edge of Epping Forest in Walthamstow.

Forest Hill might be perfect for you. Hipster cafes and wanky stuff shooting up all over the place. Lol
The overground train goes to Shoreditch or change at Canada Water for the jubilee line to Canary Wharf and Westminster etc. There’s also a train to London Bridge.

Opposite direction you can change at East Croydon for Gatwick.

Some great primary schools... secondary is ok. You’ve got Sydenham girls or Forest Hill boys and a few others surrounding.

This looks nice
Oaklands Court, Graveney Grove, London, SE20
www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-56364906.html

‘Penge’ It’s a bit like ‘moist’ isn’t it. Sounds rude

Forest Hill will be tight with 500k, I've recently moved away from there as we couldn't afford decent sized house with garden for 650k! A flat may be doable though and prices are falling.

ekto more than one person has said schooling in Streatham area should be fine.

Also sure someone said similar about Crystal Palace / Penge area.

Want state schools, not private.

i agree south croydon is fine. coulsdon and that? Its not really what you picture you you think of croydon though is it. As for those areas being dangerous - check the stats. Streatham is a bit man-bunnish, soy serving and expensive - all while still being full of angry youts. It's been "up and coming" for ages now.

Please ignore the knife crime stats. Unless you happen to be in gang, involved in drug dealing or have been 'disrespected' or are in the habit of 'disrespecting' then the rates in Croydon and Streatham etc do not reflect the reality of day to day life. If you have teenagers (especially boys) it's something you may want to consider in the future but it tends to be in very small areas.

young men losing their lives over the coke trade shouldn't humour you that much. Just look at the statistics. They aren't going to be inexplicably biased against those areas. It's not a conspiracy

As said upthread different people have different tolerances for crime. Once you have narrowed down where you want to look you must go and stay there over a few days to see what it is really like. With three children you have to do your homework on schools. If you are an in year admission there may not be any places. What happens the if you have three schools on three different bus routes? If not all of them are in school what happens if the school next door is a faith school and

Whoops

If you haven't been on the electoral roll or been to church for 3 years? In my part of London the non faith school is very popular and the catchment is about 500 yards. It is odd that so many people drive their children to school but that is how it is. Flats near to good schools command a premium.

My part of London has high crime stats for violent crime but that is because of the drug issue in one street. I talk to the police so I know what is going on but to an outsider it looks shocking.

Personally you would t get me north of the river but a friend who is buying can tell you the nuances of each street and which school catchment area you are in.

Ex council properties are good buys but some estates have tensions between those who have lived there for ever and have council tenancies, the people who have bought and those who are in private rents with landlords who don't give a stuff.

I love London and sometimes even go north of the river, but it is a complex place so narrow down your search, go,stay and check out the school admission policies. It might even be worth ringing the council to find out what would be available today so,that you get a reality check.

I would look around Catford and Lewisham. £500k won't get you much in Hither Green, maybe a flat.

Someone mentioned transport being crap in HG but it's 10 minutes to London Bridge!

They are a bit scruffy (central Catford especially) but the hipsters are descending and there are a few wanky cafés around and Model Market is great in summer. We moved out of London last year but I sort of liked the edginess of the area - it kept me on my toes

Plenty of good primaries but secondary education in Lewisham is pretty appalling.

"Ex council properties are good buys but some estates have tensions between those who have lived there for ever and have council tenancies, the people who have bought and those who are in private rents with landlords who don't give a stuff."

This is a great point, if I was buying Ex-council i would make sure it was a small block and that all/ the majority of the residents were lifetime tenants. I think people are more careful to get on with their neighbours and take care of their property if they have it for life

Also if you have a child with autism there is Drumbeat School in Lewisham. Provision for primary school age SEN children in London is generally good.

Ex council properties are good buys but some estates have tensions between those who have lived there for ever and have council tenancies, the people who have bought and those who are in private rents with landlords who don't give a stuff.

Yes very aware of this. There’s always a reason behind a lower price tag.

Flats in general are more of a ball ache to research and decide on, I know that, have done it before. Generally I’m quite good at having an instinct for places once I look round - it’s my autism, I notice all sorts of random details. I get ‘feelings’ about places quite often, not coz I’m woo, but because I notice lots of minor things that add up if that makes sense.

Don’t worry all, I’m not going to spunk £500k online without visiting! Just looking to narrow down my options as rightmove was very intimidating when I first opened it up. Also rightmove goes by km from your search radius which doesn’t necessarily translate to convenient travel from your search radius.

Hence tapping into the wisdom of mumsnet.

I grew up in a "naice" leafy part of South Croydon. It is still "naice" and leafy, but £500k wouldn't go far where I spent my childhood. The town centre is being redeveloped and does have a bit of a reputation, but it is easy to avoid.

I live near Sheffield, which has the highest number of people carrying knives (Croydon does not have the monopoly there), yet I feel perfectly safe.

Over the years transport links between South London and "tnorf" have improved massively. The building of the Thameslink line makes my journey back to Croydon so easy - train to St Pancras, and train to Croydon from St Pancras. The tramlink makes getting around much easier as well.

That said, Croydon isn't London. It is a town in its own right with several different "village" centres - Selsdon, Sanderstead, Purley (say no more!) etc.

The other thing to consider is the cost of the commute, which no-one seems to have picked up on.

Yeah I’ve got friends who’s Parents lives in Croydon. I always thought of it as a town with easy access to London. Rather than part of London. But wasn’t sure if that was semantics.

All those PP saying how nice Crystal Palace but to avoid Croydon do know that a large slice of CP is in (the North of) Croydon borough esp the good primary schools.

Don’t worry commuting costs will be factored in but tbh the season ticket will probably be bought for DH as a benefit on top of his pay so it is a bit of a neutral thing where he’s concerned.

Although now I think of it, I do need to consider the cost of transporting me and the kids around. Spend up to £6 a day here (morning out, home, afternoon back out) but should research that. Thanks for the tip.

@indigenouscelt - I am not sure whether the comment about finding it funny that young males are losing their lives over selling drugs was directed at me, but if it was, then I can assure you that I don't find the situation funny at all. In fact I find it depressing. Really really depressing. So many wasted lives, and I am not just taking about the victims of knife crime I am also talking about the youths caught up in it all.

I think this may be the issue with London. You see it from the outside and you look for the hipster vibe but scratch a bit deeper and you see the poverty and crime.

I am a south London girl through and through. I don't think I would ever leave London. My DD is a 6th former and she says she won't even be leaving London for Uni unless she goes to somewhere like Oxbridge because she won't find anywhere with the same opportunities or amenities (clubs, bars,restaurant,museums,theatres,shops,markets -we use them all).

I moved to the south side of Croydon- I didn't want my DD growing up in the thick of it. I like it here - living life on the edge😁

That Spa Hill one is a good location OP