Where should we buy a house?

[FizzyPink]

Currently live in Forest Hill, SE London and looking to buy our first house early-mid next year. We were originally looking at Bromley/Beckenham areas but prices seem to have shot up in the last few months so I think we’ve been priced out. We’ve now started to look more towards Sidcup/Orpington/Welling but no idea of what these areas are like other than they seem more affordable.

Key criteria are

• 3 bedrooms
• Budget of £400kish up to an absolute maximum of £450k
• Good size garden
• Decent kitchen/bathroom that we could live with for a while before doing improvements
• Under a 30-45 minute drive to Beckenham for DP’s work
• Up to an hours commute to Old Street for me but I’ll only ever go back 2-3 days a week so less bothered about commuting time if the area was good
• No kids currently and would aim to move within 5 years so schools not an issue
• Ideally somewhere with some nice shops/restaurants but quality of house takes precedence

I’d be ever so grateful of any areas to look at and any insight into the areas mentioned above

Oh and forgot to mention, DP is mixed race so he’s slightly wary of any super conservative/white areas where he might not feel comfortable

Have you looked at Sydenham / Penge?

Lovely area and a bit more reasonable than beckenham.

I think they’re both too expensive to be honest, anything within our budget tends to be a flat or a terrace which we’re trying to stay away from

@Turnedouttoes I'm in Sidcup. Getting to be lots of nice places to eat and drink, half decent high street, lovely green spaces, fast train is 20 minutes to London Bridge.

Our friends / neighbours are mixed race, as are my DP's nieces and they have never had any trouble. Appreciate that the borough has a reputation but I think that's (thankfully) very much on the decline as a little bit of gentrification starts to creep in!

Oh another tip I found when we were looking - definitely don't judge the houses by their exterior! A lot of this area was flattened in the war and the houses were rebuilt with a lot of weird round windows and pebbledash 😂

You have an amazing budget for FTBs! Do you really need a house? Why not stay in a guaranteed up and coming area and start off with a flat? Maybe something that you can spruce up yourselves? Crystal Palace, Anerley and Penge would all be safe bets I reckon and you would save a lot on commuting.

If you think you'll move again in a few years I'd buy in an area like Penge and buy something you can add value to. Somewhere that needs work and is under your budget is a good buy

We are currently trying to buy in Welling and finding it extremely difficult to find anything 3 bed that is under £450k.

The ones that are tend to be way way too close to the A2!

That’s really promising to hear about Sidcup @JorisBonson there’s some lovely houses that are well within budget so I’m really pleased to hear it’s a great area as well.

Yes we’re pretty set on having a house. The main reasons being that we want a good sized garden and after a long time living in a one bedroom flat with neighbours on all sides I need some space!! I know we could get somewhere cheaper and do some work to it and I’m not against doing a little bit of work but DP works very long hours six days a week and I work full time in quite a demanding job so we’re keen to find somewhere pretty much done that we don’t need to do much to in the short term.

I think we’d probably stay in the house we buy for at least 5-6 years. I need to make some changes to my career before we can have kids so not planning to start trying for a good 3 years minimum. Of course things can change but that’s the plan for the moment!

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-92387579.html

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-95011190.html

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-82195516.html

No offence @HerNameWasEliza but those houses all look pretty depressing for a lot of money! Hence asking about cheaper areas where we can get something much nicer for less.

I also don’t see Thornton Heath as a desirable area at all

Where do you need to be for work / commute ?

@SuzieCarmichael Beckenham for DP and he needs to drive, Old Street for me. But I mainly work from home so I’m slightly less concerned about station proximity

Sorry, yes I see you did post that! How about Sevenoaks?

I have recently moved from Sydenham and know the areas you mentioned quite well (we spent a long time looking!). I think you might struggle to get a 3 bed house for 450k in many of the areas above (sydenham, crystal palace, beckenham, sevenoaks).

You might find something within that price range in Sidcup or Orpington - I have friends in both who commute into London, and all super happy.

We are now in West Wickham which is lovely and the train to london bridge takes 30 mins.

They look cheap to me but I guess it all depends what you're used to in terms of prices! I'm thinking you might want champagne on a lemonade budget but lets see if someone comes up with something better!

@Turnedouttoes PM me if there's anything specific you'd like to know. We're in exactly the same boat - bought a year ago with a 5 year plan so it's not our forever home but it's fab for the meantime!!

Westerham isn't far from Bromley, lovely countryside around there too. Same with Sevenoaks, Otford, Kemsing, Brasted, Seal, Sundridge etc

@Turnedouttoes Bexley Village is beautiful too and on the same fast train line

Sidcup is good value I think - DA14 around New Eltham/Sidcup stations is a nice part. Fastest trains are 14 mins to LB during the week. It's quite suburban compared to Crystal Palace et al, less diverse but this is changing and people of colour won't feel weird as it is outer London still. High St ok but i I suspect recession/Brexit will kill off some restaurants (Pizza Express will go). Schools are good- excellent Grammar Schools and lots of parks. Close to countryside, easy to get to the coast but also into central London. New, independent cinema and library being built on the High St. Not much cafe culture but Blackheath and Greenwich fairly close by.

I'm not keen on Welling personally but it has a busy High St with all the facilities.

Have you looked at Shooters Hill?