Where to live on 3m

[ItsPissingDownAgain]

First world question: where would you live in london on a 3m budget. Low income otherwise (!), kids in state primary, we like diversity, zones 1/2, parks, ease of travel (ideally bike but if not then public transport)

This can't be real

No one would invest that whole £3m in one property while having that income, unless OP already has a fuckton of other investments.

OP obviously gone house hunting...

My advice is look north, move near the coast and keep 2.5mil

Bishops avenue obviously

The stamp duty is far too high on 3 million pound houses now so they are poor investments plus post Covid/Brexit there might be mansion style taxes in the long run.

Personally, if I had 3 million I would not buy an expensive house with that. On the other hand, if London becomes a Singapore style tax haven in the long run then it could turn out a good investment.
If anything, people I know who have too much wealth tied up in houses are selling them.

@ItsPissingDownAgain

I'll just leave this here for you to peruse through. Should get a few acres here for £3 MILLION!

lunarregistry.com/

It’s a feasible scenario. There are plenty of ‘normal’ sized houses in London in this price range, therefore with ‘normal’ maintenance costs. The Cannonbury house linked earlier in thread being a good example. Plus council tax is low in London & transport costs could be low if location is good.

The posters suggesting the OP moves out and buys a country mansion - those are the ones which would require huge running costs. Yes, they may have some equity leftover to use as income but that’s not necessarily good advice.

@0ntheg0again

Bishops avenue obviously

I think Bishops Avenue only exists to prove that, no matter how big your budget, there's always somewhere you can't afford.

Even with £3M, the OP is limited to a 2 bed flat in that area, albeit a very nice and large one, with a communal indoor pool.

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/77509854#/

If you really have 3m to spend on a house but only have a combined income of 35k a year then you can’t afford a 3m house. It’s that simple

You need to be realistic. Stay where you are and buy 4/5 houses in different areas of the country and rent them out.

You will increase your income and then maybe one day you will be able to afford to own and run a 3m house

Only in London could you sink £3m into a little terraced house and not excite much interest from your neighbours .

I’d highly recommend buying in Birmingham or somewhere HS2 will be running through

As soon as that’s up house prices in those areas will increase

@BarbaraofSeville

Maybe the OP has inherited?

They could have lost a parent or grandparent who bought a house similar to all those that have been linked to decades ago for a relatively small amount.

If you HAD inherited 3 million pounds, (which happens to someone in this country as often as a lunar eclipse,) why on EARTH would you spend the ENTIRE AMOUNT of a bloody over-priced box in over-rated London?

Anyone with a grain of common sense would buy a modest priced house (£350K to £600K,) and put the other £2.5 million-ish in the bank or building society. They could contribute to, (or buy) a home for their children, pay their children's university debt off, and even pay off their own parents mortgage or debts off.

In addition, they could retire much younger than 67 - or even immediately if they were 50-ish, as the excess amount would fund their pension years. They could also give to several charities close to their heart, or even start a small business of their own if they didn't want to retire for a few years.

And they would STILL probably have over half of the £3 million left.

To put the whole £3 million into one house, whilst remaining on £35K a year is every shade of stupid.

Then again, I am 100% sure this is a wind-up thread anyway, so it's all academic.

why on EARTH would you spend the ENTIRE AMOUNT on a bloody over-priced box in over-rated London?

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/77542449#/

2 million, Wimbledon, walking distance to station, parking, garden.

And a million left to invest

Job done

Bishops Avenue looks so grim - many of the houses are apparently vacant as investments only by people who don't even need the rental income and the ones I've seen online look like the interiors were designed by Barbara Cartland on acid.

@PerspicaciousGreen

If this is a real question, I have two answers:

1. Hampstead.
2. You need to take a serious look at your life, take a serious look at this website (www.mrmoneymustache.com/2012/01/13/the-shockingly-simple-math-behind-early-retirement/) and ask yourself if you want to work for the rest of your lives for a house or if you'd like to retire right now and never work again. Honestly. Read around a bit before dismissing it.

If you genuinely have £3m to spend, don't spend it on a London house - spend it on having a life!

Absolutely! Why spend £3M on a house in London and scrimp by on a low (for London) income, when you could buy a much bigger, nicer house in the countryside for £1M, invest the remaining £2M and never have to work again.

The problem with buying a house outside London with that kind of price tag is that it’s going to invite curiosity. It’ll probably be listed which is an onerous responsibility, and if not it’ll still be a landmark house, and people are going to be nosy about the new owners. As soon as they learn you’re two nurses or whatever, they’ll twig you’ve won the lottery and you open the floodgates then to begging letters and burglaries.

@littlepattilou All that money left in the bank would depreciate.

If you’ve grown up with no money, the thought of accumulating a buy-to-let portfolio or investing in securities is really scary.

£3m capital is also around the minimum that a private wealth manager would be interested in.

To put the whole £3 million into one house, whilst remaining on £35K a year is every shade of stupid

I agree. But it's not impossible to have an average income and receive such an inheritence, so that comment was in reply to the people who can't believe the OPs position.

I wouldn't live in London, but the OP does want to and she's in the rare position that she can afford to, despite being on lowish wages - £35k household income isn't that low, when housing costs don't need to come out of that money.

So while I agree with everyone who says she should only spend a proportion of the £3M and staying below £2M due to stamp duty due to escalating costs would seem a sensible move, I don't think it's necessary to not live in London, in this case.

But you can’t buy a modest priced house (£350K to £600K,) in anywhere near the areas OP is looking for.

Why would you away from your preferred area, where perhaps you have family and friends and a social life, just to avoid spending money and keeping it in the bank (to depreciate)?

How stupid.

There really is no helping some people.

Anyone with a grain of common sense would buy a modest priced house (£350K to £600K,) and put the other £2.5 million-ish in the bank or building society

Surely anyone with a grain of common sense knows that 350-600k is not a modest priced house in London but a tiny flat.

£600k is a one bedroom flat in zone 2.

OP, if you’re genuine, there is a financial advice service offered by the National Lottery. If this is inheritance or compo, start by asking your bank.