To think it should be possible to buy a decent place to live in London for £750k?

[Socrates67]

We have been looking at the market for a while now and are ready to pay up to £750k for the right property, but there seems to be nothing available within that price range. Sorry to moan and I know that it's a first world problem, but the prices seem ridiculous.

We would like a 2 bedder in or near WC1/NW1/EC1/SE1, ideally if not in a period building then one that isn't a high rise and with a bit of character and a bit of outside space - balcony, small patio garden or whatever.

Am I being unrealistic? Who can afford these prices? Certainly not most people, I am guessing.

Anyway, rant over and I would be grateful for any advice as to where we might look where we can hopefully achieve what we are looking for without going too far out of the centre. In an ideal world, I would like to be walking distance of theatre land/the south bank. Maybe Bermondsey would be an option, but it seems a bit isolated. Also Lambeth North, but according to the press it is full of gangs.

There are no DC involved in the decision so schools irrelevant, not that I suppose that it makes it any easier......

You're not being unreasonable.

I hope you are heavily armoured when the "stealth boast" arrows start flying at you.

You are being unrealistic, because people can and do pay the asking prices in sufficient numbers for the market to be at that level.

You'll need to look beyond Zone 1 if you cannot pay Zone 1 prices.

Just ignore any "boasting" comments that come your way ; apparently people with money are not allowed to have any problems !

YANBU but that is how the market is - not helpful I know. Either hold on and hope the market changes or maybe by in Hertfordshire ? It's an easy commute into London and houses are a lot more affordable.

Of course you can, but I think you'll have to widen your search area.

Move slightly out?

I live 45 mins on the train from Kings Cross and I honestly can't believe the price of houses there. £750K would buy a beautiful house here (Bedfordshire). Sorry, I have no advice, I'm just gobsmacked by the prices!

My question is why would you even want to ? I live in East Sussex, work in City of London. 45 minutes door to door plus 2 days a week and holidays I live in paradise. 750k would buy something quite special.

According to the press everywhere is full of gangs! There was something on the front of the Times a few years ago showing where all the gang stabbings were in recent times and East Dulwich was right in the centre of the ring of gang violence, which made me hoot with laughter because East Dulwich is very much not gang violence!

I live in Vauxhall/Stockwell (I think we have to call it Nine Elms these days) and there are gangs around here who occasionally get uppity with each other. In the 14 years DH has lived here the problems have affected us precisely 0 times. It's like we're invisible to the gang types who are only interested in each other, so I wouldn't worry if I were you about gangs.

If you don't mind a lack of character there's quite a lot well within your budget in SW8 (and the new amenities/tube can only improve value) for sale at the moment, and there's a lot of decent housing stock here so character stuff comes up all the time. Half an hour walk to the SouthBank, buses/tubes/trains everywhere in no time at all.

yeah, it's the pits. no advice here, just that I feel your pain.

We got a really nice 2-bed flat in a converted school in Kilburn for £650k last year. Only 2 mins north of Maida Vale and not nearly as rough as I thought it was - I think it has a reputation from years past. Lots of transport connections and I think you'd get something very good for £750k.

You'd get a place of the sort you describe in quite a lot of Zone 2, and certainly beyond that.

Any particular reason why you want/need to be in the most expensive parts? Because if you must be that close in, you'll have to compromise on what the property is like. But if you can go a but further out, there should be plenty of possibilities.

Further out a bit, but have you considered Wimbledon? It's on district tube line, South Wimbledon is on northern line, plus overground direct to Waterloo. £750k gets you a lovely 2 bed house with garden there

Patchworkpatty - where do you live and are the schools any good? And do they have places in Y2? If so, I'm moving there next week!

OP YANBU to hope. YABU to think there's nothing - there are 2-beds in Bermondsey area in your price range. Just possibly not the bit of Bermondsey you'd live to live in and almost certainly not a non-high rise, period building with outside space That area was heavily bombed in WWII and was largely industrial/working-class anyway, so lovely period buildings are in very short supply.

Why don't you widen the search area then if there is nothing you can afford where you are currently looking? It may be unfair that you can't live where ever you want to live but that is just the way it is. I think afforadbility feels unfair to quite a lot of people but at that budget you have a lot more options than most and there are lots of lovely areas of London that aren't right in the centre.

If Theatreland is your main focus, have a look at mainline services out of Charing X and Waterloo East, plus Jubilee line. It takes us about 25-30 minutes door-to-door to get home from the National (SE London) but there are also excellent theatres even closer to home (esp Greenwich Theatre, but also the Albany which is mostly families). Great comedy and music around too, eg Blackheath Halls/Conservatoire.

From Greenwich and N Greenwich, you can get the boat to London Eye pier, or Embankment, all very civilised and you can have a G&T on the boat .

I think you should be able to find something in those areas if you're determined, they'll be few and far between but just keep several Rightmove alerts going for each postcode area. E.g. I found this flat in NW1 in a period building with communal garden: www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-54663470.html

I can totally understand the desire to live more centrally (we're in EC1 and it's great being able to walk everywhere and live car-free).

OP, I understand your frustration. As two people in (I presume) good jobs with some savings you want to live in a great part of town. In most other cities you'd be able to, but in London you're being elbowed out by rich fvckers.

Time to embrace Zone 2! There are some lovely areas around for your budget or far less, and you can choose with your commute in mind - we're in Zone 2 but 10 min from London Bridge for example. Plus far more green space and long term better school.

Or (and this is not to turn this thread into an opportunity for LL bashing), you may, depending on your appetite and ethical stance, want to buy wherever, rent that place out and use rental proceeds to fund a rental for yourself in Zone 1 - sounds counter-intuitive but the numbers can add up.

(I have long given up on living in Zone 1 but DP, with his Russian sensibilities, believes that an ex-council high rise in Camden is the property ideal .)

Period building in EC1 with roof terrace www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-54611669.html

There is something very fucking wrong with the world when three quarters of a million pounds is not enough to buy a two bedroom flat.

Second the poster who said not to worry about reports of gangs!!

SE6 continues to be very attractively priced.

What alltouchedout said.

That was our budget 2 years ago, ended buying outside London (40 mins on train) a big and beautiful period properly with a decent size of garden. Had had enough of living in converted 2 bedroom flat where we could here every step of upstairs neighbours. I would never consider moving back now unless I win euromillions and can buy a premium property.

There is something very fucking wrong with the world when three quarters of a million pounds is not enough to buy a two bedroom flat.

Bollox. If there are enough people with enough money who want to own property in central London, then the price will go where it goes. Nobody actually NEEDS a two bed flat in WC1.

I couldn't afford anything even in the outer zones of London, so I don't live or work there. The world is bigger than central London.