How far from London do I need to go to buy a flat for £160k

[Lillibetthecat]

Forgive me, just posting here for traffic.

Have a flat in London that's being currently rented. Tenant stopped paying, has wrecked it in the process too and I'm taking him to court next week. However I'm fed up with the stress of it all, whilst I'm paying my mortgage on the flat and bills.

So, after the tenant is evicted, I'm thinking of selling it and buying a property somewhere mortgage free, if I can. The equity would be about £160, possibly 5-10k more. How far do I need to go away from London to buy something for this price? I think I'd have to go further North rather than South? Somewhere that is well connected to London, would that be too much to ask?

Best get an atlas ...... especially if you think Weymouth is nearer than Somerset, too!😆

I think that's a good idea 😄

In my town you could buy 50% of a flat for that, and a bit of change, with no rent on the other half, you just own half. Always lots on rightmove. Town is Whyteleafe - near 2 stations and in zone 6 (30 mins to Victoria).

Im in a village on the outskirts of Milton Keynes and you can be in Euston in 40 minutes from either MK central, Wolverton or Bletchley.

You wont get much for 160 (bar some very rough areas) or you could look at just inside Northamptonshire where the prices drop a bit and you'll get more for your money

Ah yes…Jaywick! Disco Dave!!

Rugby

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/157435028#/?channel=RES_BUY

You could get a flat in Tunbridge Wells for that, OP. In plenty of other nice, commutable parts of Kent also.

Rugby? Northants?

Mm, let's go on holiday to Rugby or Milton Keynes!!!

lol yes I admit I did not read the full thread!

Holiday is an entirely different question!

Look along the East Coast Mainline - over 60 houses within 5 miles of Grantham (just over an hour to Kings Cross) under your budget. Over 100 if you include flats. Similar for Peterborough and Newark.

Northamptonshire for definite. I did a filter on priceand not a buying scheme or retirement property and it came back with 340!

Not touristy, market it as 'undiscovered'.

Second Milton Keynes, would go for a modern apartment in good area rather than a cheap house in a poor area.

If you are considering commuting all be really, really careful. 1h train from coventry to euston is not the whole commute. Its more likely to be 15 mins to the station in coventry, another 25 on the tube in London so maybe 1h 40 overall. And check the ticket prices - at that distance you might find peak hours options terrifically expensive, plus parking costs might be £10 a day.

Why didnt you state a ‘Holiday home’ in your first post

People recommending Milton Keynes & Peterborough but they are not holiday destinations

I say this because i have co workers trying to do commutes like this and they are miserable. They can't manage it around childcare, can't make it in to the office the required number of days without being knackered, and are resenting how much the travel is costing.

I think you need to do some basic research about UK geography before you ask people for recommendations. Penzance is the end of the line for many Bristol trains, but it’s a ruddy long way from it!

Link to properties within 3 miles of Diss Norfolk
Train from Diss to Liverpool Street takes about 1.20, decent service
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/Diss.html

If you are thinking of renting it out as a holiday home, ensure you do your figures. We bought a place in Weymouth to retire to eventually and in the meantime rent it out as a holiday home. We make half what we made with our rental. Factor in the costs of running it with a management company, cleaning, linen hire, marketing, fire regulations, smoke alarm system, cost of Gas, Electricity, TV licence, Water, WiFi, set up costs etc etc! It's a lot more involved than you think. Plus, it's only really used for half the year. The rest of the time we sell cheap weeks to friends in the autumn, so that someone is using it.

OP you sound confused. Your current rented out flat is causing endless headaches and your solution is…buy a different flat!

If your problem is you’ll soon have £160k and don’t know what to do with it, buying a second home is a terrible idea. You’ll pay 5% extra stamp duty. You might pay double council tax too. Your £160k will rapidly turn into less than that. If there was a specific area you really loved and you desperately wanted a little place there, that would be one thing. But that’s clearly not the case.

Do you have a mortgage? If so you should probably pay that down. Do you have a pension? Is it big enough? Unless it’s already enormous you should consider topping that up. And then max out your stocks and shares ISA allowance, invested in a sensible global equity tracker fund. Any one of those will probably give you a much better financial outcome, and certainly much less admin than buying a random flat just for the sake of it.

France?

A number of towns in Wiltshire have flats and even the odd house at that price.

Hmm, on the money markets I believe returns (pretax) are about 4.5% At the moment, but not sure what the minimum investment amounts are. I suggest speaking to a financial adviser (I used to use AJ Bell in the days when I had money, but there are plenty out there). The cost of buying somewhere new, the risk of dodgy tenants, the ongoing maintenance and insurance costs, I wouldn’t bother being a landlord even if I had the wherewithal to be honest!

I'm more than confused indeed. It was an impulsive post. I have enjoyed reading every reply and get some perspective. Like some previous posters said I'm far away from even selling my current flat since I have a tenant in there who won't go easy.

I appreciate every comment. It's something that I only recently started thinking about. Getting a property outside London for our use at first , then possibly rent it out. If my current flat was doing well, no way I'd be thinking of selling it. It has provided half of my income up to when the tenant stopped paying. I'm only working part time.

People asking me why I didn't say whether I wanted a holiday property, well.. because I don't really even know what I want to do. But thank you for all your replies, most of them have been very helpful.

You're not going to get much other than a hovel in a very dodgy area in Leeds for £160k.