Buying Home South London

[Verlee]

Hi there,

My husband and I are hoping to buy our first home in South London. We currently rent in Hampstead Garden Suburb where we have been living for the last 8 years. We really value safety, community and nature.

I work from home but my husband works in London- Warren Street.

We are looking at 3 main areas at the moment:

1. Bromley South, Bickley, Sundridge Park
2. Sidcup mainly DA14 within 25 mins walk from train station
3. Orpington, mainly focusing on BR6 and the areas around The Knoll and Crofton

We are hoping to buy a 2-3 bed terraced house with a garden for around £400k. We don't have children at the moment but we hope to start a family in the near future.

We both value nature and community and would like to feel safe and connected to the people in our local area.
Because my husband works in London, transport is important and we would like to be within a mile of train station.
Because we are planning to have a family, schools are also important.

I'd really appreciate your advice and experience on the areas we are looking in.
Do you think these are good options?

Do you have any other suggestions for areas that might suit our needs?

Thank you in advance.

You should probably post this in the chat group. You’d find a lot of pointers there as it relates to property.

You would struggle to get anything in The Knoll really for that budget except perhaps a one of the ex-LA houses that are at the bottom of Mayfield Avenue and around Cowden Road. Or one of the little terraces behind The Cricketers. I see there is one up for sale in Wiltshire Road - bear in mind parking there is challenging but they are popular as within Catchment of Perry Hall primary. It is a bit of a dead zone for secondaries unless likely to get the grammars.

Crofton school area you might get one of the 1960s style houses on the Place Farm Estate. They aren’t all particularly well built so check the EPC - they can be good value for those who can’t afford Petts Wood or Knoll. This one is £475k but you might be able to find another one that needs more work and get closer to your budget.

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/143782040#/?channel=RES_BUY

Highfields infant and junior schools are excellent in Bromley South, with accessibility <1m to both Bromley South and Shortlands stations. Look around Durham Road, Durham avenue, Westmoreland road, Valley road, etc. mindful of catchment though - try to be in 0.5m of the school.

You won’t get a two bed house in Bickley for 400k. The best I can see at the moment if a 2 bed flat in The Avenue for 350k on with Browne Estates, a 2 bed flat in Lubbock Rd Chislehurst with JDM at 375k. You will see there is a house on for 425 in Waldo Rd, but it is near the municipal dump and it can smell quite bad there. The cheapest houses worth a look are on at 550 and 575 in Wellsmoor Gardens - Foxtons and Lubbock Rd - Alan de Maid.