St John's SE8 - anyone know anything about this area?

[freelancegirl]

Am wondering if anyone has any good things to say about the St John's area in SE8?

I've been living in the Greenwich area for a long time, first in Blackheath, then central Greenwich and in 2007 moved to Charlton. I moved for the increased size of flat and also a garden. It's been fine - but we've been living on the coast on weekends and are not here full time. I like the houses and it's a nice residential area but for a good hub I really feel we need to walk/bus to Greenwich or Blackheath. Now we are having a baby (due end of July) we need to a) live in one place for a while and b) have more space than the two bed flat. We would love to move back to central Greenwich but the three bed houses are currently out of our price range. In East Greenwich they all seem to be tiny two bed cottages with no room to extend and I am not keen on the area past Vanbrugh Hill towards the Blackwall tunnel. Three bed houses in Charlton are within our price range but we want to move on from the area. We toyed between a flat close to central Greenwich but it just seemed like a lot of money for a very small space.

We have seen some great properties in St John's (Albyn Rd area), it's a tiny area with some nice conservation-area houses equidistant from Greenwich, Lewisham, Deptford and pretty near New Cross. St John's overland is a few minutes walk away and Elverson Rd DLR both very near to the house we're looking at. It's still quite a walk to central Greenwich, although less so than our current walk from Charlton.

I was wondering if anyone else lived there or knew anything about it? The houses are great and I think it's just 'on the up' enough to be ok to live in now and also to go a bit further up in the next couple of years when we hope to be able to get a better mortgage (it's a lending issue rather than a cash one) and get a bit closer to where we want to be.

I live very near there - Ashburnham Triangle, right on the edge of Greenwich/Deptford and St Johns borders. I'm also keen on St Johns - like you say, Albyn Rd/Friendly Street are particularly nice - and would def consider it when the time comes to move from where we are. The transport links are good too.

Hi Tiger, I almost didn't notice that someone had replied. Great that you did! My first flat was actually in the Ashburnham triangle so I know exactly where you are. Relieved to think you feel that St John's is very close to such a nice part of W Gwich :)

I moved from Ashburnham to Charlton to get an extra room plus a garden and now moving to St John's - have bought a fab 3 bed Victorian terrace which would currently be out of our league in Greenwich. Can't believe you can go just a mile away and get such a thing! Would rather be in central greenwich again of course but very pleased to get a proper house. We could afford one in Charlton but there's very little to do here - although proximity to heath is nice. Found out there are a couple of 'gastro pubs' not so far from the new place too so that is a welcome addition. It's in Albyn Rd direction.

Come live there too! I am going to spearhead the Move to St John's Campaign :)

Honestly? New Cross and Deptford are dives, and St Johns is not very savoury.

Have you checked out Brockley / Honor Oak / Nunhead? Much nicer, conservation area and similar priced properties. Even Lewisham would be safer and nicer, if you can find a property with a SE13 postcode near the Heath.

I know several people with small children who live on albyn rd and we almost bought there a few years ago. The people I know there find it fine, there isn't much in the way of immediate amenities but not that far to walk to greenwich/brockley/Lewisham. The baby & toddler group at st john's church is supposed to be v good & friendly. The brockley market on Saturdays (on lewisham way) is close by and great for nice veg, meat etc.

All the development at deptford bridge/Lewisham should help to improve the area more.

The rail service from st john's is only half hourly but you're close enough to walk to new cross for overground/rail or of course the dlr at Deptford bridge/elverson rd.

Definitely an area worth considering IMO although def come and have a look at brockley too! although prices have gone up since the overground extension.

I did have a good look at Brockley and the houses there are great too. I don't mind a bit of a dive nearby tbh, makes me feel there's still room to grow. New Cross isnt so bad IME and am looking forward to checking out some of the food places on deptford high st. Plus i spend a lot of time in canary wharf so its good to be close to DLR.

I guess because my life has centred around Greenwich, Brockley just feels too far away from that, even if it is a nice place in itself. It felt too far from home iykwim. Charlton has felt a little bit like that too, but at least it has been walk able to Greenwich and blackheath. I did actually look at a few houses on the Lewisham side of the Heath but when we had a little drive around there at night there were loads of Lewisham yoof, complete with hoods up, hanging around the area. Probably just teenagers being harmless but quite off putting. And for some reason I just don't like the thought of Lewisham station being my home station.

Anyway... I've bought the place now! I guess I will just have to face that I wont be able to afford a nice 3 bed house in west Greenwich any time in the near future. But make the best of what we can afford whilst lending is still restricted. We only have a 50% mortgage so could afford to spend more, it's just we can't borrow any more! Frustrating, but I guess it's sensible to have lower payments, especially with a young baby.

I know what you mean about Lewisham being your local station we used to say we lived just off Blackheath but it is so well connected. We had 2 attempted break-ins in the 2 years we lived there though so your instinct wasn't off! I did like it. I miss SE London but not the feeling of mild peril.

I have lived in St Johns for 18 years, am bringing up four children here and use the local primary and senior schools. I wouldn't choose to live anywhere else, there is a real sense of community here with lots of family housing - it certainly isn't unsavoury FourYolksAche!!! It's like anywhere else in se london - mixed and no less savoury than nunhead or honor oak! Lots of the three bedroomed victorian houses have had mansard roof extensions turning them into good sized 5 bed houses at a fraction of the price of similar houses in greenwich which is just a 15 min walk away. Plus St Johns station is a hidden gem, really handy for getting into town. Oh and it is also a conservation area and has been for about 15 yrs.

I live here! It's not unsavoury at all. I have a 13 month old ds and have found it to be perfectly located for a new mumma. We used to live in Brockley and it's lovely but it's too far from anywhere central to walk to IMO. Walking to Greenwich, Lewisham, Blackheath saved my mental health in some of the dark days of not knowing what I was doing in early mummy hood, and they are just right distance wise, close enough so you are there in ten/fifteen mins and far enough away so that babba has fallen asleep when you get there. Perfect! Brookmill park and Friendly gardens are just right to go to for a quick jaunt on the swings and there are great pubs and restaurants (who am I kidding, you're having a baby) very nearby. We have nice friendly neighbours and live in an attractive three bedroom end of terrace with a smashing garden in a safe, diverse area which hasn't completely crippled us financially. Can't say fairer than that.

Thanks! Just checked back here after a while so sorry for the absence. That is all really good info and I am now feeling really good about the decision to buy the house. It is one of the 3 bed victorian terraces with potential to do the loft (a good 5 of the same style houses in the street have done it) and I feel it's close enough to the areas I love to be walkable. Like you said Funnylittlekaty I am sure they will save my sanity when am dealing with the new lifestyle. Really glad to be close to the DLR too and St Johns seems great like you said CCSJ. If you see a dazed new mum wandering round there come the end of July do say hello :)

I will be a couple of mins walk from Brookmill Park - do people use it quite well? I also tried out the Talbot the other day (still holding onto the last vestiges of my pub lifestyle...) and that seemed good. The Cranbrook looks like it would benefit from a similar refurb!

We use Brookmill park lots. When ds was tiny we walked round it a lot chanting "nap baby nap" and now we go there to play on the swings and all that. It's a nice walk through there and by the canal to Lewisham, 10 mins to mothercare door to door I reckon! The Talbot is ace, yummy yummy food...however we never get to go anymore, wonder why ;-). Cinnamon on upper road does great Indian takeaway and Kaya House on deptford broadway does lovely thai/malaysian/Chinese takeaway. Yay I'm excited that you're moving in even though I wouldn't know you if I fell over you! Hurray for St John's!

LOL! Am excited you are there too FLK :) Maybe we should PM each other and start a micro MN St John's faction.

How old is DS now? I must remember the 'nap baby nap' mantra to see if it works for me. And by all accounts I will be getting to sample the local takeaways very shortly.

How did the move go? Hope all is well and you are enjoying the se8 massive.

Hey, Saint Johns is a lovely area just off Deptford. It's definitely on the up, a few recommendations and opinions from locals can be found on the linked article.