London & suburbs first time buyers: what have you compromised on?

[Spicegirl1234]

Assuming you were also late to the game and had a limited budget for London & surrounding areas, what did you compromise on?
We thought we wanted more space and were readu to get a spacious apartment without a garden but after viewing some properties, we realised a maisonette with a garden is much more desirable for us, even if it means living in a small space with a DC.
We cannot have it all and we hope to be able to upgrade a hit in 5-7 years time and just climb the ladder now.
It’s taken us SO long to save for a deposit.

We compromised on garden and it was fine until DS was born. Take the garden!

What's your budget? Location is an obvious one, but that depends on whether you can only just scrape together enough to buy anywhere in London or whether you're lamenting that you're priced out of Hampstead.

We got a garden with our ground floor flat but it was on a very main road and I couldn't cope with the traffic noise day and night. Lasted 3 years there before moving out of London!

What I wouldn't compromise on is location. You want to live somewhere that suits you. Has facilities that you want nearby etc..

I can put up with smaller (as long as there are enough rooms etc.). Outdoor space is obviously something only you can decide, but are there parks just down the road? Is the child likely to be sporty? And is a tiny garden really going to be much use if they want to play proper sports? There are a lot of green spaces in London, particularly in certain areas. Many kids grow up in blocks of flats and end up sporty by using the local amenities.

When we bought our first flat in London, we compromised on space (2 bed flat) and no garden. We refused to compromise on location or condition and it was a modern (but not newbuild), well-insulated and quiet flat in an amazing part of zone 1. Barely spent any time in it as we were out all the time, there was so much going on all around us. Wouldnt have done things any differently now.

I’ve lived in two flats with a shared garden and in both cases I’ve never used them… not even set foot in them. I think if you can find a garden flat with even a small private courtyard then that would be preferable to relying on parks even if they’re just down the road. You can open doors in summer and toddlers can potter around. Bigger gardens are useful when kids are bigger obviously. Are you needing to commute or WFH? How far is a station ( mine is a 20 min walk or a 5
min bike ride ).