Londoners Help with areas please

[Nettlerash]

To cut a long story short. DH wants to move in closer to central London where he works.
I had warned him about the prices and we are looking for a new place this February.

I am getting pretty depressed with it all. He doesnt know London well and has never lived there. I have lived and worked in Finchley and East London although I dont know it that well and it wasnt for long.This was when I was younger without a family.

I really dont want to go East but I doubt very much we will get a 2 bedroomed place for £1100 in North or West London.
I would imagine anything that met this budget would be a bit grim. Am I right?

So can anyone tell me where you think the better places to live might be in affordable areas if that be East London.

Does anyone know Stratford for example?
I know Tottenham and Walthamstow/Leytonstone are not that nice.

Any info would be great as we really are not sure where to start.

I really dont want this move and I dont want to live in London but having to live in a cheaper area because of our budget is worse.

Try SW14?

It is a lovely area. Trains to Waterloo.

Thanks Quinte. We havent really looked south that much because of the transport links but maybe we should.

You will definitely find a a two bed flat in N2 or N10 for that price.

I wouldn't think too negatively about East London. Certain areas are becoming very gentrified and expensive, e.g. Hackney.

Walthamstow itself is a pretty good area to live. Obviously there are rougher areas like in any area of London but the area east of Walthamstow Central tube (Walthamstow village) is a great area and very popular with increasingly affluent families.

The Village itself has several pubs, restaurants, delis and various other local shops, large playgrounds and a large conservation area including alms houses and an old church. Primary schools are generally very good although secondary (esp. for boys are awful). Farmers market on Sundays. Entire area is very cosmopolitan with all the good (and bad) it entails. There's also a lot of greenery on your doorstep - Epping Forest is 20 minutes walk/ 5 minutes drive with a big boating lake, ducks, heathland etc. Plus it's only 25 minutes into Central London on the tube. You can definitely get a nice 2 bed flat (or even small 2/3 bed house in the Village area) on your budget.

Just to be clear, obviously the area's not Hampstead or Kensington, but if you bear that in mind, it's definitely worth looking at. There are rougher areas and the main streets aren't much to look at. If you don't like a mixed community either, you'll definitely struggle. Definitely worth looking at though.

Thankyou. Maybe I am thinking more grim than I need to. still going to look in N2 and N10 though. :)

Where do you (or your DH) need to commute to? There are some lovely parts of East London but transport can be variable depending on where you need to get to!

I think its marble arch/bayswater area Skimummy

Brockley? house? here, inbetween Blackheath and Lewisham

I think you'll get more for your money in the South East and there are some lovely family friendly places around.

Just because you don't have a tube, doesn't mean transport links are bad, although that's why you pay less. E.G Lewisham has really good connections into Central London and can get to London Bridge in 10 mins, Charing Cross in 20 (give or take 5 mins in rush hour). You also have the DLR which will take you straight to Canary Wharf or Bank and which was a lifesaver when none of the trains were running due to snow. It also means you're not really affected by any tube strikes.

Stratford is a dump. Have you considered around SE1/Borough - my friend had a lovely flat here.

Upper Leytonstone is lovely! Epping Forest on your doorstep, all the cafe society you could want 5 mins away in Wanstead, the best local drama society in London... (but I might be biased)

Stratford has a lot of development because of the Olympics, lots of nice new apartments, and the new Westfield is going to be wonderful, but it's still a bit of a wasteland in parts and rather grim of a night imho. Also they've built the flats but there isn't really the infrastructure in place for the people living in them, iyswim.

Wanstead is lovely but it's expensive, ditto South Woodford nearby. Gants Hill and Barkingside are nice but that bit further out.

Hth!

Thanks meg for being honest! and lovecat.
We did go over to stratford on saturday and I saw that there is a lot of development going on, but I am still a bit worried about after dark because my husband often comes home fairly late from the office.
I don't know the south at all but maybe it's worth a look. I checked the crime stats too and it seems Stratford is up there at the top of the list if that indicates anything.

I have found a couple in Finchley too.

Fulham?

Why does he want to live close to central London? If it is jouney time, then you might want to look at areas serviced by Mainline trains, journey times are cut dramatically when travelling by mainline train compared to travelling by tube or bus - and the services can be just as frequent. Dh's jouney time from Central London to Islington was broadly the same as his journey time to Wimbledon.

For Marble Arch/Bayswater I would be inclined to look W or NW to cut down commute time. I am ignorant about W London but there are some nice places NW around Queens Park (although Queens Park is a bit expensive - but lovely). Anywhere after Swiss Cottage on the Jubilee Line might be affordable?

I wouldn't do Stratford either...

well we are currently in Watford and he uses the tube because the monthly train ticket is pretty expensive so that obviously takes quite a bit longer than it could. We also live a good 25 minutes walk from th main station.

Ok so I get the gist that Stratford is not that great. [grin
West London seems even more expensive than North in some places apart from Kingsbury. Anyone know here?

Maybe just move close to the station

If you need to get to Marble Arch then anywhere up the Jubilee line could be okay for you. I used to live in Kilburn which was surprisingly nice and Dollis Hill is also quite nice (and cheaper as it's zone 3). Queens Park is lovely but £££

Some bits of kingsbury are nice. What about Harrow? You get a lot for your money, schools are good, there are fast trains to Marylebone or tube to Baker Street from. Or from Harrow and Wealdstone 15 mins to Euston. Not far from any friends in Watford either.

From Harrow on the Hill I meant! Multitasking...