Richmond upon Thames - good place to buy?

[LittleFrieda]

My neice is thinking of buying a flat/small house in Richmond upon Thames. Is it a good time to buy there? It looks incredibly expensive for somewhere pretty far out. What about the plane noise.

Anybody have any insight?

She is a first time buyer and has up to £500,000 to spend.

Blowing the budget

Quint - have you looked at the floorplan ? About 50 square metres (I'm sure they have included the outdoor area in their figures) with a bathroom through the kitchen for HALF A MILLION POUNDS.

The Alberts is in a conservation area so subject to additional planning regs. I'm not sure how that would impact on the place Quint linked although that is cheap for The Alberts.

We use to rent in Richmond and loved it! The river is fab during the summer great bars and pubs and the train is quick into central London. Would love to love there now but can never afford it

I know Alinta, it was an example of what half a million pound can buy you in Richmond! Honestly, it is not the worst, and not the smallest, but who in their right minds would spend half a million pound on that, unless they have more money than sense!

Erm, that place is a lot like my house in both size and value...

Sorry Katie....

There is something very depressing about that cottage. Not least that its entire width is 10 feet. And there would be nothing much left over for renovating the interior. I'm sure she could live with the six bedder though.

I know you have a heck of a lot of financial sense, so maybe you are onto something there.

Whereas I am thinking of all the lovely flats to be had elsewhere in not such upmarket areas, but still pretty nearby.

I will never forget back in the age of Jonk when I lived in Kennington, and somebody spent 500 k on a big house on Kennington Lane. I thought, what the heck, if I had 500 k to spend on a property, I rather have it in a nicer location. Now it is a nicer location, and they have themselves a mahoosive house which I reckon would be worth quite possibly another million.

The cottages are very pretty but they are too tiny. You would need to be a scrupulously tidy minimalist to live in such a place as there's no cupboard space either.

KatieMiddleton - How much did you pay, roughly, for your cottage and roughly when did you buy it?

My ex rented in the Alberts for about 5 years. Some of the properties are tiny and not well layed out, but others have been modernised quite well and have proper sized kitchens and loft conversions. I think the less done up ones go for less than £500k. My ex paid £1550 PCM to rent a 2 bed there. Parking is very tough, ie, you need to be able to park on a dime and not worry too much about scrapes, it is not for the faint hearted. There is a street party there each year in July which was very popular, but day to day the neighbours were not that friendly.

Plane noise varies considerably depending on your exact location. You can access flight path maps online. It is a feature of the area but I never hear anyone seriously complain about it, I feel everyone that lives here is just bloody grateful they are able to .

S'alright. We can't afford to move but I have a house in Richmond so I don't care We do have a lot of secret cupboards but I'd love a bigger kitchen.

You can get a 3 bed semi on Manor Grove for same money but won't add value if the loft's done. For same price there are large 3 bed flats in Courtlands but both of those are closest to North Sheen Station rather than Richmond.

If she's not having a family then really Chiswick is much more fun.

I bought in 2007. That says it all really

The thing though, your niece, will she have a mortgage, or own the property outright? Because if she has a mortgage, then the council tax situation might dent her budget slightly. Not so important if she wont have mortgage outgoings, then I suppose 200-300 pcm in council tax wont matter that much.

Personally, I rather be in Wandsworth, where a 3 bed house is in the region of £70 pcm in council tax, the extra 300 per month makes it harder for us to enjoy the gorgeous area.

That brings you back to Putney, which is also quite fun, and within easy reach of both Wimbledon and Richmond.

KatieMiddleton - Do you have children?

Yes I do now but not when I bought. I have 3yo and one on the way.

The council tax won't be 200-300pm on such a low value property though. Will it?

KatieMiddleton - Congratulations on your pregnanacy. Do you have that children's book "A squash and a squeeze"?

I have lived in Richmond under the flight path for many years, but have never noticed plane noise - the flight path also goes over Chiswick.
We noticed yeaterday in teh Estate Agents window there were 17 'sold' house and only one for sale, so choice not likely to br great at the moment.
Would suggest better value to be had by going for an EX-LA property in Ham than the Alberts

Have lived in Richmond directly under the flightpath for 20 years now! I can't say I ever really notice the planes. During periods of nice weather they are often taking off this way in which case you don't see/hear them at all.

House prices have never really gone down in Richmond. In a way I wish they would and then maybe we could afford to buy something bigger, but it just isn't possible at the moment.

It is a great place to live. We can be in central London in under 30 minutes, we can walk to cinema, theatre, hundreds of restaurants, Kew Gardens etc. The children play sport just round the corner. I do fantasise about the house we could live in if we moved away, but it wouldn't be Richmond!

Parking is bad around Richmond Hill. We live in the "Old Deer Park" area just off the Kew Road. It is great for road access (A316/M3/M4 etc) without crossing the railway, but only a few minutes walk to the station. Parking is easier than the Hill, and house prices are more reasonable (well a bit!).

harrassed - I can assure you that aircraft don't take off over Richmond. They land over Richmond.

Some people don't seem to notice noise, maybe that makes you more tolerant, I don't know. Maybe it means you don't notice the birdsong either?

Alinta - that is what I was saying! They land overhead constantly (I should know, we can look up at the undercarriages from our velux windows!), but in periods of nice weather they are often landing from the Windsor direction and taking off towards the East (this way) in which case we don't see them at all. This was the case in the period of lovely weather we had in March. I obviously didn't make myself clear!

harrassed - So you see their undercarriages from your Velux but don't notice them?

Well I am a bit of a plane spotter actually! But going about our lives they really don't bother us. I don't know a single person who has moved away from here because they were bothered by the planes. I do know several people who have moved away and then come straight back.