where would you buy in London if schools were not an issue but budget tight?

[likeatonneofbricks]

Need to help some friends who are moving from europe. does anyone really like their area of London even though it's not expensive? or if you live in an area where there is discrepancy in prices depending on schools proximity, could you please advise. PM please if you prefer. Has to have decent local amenities and mainly period houses/flats and some good parks (or easy bus ride to one). They Need a 3-bed (one can be single) with no garden on tight budget. Don't need to go to central london daily but reasonable transport links to the centre within about 40 min would help.
Alternatively just out of London but not a dead quiet suburb. Liverpool street station is not a good option, paddington/victoria best.
I've been a londoner myself until recently but always lived quite centrally/sw so don't know all the hidden gems!

Is Crystal Palace outside their budget? These look nice:

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-23598630.html

www.rightmove.co.uk/new-homes-for-sale/property-38531129.html

Crystal Palace has hugely improved since I endured childhood there. It is now very gentrified, with loads of shops, cafes etc, and very good links into central London. A huge, beautiful park. The only thing that would put me off now is the school situation - but that is based more on said miserable childhood than any evidence - but no problem for your friends.

Victoria has some very fast lines out to the South East - Penge, Beckenham, Bromley are good value and about 20-25 mins out. Not very 'London' though IYSWIM. There's restaurants and pubs in Beckenham and Bromley but East Dulwich it ain't.

what's their budget?

We lived in Penge and then Beckenham, which were relatively inexpensive, but I suspect that Penge may be rather more expensive now due to the 'overground' upgrade. Great transport links (I thik at least three different train line maybe more now, loads of buses too)and some nice old houses, and still probably cheaper than Crystal Palace. Beckenham prices vary according to the school catchment but I suspect might be a bit too suburban. Having worked many years in Southwark I've always wondered about the appeal of East Dulwich - it always seemed a bit grungy. But then I grew up in Greenwich/Blackheath (probably way out of budget)

I think you need to give some idea of your friends budget - difficult to advise otherwise.

Brockley is good, lots of nice parks and green spaces. Good local bars and restaurants. Arty vibe due to goldsmiths college and has a conservation area. Can be a little 'edgy' in places but that is reflected in price of houses.

Kenley.

It's beautiful here. Direct trains to either London Bridge or London Victoria. very reasonable transport links, lots of buses and one train goes every hour during the night on the weekend to Purley, which isn't as nice as Kenley, but close by.

thanks to everyone who replied! The budget is a modest 250K (though no chain/mortgage issues) - it's a very low isn't it. CP I know and it is out of budget, though I didn't recommend it to them as it's a bit slow to Victoria, and they wouldn't use London Bridge. Bromley is too subirban, too 'chain store central' for them, even though i know there aer nice houses.
Where is Brockley exactly? is it a whole borough and if so, which bits aerhte nest? is it near Ladywell (from memory) which i thought was a bit rough?
Kenley sounds nice, BornToShop - but I never heard of it (all the more interesting!) - beautiful is good how many places can claim that! how long is it to victoria?
they work mainly from home running a small business so they d rather not have very frequent trains (but still some of course) then compromise on the size of the flat and green spaces etc.

*which bits are the best (sorry for many typos!)

I'm afraid that for a budget that size they will need to compromise, either on the roughness or the character of the area, or on size or period features. If I was them I'd get a map of the lines out from Victoria or Paddington and look at the communities which are half an hour or so out. I don't know North London at all, but the South East has always been cheaper than South West, so I'd say maybe look around Penge East, Brockley, Peckham, Lewisham and perhaps Streatham Hill/Common. All of which will probably have both awful and nice places that might be possible. You can put a train station into RightMove as the location with the price bracket and see what comes up. Not a lot but how about:

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-23050992.html
www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-31609525.html

thanks nooka, but i did want to hear from the locals of these as just looking on rightmove andeven visiting for a hour in the day doesn't tell yo umuch about a place - if the area itself is boring, locals would know whether the neighbouring aera is good and easy to go to. They aer after a flat with no garden so I thought it's not impossible (and schools not an issue).
Out of London fine too if within an hour, but they want the area to be nice as a priority (green, some variety of shops, not just small and dull high street - or nearby area nice, within 10 min on bus or something).

If you pick a few areas and then start a new thread with the area names in the title I'm sure you'd get a bigger response, and probably some more ideas for your friends too. People always like to argue about who lives in the nicest/grottiest places!

@likeatonne

Kenley to Victoria takes about 36-40 minutes.

BornToShop, can you tell me more - is it nicer than Suttton which I know a little? what's it like for shops and parks, more in detail? are all the trains stop at each stop or some more quick? can you get anything nice (3 bed flat, or two bed with eat in large kitchen) for 250K?

Brockley conservation area ( SE4). I don't live there any more but I did for 3 years and truly loved it. It felt very safe ( was single when I lived there), there is a choice of lovely Victorian high ceilinged flats in their price range; zone 2, 10-15 mins to Charing Cross from St Johns and also on the DLR, also striking distance of New Cross tubes. Very green (Hilly Fields, close to Greenwich Park and Blackheath), strong community feel, some lovely independent shops and cafes and close enough to Blackheath and Greenwich if you want to go posh. Lewisham town centre is close by and has a good market and all the functional stores. I loved it - I am trying to persuade DH to move back there actually, but he is a committed West Londoner and dcs are in West London schools so it will be a few years yet!

thanks, ogre, is the actual station name 'St.John'? is there also connection to victoria (longer)? Charing cross is not the most useful, but still better than London bridge for them. I'm also a west londoner at heart, it's sort of more peaceful there. New cross is supposed to be rough according to other posters. by maybe best to use rail in the evenings? will suggest to look it up on rightmove. When thye visit (and i may come along) - aerthere any tips what to look at to get a good idea? or is it very small so it's obvious once you are there? how can you get to greenwich from there? thanks again!

Brockley does not have a direct link to Victoria. It runs into London Bridge on national rail and the East London line on the overground. The conservation area is between Brockley and St Johns stations. (St johns doesn't have a direct train into Charing X any more, I believe it used to but it's now London Bridge and Cannon Street only). We've been looking there and you'd struggle to find a 3 bed anywhere in Brockley for £250k these days, never mind the conservation area.

This site could help them identify more suitable stations to search around. If Penge/Beckenham/Bromley etc are too suburban for them then I think they'll struggle tbh...

Oh dear, sorry. I used to get the 9.39 from St John's to Charing Cross and be at my desk near leics square at 10. Happy days. I had no idea the line had changed. It's been a while....

Telegraph hill (other side of brockley station) is lovely and fits requirements, direct trains to Victoria from nunhead take about 15ish mins however I think you'd struggle on that budget, crofton park (next stop out on the nunhead line and south of brockley station) might be a bit more affordable but is still nice.

Having never lived in London before I find parts of se london surprisingly peaceful - I don't find west London peaceful at all because of all the constant plane noise. The rougher parts of se London I tend to avoid.

@likeatonne:

Kenley has a few shops close to the rail station, however it is not a "proper" high street. Caterham has a nice high street, with shops like Waitrose or Morrisons and lots of little shops. Purley has a high street too, but the area is what I would consider a bit rough. There is however a large Tesco extra. East Croydon is not far and there are all the shops. Kenley is definitely worth looking at when you want to find good schools. We live close to the Hayes Primary School which is one of the best schools in the area, if not the best.

250k is not much, I did have a look and you could get a small three bedroom house or a two bedroom flat. I will have a look for you and post links.