Norwood Junction OR Thornton Heath/Selhurst?

[fourwalls]

Which would you choose? Schools aren't an issue but will probably be using Norwood Junction rail for East London Line but Selhurst/T. Heath would be good for access to Victoria.
Looking in the up to £200k maxxximum so not the swish end of the market.

What are the areas like - are there any subtle differences between say the Portland Road end of Norwood Jnct and Thornton Heath especially around the Crystal Palace football ground - are there any major issues concerning transport, after dark life, supermarkets, crime etc that would make you choose one over the other?

I would go for the south Norwood side of N junction over both of those. Thornton Heath has a slightly worse reputation and you've got worse transport options on that side.

Also, have you considered Sydenham? It's on the ELL and you can get to Victoria using the overground from either Penge East or Sydenham on the London Bridge loop line.

I live near South Norwood lake and it's lovely there, the parks and the lakeside are fab for walks and you can take a shortcut through the park to Crystal Palace where there are lots of nice restaurants, cafes etc. So I'd recommend South Norwood, north side of the railway line...

I've never had any trouble in the area, it's pretty quiet/suburban, at least the part where I live :)

Is South Norwood basically circumscribed by the top part of the X (junction of High St and Sth Norwood Hill) - as you look at this Google map: maps.google.co.uk/maps?rls=com.microsoft:en-gb:IE-Address&oe=UTF-8&rlz=1I7FUJC&redir_esc=&q=south+norwood&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hq=&hnear=0x4876013ad4d3f845:0xb89720a11dc44a91,South+Norwood,+Greater+London&gl=uk&sa=X&ei=blsuUIq5O7CA0AXK-YHICQ&ved=0CI4BELYD

We've been looking at Sydenham, Norwood, Penge, Anerley, Crystal Palace for flats but noticed a few terraced houses going in our price range
in the left hand side of the map X (around Selhurst park) and the right hand side of the map X - Portland Road - Albert Road area.

Our thinking was that a house would be a better buy than a flat but I get the sense that might not be the case in these areas.

Would you say that a flat in the top part of the X is better than a house in any of the other segments?

The houses near Selhurst Park / Thornton heath look very traditional and normal - is there really enough roughness to say - no way, a flat in a better area would outweigh a house in these parts.

Sorry, the map link doesn't work, just shows the map of England when I click on it :)

We were initially going to buy a house in Norwood Junction area and went to see several before deciding on a spacious garden flat near the lake. We just preferred that side due to several reasons...More spacious roads, quieter & Crystal Palace being closer and having somewhere lovely to go for a walk being the main reasons. We're still easy walking distance from Norwood Junction station but also have the choice to use Crystal Palace station and all the lovely things the village offers.

Good luck with the search!

Oh and I forgot to say that South Norwood is basically the same area as Norwood Junction :)

Had a look and this house is on a lovely road, near the station too and the bus 410 stops there which goes to both Norwood Junction station and Crystal Palace:

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-23468139.html

Cheers Sats - sorry just can't get the map link to work - so you definitely thought the better location outweighed the house versus flat dilemma - that's v interesting.

Although you can't see my map link - I guess the area bordered by South Norwood Hill and Penge Road must be South Norwood.
It looks like Selhurst, Thornton Heath and Norbury blend together on the other side of South Norwood Hill.
Is it basically that the High St side of the tracks is more desirable with the Crystal Palace side of South Norwood Hill then being the most desirable?
So would people also generally consider that the south-east side of the tracks/Portland Road side is less desirable than the High Street side? And a house down there wouldn't (all other things being equal) be as good as a flat on the other side?

Funny, it seems Townends are advertising the house (or a split level conversion) with two different prices

Anyway, this one has more photos:

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-23468142.html

South Norwood over Selhurst Park although I wouldn't consider it to be a bad area particularly. I used to know someone who lived on Albert Road (7/8 years ago?) and it seemed pretty nice, Selhurst OTOH always feels a bit run down to me, but that's just passing through.

Blimey - I thought that was the whole house for a minute - still, that's a whacking great flat!!! 3 beds.

Right at the outer reaches of our budget - do you have any sense of how close to asking prices property goes for in the area?

Is that like a good price for that flat on that road - or would you, with local knowledge, think that was cheap or pricey?

Sorry to pick your brains!

Oh and working map link (I hope!)

heyyyyy!!! Thanks MrsDmitri - fantastic.

We got 5k knocked off the asking price of 190k (two bed garden flat in a Victorian building), after offering 180 first (this was two years ago).

I think that price is reasonable but I'd definitely make a slightly lower offer first and see what happens :)

Mrs Dmitri - would you prefer the South Norwood area enough (over the other parts of Norwood) to go for a flat rather than a house?

Thanks sats - we're definitely not going to go to £200k - in reality, it's looking at up to that price and guessing how much a vendor will accept - which probably makes our max spend variable depending on the asking price.
Ideally we would pay no more than £160 and in any case could probably not pay more than £185 anyway and would rather settle for a cheaper place than overstretch.

I'm in a flat in West Norwood atm (Council, so not a lot of choice in that)

I think it would depend on the house and the flat tbh. My MIL is in a reasonable sized Terrace house with crap neighbours and I wouldn't swap it for our small top (2nd) floor flat for the world, even with the garden and the slightly more salubrious area. Terraces make me feel hemmed in (as would mid floor flats tbh)

A comparable flat in South Norwood to mine in West Norwood? Yes. Selhurst to where I am now? I'll stay here.

We were in a very similar position a year ago, but with a smaller budget and ended up buying a 3bed terrace off portland road for 147k. It's near south Norwood country park which is lovely ( much nicer than the park by the lakes.) It's a quiet residential area and we've had no problems and I'm happy to walk back from the station late at night. Portland road is run down, but there a nice Thai restaurant, butchers and pet shop. The best thing though is probably the 11 min train to London bridge.
For what we could have got for the same money in the lakes area the difference between the areas wasn't worth it to us.

thanks bluish - that's an amazing price and much nearer the figure we'd prefer and feel comfortable paying.
We've driven up and down the roads off Portland road but couldn't find anywhere to park and stop.
Are you near to the station? And which roads do you prefer over others?
I haven't seen anything at that kind of price - did you haggle them down?
Did your house need lots doing or was it ready to live in?

I wouldn't say the country park is nicer than the lakes one, they are very different as in that the country park is much bigger and has "wilder" nature whereas the lakes one is manicured, has tennis courts and bowls club and obviously has a lake in the middle. I've found it fantastic to go to with our toddler, pointing out ducks, swans and other birds that live there, and there's also a lovely little cafe that's open pretty much all year and sells snacks and ice cream.

All in all, I'd say South Norwood is really good value for money, a lot of our friends have moved in the area when they've been ready to buy as it's so affordable but still so easy to get to central London. Keep us up to date where you decide to buy in the end :)

Thanks all - there's a couple of houses that have really made us think about the flat Vs house thing.

Would really value your feedback on these locations and houses especially in relation to similar price flats which might be in more desirable parts of town.

Off Portland Road (185):
www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-34778324.html

Near Selhurst Park (1700:
www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-35296852.html

Near Selhurst Park (170) - sorry!

I had a school friend who lived on Thirsk Road. I saw my first ever episode of Neighbours there, number 13 iirc

Of those two the Portland road house is way nicer and it's an okay location. I'd generally steer clear of Thornton Heath but Grangewood Park is nice and you're on the way out of it there, close to Upper Norwood. Personally I'd go for a nice two bed flat / maisonette in
Upper or west Norwood instead (there are several for under £200k), esp as these houses don't have much more room than a flat anyway. It's worth it to be a bit closer in, with CP or west nor as your local high street.

That 3 bed near the Lakes is nice though and it's the nicest area of the three. Looks like it is a flat really though. If its leasehold you might be as well off with a flat anyway. Depends on lease length too. There's a nice maisonette going on Beulah Hill for under 200k but I think there's only 70ish years left, whereas there's a couple of maisonettes on founders gardens on for just over 200k with 900ish year leases. could be worth a look and a cheeky low offer.