So - can anyone sell Beckenham to me?

[LittlePickleHead]

Just that really. Trying to upsize within our (very lovely) SE London enclave. NOTHING on the market to buy within our price range at the moment (things have been very slow all summer). Our EA mentioned Beckenham and said that most people selling flats in our current area are relocating to Beckenham to buy houses, and for the schools.

I've been there once to the cinema, can't say it massively left an impression. Is there anyone who has relocated there who can tell me anything about it? Which primary schools should we be looking close to? Where are the lovely open spaces to look out for? anything else we should know? My wish list is period 3 bed near good primary, close to shops and also open space/parkland for the children. All for a budget of £400k. Is this possible??

[LittlePickleHead]

skandi have been looking at honor oak as well (I include that in forest hill, naughty me!). Would love to buy there (close to Stillness school which is great) but again, the market is v slow for houses and nothing suitable for sale right now.

[LittlePickleHead]

oops posted too soon, sunny i did see that post on the forum! I think we def have to give up our dream of ED life, the prices are just ridiculous now.

We've already considered sydenham and penge, I love the Sydenham hill area (v expensive!) and penge hasn't set me alight so far, though I do love the proximity to CP park.

well anyway, we are off to Beckenham tomorrow to the cinema then for lunch so I'll have a mosey, I must admit I am feelilng a lot more favourable towards the potential move so hopefully I'll come away feeling even more positive!

[teesbabe]

Could Beckenham fit into our commute range? Pls help, we are trying to buy a house in a location that fits our family's needs. One parent works in London, one is Southend Essex, 1 kid in uni (Bristol); 2 in boarding 6th Form (Chatam,Kent) and last 1 in Yr 7 living at home......We live in North London and NEED to move to somewhere within easy commute for ALL. We came upon a nice property in Wilmington near Dartford because the area seem to sit well geographically. Dont know much about Dartford except for driving through tunnel and bridge regularly to drop my boarders. Searched the area on line and Dartford came across as crime ridden and not very nice but the house (£800k) in Wilm seems nice. Cant get my head round how an area with houses in that price bracket can be in a horrible area. Can anyone help? Does anyone know where we can get the best area/houses for £750k within easy commute to London Essex and Chatam?? We want villagy feel though

[EmpressOfTheSevenFlames]

Beckenham to London & Chatham, no problem. Southend would be harder, looking at the National Rail & Traveline sites it would be a 2hr journey at least - although having looked again, that's not too different from Dartford.

[teesbabe]

Thanks, looking like one of us has to change jobs whatever we do. The Southend commute seem to be the sticking point but possibly dooable. Aside from commute its the fact file of the area. The "upmystreet" site was really good in giving the lowdown on actually living in an area (crime, social class breakdown of population etc) but since bought by zoopla, we cant seem to get this essential info. Does anyone know how to get this? except Wikipedia?

[mamaonion]

Ooooh if I had 750 k I would by my dream house in new beckenham area - sigh... Would definitely not fancy Dartford but hope that doesn't cause offence to anyone, just my thoughts.

[mamaonion]

I mean buy my dream house...

Not sure about transport links though that sounds tricky

[LittlePickleHead]

Well I visited with my mum yesterday and I got a really nice feel about the place - loved Kelsey park! Going back for lunch next weekend with DH so he can check it out, but I think I'm set on the move now. Just need to sell out flat and then find somewhere to buy. Also just found out I'm pregnant with DC2 so wish us luck with getting it all sorted in time!

[EmpressOfTheSevenFlames]

That's great, Pickle. Good luck!

[skandi1]

Congrats on pregnancy! Kelsey park is lovely. Don't forget to check out Croydon rd recreation ground and Beckenham place park too.

Plenty of places for lunch: prezzo, ask, pizza express, branded burger (bit like gourmet burger-in fact took over old gbk premises), miso seasalt and lots more.

Schools will depend on Exactly where you buy your house in Beckenham. Be aware that Balgowan primary is so popular that the figures for distance admission for last year was 200 yards so you would have to be literally on top of it.

[EmpressOfTheSevenFlames]

It's a long time ago now.

But I remember when Beckenham Place Park was the home of the Beast of Beckenham.

[Pooka]

I'd definitely try and future proof the move by getting as close to Langley boys/girls as possible. The boys' secondary tends not to go further than just over a mile. The girls', a little further.

[GoingToBedfordshire]

Congrats on your pregnancy!
Glad first impressions were good, I love it round here. All the best with the move and the baby.

[LittlePickleHead]

I was looking at the Langley schools area but there doesn't seem to be anywhere close that would also be in catchment for a primary school? Unless I have missed something. I do agree it would be better for the long term investment, but I dont want to risk not being close enough to any primaries and facing a long journey if we just get allocated one within the borough.

[LittlePickleHead]

Oh, and if anyone could let me know what it's like in the Eden park area (it looks really far from the centre of beckenham, is it proper suburbia?) as there is a house that looks like it would be catchment for unicorn primary as well as the Langley schools. Thanks in advance!

[scrivette]

Eden Park is very close to Beckenham High Street, there is a big park (Harvington) and is near Kelsey Park.

[scrivette]

Pressed too soon...

Congratulations on your pregnancy!

[EmpressOfTheSevenFlames]

Eden Park's close to the big tesco as well. Ok for the High St, as scrivette said - you just drive straight up Croydon Rd - and on the Charing Cross line.

[LilMissSunshine9]

I am moving to Beckenham and cannot wait mostly because I couldn't afford ED but also because it is like ED but undiscovered by the massives.

Plus I had a colleague at work today confirm that Westfields have won the rights to redevelop the Whitfield shopping centre in Croydon which is a godsend. Might be a year or two before its complete but I cannot wait - no more trekking into central London for decent shopping. A tram from Beckenham to Croydon is approx 15mins.

[EmpressOfTheSevenFlames]

Pickle - trams go from Elmers End which is v close to Eden Park.

[LittlePickleHead]

Thanks for all the info!

So is Eden park nice then? We'll pop by for a look at the weekend, but good to get opinions of the feel of the place and likely neighbours etc

LilMiss if you don't mind me asking, which area of Beckenham are you moving to? How did you decide?

[nancy75]

High field infants and junior school is covered by a lot of the Langley catchment, however it is the more expensive part house wise, you would need to look at park Langley or some roads off of Hayes lane. High field is an excellent primary and you do have to
I've nearby to get on

[LittlePickleHead]

nancy there is a resounding blank on my rightmove map for the whole of that area so I assume we are priced out! Perhaps we need to focus on primary for the moment and cross secondary when we get there.

Any views on unicorn? The oftead is good

[nancy75]

The post code for the infants is br2 0 rx, try that with half a mile radius, some of the houses will be out of the Langley catchment, others will be in it!
I don't k ow too much about unicorn, it's quite a new school and we didn't look at it for dd.

[LilMissSunshine9]

I am moving to Churchfields Road nr clock house station - my decision on Beckenham was based on a number of things

1. safe area
   
2. some nice parks to get to
   
3. stations - I wanted a choice of stations that allowed me to get to different parts of London incase I moved jobs
   
4. High street
   
5. Standard of schools
   
   I did spend some time walking about Beckenham and I spoke to some local residents too - they really know how to sell it to you! And when someone is willing to spend 5-10 mins selling their area to a stranger that kind of tells me that they really love it.
   
   I like Beckenham for its transport links currently I commute to London Bridge so Clock House Station is great for me as it goes direct to London Bridge in 20 mins. It also goes to Charing Cross (30 mins) so you can quickly get to Oxford Street by walking up Regent Street so that was a bonus. However I wanted to also be within reasonable distance to other transport links - Beckenham Junction takes you to Victoria in under 30 mins so should I move jobs and I need to get the central London I have that as an option.
   
   I walked along the high street and its a real mix of stores, I like the independent fish mongers and butchers (similar to what ED have) plus my main bank has a branch their so that was a big plus for me.
   
   The only thing that sold it for me is that on the odd occasion I go out in central london there is a night bus that goes through Beckenham - albeit its a long journey its much cheaper than a cab.
   
   I do not place too much emphasis on catchments just because the catchment size changes year on year in my experience - its a personal choice so I will leave that one with you.
   
   Lastly I knew that Croydon were deciding on who was to build a new shopping centre possibly a Westfields - I figure that it will bring up the Croydon area to an extent but it will also have I hope a positive effect on house prices in surrounding areas too where it is easy to commute to - obviously this is very subjective and there might not be any effect at all but you never know.
   
   Hope this helps