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Property/DIY

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Original poster

Zone 1-3 people, where do you live?

120 replies

msrisotto · 20/03/2013 22:12

And do you earn millions and millions? Or live in the tiniest of flats?? I would love to live in zones 1-3 and have money that would buy me a palace in some places but sadly not in London....

OP posts:

herbaceous · 22/03/2013 13:19

Hmmm.

So, six figures annually in tax. So that's a minimum of £100K. At roughly 30% tax, that means between you you earn at least £300K a year between you.

As you can generally get a mortage for three times your salary, say, you could buy a house for £900K, and pay it off in a few years. Plenty of houses with gardens for that in London, with short commuting times.

VinegarDrinker · 22/03/2013 13:19

This whole thread is about people who live in zones 1-3: there are places centrally a heck of a lot cheaper than Shepherd's Bush! Try East London or South London for a start.

In answer to your Qs, we have a Victorian maisonette (3 bed, small garden), bought 2 years ago for 305k. How? Fucking massive mortgage and saved up a 10% deposit. We don't have tons of disposable income but our income is a lot less than yours by the sounds of things!

mrsH1974 · 22/03/2013 13:24

Herb

You forgot to allow for the 25% deposit in your calculations (which is what you need for a mortgage that large).

It's not easy to save up £150k or thereabouts when you're paying £40k a year just for the roof over your head.

herbaceous · 22/03/2013 13:28

Sorry to be picky, but if you're earning more than £100k a year, and your rent is 'only' £40k, there's £60K a year to play with. Wouldn't take that long. Your situation really doesn't seem too arduous.

mrsH1974 · 22/03/2013 13:28

Vinegar We'd happily live in East London or South London but what you get for your money isn't substantially cheaper than what you get in Shepherd's Bush.

Zone 2 - almost anywhere in Zone 2 - costs between £550-£600 per square foot.

Hence why we're moving out of London. DH doesn't work such unsociable hours so can cope with a longer commute and I'm hoping to change careers to something more portable.

I'm not for a moment suggesting "poor me", I'm just pointing out that when London prices are too high for even the highest earners, something's got to give. I'm not sure what.

HolyMackerel · 22/03/2013 13:29

We bought a tiny flat in 2006 that we squished ourselves into then saved like mad and bought a house in a cheaper area that has turned out to be lovely and lots of like-minded people have also bought round here around the same time and had families. As I said this bit of SE London is full of lovely people

mrsH1974 · 22/03/2013 13:29

What do you suggest I feed and clothe and educate my kids on, then, Herb

MintyyAeroEgg · 22/03/2013 13:30

Ha haa! MrsH your posts on this are absolutely laughable. You are paying over £3,000 a month in rent but are whingeing about not being able to afford to buy! Honestly (and I never say this) ... you need to get over yourself.

And if you move out of London how does that equate with wanting a short commute because of your anti-social hours.

Why don't you give up this terrible job that makes you miserable, downsize and cheer up a bit? Money really isn't all that, you know.

VinegarDrinker · 22/03/2013 13:32

Ah, so the kids are in private school? That's something we could never afford in London.

But I am curious about your assertions about cost - as I said we live in a Victorian 3 bed, in zone 2, that cost 305k. Are you saying I'm making it up?.

herbaceous · 22/03/2013 13:34

(At least) £60K a year buys a lot of Sainsbury's clothes. And round here (zone 3, admittedly) education is free.

mrsH1974 · 22/03/2013 13:35

I think you're the one who needs to get over yourself, Minty.

I started out with nothing and now earn a lot of money. I have a lot of commitments which cost me a lot of money.

I don't expect anyone else to feed my kids or pay for the roof over my head.

So kill me now for wanting to live in a neighbourhood where people share those same values instead of smoking dope and getting pissed in the middle of the afternoon. You know, because they're too good to go to work in a job they don't much like.

Original poster

msrisotto · 22/03/2013 13:38

Ah crap please can we not derail the thread? It was informative.

OP posts:

mrsH1974 · 22/03/2013 13:38

I bet £305k is not what 3 bedrooms costs now, Vinegar.

HolyMackerel · 22/03/2013 13:41

To be honest I doubt there is any neighbourhood like that, there are all sorts everywhere, anywhere you live. My Dsis lives in the country and her neighbours are let's say less friendly than mine.

But yes I think you should leave London you sound pissed off with it and very stressed, but there are plenty who live here, in zones 1-3 as OP asked, who are not top earners etc. and who love it

HolyMackerel · 22/03/2013 13:42

Well OP you have now got more details of where we live from some of us, what it's like, and how we bought it

herbaceous · 22/03/2013 13:43

£320K, zone 2, three bedrooms So, £305 after an offer!

Informative for ms risotto too!

And yes - you get lazy bastards wherever.

VinegarDrinker · 22/03/2013 13:43

Our neighbours are wonderfully mixed, it is one of the best bits of London imho but I can't actually think of any who don't work.

MintyyAeroEgg · 22/03/2013 13:44

Thank goodness my neighbourhood is way too downmarket to attract the likes of you MrsH. I think somewhere like Weybridge or Guildford would suit you wonderfully.

LittleBoxes · 22/03/2013 13:44

The reason we could afford a zone 3 property, on very average incomes, after house prices rocketed, was that we bought an ex-council flat (in SE London).

VinegarDrinker · 22/03/2013 13:44

Prices have been stagnant for well over 2 years here mrsH.

herbaceous · 22/03/2013 13:47

Maybe what Mrs H needs is a tedious commuter town (many of which are more expensive than London BTW), where the non-workers are safely inside, getting pissed on the cooking sherry.

mintymellons · 22/03/2013 13:47

DP and I lived in London between 1998 and 2005. We rented several flats during that time all in zones 1-3. We're not rich and the flats varied, but we wanted to be in London, London, not in the suburbs.

In chronological order we lived in:
Leyton - 2 bed flat
Bethnal Green - 1 bed flat
Highgate - 1 bed flat
Crouch End - 2 bed with garden
Islington - 1 bed with garden

The last two were the best!

mrsH1974 · 22/03/2013 13:48

herb I love Brockley! Our best friends live there. Doesn't work for us from a commute POV though, we really need to be W or SW (Paddington).

mrsH1974 · 22/03/2013 13:51

Wow, lots of snide remarks here.

I was making an observation about the general state of central London's property market and got caught up in the green eyed monster swamp.

VinegarDrinker · 22/03/2013 13:51

Btw I agree house prices are a joke, but don't tell me someone on 300k can't afford to buy anywhere in zone 2.

The people I feel sorry for are people like my brother & SiL, he works in admin at a Uni, she works as an English teacher for speakers of other languages, on a self employed basis for a council. They were both born and brought up in London but there is no chance of them ever affording to buy.

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