Are nice parts of SE London really cheaper than nice parts of N London now?

[hyperspacebug]

The house prices are sky-rocketing here in Lewisham/Manor part of Hither Green/Lee. Now 150sq m houses are asking for 750K and 90-100sq m are well over 600K - outside catchment area of much-sought after outstanding schools, but still within catchemnt of other good-rated schools. Whereas, Effingham Road is like 825K (near incredibly popular Brindishe Lee primary) - this street is really nothing more special than a row of 3-4 bed Victorian houses.

Hither Green/Lee don't have anything else going on except families and good schools. Only tiny high street.

I don't know much about N London but Muswell Hill springs to mind as 'nice' middle class area with busy high street. Brief glance at Rightmove shows houses going for similar prices...but then I don't know much, Muswell Hill may include scruffier parts.

How much would comparable Zone 3 N London houses fetch?

I wasn't talking about proper posh areas like Greenwich or Blackheath - just more ordinary but still solid middle class suburbs.

Definitely cheaper. Hard to buy a period family home for less than a million in most nice-ish parts of north London.

Even in Alexandra Palace? In areas outside obvious Hampstead+Highgate.

SE London still considerably cheaper than North London. Unless you fancy Tottenham?

I may be wrong, but I've always thought Muswell Hill was one of the most exclusive and expensive areas in all of London!

for example:

www.kfh.co.uk/residential-properties/flats-for-sale-london/flats-in-muswell-hill-n10-woodland-rise/2114848/

is this 150sq ft house in unpopular part of Muswell Hill? This is cheaper than the area in SE London I was talking of.

and this
www.kfh.co.uk/residential-properties/houses-for-sale-london/houses-in-muswell-hill-n10-pembroke-road/2124464/

That's a lovely road but it's a flat though OP. A house in that road would sell for considerably more!

eg house in the next road along

Oops, yes was cringing at this after I posted))) What about the second link? transport link seems a pain.

Now that 5 bed is proper expensive! The SE equivalent would be this
www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/31138077?search_identifier=4e29c40abff74c6619229616feeada88 (50 sq ft less, albeit)
within catchment area of insanely popular school.

Second one isn't really Muswell Hill proper, I think that's why it's cheaper.

Most of the houses in Muswell Hill are pretty big, with price tags to match. Lovely lovely place to live if you can afford it though.

Yes you're right it's miles from tube and train stations - there might be a bus I guess?

It's a big flat though! although I think no garden?

Fair enough. I'd be happy in that massive flat!

Are there other nice N London areas with period terraced house? That are 3 bed (about 80-100 sq ft) with popular schools in Zone 3-4?

Hm, now you see I don't really think that SE house really is the equivalent. The problem is the lack of tube stations.

A closer equivalent would be this:

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-27617103.html?premiumA=true

But it's borderline as to whether it would be in the catchment areas for either of the state schools mentioned, almost certainly not for one of them, which is why they've then listed all the local indies, and the choice at secondary level isn't exactly great. It's most definitely not within walking distance of a tube station - about 7 mins walk to a bus stop for a bus to the tube, I'd say.

So it's not easy to make a like-for-like comparison.

Basically in SE London, the majority of period family homes near a tube station are going to be in 'dodgy' areas (New Cross, Borough, etc) and the majority of period family homes in 'nice' areas don't have access to the underground network. So N London house prices are always going to be higher but have better transport links and better schools (or at least, more good schools and less demand) so you'll be paying for the ticked boxes rather than intrinsic value.

Another one that costs the same as in SE London:
www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/31186176?search_identifier=4c014eb32b6bb25d2d15f226c470dc63

is this house on the 'dodgier' side of rail track? I think I heard some not so good things about Wood Green.

Do you think 1 mile from a tube station is not 'walking distance'? It's about 15-20 minutes.

Serious question... We're thinking about moving (out of London) and considering anything within 2 miles of a station to be walking distance to that station.

We have a few friends round Wood Green, I've not heard anything bad. But that house does seem quite cheap - maybe it's the house, or maybe it's a bit too close to bustling Mill Hill Broadway!

I lived both in Westminster borough and SE London, and I'm not finding SE London transport link worse to live with. It has no tube true, but trains from Hither Green to London Bridge is faster than it would be on Northern Line from East Finchley and the trains run every 10 mins at least during weekdays. But I agree lack of tube depresses property value. (but I didn't find it to be much of inconvenience to us as rail links are fairly decent and on Oyster card)

The house is Westcombe Park is in very posh area - I've been walking around there because of Mycenae Gardens. I don't know about primaries there but I definitely heard about Greenwich problem of secondary schools and the choice of secondary schools isn't great in the area of OP either.

I used to live near Wood Green and it's fine. Great transport links and good shops but the traffic on a Green Lanes can be horrific.

The' Muswell hill ', house isn't really in Muswell Hill. It's on Colny Hatch Lane which basically means on the way to the North circular. The closer you get to the north circular the less value the housing stock and the feel of the area changes quite drastically - it's only 3 or 4 bus stops from Muswell Hill broadway but it isn't the middle class area you are looking for.

The Alexander palace is a nice road with nice houses buy again its used as a cut through to the north circular and gets quite busy - it's also only a block away from shopping city, so that's central wood green on your doorstep. That can be seen as a positive or a negative depending what you want. Houses the other side of the track are easily close to a million for a decent family home. And prices rising fast in the last 12 months

I hear what you're saying but there's still this perception of 'OMG no tube!!!'. Even if there's a decent mainline. I grew up in N London, now live in SE London (one of your posh bits ) and my parents (N Londoners!) still ask how we manage not being on the underground. Actually we're within walking distance of N Greenwich tube, by my criteria, but only ever use it to get back to Finchley etc on the Jubilee line. If you live in SE London you don't miss the tube; if you don't live here, it seems as though people base house-buying decisions on an underground map rather than an integrated transport map and therefore huge chunks of SE London simply don't feature on the radar, so there's relatively lower demand.

The bigger problem with schools is the population explosion in SE London, which hasn't happened to quite the same extent in N London. Greenwich borough is one of the worst in the country for expected shortfalls, and Greenwich Peninsula ward is a projected nightmare. It's not so much about the quality of the schools as the fact that there simply aren't enough places for children. In SE London, you can buy a house for £850k and still not be allocated a school place within half an hour's journey.

Tube (Bakerloo line extension) apparently coming to Catford by 2017. This should impact prices, as will the regeneration programme that's planned for the area.

Hither Green you can get a 100sqm house for under 500K, no problem. And within a 10-minute walk of the station.

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-43916285.html 118sqm, under half a mile from station.

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-43641344.html?premiumA=true all done up, 5 mins from station.

I've lived in Muswell Hill, Kennington, Wimbledon... HG is lovely and once you get over the OMG NO TUBE reaction from people you realise it's not really a suburb. Unless you count Tooting as a suburb (similar distance from central London I think).

but Dancing, there is no High st in HG to speak of! where do you shop? also how safe is the aera - I think it's not so great for walking around at night due to the lack of said High street and it's all just dark.

Tube absence wouldn't bother me much, but varied connections would. Trains from HG only go in one direction, towards lewisham, say it's slow (have to change) to victoria where I would need to go. Buses very slow. There are better stations like Sydenham where there are several lines, but guess what - it's more expensive there immediately.

Agree though that Muswell Hill is no good for quick transport links either, it's a bit cut off and takes ages to get to the centre proper, but it does have more of a centre, and is much leafier. I wouldn't live there though, too much of a bubble.

We too live in one of your posh areas but are moving out due to schools.. We are 70 metres away from an ofsted outstanding primary but would not be likely to get in..

I have to say though I love Blackheath and Greenwich and wouldn't live anywhere else in London given the choice.

We are now moving to the countryside to be nearer family though and afford another bedroom!