Leyton? Beckenham? Where?! Help me find a cheap(ish) place in London

[LittlePickleHead]

So after pulling out of our purchase (it was burgled and we found out there was a spate in the area so just didn't feel comfortable progressing) we are now back on the merry go round of house hunting.

We are well and truly priced out of where we are now in a leafy part of south east london. It took us 5 months to find our last place and along the way houses were sometimes going for £100k over asking!! So we need to move area and have to decide where fairly quickly to keep our sale.

Our budget is c. £450k for 3 beds, pref period or an attractive 1930s, don't mind doing some work as long as it's habitable with 2 children.

Initial thoughts are Leyton or Leytonstone (though think we are probably priced out of decent areas of the latter). I have particularly been looking at the Barclay estate if anyone has any views on it
Pros: up and coming, close to v good friends, easy access out of London, close to Epping Forest and good links into town
Cons: I'm worried about schools (dd in reception) and how easy it will be to get her a place mid year. It's still a bit gritty round there in places (from memory, we do need to have another look)

Or Beckenham
Pros: close to where we are so dd could potentially continue at her current school until a place comes up, v nice family area with everything you could need
Cons: we don't know anyone round there, tricky to get out of London to our families (West Country and nw England), I think secondary school catchments are tricky round there?

Does anyone have any words of wisdom on those areas, or a brainwave of where else? We are trying to avoid a commuter town if possible as it will make it difficult for us both to work in London

Feel paralysed by indecision!

I know both of those areas and agree with your impressions...

Could Sydenham work? 1930s houses on Sydenham Park Rd sometimes on for that kind of price, or Victorian terraces in roads like Fairlawn Park.

Another area to throw into the mix might be Palmers Green - same kind of prices and lots of decent Edwardian three bedders. Trains into Highbury and Islington or Moorgate. V close to north circular so good for visiting your families.

I know less than nothing but would be very interested to hear views on Stratford.

Hello, I'm a Leytonstone resident. Even though prices in E11/E10/E17 seem to have gone bananas in recent months, I think you could still do fairly well round here for £450K - although it's not that long ago you could have bought a castle (if there was one) in Leytonstone for that money.

Up and coming? After a lot of false dawns, it really does look that way. Anecdotally, the area is being 'flooded' by couples priced out of Hackney, Brixton, Bethnal Green, Stoke Newington and the like. I've lived here for ten or so years and I've seen it go from strength to strength. In 2002 Leytonstone was very run down and dreary. It really has improved enormously since then. The place actually looks 'loved'.

Have you looked at Bushwood in Leytonstone? Much preferable to Barclay Estate/ Upper Leytonstone IMHO. You're on the 'right' side of the A12, with Wanstead Flats and 'downtown' (ahem) Leytonstone with all the shops, cafés, restaurants and pubs (including the excellent Red Lion and North Star). You're also much nearer the Tube station.

You'd get more for your money in Sth Leytonstone - the streets off Cann Hall Road (Woodhouse, Matcham, Chichester, Cary, Cheneys etc). The streets there have improved a lot in recent years - those young couples priced out of Hackney/Stokey doing up houses. The houses here are yer typical Victorian terraces, but they tend to be smaller than Upper Leytonstone/Bushwood.

The only area I would avoid are the streets behind Cathall Rd towards St Patricks cemetery - though there are some nice properties there, it definitely is still 'a bit gritty' - for now.

Also, have you looked at the Woodgrange Estate in Forest Gate? Some spectacularly lovely and well-preserved properties round Capel Road. No tube, however - although Forest Gate is getting Crossrail in a year or two. The area is much 'grittier' that Leytonstone, but I can see it being a pretty desirable area on 10 or so years.

Sorry - no idea about schools (our little 'un is too little at the moment) but I hope this helps.

Thanks for the replies

WhatKaty - we live a hop and a skip from Sydenham currently and in the last few months prices have gone crazy. Even when something does come on in price range there are 30 other desperate buyers bidding against you, so the prices are being pushed out of budget. I don't hold out a lot of hope of getting something.

TheCyclist - thanks for your helpful insights.i actually used to rent a room off a friend in Bushwood (she's still there) so I know it well and agree it's lovely. I have a Rightmove alert set up and not one single property in our price range has gone on the market in the last 6 months. It looks like me may be around £200k () short. It's why I was trying to find other areas that may be more affordable but have the potential to be as nice.

I don't know much about south Leytonstone other than that end of the highh street isn't as nice, but a Victorian terrace doer upper is exactly what we are after. What are your impressions of barclay estate? Is the park there nice?

I've got no experience of forest gate at all (other than a notion that it's a bit scary!) so I will have a look. It will all depend on schools as well.

Oh I'll have a look at palmers green as well, I've never even heard of it!

I live in Sarf Leytonstone, so I don't have much direct experience of the Barclay Estate - we have some friends who live in a lovely Edwardian house in Forest Drive West (which I think is part of Barclay). Very nice streets (and better the further from Leyton you get). Sorry, not been in Abbots Park.

Yes, the south end of Leytonstone High Road is a bit scruffy, and gets worse when it becomes Newham. It is better than it was - a lot of Eastern European bakers and cafes have opened just recently and it's got a lot lively (in a good way). Actually some pretty useful shops there, too (especially if you need car spares).

Re: Bushwood - wow, I'm well behind with house prices. A 3 bed house on Cann Hall road had an open day recently and they were queuing to look around. Went for 320K, which was 40K more than the asking price (according to a neighbour who knows everything that goes on in Leytonstone). It is a good, central area which has been underrated for a long time. I think the Olympics brought a lot of people to the area who otherwise never would have visited, and this is the 'fallout' so to speak.

What about Penge? Should be able to get more house compared to Beckenham. It looks like it is on the up with people priced out of other nearby areas heading there.

LittlePickleHead - there are burglaries all over London especially at this time of year... I think I live nearby to where you are buying and with good door security you should be fine. Are you sure you should pull out? This area of SE London is so lovely and if you have agreed a price several months ago you should be quids in.... I'd imagine just as much crime in the cheaper parts of Leyton etc. and Beckenham is very expensive for decent schools etc.

have you considered Eden Park (Beckenham)? Catchment for langley secondaries and unicorn primary, possibly also oak lodge primary (both v good).

Given your families are West and Northwest and your friends are in leytonstone I would take a look at the map and then find somewhere convenient with a priority based on the people you want to see most often.

You will always make new friends and find a community while your children are in primary school and as long as there are a few like-minded families you will be OK in any school. The key is to have a few people that care about a school and will keep the Governors in check. It doesn't mean the playground has to bustle with Boden.

So look at a big map and work out the best general location, then look at detail in terms of what you want. Think of train connections as well.

Lulupeg - i totally agree with you, however there were other mitigating factors (without going into too much detail) and even the agents selling the property said they completely understood. I just felt very uneasy about that particular street, and whist the area as a whole is really lovely, we can't waste another 6 months waiting for something in budget to come up.

Passedgo, that is really good advice and reassuring, thank you.

We are going to view a couple of houses in leytonstone and leyton, and I'm going to try and visit some of the schools in the new year as well. My main fear is how on earth do we manage an in year transfer and to sort out childcare whilst also working, but I guess that's a whole other thread that I need to start elsewhere!

Random green face for some reason!

We're in the Barclay estate and very happy. Can't comment on schools too much as dc are still in nursery but we've started visiting in advance of Jan and there's been no absolute shockers as yet.

Agree the prices have gone crazy recently, neighbours house has recently gone on the market and the asking price was about 100k above what she'd have got a year ago. Saying that they seem very confident of getting it and the open day was very very busy.

I love Abbotts park by the way, recently been refurbished apparently and always busy in the summer.

Thanks Juno - we are seeing a barclay estate house tomorrow so wish us luck!

Which schools did you see? Barclay and gwyn jones seem to be closest. We'd be looking at in year transfer so I think barclay is the more likely option. Did you view it? It seems like its huge

Oh if the street makes you feel like that, not a great feeling and best avoided! We were going to but a project house in Queens Rd Peckham in 2007 and after our offer was accepted I literally couldn't sleep at night!! We knew we had to pull out, think it's a decent (ish) road now but definitely wasn't right for us.

The market is crazy, eventually we want to leave London but not quite yet... Makes me feel we should do it now though as it's so mad. We had a v long chain so secured our house price way before moving in, and we have spent 90k plus renovating but it makes no logical sense that our house has gone up in value £300k+ since we bought if earlier this year. I really feel for those not on the ladder/in tiny flats as things slip ever more ridiculously out of reach.

Good luck with the new areas, friends of ours ended up near Blackhorse Rd E17, I'm not a massive fan but their house is lovely and school/area improving apparently.

I used to live near black horse rd and I prob wouldn't move back there tbh, but Leytonstone has def improved sooo much since I lived there 5 years ago

Hi OP.
Are you really priced out of SE London or just your current area? Or do you have a very specific requirement - only Victorian terrace for example?

www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/30753154?search_identifier=0a70470404dbb8399b6c4e0a76d44f68 Close to local "Good" school which is rapidly improving in an area getting much more expensive. Small garden though and no park within 10 min walk.

www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/29796772?more_details_carousel=1_carousel=1 This has just sold but within your budget.

www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/18509023?search_identifier=3e25b357fc3e74b751f4eb038d05a5ca
On a smarter street - I imagine the interior decoration and the garden are putting people off.

www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/31261975?search_identifier=3e25b357fc3e74b751f4eb038d05a5ca
Odd layout but HUGE garden and lots of potential to extend

Where do you both work, roughly?

Yes Barclay is big and expanding next year which I worry about but the tour was very reassuring. The staff were lovely and the children seemed happy and polite. There seems to be a lot of investment both financial and time going in there at the moment.
I did prefer Gwyn out of the two but they have a tiny catchment area which we're not in, so am not hopeful.

Best of luck with the viewing, we can do coffee if you go for it.

Oscar, I hadn't really considered blackheath at all. Tbh it's too far from our current area for schools etc, so if we are going to make the move that far away I'd rather go closer to friends and more convenient for getting out of London. Though blackheath is lovely!

That's reassuring about barclay Juno, they have a good OFSTED write up so I'm going to try and get a visit in

Southeast - DH is victoria, I'm currently job hunting so need to have easy access centrally

No advice about Leytonstone. Beckenham is nice but as daft as it sounds you need to research secondary, not primary schools, if moving. If something like Sydenham High or Harris Cator park is good for you, then Beckenham is lovely and defo a good option.

The prices have gone MAD even in South Norwood where I live. Whatever happens next???

1930's semi

Love this - East

FWIW getting out of beckenham to west country is not a big deal really.

Relatively easy access to m25 via croydon/west wickham/new addington. We live in Bromley but often access M25 from New Addington on way to Cornwall, only occasionally going out via A21.

How important is it to get to the NW? You really need to decide your rough area first.