London living

[London1975]

Ok, so I just want to caveat this post by saying I'm not having a whinge and neither do I wish to appear hard done by - I'm just after feedback from anyone who might be in a similar position..

We are currently house hunting in london with a budget of £1.6m mostly cash with small mortgage. Yes, I know that is a lot of money and we are fortunate (some of the money was inheritance from my family, the rest down to bloody hard work on my husbands part) but we are struggling to find anything we can afford in the areas we like (I'm talking nice london suburbs, zone 3, not kensington & chelsea) and in the current housing market - where any decent sized 4 bed in a good area is going for £1.7-£1.8m is out of our price range and anything good within our budget goes to sealed bids.

Is anyone else in, or has been in a similar position? What did you end up doing - settle for a compromise house in your favoured part of london or did you move further out for more space? Interested to hear any similar experiences as I'm in two minds as to whether to just up sticks and move further out for a better/bigger house.

Nappy Valley ....
my sis is slightly lower budget range than you
BUT
has a lovely 3 bed semi between Battersea Park and Clapham junction
some houses round there are 5 bed for just under the million
easy access to twon
good access to schools
easy access to work
its chock full of people who lunch and do coffee

NB
am not being sarky at all : enjoy picking
but sarf ah dah rivah is your best bet

otherwise you need to go beyong ealing ...

Sw16! Lovely Edwardian houses, nice parks/common, good transport etc.

just did a swight "rightmove"
I admit, if I had your budget, I'd snap this one up
www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-39643096.html
or this one
www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-28794378.html

Look south of the river.

On a lower budget, when Ex H and I split up, I went for a smaller house in my absolutely favourite area, rather than a slightly larger house in either of the two nice enough areas on either side. Still happy with that choice.

It depends what you mean by nice area. I would agree, South and not necessarily that far out. We live in Kennington so 1/2 border and personally I really like being here.

It's already under offer, but this is well under your budget

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-27923430.html

as is this
www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-27347961.html
and this
www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-43563368.html

Dulwich Village? Seems to be 4+ bed houses in your price range.

Would you consider zone 4? Richmond or st Margarets worth a look.

What is a "decent" size 4 bed?

Could you go for a 3 bed and convert the loft? There are 3 bed terraces for under a million in (parts of) zones 2 and 3 eg Kensal Green and Kilburn.

if you want leafy and well-to-do look at muswell hill. You can get a big 4 bed house with your budget there and it's a lovely area

brug...what is going on pic 13....www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-27347961.html

South London all the way.

Do you have kids and what ages? What are their schooling needs if you do - private or state?

What areas do you have in mind?

Ealing is a good bet if you don't mind zone 3. Elders Road in the Northfield's area has lovely large 4/5 beds for under your budget. Also the roads just east of South Ealing road. Warwick Rd etc. It has nice parks, very child friendly, lots of sahms so quite busy with cafes and activities. Oh, and the Haven Green and Pitshanger areas are lovely too.

Mus hill

Thanks everyone for your suggestions and sorry ive been rubbish at replying until now, we've been travelling and not online.

To answer some of the questions...

We've been looking in chiswick - the turnham green end - where we can afford a period (victorian/edwardian) 4 bed house at 1600-1700
sq feet or a non-period (ie 1930s style) 4 bed/5 bed at 1800-1900 sq feet. Anything over 1900sqfeet and we're looking at well over £1.8 million.

Plus, unless you have over £2m to spend the gardens are tiny in chiswick - lucky to get 30ft

Catchment area isn't an issue because our girls are going private either in chiswick or kew

The other reason we like chiswick, other than that it's a great place to live, is it's near my parents in Barnes and DH can still drive to work without having to cross the river and get stuck in traffic

We have already thought of richmond, east sheen and kew where we'd get more space but I've got my heart set on chiswick and still not sure whether to go for favoured area with less space or slightly less favoured area with more space.

Thank you again for your suggestions - Ealing I hadn;t considered but will definitely add it to the pot now. In the meantime, more thinking to do so i can make a decision before house prices go up even more

ps you'll notice a name change for me - nothing sinister - just that i have two log in names from when i had issues with my email account. thanks again

Just a thought, Ealing Broadway will be a major station on the Crossrail route, so anything in that area will be a great investment.

I would live somewhere where everyone avoids commuting over Kew Bridge if I were you. If you live in Chiswick it needs to be a Chiswick school.

Try the bits of Golders Green near Golders Hill Park. Easy access to Hampstead, big houses, big gardens, enough money to do up for your budget. It's surprisingly lovely

If I had that budget I would look in at Herne Hill (excellent over ground train links and walkable to the tube or v short bus ride, Brockwell park and lido, Dulwich Park), Dulwich Village, or East Dulwich.

If you have your heart set on Chiswick then live in Chiswick and compromise on the house. Honestly I think you are far more likely to regret a compromise on area than a compromise on house size. Especially if you are a SAHM with small children, you will rely so much on the local facilities and neighbours.

Are the house sizes you mention above (eg the 1600-1700 sq ft Victorian) already fully extended or with potential to extend?

I'd move out to Guildford, St Albans or Harpenden. Excellent schools and perfect places to raise a family. Oh and excellent commuting. Often faster than living in London itself.

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-41021269.html

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-42978794.html?premiumA=true

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-41021269.html

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-42978794.html?premiumA=true

Thanks everyone for your suggestions - librarybook the size of house you get for your money out of london makes me weep ..

However - I've come to the decision that we do want to be in london and we do want to be in chiswick, so we will compromise on space.

As tempting as it is to consider other less pricey areas, chiswick is near to my family, fantastic for schools, has every local amenity I could ever wish for, easy access to heathrow, close enough for dh to drive to work, near richmond park & kew gardens, good transport to central london, safe for my dds. I've gone through a whole map of london and its outskirts and no other area ticks as many boxes, so chiswick it is!

Good luck OP and happiness in your new home. Must admit to a touch of envy!