Where in London to definitely avoid (no judgement)

[PenisesAreNotPink]

I've been researching areas, every time I find a property in a road I like I do a google search on crime - and obviously lots of areas that come up are rife with crimes I'm particularly nervous of owning teenagers, knife crime.

So what areas/roads are particularly challenging?

My current favourite areas are kilburn, cricklewood, kennington, borough, Greenwich, Westminster (westminsters my favourite but only get 300 square feet max for my money and I really need a 2 bed)

Haven't looked at prices but there are some quite good bargains in Docklands these days and that area is so much more lively now; good shopping and access to West End and Stratford/Westfield.

I really want a nice conversion, flat above a shop, or new. I don't want a tower block or ex local authority where the flat is done up but there's filthy communal areas and dodgy things in the lifts.

There's loads of horribly expensive flats in really grotty blocks which are still owned and not properly upkept by the council.

Apology accepted! shaska But out of interest what was it that made you dislike Northfields so much? I have an irrational and abiding dislike of Trowbridge from having to do some work in the records office there (about 100 years ago.) I'm sure it's a lovely place really.

Sorry OP went seriously OT there!

Have you considered doing some Housesitting for a year if you are fairly flexible, have no pets of your own and don't mind others pets? Give you a chance to try out a few bits of central London for a few weeks at a time without any of the hassle of actually having to sell up your own place? Plus it might help with the itchy feet

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-47930516.html
2 beds, a little over budget but the market is definitely softening, allocated parking, 3 mins to train station, 10 mins walk to O2 and 10 mins walk to central Greenwich, 5 mins to park. 30 mins door to door to Westminster station. Sadly it has inexplicably got blue windows.

I can forgive those blue windows, on street view it appears to be a cinema the plaza?

Give Blackheath a chance. Seriously. You'd get a very nice largish 2 bed with poss garden and off st parking for £400k.

And the views are amazing as is the Heath and High st.

We are in Beckenham (so near you ). It's too far out for me too. We were previously in Islington.

Sadly I have two small DC one in Yr 1 and the other starting next year.

We would struggle with schools in Greenwich and Blckheath which is why we live out here.

If I had a uni aged DC and didn't need schools. I'd be in Greenwich Blackheath like a shot. Much greener and less crime riddled than Islington (I witnessed stabbing in broad day light on Liverpool Rd, fights on Upper St along with armed police raid on a neighbour so not ideal really oh and the time we heard banging on our front door and it was a police officer holding down a rowdy drunken football fan and due to a lack of available vans he sat on the screaming drunken yob in our doorway for over 2 hours )

I lived in West Hampstead about 15 years ago. It's just ok. A bit meh considering how expensive it is. And Finchley Rd isn't safe at night.

I'd love to housesit but getting somewhere for a year I'm guessing would be tricky?

I too would live in Greenwich or Blackheath given the chance. I particularly like Blackheath, nice shops and restaurants, villagey feel, and the walk down through the park to Greenwich is lovely. If space isn't a priority I agree with MrsFlorrick that you should be able to find something nice for your budget.

Blackheath is lovely and I'd move there in a shot but I'm gathering from the OP's responses that she wants to be close to the tube [Jubillee line has the latest running times] for West end theatre trips etc so it's not quite as convenient, plus she mentioned working in Westminster so a Jubbly commute would be handy.

The "funny" part of Greenwich (mentioned up thread - the Peninsula near the O2) is more isolated but has great transport links with the Tube, River Boats, and one stop from the DLR and train services at Stratford. It also has lots of restaurants just across in the Wharf / river area and the flats in the developments there are considerably bigger and better value than those being built in Central Greenwich which are shamefully small. [though not as small as the Westminster flat] There is also quite a lot of cultural stuff run at Canary Wharf, and great shopping there now plus a lot of open space on the Peninsula generally.
There are loads of pre-owned places up for sale and some new stuff coming on line. gmv.gb.com/

The blue window flat place is an old cinema. There is a lower section commercial section up for rent at the moment and the front of the building is quite fugly imo. The location and local facilities are great though. Two large developents are almost finished across the street and junction from it so I can't see it being empty for long.

This www.thepeltons.co.uk/availability/ development is across the street which will give you an indication of value. They don't come with parking either.
www.greenwichsquare-london.com/ This is on the other side. Again, no parking.

House-sitting is usually 2-3 weeks, sometimes 5 at a push. Some friends have just house-sat for a month for a French family heading home for August [as they do]. An empty house for over 30 days causes insurance issues so it's not unusual. You could spend several months of the year "camping" in some very desirable parts of London though, provided you don't mind putting out some food for the family persian cat. You'd still have all the running costs of your existing home granted, but you would get a taste for life in London and whether or not you would actually miss your possessions, a utility room and a lawn to sink your toes into on a boiling hot day.

I love living in London but I couldn't imagine living in any of the flats you have linked to with another adult and a visiting student. Where would you put her for her 4 month summer hols if she can't find work? I've lived in Islington, and Marylebone in a previous child free life and found it stifling in the summer when the heat comes in and the pollution hits a new high.

I live in Fulham, it's great. V quick to get to loads of places on the tube. I've lived in London for 15 years, it's as safe as any big city.

OP, My DH, London cabbie, grew up in Westminster says that the Westminster flat is in a nice position for the underground, St James' Park, nearby weekday market, shops, the cathedral and abbey. Two five star hotels a few minutes away with lovely restaurants, and opposite Scotland Yard which can't be bad. Easy access to everything by bus too.

MothershipG - it's similar to your thing with Trowbridge really. I used to go through there a lot, always en route to somewhere else and seemed to always be in a bit of a grey mood and just remember looking out taxi and tube windows thinking 'ugh'. But happy to hear that I was wrong!

Will you be able to divide rooms in the flats you have plans for? If they're leasehold it's entirely possible the freeholder won't allow you to make the changes.

Buy a two bed - there are plenty of bijoux ones in London which will give your DD space for when she's at home without you sleeping in the kitchen.

I would just divide it with furniture or a curtain - maybe Japanese screens.

Very pleased to hear what your cabbie dh said wfielder

And I love those flats in Greenwich tread - it led me on a trail over the map to Poplar high street to a really lovely 2 bed flat - but Poplar high street is minging looking. Dubious estate agents blur - said it was a 'stones through' from Canary Wharf - I put it at a ten minute walk through a really horrible dual carriageway thingy

This thread is beginning to sound very familiar.

Are you any relation to the op of this one Penises?

What about this little thing in Pimlico SW1? It's in a relatively new development, and it is cheaper as it is part ownership.
Pimlico is a very nice area to live in. We used to live there BC ("before children").

I think Cricklewood and Kilburn are the only potentially dodgy ones on your list. I lived in lots of dodgy parts of London but I felt the least safe there because there wasn't much night life apart from really old timer's Irish pubs and dodgy snooker bars. (around 1999/2000, may well be different now).

I don't think it matters if the area is considered a bit 'rough', if there is enough going on and it's not all quiet and isolated after 10pm.
I lived off green lanes in Manor house, for example, and you could walk out at any time of night there were always people milling around. Many of the men hanging around had a definite dodgy look about them but not in a way that had anything to do with me, minding my own business and walking home.

Just avoid houses that will need you or teenagers to walk down an alleyway or very long, quiet side street, as common sense would dictate?

OOPs, just noticed how long this thread is!

OP, I lived two years in a very small 2 bed flat in London with two small children because we favoured location. Many of my friends I could see were raising their eyebrows but politely never said anything.
We would still be there had we not moved abroad. We had a park and a communal garden and everything within 5 mins walk, would not change what I did for anything.
So I get you!

Please don't be put off Caledonian Road. King's cross has improved, there are some lovely streets around there and it's so central. It's busy all the time. A good friend lived there for years and I really came to like the area, which I never expected I would!

Oh, and again, from experience of tiny London living.
I cannot find capital letters big enough to stress this point.
TRY TO AVOID OPEN PLAN KITCHEN/LIVING AREA.

Even if you are living in 30 square metres, ESPECIALLY if you are living in 30 square metres, being able to shut the door when in the kitchen is so invaluable. Even if it is a tiny kitchen with just a bar stool and a 'breakfast bar' (i.e. 30 cm square shelf next to a unit), where you can perch with a cup of tea and mums net while the other person is in the living room.

Whenever DH and I lived in a place with open plan we had double the amount of arguments!

Finsbury Park could work.

The area is being massively gentrified with huge investment into the streets surrounding the station, and I have had loads of lawyer/banker/etc friends buy flats there over the last year. There are some quite nice new buildings around the tube station.

Two reliable tube lines into Central London and a very quick bus ride to Angel/Highbury/etc.

Crime maps are a bit rubbish TBH. I used to live on Beryl Road which was apparently the most anti-social street in Hammersmith & Fulham with some 30 odd crimes every month. Reality was that it was a naice posh terraced street and I never saw anything even vaguely approaching anti-social.

Do not attempt Stockwell. You will get violently mugged.

I second Finsbury Park - also I reckon it's still on the up so a good investment