Looking to buy a flat in an area similar to Belsize Park but cheaper. Thoughts?

[Edhie]

Hello Mumsnet,

I have been lurking here for some time, and you always seem to have good advice regarding property search.

My partner and I are both expats; we are currently renting a flat in Belsize Park but after coming into some family money, we're ready to make a move on a place of our own. Unfortunately, Belsize Park prices are much higher than we can afford.

We are looking for a 2/3 bed flat (or small house), ideally 750+ square feet, and we could probably push our mortgage to 600 000 pounds at a stretch.

What we like about Belsize Park is:

• the villagey feel (relaxed but still lively)
• the poshness (let's not kid ourselves)
• but not overly much of it (we briefly stayed in the Notting Hill Gate area close to Hyde Park and the amount of Aston Martins and Porsche parked in the street gave us the creeps.)

We are really keen on:

• green spaces as close by as possible
• a quick & easy commute to the City
• we fancy period houses quite a bit

So far we have thought of Clapham/Wandsworth, Tufnell/Dartmouth Parks and Greenwich, but being foreigners, we don't know London nearly enough to think of other, less famous places.

That's where I'm hoping you might come in!

• Are there other suitable areas we have completely overlooked?
• In the areas we are already considering, are there some spots we should aim for or avoid?

Fire away.

Thank you in advance for your help!

E.

I find Blackheath to have more of a 'village' feel than Greenwich, with Greenwich being only a short stroll across the heath away (15-30 minutes depending where you are in Blackheath). Greenwich gets completely overrun with tourists on the weekends in summer.
Ignore the postcode on this property, it is definitely more 'Blackheath' than Lewisham (the SE13 postcode goes very close to Blackheath village)
www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-33327585.html?backListLink=%2Fproperty-for-sale%2Fmap.html%3FlocationIdentifier%3DSTATION%255E1049%26insId%3D2%26radius%3D0.5%23_includeSSTC%3Don%26auction%3Dfalse%26locationIdentifier%3DSTATION%255E1049%26previousSearchLocation%3DBlackheath%2520Station%26radius%3D0.5%26searchLocation%3DBlackheath%2520Station%26searchType%3DSALE%26useLocationIdentifier%3Dfalse%26box%3D-0.00606%2C0.02269%2C51.46046%2C51.47254%26popupPropertyId%3D33327585&fromMap=true
Extremely family friendly area, and the line has trains to Charring Cross for West End theatres, Cannon Street for the city, and Greenwich has a lively arts /theatre scene. Period flats should be in your price range close to the village area, but there is not a lot on the market.

Try highgate. There is a reason why they call them Hamstead rejects. The lifestyle without the same amount of money. Access to the park, schools, hospital. You can easily walk across the back to belsize park for diner at the local restaurants.
The other place would be south Hamstead or golders green. All these areas have fantastic connection to the inner city.

Some parts of Camden is not bad.
Try havestock hill. The bottom of belsize. A bitter cheaper than up the hill but with similar crowd and housing.

The other place you could look at is swiscottage. It's not the main roads you should be looking at. Try the small streets.

So much in Camden borough that you don't have to move very far.

"Do you have an idea of where is nice and where is not so nice in Peckham?

You should not move to Peckham!
As others have suggested, Highgate, Dulwich Village not North Dulwich,
Muswell Hill. My mother had a theory that at some point in their lives everybody would pass through Muswell Hill.
It is a lovely high point of London and has a real village feel.

Thank you so much ladies, I've really got a lot of brilliant information from this thread. I think it gives us a perfect starting point - I almost feel like I've been born and bred in London now ;)

Now we'll have to take a couple hikes through the new areas, try the transports for ourselves and hunt flats. Wish us luck!

E.

This is nice
www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/31092299#2fce2uIJ01vLIJUV.97

Lots of Peckham is great now, especially the streets nearest East Dulwich - these streets and ED actually feel interchangeable in terms of vibe and access to facilities. Sunny do you know Peckham well? Some parts are still rough around the edges like Rye Lane/near Queens Rd/Peckham High Street. but it's got loads going for it, Peckham Rye Park, proximity to East Dulwich, connections to the city, Shoreditch-style culture and nightlife, some excellent restaurants, the lovely shopping street of Bellenden Rd (and lovely houses on adjacent streets), decent leisure centre and library, Zone 2, ginger line... Could go on. Loads of young families, schools improving all the time and a new one opening up (Bellham) which is run by the very popular Dulwich Hamlet school. It may not exactly suit the OP but had to chip in and give a more balanced perspective than Sunny provided!

Thank you guys!

lulupeg that's a very useful input to have, thank you! You seem to know the area quite well. We're going to go and have a stroll there to get a feel for the East Dulwich/West Peckham bit.

My main concern is that it might be farther away from the City than other places we're considering. Granted it's not awfully far, seems like it's about 45 minutes, but it's 15 min farther than other suitable areas, and during the course of a year all that time adds up. That's also the reason we're a bit less sure about Crouch End/Muswell Hill (although we're definitely going to go for a walk there too, commute time is only one element of the choice, after all.)

I adore East Dulwich and Peckham but just be prepared for the fact that they won't feel anywhere near as posh or affluent as Belsize Park, even in the most expensive parts.

Fulham? There is a French speaking primary school in south Fulham called Marie d'Orliac and Holy Cross also offers bilingual places. You can get good size 2 bed flats for under your budget and if you are prepared to look at the very well kept ex-local authority flats you can even find large 3 bed flats for sale.

Clapham junction is fab, I loved living there. Try Balham too.

"Sunny do you know Peckham well?"
lol well enough thanks! fgs the OP was asking for a place 'like Belsize Park'. Sorry but Peckham is.....Peckham, lulu, however much you would like to believe otherwise!

Very much agree with Sunny.

It's been suggested already, but I would second Queens Park. Come and have a look at Salisbury Road, it's very "villagey". Kensal Rise (around Chamberlayne Road) is also nice and a bit cheaper.

In fact OP, the real truth is you'd be best just focusing in Dartmouth park area, if you love Belsize Park.

All the other places have their own qualities. But DP is very much in the lead with regard to your actual brief you started with.

You will have wandered very very very remote from BP, if you end up in wandsworth, culturally speaking. I've nothing against Clapham etc, but it isnt what you are looking for. Nor is East dulwich.

You are being shown suburbia because it's quite naice. BP has actual style.

Stick with Dartmouth park, is my been-in-london-all-my-life sincere advice.

The roads between Salisbury Road and Chamberlayne Road are absolutely gorgeous if you can afford to buy half a house (converted to a flat) there. The roads between Salisbury Road and Kilburn high road are also good, although Kilburn is not exactly "posh" (it does have some very nice pubs though) and you are further from the park. The top end of Ashmore Road, Bravington Road and Portnall Road are good, but I wouldn't recommend going too far towards Harrow Road as that area is a bit dodgy.

Sunny, we'll have to agree to disagree. I lived recently in the 'Peckham' end of Peckham, which is, quite Peckhammy... The East Dulwich end however, is well, just like East Dulwich. I personally like both bits.

Neither are like Belsize Park that much is true. I have also lived in Belsize Park and I much much MUCH prefer South of the river. But do realise there exist die-hard North Londoners. The OP however, sounded quite interested and open-minded, hence expanding on your brief write-off of the whole area.

SunTree tis true, Clapham Junction and East Dulwich aren't culturally like Belsize Park. Pretty much nowhere in S London, and very few places in N London outside "prime zone 1" are like Belsize Park in terms of culture and style.

But 1) OP isn't going to find somewhere exactly like Belsize Park in her budget and 2) there are plenty of places that aren't like Belsize Park in style but nonetheless have the features OP wanted - villagey feel, reasonably posh shops and residents, decent city commute, decent theatreland access, good social life/facilities for a pre-DC couple but also for when they have a baby. So this thread assumes she's after those features rather than somewhere just like BP.

Clapham junction is great for the villagey feel, good shops, pubs and cafés, great schools and excellent for kids. Having also lived in Belsize Park I can't quite work out what's wrong with clapham. It's not 'culturally' the same but so what?

I loved it, Northcote road is fab, and you can't beat a cheeky sausage roll from the breadstall. Infact when we lived there we rarely went into Central London. Wandsworth also had the cheapest council tax in the country.

I don't disagree with you at all minipie.

Dartmouth Park has more of the cultural relation to BP, in that North London does seem to express a distinct difference from South london, right down to hairstyles and ideas of what's acceptable.

I'm not coming down in favour of one over the other. I like both, both are different.

I did feel that without due warning, OP and her DP could roll up in Clapham and suffer a mini culture shock if they were arriving fresh from BP, expecting the same vibe.

Adaptability is key, really, and can be challenging.

Absolutely agree and share your reasoning minipie

Hairstyles and ideas of what is acceptable!? shudders

Hairstyles and ideas of what is acceptable!? shudders

Yes. What on earth does that mean??

Monkey yes - having also lived North, South, West and East I'm sending some emperor's new clothes here...

*sensing

I want to know what it is about Clapham that's a culture shock. And yes I've lived in both.

Tower Hamlets maybe. But Clapham? Really?

It's a bit baffling. I know loads of N London transplants to SE London... And all have been thrilled with what they found. No one has run screaming back up to their N postcode once they've made the break, having been horrified and shocked by what they found in the strange lands beyond London Bridge... Don't know as many people in Clapham but everyone I do know enjoys it there (and then aims SE for a bigger house!).