Property Hounds of Mumsnet! Alert! I've got £200k to spend in London (yes, I know)

[LastTangoInBognor]

It is as it sounds. What would you do? Where do you live that's nice enough, and above all, cheap, that I haven't thought of?

It needs to be London but obviously won't be central - the ever-creeping Essex/London border is fine but none of the St Albans type stuff. East/South is preferred. I don't need to live in it forever but I do need to live in it for a couple of years. It might be rented out after that so somewhere other people like to live or would like to live in the future would be good. There are no children involved.

Studio if I have to but it would need to be a decent size one. 1 bed fine, 2 bed ideal/an impossible dream. Outside space would be nice.

Ideally I'd like to do a bit of work on it, because I'm not un-handy and it makes the £ go further. But no uninhabitable shells.

A train or tube into central within 1/2 a mile of the flat - 30/40 min into Liverpool St or central proper is fine.

I've been thinking of Croydon. Plaistow. Manor Park. Plumstead. Ilford? Any other suggestions, or thoughts on those bits?

AllThePrettySeahorses I saw that one! Cash only, sadly, but before I noticed that I did do quite a lot of squinting at it, wondering if it could be optimistically classed as having 'a certain brutalist charm'.

How about the Harringay ladder?

One bed

Studio

Near two tubes, reasonable area with lots of restaurants and shops. Very rentable if you ever needed to. I lived her for three years and really liked it.

You can't get a mortgage on a houseboat. Just in case that's helpful!

Beckton? We had a great 1 bed coach house flat above 4 garages. It was huge and had one of the garages and a garden. They are about £180,000 now. We loved it.

Seahorse so really like that 4 bed. I could see it tarted up and very contemporary inside

Well, there you go good ole mumsnet does it again!

The one above Disney's seems to have been photographed by someone rather short.

Harringay is fab! Green Lanes is quite busy, but I love it.

I cannot claim the DeVere heritage...

First lived on the ladder in '99 for about three years and then moved back about 2 years ago after a long spell in Finsbury Park.

It has changed a lot - like everywhere, I suppose, but it's a great community, has great schools, transport and restaurants/bars.

I think the flat above Disneys looks like a better bet than the Pemberton Road studio.

I like the Green Lanes area - I also have a lot of family around there.
Walthamstow also a good idea.
Enfield is a bit of a dump, I think, with not much to recommend it.

I would look at SE London - the Norwoods, Crystal Palace, Sydenham, Woolwich etc.

I miss living on The Ladder, I spent my late twenties there and had a great time. It's got a real buzz about it without been too rough.

I lived very close The Salisbury Pub then moved around the corner to near Chestnuts Park.

The Forest Gate one linked to is very close to Upton Park (the old West Ham stadium), which is shortly to be turned into 700 new homes in a 'village' setting. You won't have the match day problems that you would have done, but there will be building traffic going past the top of your road til 2018 and extra pressure on the existing infrastructure (I live 2 stops east of there at Ilford and getting on the mainline to Liverpool St at the moment is touch and go in the morning (never mind getting a seat), I hate to think what it's going to be like with that many extra getting on board. It's also the 'wrong' side of Romford Road - Forest Gate is starting to go up due to its proximity to Wanstead and Leytonstone (people priced out of there are moving to FG) but that side of Romford Road is more East Ham than FG; most of the up n' coming bars and shops are centered around the station.

Wanstead is lovely but expensive - there isn't much detail here but a really nice area: www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-48833545.html

Mintyy - think that Rightmove is playing up - that road is definitely not where the map is pointing to. But I agree with looking at Sydenham/Catford if you can, it's great round here!

Green lanes is great though prices have gone nuts. Surprised you can even get a flat for £200k. Probably still a good investment though. Very rentable. Enfield is more of a borough than a place as such but is fine. Bit suburban for me but not scary or anything.

Enfield has a fab town centre. It has really good links into town from Enfield Town and Enfield Chase - not sure I would want to be as far out as the Island Village though.

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-32612361.html

I like the Green Lanes area too. I'd much rather live in a small flat there than a bigger one further out. I like busy, more central areas (although you can get into central London very quickly by train from the outer zones but it still doesn't have the same feel).

You have to think about the balance between a smaller place in a more central location and a 2 bed further out. E.g, you mention no dc now but it's not uncommon for them to come along unexpectedly and then end up a bit trapped in a 1 bed/studio. A friend was living with 2 dcs in a 1 bed for 5 years because they couldn't afford to move. Plus you have the option of renting to a lodger with a 2 bed if there's a drop in income.

At that price a lot of places will be ex-council flats. I have lived in some so not being snobbish about it, but there are issues about services charges (esp if the council decide to do major works) and less popularity when selling. Plus it's harder to get mortgages on higher floors.

Also, a lot of listings around that price will be auctions, which often end up going for much higher on the day. You will have to sift through a lot of cash only and retirement properties as well!

Hmm, I was going to recommend looking at ex council though. More space for your money and generally well designed flats. They vary a lot though. A small 1930s block would be ideal.

I've got no problems at all with ex-council - sitting in one right now, the aforementioned small 30s block, and I love it. I'd probably take a well built ex-council over period in this price range, as there's so much more to go wrong with period flats and the layout is often weird/poky.

Thank you Lovecat for Forest Gate/East Ham info, that's really helpful as there seem to be quite a few places at the right price around that area and I was wondering why. How is Ilford? It's another on my 'affordable' list and I like the fact that it's getting a crossrail.

In other news, thanks to this thread I figured out why it's called the Haringey Ladder. That must've been a happy day in the planning office. Given how much everyone seems to love it, perhaps a bit of a focus there is a good idea. I do like a bit of bustle.

Oh and thanks for extra Enfield opinions! I was busily talking myself into the island village, but it sounds like it's not exactly the 'village' I was imagining. Probably need to go up and have a look I guess.

I see Catford has only been mentioned in passing, there isn't much for £200K but this one looks pretty decent as a doer-upper and has 2 bedrooms!

Catford 2-bed flat

Catford is great for transport, two stations going straight into central London in 20 minutes, has a lot going for it and has not yet "up and come" so has future potential. I really like it.

This flat is walking distance to stations, shops, a few decent pubs and places to eat, and the fantastic Catford Broadway theatre. Only down side is it is on a main road - but handy for buses!

This one in SE23 is out of your price range but I'm surprised to see it's still on the market. It is detached, but frankly it really is not much more than a glorified shed. Rather nice, though.

What about Chelmsford. 30 mins to Liverpool St.