Where can i find a flat for my daughter in London?

[MrsFrancisUnderwear]

I'm hoping some wise London mumsnetters can point me in the right direction as I don't know the area well myself.

My daughter has finished her studies and will be working in the centre of London. She and we are very fortunate in that we can help her buy a small flat. So, where do we start?

She seems to prefer South West London (had a flat share in Norbiton, Kingston) but we've looked there and it's much too expensive. I'm worried that she will choose an area that she doesn't know.

Where can we start looking? Our budget is £200k.

[cunchofbunts]

It is indeed a horrible situation.

Rent is also extremely expensive now. Where I am in Zone 3, SE London, when DH and I moved in together in 2002 it was £650 a month between the two of us for a fairly large 1 bedroom flat. That same flat is now on for £1300 a month!

[hairtoday1]

What does your daughter think of this op?

[PettsWoodParadise]

You could get a 2 bed maisonette with private garden in Petts Wood for £275k no maintenance and ground rent nominal and leases often 999 years. Nice area, trains into Waterloo East, Charing Cross, Victoria. Nice safe area, zone 5 on Oyster card network. 20 mins to London Bridge. Rent out the second bedroom to cover the small mortgage and running costs. Sorted. This one is a bit overpriced, should get for £270 to £285. www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-35734812.html

[PerspicaciaTick]

maybe, I was going to say that DH's grandparents used to live in Forest Gate. I think they sold up for about £200K about 10-12 years ago. The terraces houses seem to mostly be turned into flats and even those now cost more than the house was sold for back then.

[Pico2]

I think the decision of where in London (or outskirts) partly depends on where she is commuting to and how long she expects to stay in the job. If you have to take the tube right across the city because you live in SE London but work in the NW part of central London you have an unnecessarily long commute.

[hairtoday1]

And where does she work in central London?

[AgnesGrey]

Epsom, but the train is quite good I think

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-53834753.html

[milliemanzi]

there's a few studios for under £200k in forest hill on rightmove, nice area and well connected, and next to East dulwich which is nice.

[AgnesGrey]

Also the service charge is reasonable - £550 per year

[Stoneysilence]

If she's going to accept a 30+ minute commute (that's by the time she's fought onto her train from her tube/bus/whatever) then you should look outside London to somewhere Crossrail is going to hit. Eg Maidenhead - it's an 18minute train. Compared to somewhere dodgy and/or random in "London", it is heaven. However, all of her friends will be renting and I agree with the poster(s) up thread who said £200k wouldn't buy you a carpet tile anywhere liveable in town- so best bet is it buy in a good up and coming commuter town outside of London as an investment and let her continue renting in c London for a few years yet.

[chocolatechip123]

I'd consider getting a 2 bed and renting the spare room. Not sure where though - even an ex-council (rough estate) near me is around half a mil around here.

[MrsBertMacklin]

That Epsom one only has 91 years left on the lease, hence the low premium and s/charge. Avoid! But the general area may be worth a look.

[AgnesGrey]

Ah MrsBert hadn't spotted that - sorry OP !

[bittapitta]

But would a young person working in London without family commitments really want to live in Epsom? I wouldn't have!

[milliemanzi]

I've lived in London 6 years and I've never even heard of epsom.

[MackerelOfFact]

Anything in your price bracket within London is probably going to be a fair trek to the closest station, in addition to being in a bit of a rough area. Is it really going to be better for her to be worrying about last trains, travelling long distances and walking alone in the dark to an empty flat after a night out? I was in that exact position (albeit involuntarily after a breakup) where I was living alone in the suburbs in my 20s and it was rubbish. Evenings out were always overshadowed by worries about not making it home. I moved into a more central flatshare as soon as my contract was up.

[AgnesGrey]

I concede ! It's a rubbish idea

My only thought was it's not grotty and the commute is ok.

[hairtoday1]

Maidenhead 18 minutes to where?! Slough maybe, not london.

[MrsFrancisUnderwear]

oh leases...that's another subject then. How long a lease should we be looking for?

[hairtoday1]

Have you never bought a property before op?

[hairtoday1]

Sorry that was much ruder tha meant it!

Have you answered where your daughter is working and clarified that £200k is with mortgage, not total gift?

[AllYouCanEatBuffet]

Hither Green?

[Themoleandcrew]

How about East? Romford/hornchurch should just about be able to get a one bed flat.

[TheWildRumpyPumpus]

Really - her first job in London, she doesn't want to be stuck out in zone 5/6 suburbia having to get the last train home or pay extortionate taxi fares.

Much better to invest your money elsewhere and for her to rent somewhere more central so she's nearer friends and the nightlife.