Brixton, Herne Hill or West Dulwich?

[Boobz]

We are looking to buy a 4 bed property in one of those areas (schools not a concern) - which would you angle for and why? We are looking at these properties - which one would you plump for do you think?

Brixton - which one day could look like this (same road) Helix Road 2

Herne Hill

West Dulwich

Brug I tried to view that first link back in November but they said it was under offer - I wonder if it still is and it's just not been taken off the website or whether it fell through?

The other 2 look interesting - although both opposite estates. The Sharsted road one looks like a flat roof so can you still do a loft extension?

DH REALLY wants to live in Elephant and Castle but I couldn't find anything in budget - I think the John Ruskin one looks interesting though..

So I am now booked into see the first link - Hayles St in E&C - on my trip next week, as that offer fell through. I am also going to see the Kennington one on John Ruskin street on the same day, but the agent thinks they will stick to that price which will be hard for us. The Sharsted one is sold.

Thanks for links - super helpful!

The West Dulwich one is actually in West Norwood. Good transport links and has a nice up and coming vibe.

A lot of the houses round Kennington like sharsted street are town houses and have a London pitch roof. For some you can do a mansard extension. You need planning permission and that depends on the borough and whether or not you are in a conservation area.

John Ruskin St is only in the very loosest sense Kennington . It's an odd street, very long and with some nice houses but a lot of shite. Transport-wise it would be hellish for South Ken (although not as bad as E&C!) - given the location of that house you're pretty much stuck with buses up the Walworth Rd or buses up the Camberwell New Rd, both of which are slooow.

Brug, interestingly we were in K'ton for 11 years then moved out to DH. Transport-wise things are so much easier now.

I agree about John Ruskin street, it depends which end you're at really.

Where are you now Penguins and in what way is the transport easier? Just out of interest.

From a commute perspective the best option if you want to live South is probably going to be Vic line from Brixton.

Anything else is going to involve one or more of busy, slow buses in heavy traffic, packed Northern line tube or a busy interchange from overland to tube at Victoria (the tube entrance frequently closes due to overcrowding at peak times).

Its 5 days a week, 40 weeks of the year, twice a day for your kids. Personally I'd think about that before deciding on a house.

Not to be negative but the London population is growing year on year and the tube/buses are noticeable busier now than even 5 years ago.

The John Ruskin one sounds not so great then? I think I will probably cancel that viewing.

I do think Helix Road is winning at the moment because of the Vic line - have organised an architect to come and meet me there at my viewing to get an idea of how much it will cost to do up and will let you know Penguin!

The kids will be fine with the commute - they currently do 45 mins at the moment, albeit on one bus, and they are fine.

Have just got a finger in the air quote for the works at Helix Road - £295k all in! Ouch!!!! Not sure that makes it workable (although we could reduce by about £80k if we delayed doing the loft...)

Yes, that sounds a bit high but not at all out of the ballpark, as we have discovered. We did exactly the same - moved with the idea of £150k to do everything No idea why building costs seem to have gone through the roof, but they certainly have.

Brugs - we're v close to DH station, so 9 mins into Victoria, 10 min bus ride to Brixton for the tube, 15 mins into Blackfriars, 25 mins to Kings Cross, short bus ride down to ED for London Bridge. It just seems to be really well connected - at least for the areas we need to get to a lot.

Denmark Hill you say Penguin? Which are the nicest areas/roads in DH then?

Camberwell Grove is beautiful.

Gawd... And pricey. Maybe not a go-er.

There was only one house I could see for £1.250m on that street - a bit above what we can do! Looked like a lovely street though.

The nice/naice roads are CG, Grove Lane, Love Walk, Grove Park, Grove Hill Rd and of course Champion Hill (where I see one has just gone on for over £8m ) But there are loads of nice enough houses around. This sort of thing could work for you Shenley Rd, which is probably a 10 min walk from DH train station.

This one sold last year for just over £800k as an example.

If you're looking at John Ruskin St, this one might be worth a look too - same caveats on transportation!

Nothing on those roads I can find! Shenley Road one looks nice but is almost Peckham - is Peckham nice?

Have ruled out John Ruskin and similar due to travel black hole.

Bits of Peckham are nice - Peckham Rye, Bellenden Rd etc (and Peckham Rye is well connected for trains, although obviously no tube). Shenley Rd is midway - it was probably called Camberwell when Camberwell was up and coming, now it probably says it's Peckham

How soon do you have to move? Could you rent and keep looking?

I live in Herne Hill but close to Brixton. We walk to the tube in 5-10 mins or can jump on the bus. I have to say this is a huge draw for us and whenever I think about moving the tube is a major factor. Also you always get a seat as it is the start of the line.

The Rosendale property is interesting as you'd be in a catchment for a highly regarded and much sought after school which people will pay a premium for and the park, lido, pubs are great. Dulwich Road/Norwood Road is fairly noisy but I think with decent windows you're far enough away for it not to be an issue. You would be able to walk 5 mins down the road and you would have the option of 2 additional buses to get to Brixton (3, 37) - or the 196 from nearer the property you've linked to but it does tend to be a busier bus.

I used to live in central Brixton - on Rattray and Probert Road and loved it but i was a bit younger and didn't have a daughter then. I find living between HH and Brixton great - best of both worlds and also on the bus route to Peckham East Dulwich and Camberwell. It's a tough one. Also worth mentioning - a lot of the smaller estate agents can't afford the Zoopla fees anymore so you may find some more properties by looking at the local estate agents directly via their websites than the big property sites

As others have said the rail to tube interchange at Victoria can be hellish. Victoria line to circle/district not so bad.

Brixton has the advantage of having both the overground and tube into Vic, so on tube strikes etc you've got an alternative route.

Herne Hill is a nice family area. I would love to be close to Brockwell park (I adore the Lido in summer).

295k for that work? Ouch! Am planning and extension in SE London at the moment and this is not something I want to hear!

I think this thread shows that what counts as good transport connections depends very much on personal preference. For me I hate having to rely on overland trains into central London. For me places like Denmark hill, East Dulwich, dulwich village, Peckham, tulse hill and west Norwood are all just ok for that reason.

I personally prefer journeys with minimal changes that are frequent but don't mind busy rush hour tubes when the journey is short. We are only a couple of minutes walk to the tube. It's also very easy getting out to other bits of S London where friends live. Having spent large parts of my teens and 20s doing convoluted journeys from one part of South London to another that's a relief.

Finally I like being able to walk to the south bank of I fancy it out take one of the hire bikes (although they're gradually expanding outwards).

So I guess what I'm saying is think what type of journey you prefer maybe as different areas involve different types of commuting.

The overground train into London can be really fast. From Peckham Rye it is 15 minutes to Victoria, 4 trains per hour. Then you would go on the District & Circle line to South Kensington (and then on to Kings X after that - poor you!). I caught the train from Peckham Rye daily to my job in Chelsea. I would get the 8.50am to be in Sloane Square for 9.30am, but you would need a little longer as South Ken is a longer tube journey. I reckon you will be commuting for a minimum of 1.5 hours each way if you are intent on living in SE London.

Kennington Park isn't a patch on Brockwell, though, is it?

And sometimes you can wait a LONG time to get on a N Line tube at Oval because they are all full. This can only get worse as the so-called 'Oval Quarter ' (tho' actually Brixton) fills up.

Maybe the Northern Line extension will help, I don't know.

No it's not as nice as brockwell but it's still very nice to have right on our doorstep.

We're by Kennington tube which is pretty good in the morning as new trains also start there. I usually get a seat.

I know overland trains can be fast but on most places they are a lot less frequent and you can end up waiting quite a while if you miss one. Unless your final destination is close to the Central London station you arrive at you'll have to do a busy changeover to a bus or tube anyway.

I think we will be choosing Brixton at this rate, just to be able to take the Vicky line to Victoria and then only 2 stops over to S Ken without having to worry about changing from train to tube; we get a seat as it's the end of the line, and on days I am not taking the kids or running in, I can get a direct (and fast) tube from Brixton to Kings X (or Warren St if I am working from Goodge St that day).

So Helix road is looking good now except for the cost of the build! There are other options in Brixton too - quite a bit of stock.
But I do love Herne Hill...

Greenbeanie which street do you live on - Mayall Road?

Want to move by August (when we finish our posting here in Rome)

Boobz - we're on Dulwich Road - it is noisy but you get used to it and it doesn't bother us in the slightest. We love having Brocky & the Lido across the road.

We've just completed an extension on our 2 bed flat to give us a few more years in the area but at some point we're going to have to think about a move and I know I will miss the access to the tube (even though I don't use it for work at the moment)
I do like Mayall Road but one side of the road is more expensive than the other because of the rail line. We actually looked at a house there in 2011 and somethings think...we should have bought it....and one in central Brixton and we should have bought that one too!! Whilst Brixton town centre is busy, the streets around it aren't really. Might be worth having a wander around on a weekend and evening to see what's happening on the roads you look at. I first moved to Brixton in 2006 and it has changed loads since then - some good, some bad.