Nice place in ugly area or ugly place in nice area?

[Lilylo]

Hi all!

I would like to get some opinions from fellow mumsnetters. Would you prefer to live in a really nice flat/house in an area that is a bit ugly/ run down/ dirty or to live in a bad flat/ house in a nice area?

Location vs nice home: which one do you value the most?

[DawgDawg]

Can you tell them you dont want to move there OP?
Do you think they will be sort of be controlling how you live & how long you can stay in 'their' property.

Could you find somewhere else to rent without anyone else involved, if that makes sense.

[Lilylo]

thesuspicious that is definitely a possibility, but by then DH and I should have saved quite a bit of money and in that case we may decide to rent/ buy somewhere else I guess.

I also hope that by the time my future DC will need to go to school the area will have developed more considering how many luxury estates are under construction now..

[Lilylo]

dawg unfortunately DH and I can't afford to buy in London. If we rented, we would spend nearly 50% of our salaries in a shoebox without any security at all.

As much as I am not thrilled about living in PILs' flat, at least DH's name is in the house deeds and PILs live in another continent so their intereference is going to be limited to their visits once or twice a year.

(luckily when they visit London they stay at another flat they own so we don't even have to host them!)

[buntymo]

Always location, you can make the inside lovely. Moved from beautiful 4 storey Victorian in a slightly scarey area to a 1960s box with huge garden in the countryside and it's amazing in comparison

[JT05]

Location, we lived in a house for nearly 3 decades, it was in the best location in the city. But I would describe it as an 'estate car' of a house. Huge, but not pretty. It served us well.
I would always go for location.

[YaySirNaySir]

Location over EVERYTHING else.

[minipie]

Why did you ask OP, since you don't have a choice ?

If it's in London, then even the dodgiest area will be a very short journey from somewhere nicer.

[lemonpickle]

The better location is what I would go for, if I had the money to do up the house eventually.

However, be sure that it really has the space you need as space is key to why people move on. You can always paint a room / make a house look better, but to extend costs a lot. Personally, the middle ground would appeal to me!

[Lilylo]

minipie I suppose I asked to confirm whether my worries were real or not

Now I know they are!!

The area is a bit dodgy, but at least very well-connected to Central London. That is something positive about it I suppose!

[228agreenend]

Depends on the ugly area. If it's ugly in that it feels unsafe, then no. However, if it's ugly in that is not pretty, but basically okay, then yes.

Also, look to see what investment is going on. If s there investment into schools, roads, shops etc, then that's a good sign.

[Lilylo]

228agreend there is a lot of investment going on in the area, actually billions were poured into this redevelopment. I think the area used to be really unsafe, now it is much better but still it is no Wimbledon IYSWIM.

Once it is redeveloped, it will be bery urban/modern looking with skyscrapers and highways. Think Canary Wharf style, but residential instead of office buildings (it is indeed very close to CW).

Honestly if it was up to me I would have picked a completely different type of area. Somewhere leafy, quiet and with more British character..

But hey, it was not my call

[everdene]

Lily I bought in a not v nice area of London and people were really scathing about it on here when I asked!

I LOVE my house and the area is not as bad as everyone says, the people are lovely!

[didireallysaythat]

If there's a mortgage you are contributing to, please please please get on the deeds.

[Lilylo]

didi no mortgage, property bought outright by PILs. Ownership is 50% MIL and 50% DH.

[Lilylo]

everdene may I ask on what side of London you live? I am moving to East London.