London Flat Buying

[user1462887151]

Hi everyone! Long-time lurker, first-time poster. I've put this in the Redbridge local forum, but now I think this might be a better spot for the post! Despite not being a mum (I'm a 22 year old uni student), I've found Mumsnet to be one of the best places on the internet for useful discussions and property, and I would appreciate this community's advice.

I am in the enormously fortunate position that my parents have decided to purchase a flat in London for me to live in. Our budget is 350k, give or take, for a one-bed, and I'm feeling overwhelmed, particularly in deciding on an area. My main priority is to be near a tube (not Overground or National Rail), within a 40ish minute commute of the City. Nice supermarkets/cafes/restaurants/green spaces are a plus, but definitely secondary. No kids planned for at least a decade (or ever?), so schools aren't a concern.

As I'll be a single woman living alone, safety (particularly walking at night) is really a key priority for me. I don't walk around alone at 3 am anywhere, but I'd like to feel comfortable walking from the Tube til about 11 pm. In the past I've lived + spent time in Holloway/Highbury (liked it), Chiswick (too far/bit empty at night), Isle of Dogs (love it), and Golders Green (also bit too deserted at night). I'm probably more of a scaredy-cat than many, and consider areas like Finsbury Park, Turnpike Lane, Wood Green, Stepney, Tottenham, Brixton, Caledonian Road, and Acton too 'dodgy' for my comfort level. I'm not concerned about poor or immigrant areas- it's specifically street crime, harassment and mugging I'm worried about. But ideally the area would also have enough going on to not become a ghost town after 7 pm.

I'm looking a lot at east London and have little personal experience of it, but I welcome suggestions about other areas! If I've posted in the wrong place, please point me to the right forum. :-) Some places I'm considering, which seem to be within budget, include:

• Isle of Dogs (I rent here now, but might be priced out)
• South Woodford
• Woodford
• Leyton/Leytonstone (don't mind a bit of grimness, but is it safe?)
• Wanstead
• Mile End/Bow
• Deptford/Lewisham
• Charlton (although no tube is a big minus!)
• Ealing
• Willesden
• East Putney
• Balham

That flat in Kennington is fab - just the thing for a 22 year old. You could walk or cycle to the city from there. Great location and as safe as central London can be.

Surely at your age it's better to be in central London and enjoy everything London has to offer? Leave the suburbs to the boring oldies with kids!

Hey. wanstead is lovely - and do-able in your budget . I just bought in Highbury but had been looking all over north London mainly. For your budget - I'd have a look around Manor House. Rule out deptford or Lewisham- they're still a bit dodgy- and no tube. Also Finsbury Park is still very up and coming and still quite central-ish being in zone 2 - prob looking at more 400k - so I'd also look at Haringey and crouch end / Stroud green which is very nice and not too far from central.

Also I agree with fartypants - at your age you should be closer to the action than zone 4!

You could get a studio in Bloomsbury for that budget, safe and close to everything.

Just out of curiously do people consider anything outside Zone 1 'the suburbs'?

zone 2 is not the suburbs...i think anywhere you would not think of getting a black cab home to is the suburbs.
zone 2 (north) you can walk to oxford street in under an hour.

if you can jump in a black cab after a theatre night out or from a london mainline station eg kings cross and get home in 20 minutes and for £20/£25 - then it is not the suburbs.

Flat I posted is zone 2

That's what I thought. I'm in zone 2 and there's lots of young people around (and families).

Plenty of young uns in the burbs though

I agree with what everyone is saying about the suburbs - save that for when you're older! I live in Bow/Mile End and love it - really easy to get everywhere, close to Shoreditch/Dalston etc for going out, really safe, nice pubs, Victoria Park etc. I would really recommend looking around Bethnal Green/Cambridge Heath Road area as you're practically walking distance from the City and there's loads going on.

Hi everyone! Thanks so much for all the helpful advice, you've given me a lot to look at.

In terms of suburbs vs being central- I really would rather live in a quiet, safe, leafy neighbourhood and travel in to have fun. Not all young 'uns are the same! I've lived in zone 1 and I've lived further out, and I didn't like the noise and the mess and the business of living in central. I'd rather travel a bit further and have more space and a nicer flat; I'm studying law and going to be a trainee solicitor soon, so a lovely space to come home to takes precedence over wild nights out. That said, I do want to be on the tube, because waiting 15 mins for a train really cuts into any spontaneous plans!

You won't be waiting for 15 min for a train if you are in Hither Green!

User - if you're at a firm in the city you've got a multitude of trains / overground from Peckham (and also buses). There is a lot going on here. It's 10 mins ( or so) to London Bridge but you can go to Blackfriars or Victoria easily too. I was obsessed by the tube but my love for Peckham won over in the end.

Wimbledon?
Parkside, Wimbledon
www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-58889708.html

There are places on the train in zones 2 and 3 which will get you into central London in under 10 minutes on the train (Brockley, for example). So even with the slightly, marginally longer wait for a train - which is usually maximum 10 minutes - you're still in town faster than you would be if you were on the tube - considerably so factoring in the walk through a tube station, a 3/4 minute wait, and then stopping at 5/6 stops en route. This is a mistake a lot of people make.

What a great position to be in!

Are you expecting a high return on your parents investment? The "dodgy" areas you mention can yield highest.

I can only speak from experience - I am 29 and have lived in London for 10 years, most of that time was renting in Highgate (very posh), Camden or Kennington.

I bought my first flat 2 years ago and with a budget of £300k was immediately priced out of the area. I ended up in Turnpike Lane (much to my parents dismay). I have LOVED living here, I have felt just as safe, if not safer, than other areas as it is always buzzy. Green Lanes is becoming more like Crouch End by the day and love being here so much that I have recently traded up to a £650k house just off Green Lanes.

I suggest always having a walk round the area and if you are living alone you want to be as close to the tube as possible - I was an enviable 300 metre walk.

Finsbury Park, Holloway and E&C have never felt comfortable to me but everywhere in London has its good/bad areas!

Friends have just bought in Leyton but it is quickly getting pricey and is a bit quiet for my liking, but very lovely and close to Stratford shopping.

Good luck x

Am surprised posters think Lewisham is a bit dodgy.Dd has just bought in Ladywell and it doesn't feel unsafe .20 mins into central London And if they extend the bakerloo line it will be a good investment !
£355,000 but two bed and garden

I grew up in and around Lewisham. It's still quite dodgy. Ladywell is not Lewisham - it's Ladywell. And it is nicer than Lewisham, particularly the Brockley end of it.

Getting a good return on investment would be great, but it's not a top priority. Obviously we don't want to lose money, but it's too much money to spend, only for me to end up stuck with a place I don't love. And of course it'll already be a massive economic benefit compared to renting, not to mention the landlord horror stories I've had to experience.

I'm originally from Woodford and wouldn't recommend it. There's nothing there, no shops, nothing. South Woodford has been really gentrified, has good supermarkets, some OK restaurants, and is definitely safe at night. People keep telling me Leytonstone is up and coming but it certainly wasn't in my day (20 years ago)! Wanstead is quite posh and villagey. Good pubs and restaurants. If it was me, I'd choose South Woodford.

For anyone who knows South Woodford: a lot of properties seem to come up on the northern side of the North Circular. Is the idea of trekking across a motorway each time I want to get to the tube as bad as it seems?

Leytonstone has up and gone I think! Very expensive now.

I agree with Hither Green and SE4!

Yes. That's the worst part of South Woodford. Try nearest Sainsbury's.

You could get a two bed in Mile end for that money.

It's brilliantly connected on three different tube lines (pink, red, green) and near two lovely parks (Mile End and Victoria).

Being near the QMUL makes rental value good too. So good long-term investment as well.

It's an area that will benefit from 24hr tube and there's a lot of new bars and shops opening there. Along with estate agents (which is always a sign of things to come!)