Anyone who needs to commute to London with s budget of 1.2 million

[MrsDarcy4092]

Hello

If you need a good commute to London (26 minutes to Waterloo) and have a budget of 1.2 million then please can you tell me what you look/ed for in a home? What is on your essential list and desirable list and list of definite no's?
It will really help me with renovations .

W8 woman. Depends how many children you have. Day school fees near us are £20K per annum, per child. If you earn £200K and have four children at private school that's 80K from your net income of £116,000. That leaves only 36K for mortgage/rent and quinoa.

Arundel Yes, you're quite right! Though most people relocating from central London don't have four kids because each extra bedroom in zone 2 costs £300k

By "location" I didn't mean just proximity to good state schools, although I believe this is exactly what drives the prices up in some - otherwise unremarkable- areas. By location I meant several factors all or most of which should be ticked. Great transport links within a short (10-15mins max) walk. Property close but not on the busy shopping street. Anything on a busy but not attractive A road is a complete no-no, no matter how good the renovations are. Proximity to the park but not necessarily overlooking the park as one doesn't want to deal with weekend traffic and teenagers hanging out during the summer.

Generally ,a quality neighbourhood where people look after their properties and don't puke into front gardens on the way home from pubs.

As for state schools are not a consideration I actually disagree. 1.2mil house is not necessarily income of 200k£+ and people on these income are still driven by budgetary constrains as anybody else here, it is just their budgets differ from what a couple's on 20k£+ and paying 15k a year in just school fees is not insignificant.

W8woman, I couldn't agree with you less about the decor people are looking for. I think it's entirely dependent on the and people. We have a similar budget and would be looking at a similar commute, although I don't know the direction the OP is travelling. I would be actively turned off something with the features you mention and fairly sure friends would be too. If I were not to do work I would be happy with a newish boiler yes, but a shaker kitchen / aga etc would be immediate turn offs and I probably wouldn't even view the house unless I had the budget to rip them out. If the windows are in a terrace then yes to original, if it's a newer house then I like the new grey ones I would be looking for a simple, modern preferably German kitchen which is at the back of the house with at least space for a large 8-10 people table and either double doors or bi folds to the garden. This would be my absolute deal breaker. I would expect 4 beds, one can be small and an ensuite to the master bedroom. No en-suite and I wouldn't look at that price. Ideally the bathrooms would be modern with an excellent shower, ideally separate to the bath traditional bathrooms would be on the rip out list. Neutral walls, wooden floors downstairs and neutral carpet on the stairs and bedrooms. I'm assuming we are talking at least end of zone 3 into zone 4 if not further out so all of those should be realistic within that budget

At this sort of price, the OP's buyers are probably swapping a tiny terrace in Zone 2 with a yard for a large garden and bigger (more spacious, not always more rooms) house. Don't, whatever you do, pave over your lawn!

W8woman yes I suppose if the living room was all 'orriginal feature' tastic it wouldn't cost THAT much and would give the 'wow period' factor, and could be combined with modern kitchenb/diner.

I love period features, picture and dado rails, cornice etc and high ceelings, except when I go to see a house and it has an original fire place in EVERY bedroom I just think what a waste of useful space! I must be a heathen.

German kitchens and bi-folds appeal to a very different demographic. I totally agree that everyone has different tastes, but the key to successful development is inoffensive 'bones' that as many people as possible are prepared to tolerate for the short term. A lot of people really hate shiny kitchens - they are NOCD - whereas a Shaker kitchen is easy to live with until you can afford to replace it.

For some reason I was thinking the OP lived in commuter country rather than Zone 4 or 5, so apologies if not; this would change recommendations.

I am a developer by the way.

BTW am not suggesting German kitchens are NOCD - just that a lot of posh people think they are. I am emphatically not posh!

I'm not sure I agree with you either w8eoman!

You're assuming people are moving out of London. A lot will be locals who may have already made the move out. We live in exactly the sort of house OP has - half an hour from central London, £1.2m. But we moved from London years ago so didn't need anything like w8's salary to buy ours. It's also pretty unremarkable for our area.

Area is key. Dartford and Windsor both half an hour from town - huge difference in house prices!

For what it's worth where I am I'd expect 4 - 5 beds, 3+ baths, reasonable garden (but often people don't care), near station (again most people don't care - they drive to station of work from home), utility room and that's pretty much it. If it's got swanky stuff it'll cost more and I won't pay for other people's swank.

I am with you in the wasted space of disused fireplaces. Never rip them out, but if they're gone anyway, only replace them in the main reception rooms (and master bedroom if possible). Disused chimneybreasts are very expensive to rip out and don't significantly enlarge a space but I took them out in my own house because the cost was neglible at trade rates.

Yes, there's definitely a local market titchy. But the majority of incoming buyers will be 'down from London' and developing (or even just renovating to sell) is all about appealing to the widest demographic.

I won't pay for other people's swank

This is a very common view. The current generation of homebuyers have definitely been conditioned on the need to "add value" by the likes of Kirstie and Phil. I have recently sold a house where I re-did just one bathroom but left two others in their 80s condition. In London houses I have always done loft extensions but never side-returns in order to "leave some money to the next guy". (Though side returns are also very expensive for the square footage you actually gain and therefore not economical for a developer).

You don't need to be earning £200,000 to buy a £1.2 million house in London. You just need to have been on the property ladder for a number of years.

Wow, thank you!! So much useful information here.

To confirm- we live in a county that's commutable to London. Out of zone 6. All of our immediate 6 neighbours have moved in the past 5 years from London and all (other than us) attend private school. We do have 3 very good primary schools were in the local area for but secondary is pretty much your choice of 4 private schools.
We have an 1890s house and one of the reasons we bought it was it has all the original features. Fireplace X original doors, skirting and coving in every room! But cleverly designed as the chimneys are inset (don't know if the technically term) so no wasted space. And all work. We love them but understand Many won't. Having said that if you don't mind period features you wouldn't view a 1890s house when there are so many modern houses in the area. These period homes on the road sell for much higher price than the modern ones indicating they are more desirable in the area.
We have 5 double bedrooms. 2 bathrooms. We are due to add 2 ensuites without eating into the bedroom spaces. We have a separate dining room and separate very large living space. We have a utility room and downstairs wc. We have planning permission for a large kitchen family diner orangery at the back of house but we personally cannot afford to do the extension sadly so at point of sale there will be a 6 X 4 m kitchen diner with planning permission to create the big family kitchen that's so desirable. We have off road parking for 4 cars and a very large garden - 120 foot. We're 5 minute walk to station with 4 trains an hour 28 min to Waterloo.
So far we've upgraded to a big new boiler and hot water cylinder. Re wired. Renovated the original wooden Windows although they are single glazed but beautiful condition. Refurbished the roof. Put in central heating to every room. 2 new bathrooms. And decorated everywhere neutrally. We will still do the 2 ensuites as this thread shows they are needed. And will do the kitchen.

This has been so so helpful.

Yes, agreed - lots of prospective buyers will be rolling forward equity and their income will be a lot smaller.

But 'down from London' homebuyers in the peak 32-40 lifestage usually don't have huge deposits. 25% deposits in this price level are the norm as they probably bought post 2004.

W8woman you have been spot on- thank you. And so interesting about people's want to add value. Hopefully our planning permission without actually doing the extension will be desirable.

I forgot to say there is also a study area.

I think you house sounds lush MrsDarcy4092

I think the PP and plans for an extension ARE helpful as potential buyers can see what great potential there is.

W8woman you seem super knowlegable about the London property market! May have to pick your brains if I don't get the place I've offered on.

It sounds fab, Mrs Darcy, and it sounds like you have spent money on all the right things.

If you have 5 bedrooms, you really do need another bathroom (unless the fifth bedroom is actually a study). I'd do an en suite to the Master but not bother with the other unless you really want it for your immediate needs.

Be careful about sacrificing a Victorian bedroom's proportions for an en-suite. Sometimes it works better and is cheaper to steal space from two bedrooms and have a bathroom accessible from the corridor.

Be careful about sacrificing a Victorian bedroom's proportions for an en-suite. Sometimes it works better and is cheaper to steal space from two bedrooms and have a bathroom accessible from the corridor.

I much prefer this layout than an ensuite with a reduced size master.

We have 2 bathrooms Already. Both with big showers and baths. The master room as An original dressing room off of it which for modern day is not big enough as a dresses room. 2m X 4.5 m but with 2 doors Nd a large window so this will be a good en suite without using any bedroom space. The second en suite is not needed but due to the plumbing wil be almost free to put in. The previous owner had an upstairs bedroom as their kitchen and as such it has plumbing in it and a very large walk in cupboard which will be so easily converted into an ensuite we figure we may as well. It will only be big enough for a toilet and sink , a shower could go in but will be a squeeze which I think may look naff. If it would cost a lot we wouldn't bother but it will be so easy to do we can do it ourselves so thought it was worth doing.

unless you all think differently?

And no, all 5 bedrooms are bedrooms. The study is separate. It's not huge but it houses everything you need for a study and if someone wanted a much bigger study then they could use a bedroom.

If you're struggling to fit a shower, it's not an en-suite but a cloakroom.

There's absolutely no point spending any money you don't have to - cheap is never free!