Good places to buy house in London under £300K

[ivt03]

Hi there,

Due to personal change in our circumstances, me and my husband may have to relocate to London in a couple of months.

Rather than spending dead money in rents, we were thinking of buying a house (not flat/apartments) under £300K in a good locality that's safe to live in, commutable from central London under an hour and has good affinity for schools/shops, etc.

We stumbled upon areas like Tilbury and Gravesend and while the houses internally were wonderful for their price, the locality and people around didn't seem safe.

Would people living in and around London/Greater London advise of some good, safe, commutable areas to buy a house?

Many thanks!

I don't think you can buy a house in a any London Borough for that price. Tilbury is not in London, it's in Essex. I think the cheapest part of London to buy is London Borough of Barking and Dagenham.

300k could possibly get you a 2 bed ex council maisonette in a well dodgy area in up to zone 4 - further out and you are talking 90min commute.

Unfortunately I just don't think it's possible. You'd have to look for a flat and/or lengthen your commute time. Property prices down here are a joke.

Commuting into London from Essex to Liverpool street takes 30 to 50 mins. Depending on where you
are. Tilbury isn't the greatest. Look
At Chelmsford or Briantree.

Your options, for a house under £300k, come down basically to Croydon, Dagenham, and possibly Ilford.

For that money, have you looked at Kent? Bromley, Bexley, Sevenoaks etc?

Consider what is important to you. ‘Seeming safe’ is merely an aesthetic issue. Look at actual crime statistics. If you want it all Village-y etc then bear in mind most boroughs of London will have council estates nearby (post war mixed housing policy) and grim industrial areas. The locality and people at Tilbury and Gravesend are fine, maybe it just wasn’t the community feel you are after.

You might find something in Caterham (technically in Surrey). Friends have just moved there and are happy. 44 mins to London Bridge but of course total commute time depends on where you're working.

Thanks for your replies!
I know £300K might sound less for a property even around Greater London but since we are currently based in Leeds, prepping up for spending on a property anywhere in London wasn't on our cards.

I think we did see some okish houses in Dagenham, Erith, Hayes, Harlow, Rainham, Romford but wasn't sure of how these areas are.

Any ideas?

The things i’d Consider in your shoes are:

• where is the office? If City, then south of the river can be good value. If North, then look north etc.
• how important is schools/no of bedrooms?
• why not a flat? A 2 bed flat could be much better value than a 2 bed house.

With such a small (for London) budget, you have to make some compromises.

I think if the area is the most important thing you should look for a flat. Nobody is judging you for having 300k it's just that practically getting a house in London for that is not going to happen.

Erith and Hayes are all right if you're selective. Don't know about the Essex ones.

I know Romford. The London Borough of
Having has a older population. Good schools and transport links. Look at family orientated areas like Collier row or Mawneys.

Sevenoaks is super expensive, you’ll struggle with that budget.

Bishop’s Stortford and surrounding might be a good bet trains in Liverpool St are fairly frequent. Harlow has some really dodgy areas. Imo if you’re set on London then you’re better off buying an ex local authority flat within close proximity to green space.

I don't know this area at all, but is seems to have lots of green spaces, which is always good, and good schools, reasonable commute in to town.

Abbey Wood
New Eltham

For leafy and safe vibe - suburbs like Motspur park, worcester park, trains go into waterloo. You'd probably get a flat there.

With 300k, if it’s just you and dh, i’d look for a studio or one bed flat along a tube line- along the east london line to crystal palace for example. Many flats in london are converted victorian houses and are often bigger than an equivalent priced house.

I would say Croydon, which is like a separate small town on the outskirts of south London. Downsides are it is grey and very urban with not as much charm or soul as other parts of London, but upsides are

Some excellent schools

Westfield (the shopping centre) is coming to Croydon with all the associated redevelopment around that. House prices are expected to go up in Croydon long term as a result.

Excellent transport. Really fast commute into London and out to places like Gatwick.

Not a chance. You would be better off considering a commuter town.

£300k for a house in a decent area in Croydon? Really?

Time Out article about Croydon

Time Out is a magazine for London/about London.

(That was genuine surprise BTW)

There's no way you can get what you want for under 300k. If you can look at flats/apartments then yes, but 300k will not get you a nice house in a decent commutable area. Sorry. Believe me, I know it sucks.

Thanks for the advice people!

Commute wise we are looking at Waterloo and the office being not far from the station so should be okay.

We definitely want a 2-bed minimum as we might have our parents come in for a short while.

We'd definitely try out the suggestions given so far being:

Barking & Dagenham
Chelmsford & Briantree
Croydon
Ilford
Romford, Collier Row, Mawneys
Bishop's Stortford
Abbey Wood
New Eltham
Motspur park
Worcester park
Crystal Palace

We appreciate your advice of opting for a flat instead with this budget but having lived in rented one for a very long time, we did want to try our luck with buying a house for a change.

But if our search doesn't yield results, then we could think of a different strategy.

Thanks and please keep the suggestions coming, all very helpful!

Stay well away from Erith, it is awful!

with wokr being waterloo you can possibly go further into surrey...
Sutton for example

Sutton isn’t in Surrey.