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!

If you can stretch a bit this is in an ok area. Walking distance of the station and within an hours commute.

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-53141502.html

Abbey Wood is 'up and coming' on the basis that Cross rail will be terminating there. It sounds nice, and there is the remains of an Abbey and some woods. But, it's right next to Thamesmead, which is a 60s housing estate with a poor reputation, but there is a lot of development going on.

I think you'll struggle to find anything decent in London for £300k and would look further out, but factor in the cost of a season ticket. You mentioned Waterloo, so as an indication a season ticket from Horsham (about 38 miles from Waterloo) is £4k.

TBH most of the bits of rainham or romford
You can afford aren't great. Dagenham East isnt as bad as Heathway if you're looking that way

Hey OP,

I think it comes down to your priority....is having a house (rather than a flat) number 1 priority, or is it the ease of getting directly in to Waterloo?

If you want to come in to Waterloo then you need to be looking at SW/W London and Surrey rather than Essex as it isn't easy to get to Waterloo from there.

The problem is it's a very expensive area and you wouldn't get a house for 300k, though you could get a 2-bed maisonette with a garden? You could get a house further out (in Farnham, Farnborough, as others have said) but the cost of commuting will increase the further you go.

You could probably get a house in SE London/Kent (Erith, Bexley, Dartford, round there) but the journey to Waterloo wouldn't be direct.

Yup. Bromley. Bexley. Lewisham. Depends on the type of housing you're looking for. If you went outside the m25 and commuted, you'd find more options.

There are plans afoot for a major upgrade to Barking (whilst apparently focusing on social/affordable housing, but that’s the element of any urban planning that tends to get kicked to the kerb ). I’d say definitely have a look there, but factor in your commute times, reliability of transport and obviously the costs involved!

Buying in the wrong place will be far worse than renting and ‘dead money’. Just rent somewhere and talk to friends/colleagues about where’s good once you’re in London. Plus that way you can visit the places at different times of day, test the commute etc You may be surprised at how many people happily rent in London...

I'd look at Witham over Braintree tbh. The commute is rubbish and Braintree is a branch line and those trains get cancelled first.

You’d struggle to buy a 2 bed flat, let alone a house for £300k in Bromley I’m afraid

I was going to suggest Feltham, as I sold a 2 bed house there for £200k four years ago. It seems as though prices have shot up since though, and the cheapest houses are approx £315k now. They'd probably sell for under £300k though, as I think the market is pretty slow.

It's not a lovely area, but I lived alone there for a while and walked back from the station at night and never felt unsafe. It's a v easy commute to Waterloo - 30-40 minutes by train and it's in zone 6 so more affordable than coming in from outside London.

You could try a bit further out on that line and nearby lines - Ashford, Staines, Chertsey - but the commute prices go up. Once you get further out house prices seem to go up again as you're in v desirable parts of Surrey and Berkshire - near Windsor and Ascot.

Can't get a house for under 300k in Lewisham any more.

Would definitely agree re Braintree train line.
Three of DHs work colleagues are moving to Braintree excited by the idea of 'rural' living and reasonable house prices. None of them have any idea of the terrible commute they face.
And if you fancy an evening out in London, forget it unless you want to keep one eye on the clock to make sure you don't miss the last train home.
Witham definitely better bet for transport, Chelmsford even better.

You can, just about @SoupDragon.

Bynes Road, SOUTH CROYDON
www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-53110179.html

There's not much around though.

I think those mentioning the commuting costs make a good point. Plus it's all well and good saying an hour to central London but that's still a huge range that can add huge amounts of time to the commute. Whereabouts in London is his work going to be?

You could probably get a house in SE London/Kent (Erith, Bexley, Dartford, round there) but the journey to Waterloo wouldn't be direct.

It would! - it would just mean trains go in to Waterloo East.

Sutton is a London Borough but it’s still got the old Surrey postal addresses just like most of zones 4, 5 and 6.

OP, 300k for a house in Greater London is barely possible. The quality of areas you’d be looking at is similar to the areas in Leeds with houses for 70k. You’ll know best if that’s the type of area you’d like to live.

If you’re looking outside of Greater London, factor in commuting costs - there are lovely towns out there but commuting can easily cost 4, 5 or 7k a year per person. It is not possible/realistic to drive to work in central London (could take 2+ hours each way + cost £50/day in congestion charge and parking) so you do need to look at your train or tube options.

In terms of living in Greater London in a 300k property but being somewhere that’s actually pleasant/desirable, there are some options. Not a chance of a house but a good 2-bed flat is a possibility. For commuting into Waterloo, you could look at zones 5 and 6 in S and SE London (boroughs of Sutton, Bexley and Bromley).
They are very safe, pleasant and clean (mostly as a borough is a big area so there will be some variety).

OP, do you really need a 3 bed house? In all honesty you’re going to really struggle to get anything in a decent area commutable to Waterloo unless you sacrifice on space. And by going further out then remember you’re adding to the cost of your commute. Essex would be one hell of a journey and I’m a bit bemused by posters suggesting Farnham, Surrey. DPs live there and for £300k you’d be looking at a flat, maybe a two bed house but it wouldn’t be particularly nice.

Haslemere is 50mins to Waterloo, and it's beautiful! Friends of mine are very happy there, and we love visiting them!

This House is really close to the station and with a few £k you could add a lot of value...

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-63068122.html

Or this flat.....sigh!!

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-61593304.html

What about this, you can get mortgages for houseboats www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-62671006.html

Ilford is rough as fuck.

I’d much rather Croydon than Ilford even with cross rail.

Rather than places like Dagenham I think you’re better actually living outside of London (like MK?) Nicer and commute probably the same time albeit more expensive .

Work is v near waterloo so the obvious solution is to live in commuterville.

Outside London.

Newbury Park
Gants Hill
Romford
Dagenham
Thurrock

All slightly rough but not dangerous , more 'average uk' than rough london

Easily get something under £300k and in the city quickly

OP - you can still find some 2 bed houses for £300k or less, that are on the right side of town for getting to Waterloo (some posters have already mentioned the train line that goes from Dartford to Waterloo East)
Definitely look at Abbey Wood, Thamesmead, Plumstead, Erith, Belvedere - all of these areas are currently undergoing massive regeneration due in no small part to the new Crossrail line - opening from the end of this year.

Traditionally seen as not good areas, the community vibes are very strong, green spaces, good schools, and lots of Londoners who are being priced out of central London are moving to these areas.

Other options could be Gillingham, Chatham, Rochester - Small Kent commuter towns with connections to Waterloo East / Charing Cross.

Towns like Tunbridge Wells will be way out of your price range and I wouldn’t even bother thinking about Surrey...

South East London should be your first lookout.

You'll struggle in Thurrock for a three bedroom house for 300k, unless you're willing to live in tilbury which is a shithole.

Also, if you choose Thurrock please read the plans for the new crossing before deciding on an area.