Areas of London for young professionals?

[patchorpad]

Where would you recommend for a young professional couple to buy their first pad? It needs a reasonable commute to the city.

Together they earn around £200k, and will need a 90% mortgate. If they both can stick their long gruelling hours city jobs, then that income should increase year on year, quite healthily.

I haven't lived in London since a young child and therefore cannot gauge where is nice/safe these days. I think they'd like Kensington, but then I looked at the flat prices, no chance ! [santa]

Balham, Clapham, Clapham Common, streatham, Brixton,

How much deposit do they have and are they commenting into the City?

Clapham, Brixton, Balham, Brockley, Dalston,, various areas in Hackney
Or if they need a bit cheaper
Streatham, West Norwood, Crystal Palace

Maybe West Hampstead

What is their budget, do they need / prefer 2 bed, any outside space or is a flat with balcony ok?

Hackney.

east dulwich
Islington
west hampstead
depends whether they want a house or a flat and how many bedrooms

They'd like a flat, preferably two bed, but one will suffice if it is a very nice one. Balcony seems fine to them as they won't have time to garden.

West Hampstead looks pretty good

They're saving for their deposit so a flat tops 700-800k I suppose, but that would be an enormous mortgage.

Clapham, Balham, West Hampstead.

But I'd look very carefully at tube lines etc as the distance of the commute will be very important.

you can walk into the City from Islington, and there are lots of bars and shops locally. £700k would definitely get a 2 bed flat.

Or, although it's not everyone's cup of tea, if they want more for their money Peckham has a nice bohemian feel, and they could get a whole actual house for that and still be within an easy commute.

Crazy seeing previous ‘no go’ areas like Brixton, Hackney and Peckham being recommended. The gentrification is definitely working

I second Islington. Great place to live.

£700k for a house in Peckham... you’ll be lucky! Good suggestions on areas, they’ll get a two bed flat in those places I should think.

Islington, Hampstead, Blackheath, Clapham

Brixton was never a ‘no-go’ area.

Neither was Hackney.

With long hours, transport is their top priority. If they're working in Canary Wharf, I'd say focus on the jubilee line - mudchute, Canada Water, Greenwich.
If they're in the city, northern line would be fine - borough or Angel maybe. Barbican possibly, but might be out of price range.

Lewisham, Brockley, New Cross Gate.

Bethnal Green. No contest.

Massively depends on their priorities, do they want relaxed and leafy, urban cool, chi-chi fromagerie? Also on where they work and where they anticipate working in future. Good transport links should be #1 priority. In general areas of London not covered by the Tube (principally the whole SE quadrant) give you more for your money. Islington, Kensington and West Hampstead to me are precisely the areas so overgentrified as to require eyeball-bleeding mortgages. Lovely to visit, not to live.

If they work in the City or the Wharf I'd look at Greenwich, Blackheath, Peckham etc depending on taste.

St Katharine docks

West Hampstead, Kilburn, Camden

Wimbledon, Earlsfield, Balham in the South, Crouch End, Hampstead in the North. Maybe Kilburn in the NW?

If they want a whole house though that might be pushing it a bit - maybe Tooting?

Hackney, Bethnal green

Oh no, you said a flat so should be fine!