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]

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-56756760.html

I used to live in this block. Bright, spacious and great area. Easy walk to Upper Street.
I still miss it 25 years later.

What they need to watch is service charges and ground rent and length of lease.

Personally I would look for a conversion flat, the ground floor of a terrace house, for example, with a share of freehold.

The service charges can be shocking , and residents hit with big bills for any external works.

I do recognise that they will live a young and single life, but with Brexit looming it would make sense to buy something that would suit them longer term so that they can sit tight and ride it out during property value fluctuations.

Good transport links help to ride out fluctuations in prices. With a decent budget you can live somewhere with an easy commute to work and, very importantly, to play!

Clapham is full of young people just out of uni and the High St is a bit of a strip. My DD hated that and felt she had left that behind at university. There are more grown up places!

At that stage I lived in Highbury and it was lovely. Great commute (overground to Moorgate and Victoria line for the West End, plus now there’s the east London line to Canada Water).

However, most of my friends were in Balham and surrounding areas and I felt a bit remote. Where are their friends living?

A massive vote for London Fields from me. I live there and love, love, love it. You can get a 3 bedroom flat for £800k or a REALLY lovely 2 bedroom. You’re close to two lovely parks that in the summer are just bustling with cool, friendly people. Lots of places to eat and drink and only a 20 minute bike commute to the City. No underground in london fields but there are busses aplenty and an overground. Nearest tube station is Bethnal Green or Hackney Central which is about a 10 minute walk.

Others places I’ve lived and spent time in:

Chelsea (hated it)
Islington (really lovely area)
Tufnell Park (didn’t love it but didn’t hate it. Hampstead Heath close which is a bonus)
Kensington (hated it)

Bow, specifically in one of the conservation areas. Close to Mile End for Central and District Lines. 25 mins door to desk if you work near Liverpool Street or Bank. Lots of nice independent shops and restaurants. The lovely Victoria Park is a short walk away and it has a lovely foodie Sunday market. I happily walk back from the tube on my own late at night and have never felt unsafe.

Lovely 2 bed flat for £500 to £600k.

It depends on what they like - some people want super convenient and don't mind noise as a trade off, whereas others before a quieter life and a 30 minute tube ride is reasonable compromise. My advice is to put the post code of the office into right move and see what hits you get at 3 x salary as a starter.

WArning - we did this for Hammersmith for what our current house is worth plus £100k and got flats above kebab shops! Half a million didn't go far.