Buying first house - Budget 395K

[AndreeaG]

Hi there,

After years of renting we are finally looking for a house to buy. So being FTBs, we really need a second opinion.

The property will only be for myself and my partner and will need to commute into London - Shoreditch area (Liverpool Street) daily with a max journey time 1h 15min.

We are currently looking around the West London area (Greenford, Northolt, Ruislip) for a 2 or 3-bed house with a garden to be situated within a safe area and close to public transport.

Many thanks in advance for all your help and suggestions.

Why are you aiming to travel across central London and not look east, particularly on the train line to Liverpool Street?

What about the Overground (or the central line) into Essex?

Why not look further out? We live in Bicester and takes 45 mins to get to Marylebone on the train. You could easily get a 4 bed detached in a nice area for your budget x

Leigh on sea is a great town and 45 mins from Tower Hill

www.rightmove.co.uk/s6p/62576724
www.rightmove.co.uk/s6p/64751868

West London is not a good idea for Shoreditch. Why don’t you look at easier commute on an overground?

East or South East London much better for Liverpool St than W London. Look in Essex - Leigh on Sea or Southend? Easy run to Liverpool St and by the sea!

I'm also baffled as to why you are looking west. I'd suggest looking at places up and down the Overground line that goes through shoreditch plus out east.

I'd be surprised if you can get a house with that Budget in Greenford or Ruislip - maybe Southall
Also as everyone else has said living West and working east is an absolute mission (talking from painful experience)

Chingford, Barking, Southend, Upminster

<a class="break-all" href="https://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-64802058.htmlwww.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-72300895.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-64802058.htmlwww.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-72300895.html

Why not look on the overground? Takes you directly into Shoreditch High Street. You can still get a few 2 bed houses and flats in sydenham and forest hill for your budget.

I see you’ve upped your budget. It’ll be s lot more workable for a small house.

If you’re worried about crime, all the info is here:

www.met.police.uk/sd/stats-and-data/met/crime-data-dashboard/

For places outside London, looks on police.uk

With the new budget, you could afford Carshalton Village. Very charming.

Enfield
Direct train to Shoreditch from Gordon Hill station takes around 45 minutes. Many 2 and 3 bed houses with gardens for your budget and the right area of London to be looking, rather than West or South. Not to onerous a journey back to Ruislip area if you have ties there...

Northolt and some parts of Greenford are horrible, I wouldn’t buy there. Ruislip is okay, as is Ickenham etc but your budget won’t get anything very spacious. Avoid Hayes and West Drayton.
But I think the journey from west to Shoreditch will be very tedious

Have you tried using commute-based search tools like SearchSmartly? - it will suggest some very interesting results for you I reckon! Northern line and overground are probably going to be good bets, but I’d give the tool a go if I were you :)