Retiring TO Greater London, but where?

[TheAnnoyingSatsuma]

Musing about moving into a London Borough for our ‘golden years’. Where would you look with a £500k budget for a 2 bedroom house (not a flat)?

Obviously don't need schools, or good commuter links, but would like to be able to get into town by public transport off-peak.

No offence but are you sure you’ve understood how hard it is to get from one side of London to another? If you move to south east or east London it could easily take you an hour, two hours to get to family on the south west side.

Just move to south west London, it makes much more sense especially as you’ll be retiring and may need family support in future.

Richmond has high council tax and is under Heathrow flight path :-(

8by8 This!

Woodford is pleasant. Similar to Wanstead but a bit cheaper as it's slightly further out. Probably not ideal for visiting family to the South/West though.

Around Petts Wood would probably fit the bill - villagey, zone 5, and you could probably just about get a house for £500k

South West for sure. Kingston area is lovely. Great parks and shops and transport.
20mins into central London and 15mins into lovely Surrey !

[[https://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-79903832.html Merton?]]

Do you know the area well Tavannach? I drove through there recently and thought it might have little pockets of niceness.

Apologies, that sounded a bit rude. What I meant was that there were bits that looked quite historic and villagey in a busy area.

Wanstead but not sure you’ll get two bedrooms on that budget

I don't know it well but had a colleague who's lived there for years and we went there a few times. He works in different areas in central London and the travel seems okay.
I think pockets of niceness sums it up.

Beckenham was also my first thought, OP.

It's got a good local clinic - the Beacon - which has links to the hospital, so there is good provision for medical care in your twilight years.

It has a nice town/village feel but with everything you might want - nice cafes, restaurants, foodie fairs and vintage markets, tennis clubs and a naice middle class vibe.

You are well served for central London with the Hayes line going in to the City and the West End, and Beckenham Junction going to Victoria and Bromley south (near the big shopping centre).

There's a lot of parking, everywhere. And parks too - BPP has just been done up and it's lovely.

You're close to east Croydon and from there you either sample the delights of the Boxpark Street food stalls, or you're 15 minutes on the train from Gatwick airport for a wee break.

If I thought my mam would ever leave Ireland, she would definitely move to Beckenham when my dad dies. They go over to Beckenham when they visit me in Bromley and I'm at work. They love it and feel right at home. Apparently it's very friendly and full of people who love to stop for a chat.

As a London empty nester, I would say as central as you can, even if that means a flat. There are so many opportunities for things to do in the city, not just the theatre, galleries, museums etc but classes, lectures and activities too, which are a great way to meet new people if you are relocating. But, to do that, I find myself heading to opposite ends of the city on different nights of the week. I just wouldn't do that if I lived in zone 6. It's also great knowing that if I'm out late I can always get an Uber for not much money.

Even in the centre of town, if you pick the right area there can be a villagey/community feel eg on a garden square that has communal events.

I'm not sure there is much advantage in living on the outskirts of London when you can live in the surrounding counties, get more for your money, and the train journey into town takes less time than the tube journey from zone 6.

If you really don't want to live in a flat, you could just about afford a cottage in the Arts and Crafts Hampstead Garden Suburb in zone 3. That really does feel and look like a village and has a community.

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-64474260.html

Carshalton Village or Cheam Village would be ideal. Carshalton Village is beautiful (google some images) with fab pubs and Cheam Village is very nice, not as pretty but posher (Waitrose, independent butcher sort of place). Both are in zone 5 or a short bus ride/£10mini cab from the tube if you’re out super late.

In between the two is Sutton town centre with a handy pedestrianised high street and gazillions of silver surfers (loads of retirement flats about but it’s mainly a family area).

I completely missed that OP has family in south west London. Gosh absolutely look in that area then, no point in being in wansted or Greenwich as it will take a good hour to get there.

Where abouts are they OP? I’d still consider Crystal Palace cos the overground goes to Clapham junction / Balham / Wandsworth common etc as well as in to the city / central

To be honest I’m not overly bothered about family as the alternative re-location plan is the classic seaside bungalow (but I fear we would be bored and forever hopping on a train).

PS OP, trains from Cheam Village go into Victoria and London Bridge and Carshalton Village is in between Carshalton and Carshalton Beeches stations so trains to Victoria, London Bridge + the Thameslink to the Southbank and beyond. Super convenient.

Greenwich, Blackheath (not much chance of a house on that budget unfortunately). There are some leafy, lovely outer London places; Surbiton and Chislehurst spring to mind - train links into London sub 30 minutes. Petts Wood is also nice and seems to have a good community.

Wanstead fits the bill but think you'd struggle to get a house in your budget. You could get a lovely flat though. But it is the wrong side for your family.

Chislehurst is really lovely but the villagey bit is quite a long way from the station.

runoutofnamechanges this is what I find too.

North Ruislip is nice and you should be able to get a small house for around 500k.

I'd get a two-bed garden flat near some shops. That would be better forward planning re: potential mobility issues, and you can get one with share of freehold if you're worried about ground rent.

I'm not sure there is much advantage in living on the outskirts of London when you can live in the surrounding counties, get more for your money, and the train journey into town takes less time than the tube journey from zone 6.

This! I’d definitely live as close in as possible.

Also, I know you say you don’t care about travel to family but presumably you need to think of this
as a long term thing? Things that can seem manageable now might get less so as you age.

Travel from outside London is more expensive and usually much longer than traveling from inside London. More can go wrong in case of disruptions. On the other hand, closer to central London it can get very busy/hectic and living in a flat might seem a bit much if you're used to a house. I think outer boroughs make perfect the perfect compromise.