We are starting to look for a house after living in a 2 bed maisonette for a number of years. No children yet but likely we will try soonish, so want more of a family home. We know the area (in zone 4 London) we want to live in - not that much further out from where we are.
However, there are two “sides” to the area - one is very leafy and attractive with lots of nice greenery, good schools; the other is slightly more shabby (a bit more typically “London” in terms of a mix of rented and bought, slightly less spacious feeling, a tiny bit grubby around the edges but, generally, perfectly fine) and schools are slightly less good (but not terrible). Generally, housing in our budget range are of similar quality / design in both sides. Crime rates higher on the “worse” side but not particularly bad for London.
How much of a premium would you place on living in the nicer side? Currently prices for otherwise similar housing is between 100-200k more expensive in the nicer end (and we are talking about 10-15minute radius! So the greener amenities are still in reach on the less nice side). Luckily, we can afford to (relatively comfortably) stretch to the nicer end but, of course, we’d need a bigger mortgage and that difference could give us a lot more financial flexibility in the future. But we’d love living in that nicer bit and it is (hopefully) for the long haul. Would love to hear your thoughts on this!