Diverse London couple with £440k budget-looking to upsize but where?

[Wonder333]

Hi, Hoping someone could be my Kirsty/Phil!

We are a mixedAsian/White married couple looking to upsize from our one bed Croydon flat to a house. Ideally need to stay in or around London for work. Definitely want a diverse area so not sticking out, DH doesn’t want to stay in Croydon (though I still think it has potential in terms of value - not to mention fantastic links into central London), though appreciate can be dire. We have a small budget of £440k. I really want to avoid a flat as don’t want anyone living above us!

Thanks for your help 😀

For that budget & wanting diversity & good transport links Croydon is probably still your best bet honestly! Some bits are good & in your price range, like Addiscombe. Not glamorous but useful local high Street, low crime & you could afford a 3 bed. We seriously considered it before an unexpected windfall meant we could afford closer to family elsewhere. If you stay in Croydon you want to avoid the North of the Borough, Thornton Heath & Waddon are awful.

Most of my friends with similar criteria looked towards SE London but I find the transport pretty poor still & on your budget you'd be looking at a v small house or flat.

Which part of london do you need to get to? Lots of commuter towns will have houses in range so it might help to narrow your search by focussing on a train line. Do you need schools? Garden?

This is a great area. Lived there very happily until I moved a mile up the road. Very diverse (it's close to Lewisham). Lovely cafes - train station 2 minutes away - 14 minutes to Charing Cross (goes to Victoria/Cannon Street too)

Plus you can walk/bus/bike up to Blackheath/Greenwich park in ten minutes (that's where I live now).

Great schools, very naice area 😉 but loads of great community stuff

And this house is a good price

This is a great area. Lived there very happily until I moved a mile up the road. Very diverse (it's close to Lewisham). Lovely cafes - train station 2 minutes away - 14 minutes to Charing Cross (goes to Victoria/Cannon Street too)

Plus you can walk/bus/bike up to Blackheath/Greenwich park in ten minutes (that's where I live now).

Great schools, very naice area 😉 but loads of great community stuff

And this house is a good price

And Manor House gardens/cafe is great (in Hither green) Has a good community mansion that does courses/library etc

Hi we need to get to London Bridge, right now it takes about 17mins!

I don’t know much about hither green but do love blackhearh, no kids just yet.

I know Addiscombe well plus my in laws live not too far, there are few options and I’m happy to look out of London commute town but then I’m concerned I won’t get that mix I’m looking for. I did think maybe Bromley but then wasn’t too sure. Beckenham is lovely but not many houses.

Brighton is fab but it too far

You could look at Ewell, Stoneleigh and Worcester park if you don’t mind getting the tube from Waterloo. They are all 20-30 mins from Waterloo which is pretty quick and some lovely housing. My children have very diverse friendship groups at school.

Pretty little cottage
www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-93012368.html

Sutton could be worth looking at too, they do have direct trains to London bridge that are fairly quick but I don’t think there are loads per hour - most go to Victoria

Hither green to London Bridge is 9 minutes

I'm surprised at the price of a house in Hither Green!

Friends moved from Croydon to Sutton and bought a house there for around that budget. Not sure how diverse the area is though.

Eltham/New Eltham/Sidcup (SE9 or DA14)? Edge of Greenwich Borough or just into Bexley Borough. NE to LB - fastest trains 14 minutes. Few minutes more from Sidcup. Green, excellent schools, safe. Close to Blackheath and Greenwich for cafe culture.

Chislehurst also lovely but trickier to find something in your budget there.

Try Chislehurst and Chatterton Village in Bromley. They are both in Bromley London Borough and relatively, safe, pleasant areas with good transport links to central London. Chis is the more expensive of the two but has a lovely village. The fact that you are mixed will be quite irrelevant. I know, I live there :-).

Try around Lewisham/Ladywell and maybe towards Forest Hill? Also agree that Hither Green might be a good shout for affordability.

10 min walk to Streatham Common Station, 3 bed house www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-77444671.html

Look at Norbury on Rightmove. And SW16.

Streatham Common and Norbury stations have loads of trains, 5 min on the train to Balham for the Northern line.

5 min walk to Norbury Station

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-77048233.html

This is nice www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-77048233.html

If you were willing to be an hours commute from London then you could go for something like this:

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-71264034.html

So may depend on how close you want to be and what size of property you would want for that budget. Good luck!

Penge? It’s where I live so of course I would recommend it, but transport links are good, there’s community spirit, and it’s diverse. High street has some useful shops, not especially glamorous but has some gems. A couple of nice pubs. Nice things such as microbrewery and local coffee roasters. Beckenham in one direction for all the chain restaurants, and Crystal Palace up the hill.

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-90587264.html

Thanks everyone, seen some of these and I did think about Sutton, heard mixed reviews. Was telling DH last night about some of suggestions, he’s born n bred Londoner and lived in many parts, he was umming and ahhing 😩

I’ll have to try persuade him to keep local in Croydon or further out. Despite pick up in market there have been some price drops so will watch this space. Got to get our place in order, such fun!

Hither Green is lovely and lewisham itself is very diverse. I live in blackheath/Greenwich area but spend a lot of time in HG/Lewisham. The schools in HG are v good, something I wish I'd realised when we bought our house as we'd probably have moved closer to HG.

Have you thought of moving further afield like Leigh-on-sea, you would get a nice property for your money and only 45 mins to Fenchurch St.

Come to Plumstead! Your money would get you a nice house. Train line is direct to London Bridge. Population is diverse.

Being close to the high st is better fot transport, but the roads around Plumstead Common and Winn's Common are more sought after. There's loads of green space.

I think around Sutton could be good. The more sought after areas are South Sutton, the parts towards Cheam Village or Carshalton Beeches. Carshalton Village is lovely too. I think you should be able to get a 2-bed house in those areas.

I live in the Borough of Lewisham although it becomes Southwark about 5 houses away so it's very much on the border. I'm afraid excluding a few places, I've yet to find somewhere in Lewisham I like much. Lewisham itself seems pretty grim tbh.

I also don't like Sutton, but have only seen the high street and where a friend lives - but you could probably buy a house there.