Living in croydon

[JamesPW12]

Hi all, First post here so wish me good luck. I am planning on getting onto the property ladder and have had a good look at Croydon which seems ideal for my needs. Are there any parts of central croydon, near the stations that are better than others and the ones to avoid? Im planning on purchasing a house within a 10 minute walk of either the east or west croydon station. Out of the following places, which would you say is most ideal for safety, transport links, shops and things to do for professionals: addiscombe west, broad green, old town area or south croydon. Thanks

What’s your budget? East Croydon generally much nicer than West. I’d aim for Addiscombe of the options above. South Croydon has some very nice bits but obviously lacks the benefit of the transport links East and West Croydon have. Old Town has some nice buildings but almost all are right next to the flyover and I wouldn’t want the noise. Would definitely avoid Broad Green.

I live in neighbouring South Norwood and would suggest looking at it you’re considering Croydon - Norwood Junction benefits from fast trains and Thameslink but there’s a real community feel it’s not quite as ‘gritty’ as certain bits of Croydon.

Avoid trying to live within walking distance of the stations, especially west. The North of the Borough is pretty grim honestly. PP right about avoiding broad green. Agree addiscombe is lovely, parts of South Croydon too but it can be more expensive than you think.

Croydon has a bad rep but its a huge borough with massive variety. We almost bought in Addiscombe before finances changed drastically enabling us to buy in SW17. Still have a soft spot for it.

Do you absolutely need to be within a 10-min wall of East or West Croydon? If you want ‘safe’, then much better bets in the borough of Croydon would be Purley or Coulsdon for example. They have nice residential areas and both have town centres with amenities.

www.met.police.uk/a/your-area/met/croydon/broad-green/

BTW, the Met police does have a lot of stats available.

My exH recently bought in South Croydon and his priorities were definitely transport links and things to do for professionals, so I imagine that's worth a look.

And he grew up in East Croydon so knows the area well and wouldn't choose it now (whether that's based on 15-year-old bias, I don't know).

100% South Croydon or Addiscombe out of those areas. If you could manage from one of the stations a little further out, the space between Sanderstead and Purley Oaks stations has some nice properties.

We're in Sanderstead and have been very happy here.

Another map I found.

maps.cdrc.ac.uk/#/geodemographics/imde2019/default/BTTTFFT/14/-0.0940/51.3674/

It looks like South Croydon or Addiscombe over the other areas.

Does it have to be Croydon? It does not have a best of reputation and you might be better off looking a bit further even if it means a longer commute to get a better and safer quality of life.

Hi All. Thanks for your messages, really appreciate it all. So we are currently living in Hither Green, Lewisham but renting and it seems like its not possible to get onto the housing ladder in Lewisham at all with a budget of 350,000 max. That's why we came across Croydon. As mentioned before, central Croydon came up as a place of redevelopment with solid transport links. We are looking to purchase a 2 bed house in a trendy part of Croydon where a lot of professionals live and not in the riff raff areas as people have mentioned.

Hi Dolly, Thanks for your post. My budget is £350,000 and I am currently working near London Bridge. I understand that there are parts of Croydon that are 'frowned upon' which is why i wanted a really good understanding of the area by the locals. Just looking for an area where professionals are residing with the amenities to suit such as trendy pubs, restaurants, leisure activities etc.

There will be a few 2 bed terraces in the roads off of the Brighton road in South Croydon.
With 350k I think in most of the Borough a house in the nicer parts won't be affordable

If I’m honest, £350k is a bit tight for a house except in areas I wouldn’t be super keen to live in. We’ve recently accepted an offer on our two bed garden flat for £312k to give an idea of context (South Norwood, in the direction of the lakes). Would you consider a flat (with outside space if necessary?) or does it have to be a house?

As I say we’re in South Norwood and have found it pretty good, lots of independent cafes and bars and a couple of galleries too, and Crystal Palace is always up the road for when you’re craving a more of the ‘young and trendy professional’ vibe. Central Croydon very useful to have down the road for shopping or occasional haunts to Boxpark etc but I wouldn’t want to live right in the thick of it, hence thinking more about Addiscombe, South Croydon of your options above.

Personally I would avoid, it's grim. I escaped at 18! Crystal Palace is nicer

Addiscombe, Blackhorse Lane, Arena etc all absolutely fine! Easy Croydon has excellent transport links, especially if you’re working in London Bridge. I lived between Addiscombe and Blackhorse Lane for several years and DH grew up in the area. I think there’s a lot of snobbery around Croydon because of crime stats but I’m not sure it’s any worse than Hackney is or used to be - I used to live on a road in Hackney nicknamed “murder mile”!! Not really sure why exactly but the whole area didn’t have the best reputation either and people still lived there, unscathed.

Agreed @GorgeousLadyofWrestling. Obviously there are more desirable bits of London but that doesn’t mean that lots of ‘normal’ people don’t live in Croydon quite happily. I think it’s fair to also say that the ‘reputation’ stuff is quite out of date - certainly there have been more stabbings near our old rented flat in Clapham than our owned one in the past couple of years 🤷🏻‍♀️

And in any event we don’t all have the £500k+ to live in those other areas, and would quite like not to live so far out that we then spend all our free time on Southern rail

*our owned flat here (SE25) to be slightly clearer

Re crime stats, the borough of Croydon compares poorly to other outer London boroughs but favourably to inner London. And anyway, it’s many miles across so it covers a lot of different areas ranging from rundown stabby bits to the very rich in their mega mansions.

With your budget OP you won't be able to afford the nicer/safer bits of Croydon (addiscombe, sanderstead etc) or (because the housing market is a joke) the "trendy" part near the going out spots near the station either!

With that budget you'll get middle of nowhere with nothing to do or a high crime rate. I'd look at flats not houses with that budget.

With that budget, how about the Shooters Hill/Plumstead Common area? You'd get a nice 2 bed with a garden and it's fairly close to Blackheath/Greenwich.

@Lightsabre

With that budget, how about the Shooters Hill/Plumstead Common area? You'd get a nice 2 bed with a garden and it's fairly close to Blackheath/Greenwich.

Hey, Thanks for your comment. I did have a look at shooters hill/woolwich. However was impressed by the abundance of shops, restaurants, bars and transport in Croydon. Majority of the kind members who have commented on this post have mentioned South Croydon (near the Station) so maybe I should start my search there. Just don't want to purchase a house in an area where's there's lots of crime, not many developments occurring, unemployment etc. And thought it was best to ask locals who would have a much better understanding of the areas.