400K Budget - Where to buy in London? (considering Sutton/Croydon)

[roamingcat]

Hello all,

My partner and I are currently looking to buy in London and would be grateful for any advice people could offer as to areas to consider. We are both in our mid to late 20's and do not have any children. We enjoy spending time outdoors and going out for food, with the occasional glass of wine at the pub!

Our budget will be around 400K and we ideally would like:

• A small house with 2 bedrooms
• A garden
• Reasonable commute into Victoria or Vauxhall

We have always rented in the Wimbledon/Earlsfield/Clapham area so good access to these areas is a bonus!

We have done some research and it looks like Sutton, Carshalton or Croydon could be good areas - does anyone have any experience living around here?

Thank you!

I had my first flat in SW11 and moved out to Sutton several years ago as we’re also sporty/outdoorsy.

Carshalton Village/Beeches would work nicely. There are a number of nice pubs in the village, a leisure centre with a great gym and swimming pool and the countryside is within walking distance. There’s also a climbing centre and a public golf course + tennis courts and clubs. The area has a brilliant sense of community with lots of events + annual Artists’ Open Houses and a community run theatre etc.

Another good spot would be somewhere within walking distance of Cheam Village (budget getting a bit tight for around there) also has a leisure centre, a David Lloyd, Nuffield Health, rugby, cricket, tennis etc In the village there’s s Waitrose and independent shops and restaurants. Nonsuch Park has a Park Run, British Military Fitmess etc. The coutryside starts by Belmont Station so 1.5 miles away (great for bike rides).

South Sutton might a stretch (much bigger houses and costly housing but occasional 2-beds come up) but it’s super leafy and you’d be very close to the coutryside and either of the above villages + Sutton town centre has a wide range of amenities (shops, pubs, restaurants, cinema with sofas, dance and yoga studios, budget gyms etc).

It’s brill for getting to Wimbledon or Clapham Junction as there are direct trains to both or it’s a 15-20min by car to Wimbledon Village.

Try Worcester park too and Morden

Check the trains for your commute - the Carshalton line generally has a faster service than the Carshalton Beeches one.

@JoJoSM2 Thank you for this, that's really helpful! We went to visit Sutton town centre the other day and were planning on making a trip to Carshalton and Cheam at some point soon - any recommendations you have for places to walk around whilst we are there would be very welcome.

Do you have any thoughts on the area surrounding Manor Park Primary School in Sutton? Lots of houses within our budget are coming up near there but we're unsure as to whether its better to be closer to Sutton town centre for the commute/transport link benefits or whether its better to be somewhere further out/more green like Cheam or Carshalton!

@9millioncansofbeans Thank you! Do you know how often the trains run from Worcester park into Vauxhall normally? Looking at the trainline they seem to only be running twice an hour during commuting times but we're unsure if this is a service reduction due to COVID.

@PaulaSmith1 Thanks for the heads up - looking at the trainline it looks like Carshalton Beeches is probably out for us because it's 45 minutes into Victoria, whereas it's about 30 minutes from Carshalton which seems perfect.

There are lots of lovely Victorian cottages around Manor Park + it’s a brilliant school (if that’s a consideration for the future). One thing I would say when looking round there that it doesn’t always feel that smart so I’d take it on a road by road basis as some roads will be better than others. There are plenty of smaller parks around but you’d be further away from any of the large, attractive green spaces.

Carshalton is actually 1 stop closer than Sutton on the Victoria line and Cheam 1 stop further out. However, they’re respectively only 1.5 and 1mile from Sutton town centre so likely to be easily accessible. Many people live in between Sutton and one of them to benefit from amenities.

Oh, re places to walk around in Cheam and Carshalton, they have pretty compact centres. Nonsuch Park is worth a look (similar feel to Richmond Park) and Carshalton Village is just generally pretty but a stroll around won’t take too long. The Sun is a nice pub.

Even if you're not on the direct line into Vauxhall the change at Clapham Junction is not a difficult one because the trains through are so frequent. Until the back end of last year I used to work in Vauxhall and I did door to desk in about 45 minutes from Sanderstead. So it may be worth looking further afield if you can bear it - certainly if you're looking Croydon way I would look at the outskirts (South Croydon/Purley Oaks/Sanderstead) rather than centrally. They're much nicer!