SE London house prices

[JonahDay]

Me and my family are returning to London after a long time as ex pats. We are planning to return in time for our DC to start the new school year next September and we have secured places at a school for them already.
Due to Covid we have not been able to come back to the U.K. as planned to house hunt. We have family members who are going to help us instead (viewing on our behalf if we can convince agents to let them). We would prefer to come straight into a house we own rather than have to rent and move twice - we were planning on doing that but the stamp duty break plus having school nailed down is putting us off.

Due to family connections and job locations (and the school for DC, again we have a personal connection to the school) we are looking in the Greenwich/ Blackheath/ Lee area but I am finding the pricing really difficult to work out - I thought London priced pretty much on sq ft but there seems to be quite large price differences along the same street even.

Also, the Rightmove sold price gadget doesn't update regularly enough for us to be able to see what houses have sold for more recently after the first wave of Covid.

For example (one of these is under offer already and the other we have only viewed online, it is over our budget at that price, so this is only an example, it isn't even our preferred location) what is the £200k difference between these two? The kitchen extension? Would it cost that much to extend?

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-96094358.html

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-86037451.html

Does anyone know the area well to comment? Is it a good area? We have been told to go more toward the Blackheath train station area but very little comes up there on budget.

I agree with @JoJoSM2. Lots of people just want to move in.

@MLMbotsgoaway

Ok. I don’t really know Blackheath that well. I just remember looking at some potential BTL there and there seemed to be some more affordable modern properties closer to the village amenities.

It depends what part - the conservation area is lovely and has a nice atmosphere. Other parts not so much - but Greenwich is a bit like that - there are parts I would avoid.

There are some lovely parts of Lee and Hither Green - and you’ll get a lot more for your money there than in Blackheath!

I OP, I just moved from here. This area is considered to be Blackheath Royal Standard bordering East Greenwich (bit grotty, has chicken shops, Iceland etc) and Charlton rather than Blackheath Village, the feel is very different to the village, hence the price. Blackheath Village is restaurants, cafes, estate agents, high end clothes, prep schools)

However, you would be close to Greenwich Park and there are some nearby shops such as M&S. you would also be a 15 minute bus ride away to North Greenwich tube and the heath of Blackheath isn't far at all.

Sorry, I mean East Greenwich is a bit grotty. The standard is fine but nowhere near as posh as the village

We just moved to Blackheath after being expats for a long time :) Have completely fallen in love with it too.

There is a big problem with traffic in this area, made worse by recent street closings -- the stretch between Lee and Blackheath can be miserable, I would not want to do that school run twice a day. If you can find something in walking distance to the school you will be really grateful in the long run.

The houses you linked are in a nice area but I'd agree with staying more toward Blackheath and Greenwich if you want DLR, shops, restaurants, etc. Blackheath Standard/Van Brugh Park has a good range of shops compared to some of the other areas east of the park, but is still a bit cheaper than closer to the Village.

There seem to be a few options in the Village, have you seen this?
www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-96847718.html

You'll also have more options if you are willing to share a garden, communal garden in this area often means just sharing with a couple households.

I'd suggest contacting the estate agents in Blackheath directly and have them start looking for you, the usual chains are here as well as some well-established local agents.

Foyle Road is definitely not a grotty area - it's very close to Greenwich Park and equidistant between Maze Hill and Westcombe Park stations. The difference in those houses is the modernisation. Its a 10/15 minute walk to Blackheath village. It's not that easy to get to N Greenwich Jubilee Line, even though it's not far away due to the traffic which is now horrendous on Trafalgar Rd/Blackwall Lane. A lot of people cycle to the wharf through the Greenwich Foot Tunnel or walk to the DLR station at Greenwich or walk to Blackheath and change at Lewisham. You won't get a house with a big garden any closer to Greenwich under that budget.

The houses are bigger with bigger gardens in the Westcombe Park/Maze Hill area. The Cator Estate in Blackheath is far more expensive. Hither Green is nice and it is one stop to Lewisham DLR where you can change for the wharf. The houses are around 850-1mil.

A lot of the private school buses stop on Westcombe Park Rd or Coleraine Road so it's good for independent school transport.

For the DLR I would also say don’t discount the roads that go down towards lewisham as well - still easy walk to the village but if you’re searching by postcode will come up as se13

I lived in westcombe Park for several years and now in East Greenwich... Both houses about 3 mins walk from the Foyle Road ones linked.
The shops at the standard are in some ways better than the village for food etc... Decent butcher, greengrocer, 2 good bakeries, marks simply food etc. Whereas in the village the greengrocer is overpriced and not nearly as good and there is no good general store.
It takes about 10-15 mins to walk into Greenwich. Easy cycle or run through the foot tunnel to canary wharf.
I prefer it to the other side of the heath as more convenient for transport and more down to earth. And easy to get to both blackheath and west Greenwich but you get much more for your money here.
Nicest roads are between westcombe Park Road and humber Road, from mycenae Road over to the park
The first Foyle road house has been on the market a while with price reduced now I think. Whereas the done up one a newer listing.

I am in Westcombe Park. It is lovely. Foyle road is one of the nicest roads and always use it on my cycle route. Canary Wharf is a 30 min cycle and a nice route. But also accessible through Greenwich and DLR or bus to North Greenwich and tube.

I agree with previous posters that it is the finish. John Payne is not an estate agent that is known for overpricing (unlike KFH and Foxtons).

The one thing I will note is the lack of good schools (unless you can afford private) - not sure if you have/planning to have kids. Saying this Kids and Co is at the top of Foyle road and it is a great nursery.

Yes I agree you're better off for food in Blackheath Standard, lovely streets around there too and still walking distance to all the private schools, next to the heath etc. The Village is quite overrated in a lot of ways actually. I wouldn't get hung up on it.

You are close to Maze Hill station which has trains into 4 London termini. In the other direction it takes you to Woolwich and (someday) Crossrail. And trains to some quite odd places like Luton Airport. There is a bus to the tube at North Greenwich and Cutty Sark DLR is not too far away.

Greenwich park is lovely and you are within striking distance of central Greenwich, Blackheath Village and the river.

Finding builders in London is a total nightmare. You pay a premium if someone has done the work for you.

@JonahDay make sure you consider the timing really carefully. It can take a lot longer to complete on a property than is often worked on and as current non residents come 1st April you would be subject to the new non resident surcharge of I think 3% on the full price if the property. This is on top of regular stamp duty so completion before 31st March equals stamp duty on anything over 500k but on 1st April would be on the full price plus the extra 3%. At this point if you still want to take advantage of the reduced stamp duty I would look very closely at the chain and be really clear about completion deadlines from the beginning.

We are currently house hunting around Hither Green/Lee and you get much more for your money in those areas. Where are your children going to school (roughly?)

Thank you all - lots to consider. I hadn't even considered the non resident aspect of stamp duty @TheTeenageYears I guess we might just have to rent and then buy if we can't make the March 31st deadline.

Our DC will be going to a private school in Blackheath.

Well, if you rent for a bit at least you could get a feel for different areas and see what works for you.

Eg Lee is popular with young families and known for its top state primaries but my first impression when looking around was that it felt v crammed in/claustrophobic with v narrow houses and roads. This Foyle Rd linked in your OP looks wide and tree-lined and appears to have a relatively grand/fancy feel to it but it sounds like the local shops/restaurants are less fancy than Blackheath Village. If you’re a fan of BV, you might find that you’ll compromise on the size of house and garden to be in the heart of it.

The point being that a long-term house purchase is a big and expensive decision so you could as well rent for a bit to then buy sth that is just right for you.

Sorry, just looking at Lee on Rightmove and it clearly has some bigger roads with large houses on your budget.

I own a rental property close to Maze Hill, but further down the hill and smaller and which is currently occupied by a family. They love it, indeed all our tenants seem to love the area. I am confused at the way others are painting it as if it is some sort of shop desert. Almost the opposite. Good access to both Greenwich Village and Blackheath which are crammed pack with independent retailers, plenty of small local shops (and chicken shops) on Trafalgar Road, and lots of bigger outlets on the Peninsular. Ikea, for example, is only 20 minutes walk.

The park has a fantastic playground if you have younger children, and the neighbourhood is green, and safe. There is lots to do. Museums aplenty, Greenwich theatre, a large cinema complex on the Peninsular, a comedy club and so on. If you do want to buy sight unseen, either of these houses would seem like a safe choice.

I don't know much about schools. I think my tenants' children stayed in their old schools, but they do seem to be able to access a lot of local extra curricular activities.

Lee has a private school called Colfe's School it's ranked higher than Blackheath girls

Also live in Maze Hill and also confused by these reactions. It’s a great area (some bits of Trafalgar Road are not great but easily avoided) . We unfortunately got priced out of the size of house we wanted so are looking a bit further east to Charlton but that second Foyle Road house looks incredible.

I think square footage is a poor guide in London suburbs - there are so many variables even on the same street. Garden size, garden orientation, period features, decor and state of repair, terraced/detached/semi, off-street parking or not, school catchment and stations - you name it and it'll be a factor.

Thanks again everyone! I thought it would be more straightforward in that this street is "x" per sq ft.... 😂
Perhaps we will be better to wait. I think we might also be able to secure a better finance deal once we are back.

Prices seem to have really increased in the last year though, we started thinking about coming back to the U.K. a year ago and I swear we could have afforded more for our money back then.

Any chance Brexit will make the market tank?

I dont think the prices are out of line with what was asked two-three years ago. The increment from our street where houses and gardens are smaller, seems about right.

A softening in prices is expected. Some are forecasting around 15% drops. But these are likely to vary. My guess is that if more people are working from home larger houses with larger gardens in nice and established areas will command a premium.

I'm sure Brexit will make the market tank. Redundancies from that and Covid will mean there are lots of lovely repossessed houses for you to take advantage of too OP. Just what a deprived area like Lewisham needs.