Bexley London Borough - good area?

[kskibs]

Hi all! :)

Me and my partner are first time buyers in our mid 20's and have been looking at properties in the london borough Bexley, in particular Sidcup and Orpington as we need good links to road and public transport as we both work within central london. Over the past few days we have been deep diving ito area stats and trying to find some more info before we make the fial decision. Could ayone who currently lives in the area or recently moved give us some advice? we have also looked at all the crays so foots cray, st mary cray etc and they didnt have very good opinions. Is there any particular areas you reccommend? Thank you so much in advance for all your help!

Yeah avoid st Mary's cray.

I don't live in Orpington but I used to and my parents still do. The high street is a lot better then it used to be. And trains are very quick to most London hubs. Used to be able to get a fast train to London Bridge in 20mins.
The nicer area is up and around the train station I guess ... tubbenden lane, schools are good too.

I've not lived in bexley but would pick Orpington over it myself, Orpington just feels a bit greener and more spacious. Whereas the roads around bexley and Sidcup are quite closely packed!

Sidcup is not very nice; Orpington is much better but like PP said - avoid any of the Crays or anything at the north end of the High Street. Anything south of Spur Road/Crofton Road is nice, as well as the Crofton area. Petts Wood is also lovely but expensive (not sure what your budget is). Train links from Orpington are amazing! 15 minutes by fast train into London Bridge.

We used to live in Sidcup and really liked it. The high street has had a lot of new shops/micro pubs/restaurants open recently and has really improved. We only moved recently as we wanted to go from flat to house and were priced out.

It depends where you are now and what you're comparing it to. So yes, Orpington is a bit nicer than Sidcup, but that's reflected in the price of properties.

St Mary Cray isn't great but then again it is cheaper still, likewise Foots Cray.

It really depends on your budget and what you want to buy, ie flat or house. In Sidcup you'd be looking at around 350k for a 2 bed house, and probably 300k for a 2 bed flat, and 50k more for the same in Orpington.

If you're first time buyers in your twenties sidcup and Orpington are fine. There is nothing wrong with those areas, they're not as nice as chislehurst and Sevenoaks but I'm assuming you'd buy there if you could afford to. I know two people who bought in sidcup, made money and are now out in lovely properties in Kent.

There are pockets of nice areas in the Crays but the reason people buy there is often budget or family nearby. The Crofton end of Petts Wood is a good compromise if you don’t have a big budget but want a nice area. The compromises are the 1960s architecture and a longer walk to either Orpington or Petts Wood stations. 2 bed terrace about 350 to 400k

If you do have a good budget then Petts Wood is lovely, convenient, great community feel, amenities, clubs and recreation grounds. 3 bed semi around £600k, 2 bed maisonette with private garden £300k.