Would you buy a one bed, no outside space flat in Home Counties right now?

[Sssloou]

Young relative looking to buy first home. With hard earned savings can just scrape enough to buy a one bed flat with no outside space in Home Counties.

Would you advise buying now or waiting? Worried that this type of property will drop in price over the next year (post furlough, post stamp duty holiday) and they will risk negative equity. I am a believer in having a home and if it goes up or down over the long term you just weather it ..... but with a one bed flat it’s unlikely they will stay there or it will be suitable for more than 5 years just due to their stage in life - and worry that they may lose some of their hard earned / saved cash deposit when they come to move on.

Do these property types in this type of area hold value (lots of new builds going up around it - this one is 12 years old) - and what price is reasonable to pay now - eg less or more than 2019 / 18 / 17 sold prices?

If you're working and socialising in London, I really don't think you want to live in Loudwater. How is he proposing to get to work when he is back in the office? It's only a few miles to HW station and there are buses but it's a horrible journey in rush hour, trains from HW to London are quick but aren't that frequent and then he'll have to get from Marylebone to his office. Alternatively, he could get the train from Beaconsfield but you can only exit the M40 at junc 3, not join so he'd be on the side roads and, again, it's busy. There must be buses but I'm not sure how frequent they are or how long it would take. Has he also looked into the cost of train fares? Cost of marking at the station/bus fares?
If he doesn't know anyone in the area, isn't working in the area and is going to live by himself, how is he going to make local friends? Or is he planning in just socialising in London? That will be time consuming and expensive. And lonely if there is another lockdown.
Of course, it's easy for me to come up with a load of negatives as I was working in London and looking for my first flat 20yrs ago when property prices were very different. I have no idea what I'd do in similar circumstances.

Could he consider 2 bed with a flat mate?

I’m sure he’d make money if it was convenient to stations

No, so many of these 'commuter' flats have gone up and people's lifestyles have changed post covid. The service charge would put me off too. Friends of mine with similar budgets have been looking at maisonettes.

Why doesn’t he just buy in London? There’s more chance of it retaining its value or increasing a little bit because people will always want to live in London.

I wouldn’t buy a new build flat or anywhere in the commuter belt but I’m biased here because I am in the process of buying a small 1 bed flat in London (for much less than 280, and it has a massive communal garden). I’m fully aware that it might not gain any value and willing to take that risk. I’ve been looking for a London flat for 2 years now and prices didn’t drop last year over lockdown, they haven’t dropped now, if anything they’re actually increasing slightly. The place I’m buying is 205, and it’s decently refurbished inside, but flats in that price bracket now are largely auction properties in disrepair, ex council flats in disrepair, in terrible areas, or cash buyers only. So in London at least I think there’s a good chance of value at least holding. In some random town in the Home Counties probably not because if people are going outside of London they’re likely to want a house.

HW isn’t random really. Loudwater is one of the old working class areas with factories nearby. It’s in a Valley and is dissected by the old A40 and the newer M40. The road transport links are good but Loudwater isn’t near the station.

He will get fed up with commuting for work and pleasure so I would at least look for somewhere with opportunities to meet people/live with someone.

There are lots of 2 bed flats in HW much neater the station for around this price. £275,000 for 1 bed in Loudwater is a lot in my view.

The other place I would look at is Maidenhead. I’m not sure when the Elizabeth line is opening but when it does, Maidenhead is linked with the West End of London and it will be quick. That rail line will future proof Maidenhead.

@TedMullins

Why doesn’t he just buy in London? There’s more chance of it retaining its value or increasing a little bit because people will always want to live in London.

I wouldn’t buy a new build flat or anywhere in the commuter belt but I’m biased here because I am in the process of buying a small 1 bed flat in London (for much less than 280, and it has a massive communal garden). I’m fully aware that it might not gain any value and willing to take that risk. I’ve been looking for a London flat for 2 years now and prices didn’t drop last year over lockdown, they haven’t dropped now, if anything they’re actually increasing slightly. The place I’m buying is 205, and it’s decently refurbished inside, but flats in that price bracket now are largely auction properties in disrepair, ex council flats in disrepair, in terrible areas, or cash buyers only. So in London at least I think there’s a good chance of value at least holding. In some random town in the Home Counties probably not because if people are going outside of London they’re likely to want a house.

I agree with this 100% and this would be his preference but I think he thought he was totally priced out of London. He needs to look again more closely. What areas N, NW, W or SW should he focus on to get something in budget.

He definitely isn’t priced out - a search for flats in south London between 200-280 turns up over 1,000 results! www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/find.html?locationIdentifier=REGION%5E92051&maxBedrooms=3&minBedrooms=1&maxPrice=280000&minPrice=200000&sortType=6&propertyTypes=&mustHave=&dontShow=sharedOwnership%2Cretirement&furnishTypes=&keywords=

I haven’t looked much at north London but in south, if his budget is 280 he’ll have a lot of choice. I used to live in Tooting and would definitely recommend it there, or Morden. They have tubes. The flat I’m buying is in south Norwood. Crystal Palace, Thornton Heath, Norbury, Streatham also worth a look

Also Clapham/Brixton and Camberwell are popular places with excellent transport links with 1 beds within his budget. I'd avoid new builds though, no matter how striking they look...!

I think for me it would depend on where it is I.e if it's the new build on kingsmead road then it's across the road to a park, if it's the rye mead estate then it's walkable to the same park or the rye.

There doesn't seem to be issue with flats selling in the area at all and while prices may of course go down, but houses are snapped up in this area and it's very easy to get priced out quickly