Why is Bermondsey so unpopular?

[Okigen]

Hi all, I'm a singleton but have been silently reading this forum over the last few years whenever I need to choose a place to live, as I found the advice here pretty accurate
Long story short, I have now saved enough to buy my first flat and am looking into Bermondsey (specifically the bits near Tower Bridge/Bermondsey Spa). For me the area is good, convenient to work and nice new modern flats etc. but it looks like the price has gone down significantly over the past 3 years Does anyone know why this is the case? What makes the area so unattractive?

Many thanks in advance!

Hmm that's interesting.

Fwiw about ten years back I lived in a flat on Grange Road and liked it very much, but I was young and single (and renting). But Bermondsey St is very cool and popular and the location is great for London Bridge, Borough, Canary Wharf etc, and I always felt safe there.

I love Bermondsey - i think it's a great area, could it be that you are looking at flats with no outside space? Prices of those have fallen

Many new build blocks in the area and adjacent areas (Borough/Elephant & Castle border), so lot's of supply. Cladding issues too.

Back in ye olden days I used to have to visit printers over in Bermondsey and was warned wander not to wander out on my own. Later a woman started working for me and she had worked over there and said that she never took her handbag out when she went for lunch. This was about 20 years ago though! Maybe it’s just legacy?

Hmm. Could be a couple of things - flats with no outside space, as pp said. Ex-council properties, of which Bermondsey has many. Possibly the ‘wrong’ postcode (se16 instead of se1?). The cladding scandal. New builds flooding the market.

I'm also confused! Like the pp I lived there about 10 years ago (maybe more like 15) and it was great - especially being able to walk to work in 10 mins! I went back last year and Bermondsey at has gotten very fancy. I'd have thought prices would have skyrocketed

Maybe with so many people WFH the location isn't such a pull?

what are you basing your assertions about significant price decreases on?

@korawick12345

what are you basing your assertions about significant price decreases on?

Hi, thanks everyone for the prompt replies!

@korawick12345 I'm looking on House Price on Rightmove.
This is what it says:
For flats: Overall, sold prices for flats in Bermondsey over the last year were 2% down on the previous year and 25% down on the 2017 peak of £736,238.
For terraces: Overall, sold prices for terraced properties in Bermondsey over the last year were 11% up on the previous year and 10% down on the 2018 peak of £876,833.

I'm also checking recently sold price of flats in Bermondsey and it looks like all of them have fallen noticeably.

That is very broad brush data - what sort of price bracket are you looking at because i have had a look at a few and can't find anything that looks to be significantly cheaper than previously!

It will be the outdoor space point - not many even have balconies around there, and not many big parks in the area. Not the ideal place to be locked down!

it looks like a there are a couple of people who overpaid for new builds and there is one that was bought for 1.2 and sold for 950 but other than that i wouldn't be too concerned

@korawick12345

That is very broad brush data - what sort of price bracket are you looking at because i have had a look at a few and can't find anything that looks to be significantly cheaper than previously!

Ah, sorry I'm not being clear. I'm looking at the area around Bermondsey Spa, private (non ex-council) flats in the sub 500k bracket bought around 2017 and resold recently.

Price points are quite limited but here are some:
www.rightmove.co.uk/house-prices/detailMatching.html?prop=71956950&sale=92451111&country=england
www.rightmove.co.uk/house-prices/detailMatching.html?prop=96124841&sale=92451072&country=england
www.rightmove.co.uk/house-prices/detailMatching.html?prop=31187061&sale=92452179&country=england

Maybe like other pp said, I'm looking at the flats without garden and at wrong side of Bermondsey (postcode SE16) which is why they are unpopular

So ne has gone down by 5% one has gone up by 10% and one has gone down by 1.6% - Am I missing something, because none of those are showing significant price reductions

I'm fairly sure those 3 links you posted are ex-LA, so a category likely to most affected by a downtown in the market @Okigen

eg concerns about fire safety/cladding
concerns about high charges for building renovation
high service charges
redevelopment of the estates/building works
they are at the lower end of the market so lots of buy to let properties in the buildings, the rental market has dropped, therefore lots are being sold off
ex-LA can be harder to get a mortgage and/or buildings over a certain number of floors

Have you looked at local crime?
www.streetcheck.co.uk
It could be that there are issues near those properties.

I used to live near Bermondsey Square and that bit is nice, but a lot of that area was flattened during the war so loads of 50s/60s blocks in the bit closer to Rotherhithe. Then there were lots of flats put up about 15 years ago and I expect as they are sold on, they may not sell for as much as they did when new built.

A lot of Bermondsey is really ugly and doesn't feel terribly safe to walk about at night. There are those nice gentrified pockets though and still a few beautiful old terraces but it's mainly quite unlovely!

I knew someone who said he came from Berm-on-Sea.

I think Bermondsey Street causes a lot of confusion because it isn't really in Bermondsey.

Proper Bermondsey is further east. It's the area north of Old Kent Road and south of the river and then kind of blurs into Rotherhithe/Deptford/Lewisham. It has a major railway track running through it, which splits the area in two and means a lot of roads across the area go through dank dark railway arches. There are also a lot of industrial parks and large 80s low rise council estates. It doesn't have much historic character and doesn't have very good public transport options - one tube station north of the railway, and not very many good bus routes compared to other places south of the river. So it can take a while to get anywhere, even though you're relatively central. And it has a rough reputation e.g. the home of Millwall Football Club. If you get lost around the industrial parks at night, it feels rather abandoned and intimidating.

If you can live closer to Tower Bridge/Maltby Street/Shad Thames area - that's much nicer. But expensive.

I think I'd look further south if I was you - so the other side of Old Kent Road, leading into Walworth/Camberwell/Kennington.

The first flat you linked to in Devon Mansions - that isn't really in Bermondsey and is very close to the river and the More London development (e.g. the Bridge Theatre). And ten minutes walk to London Bridge.

It's in a Peabody type building which price-wise tends to rise more than ex council blocks but less than other period flats. It's near quite busy main roads. But still I've walked past that block many times and think that'd be a great place to live. It did increase in price from £430k to £530k in two years - 2018 to 2020. So not falling?

The third one you linked to, in Tabard Street, is ex council and very small. The block itself has a nice character to it I think.

But again, I'd say that isn't really in Bermondsey - it's SE1 so more Tower Bridge/Borough. Just a couple of streets over is Trinity Church Square which is beautiful. Houses there sell for £3 million:

www.primelocation.com/for-sale/details/54556962/?search_identifier=79963c69556244de144eea726ee439fb

So the area as a whole isn't cheap but it is mixed. You can have a row of Georgian mansions next to a rundown 1960s tower block next to a well-kept Peabody block, all in a 5 minute walk. Tower Bridge road is very busy and can have long traffic jams.

I live in SE16 and have done my whole 30 years and would have to say I can't wait to move out completely.

Crime rate has soared in the last couple of years. Can't even walk down the road without someone on a bike or electric scooter trying to snatch a phone out of your hand. We've had more stabbings in the past year and in general just doesn't feel safe anymore. I would say maybe reconsider another area but this could be an all over london problem right now.

Bearing in mind property prices peaked circa 2016, I'm not surprised that prices has fallen in the last few years...

I used to live in one of the Bermondsey Spa buildings. I think the current price trend is more of a reflection of what went before. Between 2011 - 2014, prices for the new build flats increased by ridiculous amounts. As in, they nearly doubled. And they just hit a ceiling. If you're already charging £500k for a bog standard one bed flat, how much higher can it really go? So since then they've just plateaued.

Plus there was loads of cladding that needed to be removed. Some of the buildings had 24hour fire wardens for a while. Hard to shift a death trap.

SE1 near Bermondsey St itself (as PP mentioned this isn’t really “Bermondsey”) is a fantastic area - really buzzing and so many cool restaurants and wine bars opening, lots of professional couples and super dog friendly too, plus very easy to get around all parts of London with the walking distance to London bridge station. The hideous elephant & castle shopping mall is also being demolished and that will replaced with more of a courtyard restaurant park vibe, and I think there is a new tube station in the 10 year plan as well which will increase transport links down that end. I would def recommend SE1 - don’t know anything about SE16 though.

Thanks everyone for really helpful advice! I'll keep these in mind when picking the streets to live
@Dogoodfeelgood Wow, so they finally pull down that shopping mall! I haven't been to Elephant & Castle for 10 years now because the last impression was so bad.

Can’t comment on prices, but just to say I used to live in The Blue, and hated it. But I can imagine anything before you get to Jamaica Road would be nice (and expensive)!