Buying house in Greater London and old age properties

[yoda101sw]

Hi, I live in Kent and selling my house which was bought via help to buy an equity loan scheme, the legal process is in progress.

I'm looking to buy a 4-bed detached house with a garage/parking, garden with a budget of £500K-£600K. My workplace is near Piccadilly circus where I may need to go a few times but due to the nature of work, I usually have to travel (pre-covid). Currently, I work from home but depending on the rules, I'll need to travel again. That is the reason I'd like to live not that far from London. I'd like to have the train & tube journey to be not more than 1 hour at max as preference.

I have not viewed many houses in London/Greater London so far as there are not many options available under my budget with the current market. However, the available options are quite old houses and I have only lived in a new build for the last 5 years. So, I'm concerned about the age as well. I do hear from people that it is okay to go for old houses, get the survey done and any issues will be known.

There is a 4-bed bungalow that I have viewed, I like it but the agent says that it is from the 1960s/70s. It is quite costly due to the current market no doubt but it is good too. I liked this one particularly as everything is on the ground floor so will be good for my old mother.

I'd like to get the following info from this forum:

• Is it common to go for the old houses/bungalow?
• What should I ask in terms of the checklist for these old bungalows/houses?
• Any area that you can recommend for me? With good transport to zone 1 hub stations, nearby good schools primary & secondary, hospital, market, social/community life, etc.

Any advice will be much appreciated. I'm very concerned that even with my budget it is not possible to get a house that gives 90-100% satisfaction.

Hi, with older houses, you would want to have a proper survey, so you understand what you would be taking on. And remember that new builds only come with a 10 year guarantee - but we all hope they're going to last a lot longer than that.

My family have always lived in new builds - although one was a barn conversion - and they seem to need to do maintenance work on them in much the same way as we do on our 1930s house.

Not sure where to suggest you look with your criteria - that doesn't seem a massive budget for what you're after tbh.

4 bed detached that close a commute that close to London on that budget sounds nigh on impossible.

As you're finding, most houses in established areas are older houses. So yes, it is of course common to buy an older property.

• yes, it’s normal to buy older houses. Many prefer them.
• get a full structural survey done. Don’t panic when you see the list of problems (there will be many, mostly minor); just work out if any are showstoppers (subsidence, flooding, problems you cannot afford to resolve in a sensible timescale at a sensible cost).
• I’m afraid that’s probably an impossible ask for the location / house spec / budget. Are you prepared to compromise on any factor?

I put the criteria into Rightmove for ‘London’ & got 1 result! this . No idea on the area!

You might be able to get a nicely proportioned terraced house with a garage in Croydon or Hemel Hemsted. And if you are very lucky, you might find a semi detached with garage. But I hate to burst your bubble. A detached with garage an hour from Piccadilly is never going to happen. I would love to be proven wrong though.

Added one mile in and got 12 results! Mostly Hainault / Ilford / Romford, plus a couple in Croydon.

Your budget won't stretch to what you want.

Lots of the housing stock is older it's quite normalisation get a proper survey.

How far into Kent are you, would seem easier to stay out and commute in when you need to.

Well of course it’s common to buy older houses, have you never looked around you? Most of the housing stock is older.

People will always come on these threads and say ooh nooo you won't get that for your budget... Well that isn't true really. I bought a 3 bed with a convertible loft last year in RB Kingston for 430k. Garden, nice, needs some work but nothing horrendous. It's not th most glam bit of greater London but it's doable and the commute is fine.

However... If you need Paddington that is a bit different as I think you need a different line.

But don't get disheartened. Do you need schools?? If not you can save a lot by moving into a perfectly good area in the 'wrong' school catchment.

Your budget is very ambitious for what you want - you will probably need to look further out.

But how have you managed to live well into adulthood and get yourself a £500k budget without noticing that most people (the vast majority in fact) don't live in brand new houses?

OP wants 4 bed detached with garden and parking though. In a decent area.

I was going to suggest Kent!

West Wickham will be just over 1hr door to door and you may just about find an old bungalow. Otherwise the better transport hubs like East Croydon or Bromley South are the first outer London suburbs. Detatched mostly start from 1m+

Lee is further in and more urban, lacks its own community hub/amenities or high Street. Quick train in but otherwise nothing there.

Can you start by working backwards out from train lines to figure out remotely possible areas? From KX or Euston there may be slightly longer (but ££) train journey options eg Rugby and surrounding is 1h 25 ish from Euston, and you could get a new build for that, Wellingborough train into St Pancras, Stafford into Euston, but I think the combo you're proposing is going to be hens teeth, places in need of complete refurbishment (or likely both). Have a think about what is your top priority, commute, space, area, and write your list down then try and evaluate some options using Rightmove with this in mind and visit to see what you think

*first outer London suburbs on SE side

I don't know anything about NE and E London... totally discounted N, W, NW and SW London because they are pricier than SE

When you sad old I thought you meant - old! Like Victorian! I wouldn't consider the 60s - 70s old.
But older houses do require more upkeep. As pp have said, get a proper survey but be prepared that maintenance is ongoing.
Good luck with your wishlist. Compromise is the name of the game.

Thanks for the messages, everyone. :)

Just to clarify, by old I meant 1950/60/70s houses or bungalows. I know that the majority of the houses in Greater London are even way older than 1950. I was just sharing my concern as the first house I bought was a 2016 build and my thinking is like if the house is more than 20 years of age, it is in the old age category. I acknowledge that this is not the case as people easily go for older properties 19xx, 18xx, etc.

I guess @Chewbecca post helps me to understand the survey outcome and look at any outstanding issues. I think I'm just worried about the maintenance & old house on-going costs that I have heard from people in the last few years. I get that survey will clarify maybe the majority of it and the rest only the time can tell.

Also, I don't have kids at the moment but I'm thinking of not moving again for a good time. So, that is the reason school is important.

Based on my search, East London (Ilford, Romford, Brentwood) has some properties under the £500K-£600K budget with 4 bed, garage/parking, garden and age is in between 1920-1980 (properties on the market currently)

I can adjust the commute time for the new house. My current journey from home station to London was close to 2 hours plus the tube journey to Piccadilly circus. So, the total train and tube journey was almost 2.5 hours one way which means 5 hours in a day easily, sometimes more!

Plantation Road Swanley BR8
www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/103920938

This is just within the M25. Other similar properties in places like Orpington.

My son-in-law is a builder and doesn’t think much of new builds. He much prefers older houses as usually better built. No matter what you buy you should have your own survey.

If you're wanting an hour to Piccadilly you could consider places on the commuter line to Marylebone.
Aylesbury or even Bicester would be about 1hr 15-30 depending how far you live/work at either end of the journey and you'd get a lot more for your money (including lots of new build estates!!) You could go closer e.g. Haddenham/Thame but your budget might be a bit more stretched.