It feels crazy that nearly £900k isn’t enough to buy a nice house with a garden in a safe area of London!

[Propertyahhh]

A complaint post really.

I know, first world problems. But we have almost £900k to spend and it won’t get us a house with a garden in any London neighbourhood we like (Blackheath, Hackney, Muswell Hill, Crouch End, East Dulwich). So we thought we’d look at Bath, Bristol, Hove, etc and it doesn’t even stretch very far there. Tiny terraces with tiny gardens - if that.

Why is property so expensive?!?! How can so many people afford excess £1m to spend on houses?

To an extend, how much one earns it now practically irrelevant to where they can afford as the nice houses in zone 2/3 usually cost at the very least 2m+ (400-500k combined earning which not many people will achieve at the time they need the space).'

Yes it's more important when you bought & if you are young whether your parents can help you.

Here are some examples;

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/109708409#/

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/106822385#/

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/110238050#/

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/110159855#/

And the one I would buy if I could …

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/90235126#/

Honestly. I've just bought a 4 bed house with a garden in Bath. For under 500000.

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/84128155#/

Why live in London? Do what we all do with that budget and move to cute village with a fast train into London. Nicer schools, quieter, less dirty and gross..but can get in quickly for work, socialising, culture.

We swapped a small place in crouch end for a large house with massive garden in a village. My DH commute into central London is quicker now! 35 mins door to door. Do it!

Try Pitshanger or Northfields

The areas you are looking at are very popular. Often with very good schools and an attractive lifestyle. And relatively easy access to well paid jobs and good transportation. For that reason decent family houses in those areas are really sought after and there are more people wanting to buy them (generally), hence the price. 1 million hasn’t bought much in an established nice area of London for decades. I started out in a flat in a dodgy bit of London, then a small house in a less dodgy bit, then a complete renovation job in a very nice bit of south London. I did them all up, sold at a sensible time, and also worked really hard in a well paid job. In the areas you are talking about most families (at least those who didn’t buy in the 90s) will have at least one very high earner (150k plus) maybe two, a huge mortgage and a few rungs on the property ladder behind them- only the very independently wealthy can buy there first time. Some really good suggestions of places to try but I think you either need to be considering slightly less established areas or move a little bit further out.

Cheam and Carshalton.

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/78850587#/

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/109215533#/

For a lot of people the answer will just be - they bought their house while the area was still looked down on by people who thought it wasn’t quite good enough for them (a bit too sketchy, a little bit too real, not safe enough)

This was what we did. We put into right move our budget and looked at all of London. DH worked in the City and I worked in West London with no family ties in the UK, it came down to our commutes.

Found a place in an 'undesirable' part of SW London in our budget and sold 7 years later for 75% more than we paid.

Utter madness.

But there were lots of people like us moving in to the area, professionals with increasing salaries and so nice little coffee shops and pubs sprung up locally for us to spend our money there.

1 million hasn’t bought much in an established nice area of London for decades.

Decades? What areas are you referring to?

If you don't need to commute into town every day (as it is a bit of a transport blackspot) Furzedown between Streatham and Tooting might work (although a lot of the gardens are quite small). Streatham itself might also be worth a look but there are some really quite dodgy areas so you'd have to be careful.

@snotf I think prices in Blackheath and Muswell Hill and the better parts of Hackney went over 1million for a decent house with a garden at least 15-20 years ago (I was looking in Blackheath in 2006 and certainly couldn’t afford it then). Maybe not East Dulwich but that area has risen massively in price more recently. Also places like Battersea, Fulham, Highbury, Queens Park etc which the OP doesn’t mention but which were seen as solid family areas rather than playgrounds for the super rich. I’m just trying to emphasise that not being able to get a family house for £1 million isn’t a new thing!

20 yrs ago you could definitely buy a house in Fulham, Battersea, Blackheath, nice parts of Hackney for considerably less then 1m.

Redbridge...the nice part near the station / The Drive etc is very safe and you will easily get a big 4 bed with big garden and garage etc for your budge.

Sydenham is nice, less urban but 20min to Victoria.

In Bristol Bishopston around Gloucester Rd is more Dulwich-like than other parts of Bristol , and Redland is nice bordering Clifton (Redland still expensive but depends where exactly you are). The houses are very spacious there even if terraces due to good ceiling high, solid walls).

What about E11? Access to the central line, as well as Wanstead park, flats and Epping Forrest. Your budget should get a 3 or 4 bed with a decent garden. Eg:

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/107680931

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/108388187

Hackney, safe?

Every borough has its issues. Broaden your horizon.

@Peanutbuttercupisyum

Why live in London? Do what we all do with that budget and move to cute village with a fast train into London. Nicer schools, quieter, less dirty and gross..but can get in quickly for work, socialising, culture.

We swapped a small place in crouch end for a large house with massive garden in a village. My DH commute into central London is quicker now! 35 mins door to door. Do it!

What village is 35min door to door into London? Been looking to move but can't find anything with a decent commute.

@nowneverlater Harpenden, possibly? Easily as expensive as London though!

That Crystal Palace house could be amazing - I have friends who live on that road and it is a lovely area with great community.,

Gillingham in Dorset
Sherborne too, both direct trains to London.

Salisbury?

Loads of places that would get you a great place for your budget!

Great schools in these areas also xx

@nowneverlater Kentish villages are not far from that. Canterbury is 45 mins from st pancras (not a village but you could live in one locally and make it to London in under an hour if you factored driving to the station)

I agree, OP. It's why we reluctantly moved out of London. We now live in a small cathedral city. It's a 90-minute commute away but we have a home we absolutely love, near good local schools. I do miss London though.

You would get a 4 bed/1bathroom with a small garden in parts of Wandsworth for less than £1m. One went on my street earlier this year. Excellent condition, kitchen/bathroom a bit old but definitely not a project by any means.