SE London houses - what do you think?

[MrFirstTimeBuyer]

Hi everyone, first time poster, long time reader.

We want to buy a house for a young couple / family in SE London. Budget is around 1-1.25m, and main criteria are a nice/safe area, finished house (not in need of renovation), and decent commute.

Any thoughts on these? The prices seem a bit crazy compared to properties that sold just last year.

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/118492337#/?channel=RES_BUY

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/116841581#/?channel=RES_BUY

I'd rather be too conservative and miss out on the first couple, then overpay and regret later. What do you think? Any thoughts/advice greatly appreciated!

I can’t believe that second one is a semi detached in Penge, has only one bathroom and is £1.1 million! Unless Penge has changed a lot since I was younger it was never the nicest area.

@Gabbiadini

I can’t believe that second one is a semi detached in Penge, has only one bathroom and is £1.1 million! Unless Penge has changed a lot since I was younger it was never the nicest area.

thanks - it seems a lot to me too. Granted, the house is really nice inside, but it doesnt look like any nearby properties are in that price range so maybe the sellers are just trying their luck.

The agency is KFH - do they have a reputatino for overvaluing?

Do they need to be within reach of good schools?

For that budget, I wouldn't want to live in either of those areas to be honest. Would either go more central e.g. www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/113639408#/?channel=RES_BUY

Or somewhere like Clapham, Tooting, West Dulwich

Beckenham is lovely so think it is worth it, although I wouldn't pay that much to live in Penge. You pay for the area really don't you, although I believe there are cheaper properties in Beckenham (I always keep my eyes out as we rent in Beckenham but can't afford to buy here)

Do you know the area OP? Beckenham is much nicer than Penge. I lived a couple of streets away from House 2 (in Sydenham rather than Penge) and now live the other side of Beckenham.

House 1 is gorgeous but backs onto train tracks. I would consider that on the edge of Penge/ Beckenham.

I prefer the road around Balgowan school but they may not be big enough.

Where do you need to commute into?

@Rrrob

Do you know the area OP? Beckenham is much nicer than Penge. I lived a couple of streets away from House 2 (in Sydenham rather than Penge) and now live the other side of Beckenham.

House 1 is gorgeous but backs onto train tracks. I would consider that on the edge of Penge/ Beckenham.

I prefer the road around Balgowan school but they may not be big enough.

Where do you need to commute into?

Not really - started exploring them recently.

We are trying to avoid pidgeonholing ourselves into a specific area, so we're looking broadly at the stretch from East Dulwich, Forest Hill/Honor Oak, through to Beckenham (anything further seems too far away).

Commute needs to be to Canary Wharf (so either train to Lewisham for DLR, train to London bridge for Jubilee, or overground to Canada Water works well).

@Classicblunder

Do they need to be within reach of good schools?

For that budget, I wouldn't want to live in either of those areas to be honest. Would either go more central e.g. www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/113639408#/?channel=RES_BUY

Or somewhere like Clapham, Tooting, West Dulwich

Good schools are not a must-have at this point (no kids yet).

We would take primaries into consideration but wouldn't assign much value for secondaries (since that's at minimum ~12 years away).

I'd love to keep commute to 45 minutes (or less), so I figured that I'd have more options in SE london rather than SW.

I haven't really considered Rotherhithe, we quite like the idea of living a bit further out with more space.

@Clairelucyr

Beckenham is lovely so think it is worth it, although I wouldn't pay that much to live in Penge. You pay for the area really don't you, although I believe there are cheaper properties in Beckenham (I always keep my eyes out as we rent in Beckenham but can't afford to buy here)

Found this place in Beckenham as well - seems a much better value to me so we might try to go see it. It's on a bigger road, so not sure how busy it gets. Any idea?

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/118677533#/?channel=RES_BUY

Beckenham is much 'nicer' than Penge unless you like that gritty(?) vibe.
1st house price did seem a bit high but I haven't looked at prices recently.
SE London definitely better than SW for the commute you want - though you could do it through Clapham I guess.

They are both nice but I would go for Beckenham rather than Penge.

Chislehurst is a fine area too with good public transport.

Good luck.

@blyn72

They are both nice but I would go for Beckenham rather than Penge.

Chislehurst is a fine area too with good public transport.

Good luck.

Thanks, noted.

I'll take a look at Chislehurst too.

What's the general view on Sydenham and Crystal Palace (in this price range)? Is it worth looking there too?

We're not super outgoing, but having some pubs/restaurants in the area would be nice.

London prices seem to have gone nuts in the last couple of months- we have had people posting notes through our door for 200k over what house sold on our street for in the summer.

I was born in Lennard Road 50 years ago!

Both the Kent House options are better especially the first with excellent square footage. But yes they are near the railway line. For the size of house and area I don’t think they are particularly overpriced but personally I would prefer Beckenham proper.

@Kipperandarthur

I was born in Lennard Road 50 years ago!

Both the Kent House options are better especially the first with excellent square footage. But yes they are near the railway line. For the size of house and area I don’t think they are particularly overpriced but personally I would prefer Beckenham proper.

For a newbie to the area - what would be considered "Beckenham proper"? Is it east of Clock House / south of Beckenham Junction stations?

Lennard road very busy as is the one you linked on Beckenham road. I wouldn't choose to live there. Barnmead road is nice and has a quiet leafy feel to it but you are also near a train line depending which side of barnmead the house is on. KFH don't overprice really. Penge houses have shot up in price - the commute is excellent- penge east or Kent house is about 20 mins to Victoria or penge west is good too with the overground. That's why prices are like this for period properties that are 'finished'. Beckenham is more expensive than penge though. (I count those three houses as penge really). Proper Beckenham is closer to the high street. You could look at clockhouse and around those streets or down by balgowan school - much smaller houses though. Or it morphs into 1930 semis.

Crystal Palace is good but finding decent houses near the triangle won't be easy. Also it's on a trunk line so not as quick as penge for commuting.

Beckenham proper really is closer to the High Street and Beckenham Junction station. It then spreads out across a radius before hitting Shortlands, and then in the other direction. Estate agents like to refer to quite a wide area being Beckenham!

@HavfrueDenizKisi

Lennard road very busy as is the one you linked on Beckenham road. I wouldn't choose to live there. Barnmead road is nice and has a quiet leafy feel to it but you are also near a train line depending which side of barnmead the house is on. KFH don't overprice really. Penge houses have shot up in price - the commute is excellent- penge east or Kent house is about 20 mins to Victoria or penge west is good too with the overground. That's why prices are like this for period properties that are 'finished'. Beckenham is more expensive than penge though. (I count those three houses as penge really). Proper Beckenham is closer to the high street. You could look at clockhouse and around those streets or down by balgowan school - much smaller houses though. Or it morphs into 1930 semis.

Crystal Palace is good but finding decent houses near the triangle won't be easy. Also it's on a trunk line so not as quick as penge for commuting.

Thanks, that's super helpful. I'll take a look around the area. My worry as I go further east past Clock House would be the commute to CW so I haven't ventured out there yet.

We don't need a massive place, happy to look at smaller ones than those two near Kent House station, so that might work.

To be fair to the Lennard road property - it is a couple blocks east of the junction where the traffic turns onto Parish Lane, so the street seems quiet enough.

The Beckenham one seems more of a proper house, better garden and so on.

Penge is ok, there are some lovely parts to it especially those beautiful little houses in the square (can't remember the name!)
and I remember Sarah Beeny redecorated an entire street and it looked amazing.

The Penge house looks fine apart from the garden which looks very shabby, they haven't even tried. But the house itself looks perfectly nice.

Come to Wandsworth. It's absolutely wonderful, safe, great bars and restaurants, you could easily get a decent family home for that in Earlsfield.

With that budget, I wouldn't buy in Penge. Or if I did, I'd spend much less than £1m.

If I was spending over £1m on a house in SE London outside zone 1, I would only really consider Blackheath, Greenwich and Dulwich.

Beckenham is a lovely area, but buying what you linked to seriously exposes you to negative equity. Period houses need maintenance, even done up ones, and sinking £1.2m + maintenance into a Beckenham/Penge semi seems crazy to me.

For your commute and budget, I'd seriously look at Blackheath/Greenwich.

@Rrrob

Do you know the area OP? Beckenham is much nicer than Penge. I lived a couple of streets away from House 2 (in Sydenham rather than Penge) and now live the other side of Beckenham.

House 1 is gorgeous but backs onto train tracks. I would consider that on the edge of Penge/ Beckenham.

I prefer the road around Balgowan school but they may not be big enough.

Where do you need to commute into?

Gosh I think Penge is much nicer than Sydenham!

@absentbf

With that budget, I wouldn't buy in Penge. Or if I did, I'd spend much less than £1m.

If I was spending over £1m on a house in SE London outside zone 1, I would only really consider Blackheath, Greenwich and Dulwich.

Beckenham is a lovely area, but buying what you linked to seriously exposes you to negative equity. Period houses need maintenance, even done up ones, and sinking £1.2m + maintenance into a Beckenham/Penge semi seems crazy to me.

For your commute and budget, I'd seriously look at Blackheath/Greenwich.

We considered Greenwich, but the price for similar sized properties was quite a bit higher.

Where in Blackheath would you recommend to take a look?

House no 1 looks wonderful OP.

I'd just go for the isle of dogs and enjoy walking to work

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/110138024

@roarfeckingroarr

Come to Wandsworth. It's absolutely wonderful, safe, great bars and restaurants, you could easily get a decent family home for that in Earlsfield.

I'll take a look!

Any pointers to help me? I know nothing about Wandsworth/Earlsfield (or generally SW london), other than the general location.

Commute seems manageable (though heavily dependent on the mainline trains to Waterloo, which i imagine are quite busy on weekeday morning).