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!

Honor oak certainly used to be cheaper than east dulwich four years ago.

@sunshinesupermum

GreenestValley perhaps OP is thinking ahead and the costs of moving again? Also some days WFH gives them both work space in 4/5 bed house.

yeah I brought my kids up on the next road to Linnell - it's a fab area. Tiny gardens is the only thing but otherwise those houses are lovely

Short walk to Peckham Rye and Denmark Hill stations. Plenty of buses at the bottom on Peckham Rd. Great primary schools. Walk to Kings College Hospital. Great cinema on Rye Lane.

We moved to Wandsworth for family reasons. It's greener but otherwise Camberwell much nicer.

[quote londonmummy1966]Forest Hill seems to be the upandcoming area and within budget something like this which has 4 beds for now and you could convert the garage as and when you needed it.

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/117677129#/?channel=RES_BUY

Needs work but underbudget
www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/96767117#/?channel=RES_BUY[/quote]
First one looks nice, will go and check it out.

Neither of us is very keen on a renovation project or more extensive works (at least not in the first couple of years), so I'd rather pay a premium and have the place finished then buy a cheaper one and have to do the work. Plus our limiting factor regarding budget is the deposit, so having the cost already included in the purchase price is better (on day 1 I don't have to pay for 100% of it, but only ~20%).

@thedarkling

Oh goodness, I used to live between forest hill and honor oak and with that much money to spend I would move out to Kent. I am totally in the SE bubble still but although FH is now very middle class ( which I'm not sure is necessarily a good thing) there was still a lot of drug dealing and crime going on on our road which was just behind the horniman museum. The day I decided to move out was the day we watched a car full of people with machetes ram and then chase another car's occupants on foot. I know it's different for everyone and I lived in London for nearly twenty years but I thought I don't want to spend over half a million to live somewhere where this goes on when I'm raising kids. And I definitely would spend over a million.

How long ago was that episode? I suppose it can happen anywhere in London, but would prefer to avoid locations where it's more common...

What places would you recommend? We don't have family in UK, and our (UK) friends are all in various parts of London, so we didn't want to go too far out yet. Beckenham seemed close enough, but we haven't seriously considered anythung further out.

@MrFirstTimeBuyer

In Blackheath, it depends how close you want to be to the village and all the shops/restaurants there. For 1.2, you would struggle to get more than a period 3 bed for a Village location. Moving further to Blackheath Standard, your money would stretch further to a 4 bed, but less access to the Village amenities (though there are some very useful shops in the Standard such as M&S, a few banks etc, but fewer coffee shops etc).

Another vote for Ladywell/Brockley area. You could get something lovely for that budget.

Great schools/bars/shops close to central London, not too far away from fab countryside when you want to get out.

You definitely want to think about schools now. If you have money for a house you don't want to pay more stamp duty, I've just moved from a flat in Clapham to Streatham/west Norwood. We moved with two kids. You really don't want to have to be worrying about schools at the last minute. Also beware that houses near good schools are at least 10% most expensive so unless you can go private think about it now,

You have a good budget. Go with the best area you can. I'd also recommend narrowing your search before you go mad. We had a huge search area from Putney to east dulwich snv you will drive yourself mad. Decide what the priority is and stick with it. We chose schools as our son needs to go next year. Out here f your areas, I'd choose Dulwich or East Dulwich as you have the budget for it. Schools are good. There's also a good primary in Crystal Palace (paxton primary).

You can go wrong with a house in Clapham or Balham. You won't get something as nice as that oengAgain if you want kids look at houses near outstanding schools. The most desired but is between the commons (between Wandsworth and Clapham commmon and in catchment for Belleville and Honeywell). Something like this : www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/118591724

I was also wondering about Greenwich/Blackheath. Maze Hill/Westcombe Park is generally cheaper than west Greenwich or Blackheath village. Might not be as big as Penge or Beckenham but more central and a 20-30 min commute. I also like Ladywell, Brockley, parts of Lee and Hither Green, all v well connected to Lewisham for DLR.

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/118699754#/?channel=RES_BUY

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/113463290#/?channel=RES_BUY

@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 was going to say Wandsworth seems better value than those houses too. I work in CW and I and plenty of my colleagues live in Wandsworth. One of them lives about a 10 minute walk from the river and gets to riverboat to/from work.

I live very near both those houses between Kent House and New Beckenham Stations - really lovely area, wide streets, huge houses, friendly neighbours and great transport links (20-25min to London Bridge and 20mins to Victoria).
We have a driveway with space for 2-3 cars and a front garden.

We are a 15min walk from Beckenham High Street in one direction and Penge High Street in the other. 25min walk to Crystal Palace Park and Kelsey Park in opposite directions.

We used to live in East Dulwich - for the same price house you get 1000sqft more in the Beckenham area and a huge garden (ours is 100ft long, a friend's in East Dulwich is smaller than our bathroom). No off-street parking.
We found the roads very narrow and a generally claustrophobic feel with the houses right up against the pavement.
In Dulwich the houses are bigger, as it the price tag (£2-3million).
Transport links much better in Beckenham/Penge.

Happy for you to DM me.

To add, that's a reasonable price for the Barnmead House.
Not sure about the Lennard Rd one - depends on which stretch of the road it is on and it is also quite a busy road.
To add, our house has probably gone up by £400k in the past 5 years - probably more, as we have since put in new kitchen and redecorated. This is based on a similar house near us that has recently sold.

Actually, the Lennard Rd sq footage is low for the price.

I know of a few people in the East Dulwich area that have moved out as they outgrew their homes of similar size, especially as their children reached primary/junior school age.

this is nice, Chislehurst trains go direct to London Bridge
www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/117961874#/?channel=RES_BUY

The areas mentioned are all quite different from each other - places like Beckenham, Chistlehurst and Blackheath are quite villagey, Clapham is better connected/more central, bit more buzzy, Crystal Palace/Tooting/Dulwich/Forest Hill a bit in between. So it depends really on what style of place to you fancy. Even with your budget, you'll have to make compromises.

The thing I would say is not to get too worried about crime - the fact is that everywhere in London has a fairly high crime rate, it's just the nature of living in a big city. Our beautiful local park had a stabbing in broad daylight, Sarah Everard was attacked in what is widely considered a safe area of London. You sort of either just need to accept it or leave London entirely.

Really like property 1 OP. But cannot believe the prices considering it is Beckenham! Looked there several years ago and decided it was too far out and ended up more central

There is no way I'd ever pay that much for a house on lennard road.

I'd definitely move your search into forest hill, upper Sydenham, CP and honor oak.

[quote MayThePawsBeWithYou]this is nice, Chislehurst trains go direct to London Bridge
www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/117961874#/?channel=RES_BUY[/quote]
Yes it is nice, roomy too. Personally I don't like beams but that's just my preference. It also seems a bit remote, I prefer being closer to the village, but it is lovely house.

@firefly123

Really like property 1 OP. But cannot believe the prices considering it is Beckenham! Looked there several years ago and decided it was too far out and ended up more central

The properties that OP has linked to are on the cusp of zone 3/4 and 3 miles outside zone 2. In terms of train journeys, it’s a 5 minute longer journey from when I lived in East Dulwich but the walk to the station is now

I would definitely look at Earlsfield Wandsworth if you aren’t definitely wanting the 5 bedroom size house.

Beckenham is weirdly expensive. You get much more for your money in Bromley which is virtually the same area.

For your budget you could get a lovely large detached house between Bromley and Grove Park, which would also be better for your commute ( short bus ride to Lewisham or train from Grove Park to Lewisham then DLR).

Lee and Hither Green are nice and good for your commute too.

Beckenham has a nice high street and lots of parks, decent transport, that's basically what people are looking for.
As mentioned, you won't get anywhere the size of property in Dulwich or let alone Clapham/Wandsworth.
Also very hard to get a decent sized garden in any of those areas, unlike Beckenham. Dulwich and Clapham have lovely 1+ mill houses with postage stamp outside space. Not really in vogue right now

@Horriblewoman

There is no way I'd ever pay that much for a house on lennard road.

I'd definitely move your search into forest hill, upper Sydenham, CP and honor oak.

I genuinely don't understand this post or the others like it. To me, Forest Hill is utterly ugly. Sydenham is depressing.

I second the suggestion to look at Ladywell and thereabouts. This property on Vicars Hill might work for you.

Beckenham is weirdly expensive

I think this is probably due to it being such a large area - the part that is nearer to London probably skews the price.

Obviously the further out you go the more bang your get for your buck.
There are fast trainees from Tunbridge Wells and Sevenoaks that will get you into London Bridge in 30mins. Same is true for many other places. Unless OP prefers to be in and around London?

Even if you don’t have children yet, I would now put equal weight on commute versus spacious house and garden for your sanity if/when you wfh. Once you add children into the mix your mortgage potential decreases but your need for space increases.