Nice areas in London for £700k

[Mandofan]

My partner and I are looking to buy at the end of the year so I’ve been looking on rightmove to see what we can get for our money. We currently own a flat in north London and I would love to stay in the area. Our budget is £700k but I can’t find any houses in the areas I truly love. One non negotiable is it has to be on the underground and no more than half a mile from the station. Everything I’ve found is almost a mile from the station or isn’t on the underground. We’d ideally like a 4 bed but would go for a three bed and extend if possible. Currently looking at Finsbury Park and near Highbury but not had any luck. Are we being unrealistic? I’ve seen a few nice ones in Turnpike Lane and Colindale but I don’t love the areas. Any ideas on where we should look? No DC yet but would like to be in an area with good schools. I’m worried we won’t find anything or will have to compromise massively

My DD lives between Finsbury Park and Highbury. Putting her postcode (N7 7) into Rightmove brings up quite a few 3 bed terraced properties within a mile.

@CraftyGin

My DD lives between Finsbury Park and Highbury. Putting her postcode (N7 7) into Rightmove brings up quite a few 3 bed terraced properties within a mile.

I find this really hard to believe as I lived in the next N7 postcode across for seven years. We sold said flat for £700k recently and it was a rather ordinary two bedroom flat.

Putting this criteria into Rightmove (detached, semi or terraced house/max £700k/min 3 bed) gives you 3 options. One is on a main road above a shop, one is on Camden Road near the Holloway Road intersection and the other is sandwiched between Camden and Seven Sisters Road on a road known as a drug dealing hotspot. None are areas I’d aspire to raise children.

@Mandofan

So our budget if we sell both is £800k. Maybe a little more if our parents help out with stamp duty. I’ve realised it’s silly to keep our current flat as an inheritance as we can invest in property later and leave that to kids. I’ve had a look and Walthamstow looks like the best option right now. Colindale is looking promising too. We’re in a one bed right now and we really need more space. Planning to get engaged this year and hopefully married next year and ttc shortly after if everything goes to plan. The market is crazy right now and I’m finding it really stressful as I’m a planner and im convinced we’ll never find anything

Have you actually looked at this to see how you are going to remortgage both flats as but to lets. They will need at least 25% equity and more if letting inconsistent use lower or you are higher rate tax payers (which he is)

You can’t have them as residential and let them out
He will pay 45% tax on letting income (a bit less as some allowance bug might much). On income - not profit after mortgage costs.

Then additional stamp duty as a second home which is 3% to £500k and then 8% So an extra £31k on a 700k house in

Grr typos
Buy to let
If letting income is lower
Not much

@TheHoptimist both flats are close to 25% equity but we’ve decided to sell both as that would increase our budget

@TripTrappingOverMyBridge thank you

Have you tried asking Phil & Kirsty with a Location Location Location?

@BlissfullyIgnorant could do but Kirstie’s recent comments about young people and home ownership left me feeling very unimpressed. Would happily do if if it was just Phil though. Love him

You could get a nice 3-bed house with a decent garden for £700,000 near High Barnet tube (Northern Line).

Archway?

@CraftyGin

My DD lives between Finsbury Park and Highbury. Putting her postcode (N7 7) into Rightmove brings up quite a few 3 bed terraced properties within a mile.

I also live in this area and know it very well. You really can’t get a house for £800k around here - not even a very small 3 bedroom terrace. Ten years ago you could - but now now.

Everyone wants a 3 or 4 bedroom house near the tube in a nice or even ok area - so for that ideally you would have a budget of at least £1 million. If you are looking at Highbury or Finsbury Park, I would say £1.5 million.

[quote Mandofan]@BlissfullyIgnorant could do but Kirstie’s recent comments about young people and home ownership left me feeling very unimpressed. Would happily do if if it was just Phil though. Love him[/quote]
He is still available for private work.
Try looking for a property finder. Alternatively, look up Phil's website/blog - moveiq.co.uk

How long have you been with your DP? I would get married first and start TTC.

I wouldn't sell your investment flat! A third, passive income stream is an incredible thing to have.

Most of our friends who have moved further out of Central London for more bang for their buck have moved to Walthamstow, Forest Hill or Honor Oak. Out of those, Walthamstow would fit the bill for you...

As others have mentioned, have a bit of an explore around Highams Park, North Chingford, Woodford etc. Lovely areas where you can still get what your looking for in your budget (but maybe not for that much longer…) and connections to central and other parts of North and East London aren’t bad either. Only thing is number of properties coming up - a lot of people stay here for a long time.

I used to live in Walthamstow and love it but decent family homes on a nice street are getting hard to come by for that budget now… Which is crazy. Also it is still a bit rough round the edges, which is part of its charm, but it is the classic London mix of huge gentrification (and house prices to match) living side by side with deprivation.

A couple of examples of what you can get for your budget in really nice areas near stations:

North Chingford www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/120108554

Highams Park
www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/119587943

@Mandofan

I’ve passed through Loughton and it’s beautiful so will look there and maybe Wanstead. As nice as Harrow is its quite far and we don’t love the Metropolitan line. It’s looking like Highbury is a pipe dream unfortunately

You’d need 1.2 for a 4 bed in Highbury! Pick your tube line - Piccadilly = Bounds Green, Southgate, Palmers Green, Winchmore Hill.

Northern - you need to be across North circ - East Finchley out of budget. So the Finchleys, Woodside Pk, Whetstone, High Barnet. All just about doable.

Thanks everyone for the advice so far. I’ve been on rightmove for hours and found a few options between £510k and £600k in Walthamstow so there’s hope! I’ve looked at 3 beds instead of 4 as we can always extend later. My mum is only in her 50’s so it’ll be a while before she moves in meaning we’ll have time to save for an extension

That’s great OP. Hope you find somewhere fab.

@Mandofan tottenham massive

Im in tottenham and i desperately want to leave...its so filthy everywhere. Dog poo and chicken and chips boxes everywhere...i once found a raw pigs head dumped on the street

@femfemlicious that’s awful! Tottenham massive indeed There are some nice spots but overall it’s a tad grim. I’m so desperate to leave too. The new block of flats near seven sisters station is gorgeous but that’s about it. Do you have any thoughts on Turnpike Lane? I’ve passed through and it seems ok but I need to have a proper look. It seems nicer than Wood Green

@Mandofan yes its pretty horrific there are some queiter cleaner parts . I live on a street right off west green road which is the worst. Seems to have gotten worse lately. I love the area around downhill park tho . Its very queit and much cleaner and has lordship rec nearby. My daughters special school is around there and turnpike lane station isnt too far from there. I think the areas around turnpike lane are not too bad. You can look in the nicer areas of tottenham and never go to the grottier areas

I am in my early 30's and moved to Higham's Park from Hackney with my partner. Hands down the best move as it is a beautiful area and the houses are huge. It's a 4 bed, 2 bath house, big garden. 1600 sqf, large square rooms, original features, for 726k. Downside is there is no drive, and close to a main(ish) road.
The schools are good and there is a real sense of community here. It's the ultimate "urban suburban" spot I think and feels like a village here.
It's getting better with things to do, epping forest and the park, for one, and there's a great wine and cheese bar, lovely pubs with great beer gardens, a good, affordable gym and more food places opening.
It is hard to get houses here because the nice houses don't come up that often and the demand is high, but you could be lucky. I got mine through posting letters into the letter boxes to all the houses, and got two people saying they'd be willing to sell :)