Kidbrooke Village

[theworldhas]

Am thinking of buying a new build house in Kidbrooke Village, SE London. We are a work from home couple with one child, aged six. Does anyone live there or have any experience there? I’ve done a fair bit of research on the area, seen videos etc online, and read feedback from residents (mostly positive it seems). But would love to hear any other opinions or, even better, thoughts on the place/area from people with young kids.

I walk through that area a lot as I live nearby, I guess I can't say anything really informative except that it feels a bit... soulless? It's this huge area that's been built from scratch rather recently (it used to be a huge council estate, it was demolished and almost all the residents moved to other areas) and it sort of feels like you've wandered out of London into some random space.

I've looked at some of the properties for sale and they seem a bit overpriced to me for what you get (small rooms, kitchens are just appliances stuck to the end of the living room)

I'm sure it would be perfectly nice but you could maybe do better in SE London

@dreamingbohemian

Thanks for your thoughts. And I know what you mean, I guess most of the new build estates have that sort of detached or “soulless” feel. What is attracting me is that the house itself strikes me as very reasonable value. New build, modern spec, apparently good quality. We can get 112sqm house with private front parking /v.small back yard for 800k. Seems ok value to me. I guess you can just about get similar size houses or apartments in parts of Greenwich and Blackheath etc for the money(?), but they seem a lot older/in worse state of repair/less natural light and so on.

The flip side to the soulless thing is that Kidbrooke Village is meant to have a nice community feel and nice park areas to stroll around, an excellent playground, gym, pool etc.

Anyway, I will keep thinking and thanks again for your thoughts!

It's better than it was but it is not a village.

The facilities are nice but I don't know about the 'community feel' part, that's the thing. There are loads of new builds throughout the area and some of them are more embedded in their local communities, because it's just a couple buildings put up in a vacant area, not a whole huge area that's new.

I'm a bit biased because I think one of the best things about living around here is the sense of community, it's really lovely. So it would be a shame to miss out on that. But hopefully someone will come along who knows a lot better than me what it's really like living there!

I have lived in the area all my life. As a previous poster has said, it was a very large council estate which was poorly maintained by the council and came to be extremely run down and eventually got a very bad reputation. The residents were mainly all shipped out and the whole thing was bulldozed to make way for ‘Kidbrooke Village’. It’s hard for local people to accept really. I don’t know how much social housing was retained, but it’s likely the new area was built totally for the profit of developers. Sorry for the rant!

if you are moving in as a new person, of course the history has no relevance to you. Despite what I have just said, I think it’s quite nicely designed. It looks soulless and I doubt there is much of a community yet because it is a large area built from scratch. However, like everywhere I am sure a community will grow with time. People were dismissive of places like Poundbury and Milton Keynes which have since become very desirable. I would think it is a good investment as you can get more space for your money and something in decent condition, unlike many of the more expensive places in surrounding areas.

Transport isn’t great as there only Kidbrooke Station, no underground and buses all have long winded routes. It feels to me a bit middle of nowhere but I guess would be fine if you don’t have to commute and I would imagine it’s nice with young children as the roads are quiet and it’s nicely landscaped.

Was the old Ferrier, no?

I have lived in the centre of Blackheath Village for 12 years and counting
And knew of the area before it's metamorphosis into Kidbrooke Village

I agree with what others have said - it was really rough with a bad reputation pre-development and is utterly soulless now

I used to run regularly through the main roads adjacent to Kidbrooke Village

But stopped running round there after the horrific murder of Sabina Nesser in Cator Park in 2021 (adjacent to the development)

I wouldn't have chosen to live there when it was an estate (rough & poor reputation)
I wouldn't have chosen to live there when it became Kidbroooke Village (overpriced flats, most of which seem empty, in an undoubtedly soulless 'community')
I certainly wouldn't live there now post-Sarah Everard/Sabina Nesser, speaking as a 5ft 2 female who regularly runs solo in the early mornings or evenings

One positive (I guess)- park runs every Saturdays in Sutcliffe Park - just a little beyond Cator Park


Sorry my review isn’t more positive.
My advice - look elsewhere if you can.

Oh my, it's a 'village' now? How near to the big estate is it?

The estate is no longer there - was completely torn down. Now there is the station, some shops and nice new builds. It’s very different to the old days.

If you want convenience then the station is nearby, local shops (sainsburys), a primary school and then you are one stop on the train from Lewisham and Blackheath, two from London Bridge and Greenwich and Eltham are a bus ride away.

I’m not sure what it has to offer?
does it even have a grocery store?

Woolwich has more going for it and is really changing. You could get a house or a 3 bed flat.

Greenwich and Blackheath are famously expensive so not a very good comparison. I think kidbrooke village is drab and without any real sense of community centre. You are basically the money to get a new house near a nice area.

For that sort of money I would be looking a bit further out in somewhere like Bromley or Beckenham.

Hi. I live here in one of the new build houses. I wouldn’t say there’s no community, nor do I feel that it’s soulless. I know lots of people as my children go to one of the two schools in the village. Our Doctors and Dentist is there. There is a small children’s park but also a Sainsbury’s, pub (The Depot), gym (Puregym) and newly opened Starbucks. It’s near to Aldi and B&M also.

People are generally friendly and whenever I’m out and about I always say hi to people and exchange smiles. Despite what tragically happened to Sabina I still feel safe and know that we all look out for each other:

It’s also right next to Sutcliffe Park, which is an amazing place for children. It has a Better Centre with soft play and rock climbing in it. Also there’s an Athletics Track.

My family and I love living here. We know as more building happens even more money is being put into the area and there’s a lot of effort going into building a network and community.

If you have any further questions I’m happy to help if I can. Also I’d suggest maybe coming and walking around the area to get a feel for it?

800k!? I don't know square feet but we bought a two bed Victorian terrace (good size garden) recently in Plumstead Common for 430. Lovely house and we're liking the area so far. Assume you may be looking for something bigger but for 800k I would definitely not be living in a new build in Kidbrooke. Unless you are really averse to an older house, you should be able to get something much nicer for that kind of money

OP I take my kids to the playground there and I think it’s a nice area. I don’t live there but would happily move there. I do think the houses look a bit pokey and I would want more space but if you’re happy with that sort of space I wouldn’t mind the area. A house that size in Greenwich or Blackheath would be at least £1m possibly more.

It's nice to hear the estate has gone, it was a completely no go area when I lived in Eltham and you were lucky to get a cab to pick you up from there it was so rough. Sounds much better now!