Would you buy something like this?

[Iamabarbiegirl]

This is a very expensive area of South West London, with great train connections, schools, all the amenities you can think of, safe and very close to Kingston, which is an amazing town for shopping (just saying this as I appreciate people from other parts of the country might think this price is nuts for a property like this):

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/132580421#/?channel=RES_BUY

A communal garden is not ideal but it is definitely better than a park around the corner, so don't rule it out. You can't hold a barbecue or a party or have dinner in a park. If you have direct access, you can safely use the garden while your DD is in bed. You can't nip off to the park for a glass of wine on a summer evening leaving her sleeping! You can use a communal garden for messy play or messy jobs like painting furniture or fixing a bike (if you do it considerately). You might be able to dry washing outside. Your DD will be old enough to play unsupervised in a communal garden long before she is old enough to go to the park alone, especially if you can see/access the garden from your flat. It will give her much more freedom at a younger age. Fast forward a decade, would you rather she hung out in the communal garden with her friends when she is a teen/pre-teen or in the park?

Would something like this ever sell for £530K ish? I guess no :(

What about this one OP? Under budget too- nice area of kingston and decent price- with garden - right to manage too even though it's leasehold. I like this one

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/137847263

Very pretty, although lease is quite short and ground rent + service charge would cost an extra £300 per month, might as well spend that on a higher mortgage?!

Same. My friend used to live in the area. I call it Suburbiton. Obviously I'm not a fan.

I mean, that's not exactly an original nickname... Did you convince yourself it was original and clever?

Tbh I liked it when I moved here (about 15 years ago) but it still felt a bit cookie cutter and soulless. High street with a Costa, a Starbucks and a Nero, that sort of thing. We moved for convenience rather than falling in love with the place.

I've found it's improved so much and has a much more distinctive local character than it did. The high street is struggling but there are loads more independent cafes and restaurants and in particular lots more stuff outside of the high street. And most of it independent and locally owned.

It's definitely still suburban - how could it not be! - but a lot more distinctive and lively than some of the towns/suburbs further out. And I'm eternally grateful for the support network I've built here. People are genuinely friendly and open to building new friendships and helping each other out. I'd never move somewhere where the majority had lived there all their lives, from all I've heard it's much harder to 'break in' than in places where the majority grew up/have family somewhere else.

I mean, that's not exactly an original nickname... Did you convince yourself it was original and clever?

Ooh miaow, you're so bitchy. Suburbs are perfect for you then 😂

@JassyRadlett agree and also I love the riverside so much and the fact that you are in Kingston with a (lovely) 20 min walk where you can enjoy a wide array of shops, restaurants, cinema etc without even using your car or taking a bus. For me it's just lovely and we fit in

@Iamabarbiegirl absolutely- I find people who are rude about such areas often live in areas you wouldn't want to live anyway. Also really depends what life stage you are at, different places suit at different stages. Kingston has a lot going for it and I'm a right fussy git.

Had you looked at any of these OP- ?

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/135440564

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/137187134

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/137067005

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/132385373

@Crikeyalmighty Yes, I have. The first one is one I linked in this thread too but some posters made me notice the 2nd bedroom is very tiny.
The one in Ellerton Rd is just beautiful and would be perfect, but has a short lease and pricey costs associated with the property :(
3rd one I am not keen on the entrance in the kitchen and 4th one is lovely but a bit too far, our school would be in Surbiton most likely and also train connections from Surbiton are better, but looks really nice

@Iamabarbiegirl Ah yes I remember it now!! At least I'm in the right ball park!

The thing is with a lot of the nicer conversions there's often a catch- high service charge or a slightly shorter lease- which I guess you can usually extend.

I think that's why I thought the one I found earlier at £460 was good as although it is £300 a month service and ground rent it looks to me as if many others too would be £200 (I had a quick look through) - and at least it was £40 k cheaper.

😂 You were the one who wandered onto a thread where the OP was absolutely not asking for opinions on the merits or otherwise where she chose to live, solely to denigrate it. Talk about bitchy - and then unable to take it!

@Iamabarbiegirl have sent you a DM

I mean… everyone calls it Suburbiton, don’t they? Even those of us who love it?!

Yes, I do too :)

Not sure how the lease extension works, I assume it costs a lot of £££ but will definitely look into all of this. Why is London so hard?😅

i live in surbiton. Lots of the links people have posted are either not in Surbiton at all, or not in the centre, which misses the point. Living in central surbiton (where your original property is) is just great. Instant access to all the shops, coffee shops, train, river, Victoria rec, etc etc. even being a 10-15 min walk away (let alone the 20+ of some of the links) just isn’t the same.

we bought a flat in Surbiton last year (prioritising location over it being a house). No kids yet (I’m pregnant) but we absolutely love it. Given how full of buggies central Surb is on a Saturday morning, I think other people must have made the same choice too!! I think the original flat looks very very nice, light and spacious and airy, makes such a difference.

so yeah I would go for that type of property in your position and wouldn’t compromise location for garden if deep down, you don’t want to. Most people who live in central surb do live in flats and there will always be a demand for flats there I think because of the commuting links.

plus maple infants and SASM are very very good schools unlike some others in the borough

@graceinc22 Thanks for this! And congrats for your pregnancy! :)

I agree you can't beat central Surbiton, which is also why we'd be open to consider a leasehold property without a garden, although we would really love to have one. I am open to the likes of Berrylands and maybe 10-15 min walk to the central bits but would definitely not like to be too close to Tolworth.
I also think that the 1st property is nice and location is great, the only downside I see is the lack of garden.
My only worry is that we are FTB in our late 30s, early 40s and with a limited earning potential (good salaries currently but we are not going to earn twice that in 5 years iyswim) so I think it's unlikely we'd be able to sell and upgrade to a 3 bed house in a few years time and even if we could, it would mean having a massive mortgage at a not so young age. This is mainly why I sometimes feel a bit hesitant and wonder if we should move our and get a better property straight away but then, I love Surbiton!

I like it.

You can do a bit of container gardening out front there.

Aren’t those leases all 90+ years though OP? I wouldn’t have seen that as short. I guess if you want to stay 10+ years it might start feeling short to the next buyer, if they were also intending to stay a long time and so would be looking at reselling with a 70 year lease. But I bought a flat with 90 something years on the lease and never thought of it as a problem. Maybe I was naive!!

@minipie interesting! I personally thought that was a short lease, I am more keen on those with 900 years! Given you can get such long ones, in my opinion 90 years or so is really short, but maybe I don't really understand how the market actually works!?

I wouldn't buy a flat with a lease that would be lower than 100 years when I wanted to sell.

https://hoa.org.uk/advice/guides-for-homeowners/i-am-buying/buying-a-flat-with-a-short-lease/#:~:text=If%20the%20flat%20has%20between,be%20faced%20with%20extortionate%20costs.

@peachgreen Yes, personally I feel more comfortable only considering the likes of 900 years or so