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Original poster

Can’t afford a nice are of London, where shall we move?

82 replies

fantillie · 26/12/2023 23:20

As precious as this sounds, we’d rather move out of London than live somewhere not naice.

It is what it is, I like nice surroundings, and being in a run down area makes me unhappy. Dh and I both agree that location is far more important than the property.

We actually prefer flat living to house living (I grew up in a city where no one has a house).

We would like a 2-3 bedroom property. Our budget is around £700k and we only want to live somewhere which most mumsnetters would describe as “posh”. In London we like Primrose Hill and Notting Hill, Canonbury, Clapham Old Town.

We were thinking about moving to Bath? Jericho/Summertown in Oxford or Clifton in Bristol. We only need to be in London once a month or so. We had considered somewhere like Harrogate but didn’t click with it when we visited.

OP posts:
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14
Twiglets1 · 27/12/2023 10:14

Ginmonkeyagain · 27/12/2023 10:00

Well the thing is large cities like London do not divide neatly in to safe and unsafe areas.

The OP's list was just a randomly chosen selection of places with some nice Victorian/Georgian housing stock. She sounded snobby. Canonbury isn't any more or less safe than most areas of inner London. It just has some nicer looking residential streets. God forbid the OP might have to look out at a 20th century block of flats.

Why so judgemental?

TheCatfordCat · 27/12/2023 10:18

I'll bite, even though you have plenty of money for many areas of London. I would absolutely love to have your budget.

Try Warwick, Stratford upon Avon or Leamington Spa. They aren't all posh but have posh pockets iyswim. My parents come from the area and can't afford it now, and I can't, so it might be right up your street. Trains to London are about 80-90 minutes.

It's the same with many Midlands towns, just regular places with posh bits attached.

(I'm not sorry for sounding a bit 😠 but posts like this from Londoners who want everything London offers but not in London is just ridiculous. I live in London but come from South Northants so I can see it from both sides.

Ginmonkeyagain · 27/12/2023 10:19

@Twiglets1 because she is being a ridiculous snob.

Comedycook · 27/12/2023 10:22

LaurieFairyCake · 27/12/2023 07:57

Blackheath and Greenwich fit the bill as being VERY nice and posh

Here's 2 flats:

  1. Blackheath - 5 minutes walk (if that) from the station
  1. Next to Greenwich park in the poshest road possible - very cheap for location

I live between these 2 streets and it's the nicest area I've ever lived. Just for context I've moved 34 times and lived literally all over the UK.

Please check it out, you won't regret it.

I was actually going to say you could probably get somewhere in blackheath for your budget. Blackheath village is very very nice and posh. I personally find Greenwich a bit too touristy.

Echobelly · 27/12/2023 10:30

Leamington Spa is very nice, has everything you need, pretty and quick to London.

But I agree the places you name in London are more than 'nice', they're totally premium, rather than the only places that aren't run down.

Personally I'm a big fan of Walthamstow where I bought my first place and £700k would get you a nice home - but I'm guessing you're like my DH and wouldn't deign to live anywhere with an East postcode 😉Honestly, if it weren't for him I would still be living there especially as it's now been trendified by hipsters priced out of Hackney.

brawnthesheep · 27/12/2023 10:37

I'm sure OP from her post knows that there are mixed areas in London and doesn't need a lecture on it. I've noticed before on MN that if an OP is quite open about wanting a nice safe area (er. like most people??) they get a few snide remarks.

Im not always sure people do realise. I used to live not far from Clapham & can’t tell you how many muggings I used to see/hear of because many people are a little oblivious to the less salubrious elements eg leaving a laptop unattended at a cafe, walking around tapping on your mobile etc.
I also don’t think people want nice actually safe areas as such, I mean Sutton is one of the safest boroughs after Richmond I think but it’s not considered particularly desirable! People want nice as in somewhere like Wandsworth or Richmond, less diversity, higher economic income & the associated independent shops etc.

brawnthesheep · 27/12/2023 10:38

Which is fair enough but most people dress it up as we want “safe”.

brawnthesheep · 27/12/2023 10:40

I'm not sorry for sounding a bit 😠 but posts like this from Londoners who want everything London offers but not in London is just ridiculous. I live in London but come from South Northants so I can see it from both sides.

i reckon there is pretty high odds that the OP is like you eg lives in London but comes from somewhere else….

diefledermaus · 27/12/2023 10:48

It isn't snobby at all to say you like to live in a nice, not run down areas?! They're making sacrifices to do so and that's fine.
I'd look at areas of Surrey and Kent. Tunbridge wells or Sevenoaks.

Ginmonkeyagain · 27/12/2023 11:01

But there are huge swathes of London that are not "run down" but perfectly ordinary places where people live and work.

My little area of suburban, family friendly south London has well kept green spaces, a museum, clean streets, decent Victorian, Thirites and Sixties housing stock and i'll bet you a lower crime rate than most of the areas mentioned by the OP.

She is being snobby because she has Champagne tastes on a Cava budget.

SidandAndyssextoy · 27/12/2023 11:21

Less ‘posh’ than Harrogate but York is beautiful and the crime rate is very low compared to anywhere in London (or many other cities). A short trip to Leeds for more extensive shopping, very foodie, close to beautiful nature, and less than two hours back to London. You could get a city centre flat for 700k.

Notgoodatpoetrybutgreatatlit · 27/12/2023 11:31

Hi OP, I love a nice historic town as well. I spent a bit of time this year in Cambridge City centre in a hotel right opposite the Fitzwilliam that was a great area. I'm from Cambridge but never lived there or spent time since I was a teen. I loved it so much I looked into buying but the university owns the whole centre so actual properties for sale are minimal. You could go up Mill Road or Hills Road for your budget.
I thought of Edinburgh as well as soon as you listed your requirements. If you would look at Scotland Glasgow has awesome housing and fabulous shopping dining and entertainment. I know some English people are convinced Glaswegians are scary and hate English people but I live in South East London and work in Custom House so they are super lovely compared to what I'm used to.
This is a joke btw.

Ohmylovejune · 27/12/2023 11:34

Once a month online London? You could come down here, to Cornwall. Just make sure you are close by a mainline station where the London trains stop and have access to Newquay Airport.

Jesephone · 27/12/2023 11:35

St Margarets/Twickenham

Ginmonkeyagain · 27/12/2023 11:35

Glaswegians are a great bunch of lads, it is true. I much prefer Glasgow to Ediburgh. I'd live there happily if the weather was better!

seagull82 · 27/12/2023 11:38

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/139838375#/?channel=RES_BUY

Sevenoaks.

MikeRafone · 27/12/2023 11:39

@KingsleyBorder. Always curious if you actually were & whether you were at cedars or in the other that was edgehill

SidandAndyssextoy · 27/12/2023 11:43

In Cambridge you’ll struggle for a decent sized flat too, as the housing stock anywhere near the centre is houses, and mostly quite small houses. The flats available at the top of your price range will mostly be very modern, and soulless.

Twiglets1 · 27/12/2023 12:38

Ginmonkeyagain · 27/12/2023 10:19

@Twiglets1 because she is being a ridiculous snob.

You’re coming across worse attacking someone just because they want to live in a nice area.

UserM6 · 27/12/2023 12:45

Go for a market town in Hampshire or Sussex. Even their rough estates won’t be that bad by city standards.

ILeftMyHeartInLondon · 27/12/2023 13:19

Are you born and bred Londoners, OP? I only ask as if you are, you may find yourself regretting such a move. I moved out 15 years ago as wanted what I thought would be a better area to raise kids, and can say it's the worst mistake I ever made. No going back now as kids settled etc, but for a Londoner these is nowhere quite like London. You can say it has a London vibe, but it's not London and I constantly feel like I'm not home.

For 700k you can get a decent flat in London. Have you looked at Muswell Hill, Kentish Town, Crouch End? Also if you want a bit further out, what about somewhere like Winchmore Hill?

Ginmonkeyagain · 27/12/2023 13:20

@Twiglets1 I am not attacki g her for wanting to live in a nice area, I am mocking her for being ignorant and narrow minded. Her budget will get her a property in plenty of nice areas in London. But she is too snobbish to consider them.

nc321152 · 27/12/2023 13:29

Thinking of upmarket places in the vicinity of London... Windsor, St Albans, Marlow, Henley, Cambridge, Guildford...