£200k deposit and can't afford a family home

[Catcakes]

We have a sizable deposit, household income just shy of £100k and we can't find a basic 3 bedroom house (that's not a flat) that we can afford. Our budget is circa £600k but everything in our range is either a total dump, in a dodgy area, or we get totally outbid. I know the housing market is bad but seriously, what the hell is going on? We have don't have time or money for a big renovation. Where is everyone getting all their cash from to afford these basic houses?!

And yes we're in the SE and sort of in the London suburbs. And no we can't move to the north East 😂

Lol to ‘I couldn’t live in Croydon’. Some of the priciest houses in London are in the borough of Croydon. We live in Croydon in what is basically a village on the edge of fields. It’s not all the same!

That will have been pre-Liz Truss though - totally different situation now.

We were in the same position two years ago, but we had no trouble having offers 5% below asking accepted in the last 12 months. Did us a favour really, we were looking at much more expensive houses back then, and wouldn’t have managed the higher interest repayments.

Those look like homes for heroes houses, so originally 1920s council properties. There are very similar houses on the Sunray Estate in Dulwich (for £850k, which is obviously very cheap for a three bedroom house in Dulwich in catchment for an outstanding state secondary). They are lovely houses but that will be why it’s cheap - the stigma of being an ex-council house.

Eltham/Sidcup is also a relatively cheap area, so while it’s cheap it isn’t that cheap for that part of London. Transport links are a nightmare. Lots of lovely green spaces nearby though.

The whole entire borough?

That includes some lovely leafy hilly suburbs?

The bits with affordable housing, a great sense of community and excellent transport links?

How to spot a person who doesn't live in London 😂

I have lived in some of those areas and they are most definitely not dumps. Some areas of South Croydon are ok as is Selsdon, West Wickham, some parts of Bromley and Chislehurst.

I agree. Croydon is more than the town centre.

Have you looked around Chipstead? It's really pretty and villagey.

This 4 bed on a tree lined street is £525k so you have money left over to update it. Couldson S station to Central London in 35 mins. Or slow train from Woodmansterne to Charing Cross under an hour.

Go as far out as possible. My friend just bought a lovely 5 bed near Guildford for 550k.

More votes for Kenley/Caterham!

We're in Sanderstead. Easy access to 2x outstanding primaries, an above-average achieving outstanding state secondary, excellent private schools, two train lines into town on which you can mostly get a seat at 8am (one to Victoria, one to London Bridge, both under 25 mins and within the TFL zones, plus Thameslink runs at peak times), 25 mins from Gatwick, 10 from the M25... there's a lot going for it. The main downside is that you have to tell people you live in the borough of Croydon 🤷🏻‍♀️

There are brand new 3 bed houses for £600k near us. They're clearly not shitholes.

Have you tried Godalming? Bit more value for money and a direct train to London. This for example looks nice and is within budget

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/142852241

You need to grow up a bit.

If you want to live outside london and can’t afford Surrey then live somewhere else - plenty of places to choose from that aren’t overpriced like Surrey.

I live in Whytelafe and can vouch for the area, it’s 30 mins direct train to Victoria from Upper Warlingham my local station. Also there’s a couple of Thameslink trains every morning which is very handy. It’s a great place to live as you’re so close to London, but have so much green belt beautiful countryside on your doorstep. Some brilliant schools too. I’ve lived here for 23yrs but I’m heading back up north in a couple of years when youngest goes to Uni as I have half your budget OP as I’m buying on my own and it’s depressing what I can buy compared to my native North Wales or Merseyside area.

I work in Croydon and not a chance I’d live there. Particularly not with children. It’s the knife crime capital of London and it’s gone downhill an awful lot in the last couple of years. I always used to defend it as I’ve worked there over 20yrs and never had a problem but it’s getting bad and I wouldn’t spent 600k to live in Croydon. Not sure why someone should grow up because they think that. You can live somewhere much nicer with the same budget

I know that traffic choked, bottle necked, polluted to high hell part of Catford and it proves OPs point exactly.

OP, you're gonna have to move to Medway. Sorry.

Croydon town centre is awful but there are some parts of the borough that are GAW-jus!

Eltham and Beckenham are both cheaper because they are not as well served by public transport. In South London terms, they are one-horse towns. So you get a bus or drive to the station before the schlep into Town. It's a slow commute.

Most of my similarly improverished colleagues live in Hounslow, Feltham, and further to Guildford...not nice areas but you might get something for your budget, as long as you don't get too close to the Piccadilly line. The Lizzy line is also a fairly good link when it works have you looked at Reading and anything into Paddington?

Dorking has long been prime so in a heated market expect to have deep pockets for just what you want.

Other towns nearby suggested are just as good for families & commuting into London.

I feel you OP - also on edge of that there London.
Pretty much every property I’ve viewed has needed significant work, one was marketed at double what the vendor paid for it a few years back but effectively needed the entire first floor remodelling plus all the electrics, bathroom, kitchen was falling to bits. It’s been on the market a year and they’ve dropped it by over £100k to £550k but it’s still not shifting.
Viewed another on at £780k (way out of budget but was being nosy). 3 bed and “in superb condition” except it wasn’t. The kitchen was 1990s vintage and had been badly repainted, bathroom 30+ years old (the colour of the suite it dates it) and only one in the house, bedroom 3 a loft room you couldn’t swing the proverbial in.
Aside from the mortgage issue (and as I discovered recently, the EPC is playing a part in what products are available to you, so if it’s a shit tip you’re going to be even more limited), renovation here is expensive and decent tradespeople have long waitlists.
It’s not as simple as “get a bigger mortgage” or “move further out”. Good properties can snapped up in an instant so many things lingering on the market are there because they’re shit or overpriced. Sorry. Rant over for now.

Simply because your deposit amount and household income isn’t really all that much comparatively in the areas you want to buy.
In isolation you may think it’s a lot.
But the market decides, not you.
Sounds harsh I know.

Good guess - it’s an arts and crafts inspired estate built in 9-10 months in 1915 for the munitions workers at Woolwich Arsenal. Lots of little green spaces, and unique houses. There was originally a tram up to Woolwich, which would have solved a large chunk of Eltham’s tube connectivity woes if they’d kept it…

The estate is generally towards the higher end of what you’ll spend for houses of that size (generally 700 to 1200 square feet) in Eltham, but that’s because it’s very unusual and the half East of Well Hall Rd borders the more affluent / better connected part of town around Eltham Park South.

(The link is not my house, which is not for sale, but it may as well be, haha)

Move to the coast out of the suburbs and buy a lovely home instead. Thats around my budget and I’ve just bought an immaculately renovated Georgian four storey home with sea views. I commute into London twice a week.

Sometimes you have to think a bit creatively to have what you want - I can’t understand choosing to live in a “dump” for that kind of money - but then I hate suburban living and post divorce moved out of central London for the coast rather than compromise by just moving a bit further out for precisely that reason.

TWells is in your budget. Tonbridge is Also possible. Near Sevenoaks is also doable for £600K. You just need to look further afield (and why Dorking?!)

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/find.html?locationIdentifier=STATION%5E6911&minBedrooms=3&maxPrice=600000&minPrice=500000&radius=1.0&propertyTypes=detached%2Csemi-detached%2Cterraced&mustHave=&dontShow=&furnishTypes=&keywords=

Orpington is 25 mins straight into Victoria, London Bridge, Charing X or Canon St in zone 5/6. Good schools, green spaces, and access to the Kent countryside & coast.