London 2 bed for £600k

[Rackaa]

DP and I are looking to buy a two bed somewhere fairly central. We want to commute to Bank in less than 40 minutes. Our budget is around £600-£650k. Our top priority is it being in a decent area and ideally bigger than 55 sqm. Appreciate we are asking a lot for a small (London) budget!

Ah okay. Back in the day it used to rammed with city boys on the piss, so felt at odds with families, but London is constantly changing. Think if I was OP I’d go for somewhere in the city, just because you can’t beat being able to walk to work, especially in summer. I lived in Hackney for a decade so do agree some areas are nice but not trendy per se.

Anything to add on what you mean by "decent area"? Atm your budget and requirements covers thousands of properties. Can you narrow it down a bit? Do you have any friends or family in London that you'd like to be fairly close to? for instance.

Thanks for all the suggestions! As nice as a house would be - the areas we can afford a house in are definitely not the sort of place we could see ourselves (yet). We’re 20s city workers.

We have friends in Wapping but find it a bit soulless tbh. Islington and Clerkenwell look fab - but that’s probably because it’s nearing out of budget

This in Clapham needs a bit of work but has an absolutely enormous amount going for it:

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/152896700#/?channel=RES_BUY

Clapham flat is lovely 😀

You could get a house for that in Leytonstone. Lots if nice residential areas but still lovely, close to Stratford for more commercial restaurants and shops plus its on the central line so easy commute to bank.

Or go for Stratford East Village if you prefer a flat.

I'm really shocked by these very ordinary flats that are leasehold - ground rent approx £500 p.a. plus service charge of £7500-8000 p.a. So ontop of a large mortgage, people pay about £600-700 a month (increasig each year nodoubt) plus council tax and bills to live in a flat they only lease. It's madness.

Wow, that’s crazy! One of them will need a lease extension too.

All I can think of is that they could be bought by a company and used for staff accommodation. Not sure if that’s something that happens?

@LuluBlakey1 That's why you have to choose your leasehold flat carefully.

The one I posted is 999y lease (c. 980 years remaining) and most of have bought the share of freehold. No ground rent, not even peppercorn. Service charges are about £3k pa, which mainly covers daytime porter (who does a good job of touching up the decoration of common parts), buildings insurance, water rates, lift maintenance and gardening (plus we have built up a reasonably healthy sinking fund). Apart from the lift maintenance, you would have to pay most of those living in a house...

Agree that a lot of developments - particularly some of the more modern ones with gyms etc. have some eye-watering service charges.

£650k is a decent budget for a 2-bed flat.

As PP suggested, I'd be looking at areas within walking distance of Bank.

I was out in Islington last night. Very lively.

I would move there in a heartbeat if the opportunity arose.

Absolutely perfect for a 20something couple.

@Rackaa
If you can avoid a leasehold flat I would seriously recommend it. Unless it's got a share of the freehold and a decent length to run on the lease. Flats are a rip off.
Maybe consider not being so central and getting a small house if you can. It could save you moving a second time if you decide of have children.

The Elizabeth line is so good you could be at Liverpool Street in 10 mins from Paddington. 1 stop Bond Street, 2 stops Tottenham Court Road, three stops Farringdon and then Liverpool Street. Definitely nice mansion flights for that price in Maida Vale. Lovely neck of the woods to live in. So look out that way too maybe? Don’t know what leasehold charges are but something like this maybe? www.kfh.co.uk/west-london/maida-vale/flats-for-sale/2299925/

That isn’t true at all, OP could get a 3 bedroom Victorian terraced house in Tulse Hill/parts of Streatham/West Norwood for that sort of price. You can also get houses out in Plumstead/Woolwich/Eltham in that budget.

I agree that probably isn’t what she wants right now, but it just isn’t correct to say there are no houses for £650k unless you go out to a ropey part of zone 6. The less glamorous bits of Zone 3-4 SE London suburbia are still fairly cheap. They are just boring, not very well connected and a bit drab, hence not in huge demand.