First time buyer in London - where to buy?

[turniche]

Budget is max around £800k. Really confused where to buy. Need some green space as want a dog.

Ideally 2+ bedrooms. Commute to Liverpool Street/Moorgate area. Less than 50 mins but 30 mins door to door would be ideal.

Any ideas? Battersea looked perfect but commute is surprisingly long and northern line not nice at rush hour. Places in South East beyond Lewisham seem very cheap and no longer than a Battersea commute. Thoughts?

No specific advice, but Moorgate is on a slightly strange underground/overground line that you might not be aware of that wends its way up through some leafy but otherwise poorly-connected bits of north London, eg Alexandra Palace, Winchmore Hill

https://timetables.greatnorthernrail.com/GN/#/timetables/3236/Table%20B

Do you potentially want children?
if so, I think it can change your criteria as you should buy somewhere you could stay on in if you needed to (ie schools and internal space) as moving is expensive.

if you are 40+ and childless and just want central London living with a patch of grass
I would be looking at Primrose Hill and north of there Belsize up to Hampstead.

Almost by chance, coming from Shoreditch, we found ourselves in Forest Hill. We love it here. It’s not quite as bougie as its neighbour East Dulwich so houses are better value for money, and it’s that little bit more spaced out so gardens tend to be bigger. It has a good community feel and is family friendly but not an insidious Nappy Valley. We have some wonderful parks and green spaces, a decent establishing highstreet with indie businesses, the glorious Horniman Museum, and transport wise it’s 15 minutes to London Bridge by train, 25 to Charing Cross, and the Windrush line takes you through Canada Water, Shoreditch and up to H&I.

Honestly, I’m living the dream: I can cycle to my office in Fenchurch Street in a little under 40 minutes; get to pretty much anywhere else I hang out to socialise in an hour tops; and I have an allotment and a garden big enough that despite being in London I have pet ducks and a goat.

Another area we initially looked at was Wapping, which I’ve always had a soft spot for - but for the money houses are very small and most have tiny overlooked gardens. I often look at the houses on the ornamental canal wistfully when I’m in the area drinking at the Prospect or the Kidd, though.

I love Ealing. The Elizabeth line goes direct to Liverpool Street.

Bow is perfect for you. 10 mins to Canary Wharf, 15 mins to Moorgate, 5 mins to Stratford Westfield and the like, loads of green space and parks. Beautiful canal and tonnes of new developments popping up.

one of the last places in zone 2/3 you can get a gorgeous usually Victorian house for under £800k.

close enough to the vibe ness of Hackney etc but not in it!

good pubs, Bow Arts community and a strong heritage of artists and makers etc.

in 2-3 years I’d say most of the houses there would be over £1mil as investment is huge.

heres some options:

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/156365249#/?channel=RES_BUY

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/156388751

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/155320181

And a curveball new build :

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/151447520

@turniche which area do you live now ? What sort of ‘vibe’ are you after? X

I’d avoid south London personally as transport is a nightmare, overground always not running at weekends and just generally I find it hard to get up to Moorgate and the like.
you want to be east or north, ideally.

Also a lot of people love Walthamstow, it’s getting quite expensive but is very ‘trendy’ (lol forgive me) atm. Probably a good investment too as just seems to keep climbing.

worth noting it’s a touch further out than Bow and you usually have to transition via Stratford which can be a bit stressy on the commute.

id try stay as close to zone 2 as possible.

worth noting it’s a touch further out than Bow and you usually have to transition via Stratford which can be a bit stressy on the commute.

Don't want to turn this into a game of Mornington Crescent, but to Moorgate I think you'd take Victoria line and change at Highbury, a very easy cross-the-platform change!

Ah great! Even better. I’m a big advocate for the areas of east that are totally overlooked. Where else could you get a gorgeous Victorian terrace for under 750-800k.

We've lived in South-East London for nearly 40 years. Transport is not a nightmare. It's improved out of all recognition since we moved here. We now have the DLR and the Overground (Windrush line now). Very easy changes at Canada Water to the Jubilee Line or at Whitechapel to the Elizabeth Line or District/Hammersmith & City. Frequency and reliability of main line services is fine and they go into a range of Central London termini where obviously you can also change on to other lines. The buses are better than they were and we live close enough in that bus is a viable option to get to the centre if there are problems on the trains.

I'd say we're much better connected here than somewhere like Hackney or Stoke Newington.

OP, have a look at SE4/SE13. There are quite a few properties there for your budget.

Sorry I’ll have to disagree haha! Bromley by Bow to Moorgate direct in 14 minutes :)

ill never be a south London dweller sorry PP!

Transport is absolutely fine. The overground is one of the lines that runs 24 hours.

So on what basis are you qualified to talk about transport links?

Anywhere on the overground (windrush line) up to Whitechapel and then onto the Elizabeth line straight to Moorgate.

Bethnal Green or Dalston? (Walkable to Liverpool St). No tube at Dalston though. Some lovely places around Victoria Park and you could definitely get a 2-bed ground floor flat/maisonette in that budget.

Calm down dear :)

Battersea to Moorgate is very easy using Battersea Power Stn station (you have to change at Kennington although there may be direct trains during rush hour). I'd second anyone saying think about schools if children are likely to factor in your plans.

Look at the train line heading north from Moorgate: Hornsey, Alexandra Palace.

Exactly. The transport south of the river is great these days. Sounds like the poster hasn't spent much time down here and is pushing old-fashioned south of the river views. The rail network is unrecognisable to what it was when we moved here 20 years ago. The Overground and improved frequency of trains at the weekend has changed everything. Very easy to get anywhere in London with trains to Victoria, London Bridge and connections via Canada Water and Whitechapel to anywhere in town. Loads of green space and easy to get out to the countryside and coast too.

To the poster who dissed south London there are more transport links than just the overground/underground. South east London has a whole system of overground train lines that mainly work fine and have trains every 15mins. You'll probably want one that goes into London Bridge/Cannon Street. Lots of green space and parks too.

Alexandra Palace which is in zone 3 on the Great Northern line from Moorgate. Lovely area.

Or if you don't mind going a bit further out to get more for your money (but really well connected) look east on the Elizabeth Line (Gidea Park, Brentwood, Shenfield).

The transport in south London is much improved these days.

Where I am you can get into London Bridge in 25 mins via train, Brixton tube station via bus in 15mins or get the bus all the way into the west end in an hour.

Depends where in South London. I live in Penge, which is phenomenal for rail options. I have three different lines to choose to travel - Penge West (12 mins walk) or Sydenham (17 mins) on Windrush, Kent House (6 mins walk) to Brixton and Victoria (overground) or New Beckenham (10 mins) to London Bridge, Waterloo East and Charing Cross (overground). If one of those lines is down at weekend, the other two are still operational.

And £800k will get you a lovely Victorian house in most of the nice areas of south London in zones 3/4