Where would you buy for 900k in London?

[SD25]

3-bed (minimum) house. No further out than Zone 4. Decent access to Paddington. Prefer urban feel than suburban. Good high street and schools for DD.

We like SE London but Dulwich is a bit out of price range for something nice so perhaps Forest Hill/Sydenham but not sure about schools. West London we don't know so well but most of the nicer areas seem too expensive.

Walthamstow and Leyton also v popular families

That's good

I know a fair few who have done well

Yes, Leytonstone was on our radar as we also have connections in Essex. We like a few areas around there but never lived in East London so just a bigger step to get to know it.

I would just buy the best property you can get in an area you love and actually want to live in.

Would a 3-bed apartment or maisonette work? Opens up many more areas with a £900k budget.

I would never compromise on area in London.

So hard to resell a flat, and you’re constantly at the mercy of service charges, issues with neighbours, cladding etc etc

Get a house! 900k is plenty for something nice in East London or SE

I have since left London (I was in Herne Hill) but I have friends in Bromley by Bow and also next to Victoria Park, tonnes of investment around East specifically great being so close to Canary Wharf too as that’s really safe and pleasant to scoot about and kill time / shopping
Westfield close by too

id say get the closest zone / best house you can - zone 2 would be great as can only ever keep increasing in value as more and more folks go back to the office.

We are already in a house, so can't see us moving back to a flat tbh. There are lots of areas we love in London - that's why we love it! - but not all work for places to live, go to school etc. Hence the discussion.

@ContactNightmare absolute rubbish about the schools in FH. Sydenham is a ‘good’ school and much loved. Forest Hill boys is good. Their joint sixth form is brilliant.

There are also a number of Outstanding schools you’d be in catchment for including Harris East Dulwich, Harris Bromley and Kingsdale.

you can’t state an opinion based on living somewhere ages ago. Things change rapidly in London.

Also the primary schools are ranked 1st or 2nd in the country every year!

Which area are you in now OP? Sorry if I missed this, can’t find my glasses 😟 haha

that's my impression. and the area is only getting more popular.

Forest Hill was "requires improvement" a short time ago, and I recall watching some of its pupils have a knife fight on Dartmouth Road in the year before I left, which required several police vans to clear. That was also what a lot of other parents did in the final years of primary.

Dartmouth Road is the same location for Sydenham School, but I think my assessment is fair. I did not want my children to go there.

Also, I rated the primary schools. Those were outstanding. But as I say, I did not like the crime in the area.

Highams Park, Leytonstone, North Chingford. Outstanding primaries in all and access to the grammars in Woodford and Enfield, private schools like forest, Bancroft, Chigwell and by Epping Forest.

Northfields in Ealing is lovely too.

Leytonstone yes really gorgeous period properties too

Have you considered Beckenham? Its zone 5 but transport links are great and its a great place to grow up and lots of green space.

We are not far from Beckenham now but feels a bit too suburban/boring and transport to central isn't as good.

We kept moving out and out, started in sydenham, then moved out and out, ended up semi rural but have recently moved back to zone 6 to civilisation. It's such a personal choice. I have friends that wouldn't move out of zone 1 and friends that would never live anywhere that isnt surrounded by farmland. I lives in Surrey Quays for a bit too which was strangley suburban.

Chiswick - 3 bed freehold houses under 900k.
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/149033087#/?channel=RES_BUY

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/157515011#/?channel=RES_BUY

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/156612263#/?channel=RES_BUY

Bloody hell theyre ugly 😭

@SD25 i wouldn’t listen the the pp as they don’t seem to have any up to date knowledge of the area. The idea of it being unsafe is a joke.

Is Sydenham School (the girls state school not the private school) quite well regarded? That was in our mind for Forest Hill/Sydenham.

yes, it’s a great school. The facilities are excellent - particularly in arts and design and performance ie they have a music studio etc.

Crime rate in Forest Hill is classed as low compared to other UK areas

This looks like it needs lots of work:

https://www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/68297285/?search_identifier=3c8cbb1e9f82d25d7317af1bebadcc1265dda6886662a6bddd7b2acf66e2c648

Nice view though

I live in the Brockley / Honor Oak / Forest Hill area and have done for 12 years. It’s a lovely area. A great sense of community. Great transport links. Some nice local shops and pubs. Lots of green space. Close to lots of other places like Peckham and East Dulwich and Lewisham for different types of shopping and nights out.

In terms of schools everyone has a different opinion but I have friends with kids at all the secondary schools in the area and everyone likes the schools and their kids are doing well. There are more options if you are OK with single sex schools. I suspect that now we’re past the high birth years it will be slightly easier to get in to schools from further away.

i loved it when the kids were little as there is so much to do with them. And I love it now they are older and they have the freedom and confidence to travel around London. And I love being able to pop to Borough market on a Saturday just because. I doubt we’ll ever move even though sometimes we’d like a bigger house.

If you don’t mind being a bit further out then I also like Crystal Palace as it has a great neighbourhood vibe. And a cinema.

that said, the commute to Paddington isn’t great. But I did want to come on and defend what I think is one of the most lovely places to live in London.

@Meraleine - I lived there for ten years! That is not knowing nothing about the area. There was an unacceptable level of knife crime which I witnessed on four separate occasions around the Sydenham Hill area. That was enough for me to move. That was only around 4,years ago, not ancient history.

A lot of my friends moved away. For similar reasons