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.

I'm a bit dubious about this tbqh. I have lived on my road for 15 years and not one family has moved away for secondary schools. Two families have sent kids to St Dunstans but everyone else has done FHS, Sydenham or Kingsdale.

Same goes for my sons football teams, karate classes, drama clubs. I know loads of families in Forest Hill and my experience is that people really settle in.

Every word of this. Parks, woods, museums, community, sports clubs, music venues... it's a great place to be a teenager. The secondaries are good or outstanding and offer solid support for children aspiring to RG or Oxbridge.

It's pretty quick if you live on the Windrush Line and can change at Whitechapel. Transport in the SE4/SE13 area is massively better than it was when we moved there in the 80s.

In this price bracket at best you have ex council houses in large dilapidated estates surrounded by chippies.

The op hasn't said only zone 1 and 2 though

Sorry, not the point of the thread but I'm always astonished at the house prices in London. £700-800K for these very ordinary ex council-type houses with crappy small gardens?? Who is paying these prices? And is living in London really so great that people are willing to pay that much?

Eh? Honestly wtf you on about 😂

Who is paying these prices? Lots of people have equity from property gains. Newer, younger people without the equity have high incomes & family money often both.

And is living in London really so great that people are willing to pay that much?

Well I'm a bit older so didn't pay that & couldn't afford that. I don't particularly think it's worth it but I'm a Londoner & a 2nd gen immigrant so don't know any different, want to stay close family etc

Love how the people slagging off London and council houses are most likely sat in their council houses… in somewhere like Bradford 😭

Not the point of the thread but Stow Brothers have a terrible rep. Someone won £30k at a tribunal after he refused to falsify a paper trail over a rental gone wrong. They also ‘accidentally’ told a prospective tenant they won’t accept DSS recently (and not just because it doesn’t exist).

OP - Nunhead is lovely, and great schools. If you do consider east, Woodford / Leytonstone area is on the Lizzy Line, but maybe too suburban in feel. Lovely housing stock, though.

Putney - district line to Paddington
https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/152952923
(low council tax)

Oh wow never heard that, sounds bad about the documents. I’m confused about the DSS thing what does this mean?
they have some gorgeous properties

@Dsdurga Nothing against London or council houses, just seems madness that they're being sold for £700k.
Never been to Bradford or lived in a council house, I live in a very lovely cottage with a large garden and views of fields and forests (no knife crime either) that I bought for £150k not long ago, that's why these prices seem insane to me.

Of course you do ;)

@boxyboxs Fair enough...I'm a second gen immigrant too with no family money, so no London for me!

https://walthamforestecho.co.uk/2025/01/16/stow-brothers-apologises-for-mistakenly-turning-down-housing-benefit-claimant/

@Dsdurga Well I do, so not sure what else to say.

Says it was a mistake by a trainee

A trainee would likely be too young to even know what DSS is - it hasn’t been called that for years - and why would a trainee take it upon themselves to say something like that without checking?

That coupled with the homophobic remarks they made to the employee who took them to tribunal isn’t a great look.

I'm a first gen immigrant with no family money (and no family in this continent either) and bought in London 10 years ago in an area that wasn't great but I knew had potential. Took me 10 years of savings then and very considered career choices. That's appreciated in value as I knew it would do so now 10 years later i can buy somewhere bigger in London in a good area. I was sensible that my first place wasn't a dream home, it was just to get on the ladder. Not everyone who affords London has tonnes of money - some, like me are just canny and happy to play the long game. And not everyone can or wants to live in London but it's still one of the most competitive and desirable markets globally - so of course it's priced accordingly. It'll be the same in a big city in your parent's home country compared to a small town.

Plenty of handsome 3 bed apartments in W9

I live in Hackney. It’s great. But as parents our biggest flex is that we live within 25min cycle ride of work- and now my husband lives 7mins cycle ride away.
we need minimal child care, we can do assemblies, and school meeting etc.

so I’d Paddington is your focal point, the start there.
I lived in W9 and there’s plenty of purpose built apartments there you could consider, and in NW6.
Maida Vale and Kilburn, St John’s Wood are all viable options if you are prepared to live in an apartment.
which I would much prefer than hour long commutes and shed loads of child care.

have a look at the apartments before you discount them.

Unfortunately, many careers are still very much London-based. Once you've established yourself in a profession / industry, it can be hard to move away because it's often easier to change employer and progress your career in London. This is especially important in an age where it's less common to stay in an organisation for many years. You need options in case you get made redundant and London has plenty of options. I realise that this doesn't apply to all careers, but I'm just pointing out that it's a huge reason why people stay here. There are very good salaries to be had in London for those willing to climb and jump around the job market. That combined with a bit of help from family to get started on the property ladder means people can afford to pay £700K+.

Gardens are often less important to people in London because there are many large parks and other attractions for families to engage in at the weekend. Many people prefer to have small courtyard gardens that require less maintenance as they are mainly used for drinking wine in :-D. People are more prepared here to live in houses deemed modest outside of the south east, because more emphasis is put on the cultural and lifestyle benefits of living in such a diverse city. Also, often people don't maintain a car or are happy to drive older cars where they aren't paying out on leases every month. So there are costs to be saved on travel.

I feel like I've almost talked myself out of leaving! I'm headed out to the countryside, because I'm looking for my next chapter. However, I've spent 25 years in this city and if you can make it work for you, it can pay you back a thousandfold.

So as not to ignore the OP. Anywhere on the Windrush Line will get you to Whitechapel for a fast train to Paddington. The Lizzy line has really opened up the travel options. Have a look at Crystal Palace as you will definitely get a 3 or 4 bed house for £900K. The backup route to Paddington from there is train to Victoria and the bus (number 36 I think). When I used to work in Paddington, I actually had a bike stashed in the bike park behind Victoria station (it's in the NCP car park) and I used to cycle the last 3 miles or so to Paddington. So there are multiple options for transport if one line isn't working.

I don't have direct experience of local schools there but friends have raised their kids in the area and they have attended and graduated from the state secondary schools. All appear to be doing well and have very full extra-curricular lives - sports, drama, more niche interests that are well-catered for in London.

Good luck with your search.

And is living in London really so great that people are willing to pay that much?

god yeah. It really really is.

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/155131646#/?channel=RES_BUY