Londoners, what’s the next

[LightCameraBitchSmile]

Walthamstow Village?

I was all set to move to Walthamstow (not right in the village but near the tube) but am a bit put off by how much the village seems to be losing its charm as prices have peaked - a Gail’s and now the good egg has moved in (tge bagels suck!).

I want to live somewhere close to a tube for safety at night and that doesn’t feel really rough, and be able to walk to nice independent cafes and shops etc.

any idea where is like that still and ‘up and coming’ enough to feel safe but not so much yet that prices have peaked?

Not quite sure why you gave me the ‘laugh’ reaction @Papricat?

Completely gentrified and similar to other prime London areas in west London (ie: Fulham) prices are steadily falling due to affordability issue and exodus of wealthy Londoners since Brexit.

I don't live in Tooting by the way, just am there quite a lot. I know lots of people on here just recommend where they live!

Finsbury Park or is that out of budget now? (don't live there either)

Which is why I prefaced it by asking how the OP might feel about Wimbledon. Because it ticks all her other boxes.

Camberwell?

What about Blackhorse Road?

Thanks all, this is really useful!!

Im not adverse to somewhere like Wimbledon which makes me realise it’s not the gentrification I dislike, so much as the comparisons between the nice and the rough. I feel like lots of Wimbledon is nice so it can afford its Gail’s and chains, where as the Wvillage is small and set away from the rest, so feels a bit invaded now!

not sure if that makes sense to anyone else.

i do keep thinking about Camberwell, Brockley etc but never lived south so it would be an adjustment.

Blackhorse Road is just going to be a building site for 10 years with all the high rises going up and warehouses coming down so less sure.

i think my priority above all is just safety and tube access. If that means chains then so be it!

I know you want tube access but is that just for ease or a safety thing?

If you stay in zone 2 in the south (which in a lot of places £1.0m will just about get you a 3 bed) places like Peckham, Nunhead, Telegraph Hill, Brockley are all on the overground which runs very frequently. Trains also go to Victoria, Blackfriars, 2 stops to Canada water so you’re onto the jubilee line within minutes. The overground to New Cross gate (which goes to NXG, TH and Brockley - and further down the line) is one of the 24 hour lines at the weekend. Not all tube lines are.

Camberwell is a great place for bars, restaurants etc but it isn’t near a tube line and is really very bus heavy. They’re excellent routes but they are buses. It’s also pretty grimy still.

As far as I’m aware (and I’ve lived in this area for over 10 years) there aren’t chains here at the moment. Nunhead is quiet but has a row of independent shops / bars and restaurants. It’s being bought up quickly by east Londoners though.

Not sure if in your budget but Bowes Park has the cute, independent high street, is 20 mins to Moorgate on train and next to Bounds Green tube. A lovely and green area, close to Ally Pally for a big park, Muswell Hill for posh and Wood Green for Primark.

I think we were so lucky with the property market for decades that it’s left us with the assumption that there’s always going to be something upping and coming. That may no longer be the case.

Camberwell is a good shout if it is the bit that is in easy walking distance of the Oval Tube - but then you might just as well try and find somewhere in the vicinity of Oval/Vauxhall which is nicer anyway

The high rises in Blackhorse Rd are all to the north of the station. To the south it's all lovely Warner flats and houses down towards Coppermill Lane. Lots of lovely houses round there. Very quiet and leafy and safe and about 10 mins walk to tube.

I thought of Bowes Park too. One bit of north London that is nice and still relatively affordable (for London!)

Actually, Thornton Heath has plenty of roads / collections of roads that are really lovely and close to excellent parks. Transport not the fastest though.

Norwood Junction has great transport.

West Norwood, closer in, half is walking distance to Tulse Hill for Thameslink. Has a great Picturehouse cinema.

Norbury, further out but closer than T Heath is scruffy but friendly and safe and has 2 or 3 trendy cafes.

Streatham has better transport links

What’s your budget?

Honestly, I hate Gail’s. It is SO expensive for minuscule cakes.

Maybe venture bit further north of Walthamstow - North Chingford (the bit near the train station) or Highams Park. More independent restaurants / cafes than lots of chains, old school high streets, green space, less of a gentrified vibe while still being nice. Plus quick and easy to get to Walthamstow / Hackney / Central on overground.

1mn would get you a lovely house in these areas

(not on tube but reliable overground plus not terribly hard to get to Vicky line via walthamstow or central line via Woodford if needed)

Thanks all, I’m on the overground now with easy change for vic line and I hate it. It’s often delayed or cancelled or just off for the weekend with works! So really want the tube instead

Could the people recommending Bowes Park tell me which is the ‘main’ bit pls?

In that case you could look at the streets off Landor Road in Clapham North/Stockwell - a short walk (7 minutes or so) to the Victoria Line. The area is 3 bed Victorian bay window houses so solidly built with period features at just under £1m. House prices in this area have been suppressed by Lambeth Hospital but the site is being redeveloped so that won't be an issue. Short walk to Stockwell for the tube and to CLapham High Street for all the cafes bars and restaurants you could wish for.

If I had to bet on an area on the tube lines, I'd say East Ham and just east of there. Terraced houses galore, and not yet too gentrified

About Bowes Park, I think Mydldeton Road is one of the main roads with little shops and places to eat. So nearby the station, and probably the other side of that too, towards the tube station, but it’s quite quiet and neighbourhood-y, and surrounded by houses. I don’t know it too well but have been looking to buy too and it comes up as within a reasonable price range for London.. and has the tube which is great

I remember being told 15 years ago that Camberwell was up and coming

I loved living in walthamstow, I'd happily move back if I moved back to London

you might like Wanstead?

There's a lot more to Walthamstow than the village though - and plenty of room for 'improvement'. Wood St still feels like it could get a lot more chichi, it's a lovely winding high st..