Opinions on house we missed out on

[HelloMoon87]

Hi,

A while back we lost out on this house.

A number of houses came along around there, very similar to this, we want to make an offer. What do you think of this house?

It's not a very attractive house from the outside.

The problem with Dulwich Village Infants is that, although it’s a wonderful school, because it’s a church school, the catchment area tends to be much wider than for Dulwich Hamlet Junior school, and unless there has been a recent change, children moving up from the Infants have no priority for admission to the Junior school. It was always the case that quite a few children didn’t get a place at the Junior school because they didn’t meet the distance criterion. In terms of secondary schools, one of the reasons I would always prefer Forest Hill or Sydenham is that the Lewisham schools in the area are greatly improved and you also have access to the Bromley schools which in my opinion are very much better than the Charter. You would also be within the catchment area for the Bromley grammar schools. Alternatively, if you considered areas like Brockley, you’ve got Haberdashers’ quite close by.

As a previous poster said, everyone has different preferences where they live, and having lived in the are for the last 50 years I would much prefer a house with character in a much more interesting area with more of a community feel than the house you’re looking at, for a very significantly lower price.

It looks unloved and needs a new lease of life.

I don’t find it particularly appealing as it is but once it’s had a make over it will look 99% better.

Beautiful mid century villa. Will easily sell north of 1.6M after a tasteful refurb (open plan kitchen, bay window etc.).

I know the area well and know why that house is expensive. There are a lot of houses of that era around and they are obviously cheaper than the Victorian villas. They are now becoming very chic as wealthy and ambitious young families buy them up and make them beautiful. IMO the walls are a little thin so detached is fantastic m.

Take a look in west Dulwich too - rosendale Road. You’d be out of catchment for the charter schools but close enough I think to elm green and Norwood school and maybe even dunraven.

You’d be out of catchment for the charter schools but close enough I think to elm green and Norwood school and maybe even dunraven.

Those schools aren't a patch on Charter North though....

what do I think to this house

it has so much potential

Id put the kitchen in the lounge, open up the dinning area and half the original kitchen, into the new kitchen and have the lounge in the garage with doors into the garden - the rest of the old kitchen id change into a study or utility as its all plumbed in in that area

id make the ensuite and family bathroom, along with the wardrobe/cupboard space in bedroom 2 into three bathrooms - so giving 2 ensuite and a family bathroom

looking at he prices along the street - they seem to be going down rather than up?

It’s a lovely area, our first house was nearby and friends lived in the village, but it depends how much you want to live in Dulwich. You could move to Beckenham, Bickley or Chislehurst and access good schools and perhaps qualify for the Bromley or Kent grammars with larger and / or lower priced homes.

Although I am in South London I don’t have experience of prices in that immediate area. It does seem very expensive considering the amount of work to be done. It’s not a style of house I like at all so I would never consider if, but I can see that for those that do find this style appealing the downstairs and garden have a lot of potential. The room sizes upstairs are really not good. You have a fourth bedroom that is barely a bedroom, then two which are small and a master which, while a better size, is still somewhat narrow. So taken as a whole, not great.

Just to balance out some of the comments on the style of the house (won't speak to size of the rooms) - mid century is very fashionable in London these days and I like the bones of the house, as a mid-century fan. Don't know whether a bog standard period house where everyone renovated exactly the same would get you more value for money or not am afraid, probably even more expensive in that area I would guess?

I really like the house. Got 2 good size bedrooms plus 2 smaller ones. Nothing wrong with that.

I really like mid century style houses. They have good sized rooms. I feel they have character without the potential issues of older, period houses. Ie they will have better insulation, less damp, less likely to have structural issues.

And what people won't necessarily appreciate from the photos (I have been in that house several times) is that the bedrooms have really roomy built-in wardrobes, so feel way more spacious than a medium sized double bedroom with much of the floor space taken up with storage.

A lot of work needed, not sure if it's worth it but the location is amazing.