What am I missing about London prices?

[orzo15]

i know that London is ridiculously expensive, and unaffordable for many people on normal salaries. I often read that to get a nice 2 bedroom you’re looking at 500k. But then when I look on zoopla, I see many many places around 250-300 (which is what I could afford), and a quick google says some of these areas are pretty decent. Like this example https://www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/71240656/?search_identifier=8a1ede7a163a1ea28ff82835058d1141027f6673594bf487d1a5750ab023e818

but then what am I missing? Is there some catch? I don’t know London so happy to be informed of something that I am obviously not seeing!

Probably that you’re buying a leasehold with no years left on the lease so will have to spend a fortune extending it.

Any other examples?

Where did you see that on the details? It's not clear how long is left on the lease.

If the price seems low and there are no details on the lease it is invariably because it's about to run out

Thete's no picture of the living room either. Is that because it's tiny? Where do you eat? Streatham's not the best either.

Oh I see, they're using the living room as a bedroom/office.

and the second bedroom isn’t one and there seems to be very little light in the kitchen

They’ve been sneaky: set the living room up as a bedroom to make it look like two doubles. Second bedroom is actually 5 foot by 7 foot. It’s really a one bed with a tiny office room.

I agree with PP who said the lease is probably on its way out if they haven’t put the number of years left on it.

Yes most rentals to sharers are set up without a reception room and you are expected to eat in the kitchen. It looks marketed to a landlord perhaps

Nothing wrong with Streatham! Having said that, the flat linked to is cheap for the area.

You do know it's just half of the house? No garden, garage.

It's tiny! It's a 2 bed but one is barely a bedroom. Also I would not choose to live in Streatham 😂

So much hate around Streatham 😟🤣

It isn’t really a 2 bed flat , they have set the reception room up as the 2nd bedroom which is misleading. The actual 2nd bedroom is a box room. it’s converted - they have split what was originally a 2 bed terrace house.

The road it's on has a permanent traffic jam also, an undesirable road in (apparently) an undesirable area.

You can get a nice two bed flat for 250-300k. TBH in London a lot of prices are dictated by the location: too near to train line or busy road / long walk to stations & prices will come down.

The flat you’ve sent is tiny. Have a look at the floor plan as I would call that a 1 bed with an office/box room. Another poster is correct that the road is also gridlocked due to connecting Streatham with tooting.

However, Streatham is a decent area - huge commons. Newly got a Gail’s & Waterstones. So nothing wrong with the area as such!

My kids were trying to buy a year ago. They were turned down for mortgages on three different places, not for financial reasons, but resaleability, excessive service charges, lack of cladding certificate where none was needed…. All were beautiful refurbished flats.

The floor plan shows 2 beds and a reception room.

I wouldn't like the bathroom off the kitchen.

The price of leasehold flats has come down a lot in some areas, and there is large number for sale due to landlords exiting BTLs.

probably a good time to buy if you want to live in London though

I guess its what you are prepared to compromise on. We live not too far from Streatham and Mitcham is generally considered to be a dump in comparison. But our compromise in buying here, meant we could afford a 3bed house (that weve since put a loft conversion on as well) plus a garden on a lovely quiet road, great neighbours, good primaries nearby, walking distance to Morden Hall Park etc. Others wouldn't want to compromise on location and would prefer flat over house in a better location, or would compromise with 2bed over 3bed for example. Everyone has their own priorities and circumstances so what one person might advise isnt always the best option for you. Personally, I found the best thing was just to book and go and see lots. Then if it is a busy road, small rooms, small garden etc, you can just rule it out straight away, and you quickly start to get a sense of what's important for you.

Transport links make a huge difference in price. The local station mentioned is rail, not tube, so depends how often trains run from there and where they go into. Particularly look at what your options are for getting home from a night out in the centre of town. If they finish early and the late ones have long gaps between, that's way less practical or desirable than something where you can access the tube.

MN-ers get the heeby-jeebies about leasehold but the reality is that huge numbers of Londoners live happily in leasehold and it’s how we get in the property ladder.

And while leasehold in a massive block with very high service charges, cladding and a short lease is a problem, conversions like this really aren’t. It’s just two flats in the house, you can own the freehold with the other leaseholder and each have your own lease with your shared freehold. Then the length of lease is no problem at all.

Secondly… good lord, people buy where they can manage to afford. Streatham is a great area to live in! Many of us live in much less salubrious areas and live normal settled safe happy lives because it is where we can afford! That’s what happens when property is very expensive! The snobbery and dismissal of normal areas on MN is horrible.

It’s absolutely tiny! Possibly a short lease too. How many others can you find in that area at the same price?

https://www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/71255384/?search_identifier=53bc934b446bab1a3db5301927041bee236ee45c9ae0e74cb1e69935df23797d

https://www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/71018117/?search_identifier=53bc934b446bab1a3db5301927041bee236ee45c9ae0e74cb1e69935df23797d

Couple more examples!

Those are 2 high rise flats in Peckham. I know Peckham’s got a bit more bougie (I lived round there 15 years ago) but even so, there’s your answer