London - Zone 1 or Zone 2/3

[ladinet]

We’re looking to buy our first place in London. Budget is around £700k and would like either a large one bed or similar sized two bed.

DP would prefer to live super centrally around Clerkenwell and be able to walk to work and most places. He finds the tube stressful at rush hour. This would probably be a one bed.

I prefer somewhere leafy but near a tube stop. So Balham or bits of Clapham would work. We might be able to just about get a garden flat. DH says he finds these areas boring / relatively overpriced compared to Z1.

What are your thoughts? Central or leafy?

Where does DH work? Does he feel the same about overground trains? What are your plans for the future? Children? Dogs?

Do you want children. How old are you both

Where do you work, op?how long d to you think you’ll be in the flat And are you planning to have kids?

we lived very centrally and could walk to the city in our early 20s. It was great and being able to walk in was really fantastic. But you’ll spend a lot on moving costs if you’re only planning to be there for a year or two.

Not what you asked but I would focus on period conversions with share of freehold. Newer leasehold flats still have some way to fall IMO.

If you don’t plan to have kids whilst in this flat then I’d definitely go central. So much fun and it is really relaxing to be able to walk everywhere. The only reason I bring up kids is not because they also wouldn’t enjoy living in a central flat but because schools in areas like Clerkenwell (and islington even) are closing down because there aren’t enough children.

central London has so many green spaces too, often quite hidden. Enjoy!

Beware full tubes in zone 2 at rush hour. The people of Fulham, Clapham common etc often can't get on the tube because it's already full. Sometimes further out is easier.

I would also counsel against Clapham distance. When we moved to East Putney it was much more pleasant. And choice of tube or overland train

We live in zone 1 and I'd definitely prefer it as it's a huge improvements on quality of life to avoid a busy commute, walking to work eliminates any problems with public transport and I'm always thankful when I see colleagues getting in late after a disruption that I've not had to deal with that. I also like the general buzz of having things going on around us all the time (filming, art installations, events) which we just stumble past and doesn't happen so much out in zone 3. Zone 1 is also better connected in all directions - from zone 3 it can be quite hard or take a long time to get across London due to the layout of tube connections, whereas it's easy to get to most places within an hour from where we are. Useful if you are at a job hopping stage as you'll continue to have good access to lots of employers in any part of London. Realistically if you are working ft, you don't really benefit from the leafiness during the working week and from zone 1 it's really quick and easy to get out to all sorts of places at weekends, including outside London, because of the rail connections.

I'd expect you can get a 2 bed for 700k even in zone 1, and I'd recommend it over a 1 bed. Much better for resale, wfh, storage and (ahem) occasional falling out with your DP!