First Time Buyer - Budget Areas In London

[musehead]

Does anyone have an opinion on Streatham or West Norwood? On my searches around the Brixton area these are coming up very cheap, though I'm not sure if that's because they should be avoided (?!)

Streatham has an ugly high street (a busy dual carriageway) and is pretty rough around the edges, a friend bought a reasonable 2 bed flat there very close to the station for £216k a year ago though so it's much cheaper than nearby Balham etc. It's close to Tooting Bec Common, not that far from the Northern line in Tooting, easy to Brixton on the bus.

I wouldn't like to live in Streatham personally, I managed to find somewhere in between Tooting Bec and Balham.

[fancyusername]

Been a long time lurker but only just signed up, I noticed the heads up for Woolwich Arsenal area in this thread, is this area considered ok now after everything that have happened there earlier in the year?

Other area I was looking at was Isle of Dogs but only offputting about that area is transport links as its only really served by DLR

I think Woolwich is a good bet - well we're betting on it anyway! We're just buying a 1 bed flat next to the Royal Arsenal in the Royal Artillery Quays. We'd been looking for a bit, but our budget is only about £160k which doesn't get a lot in London. We looked in East London, but the areas/properties we could afford were really grotty. The flat we're buying is 10 years old and is in a quiet road, and overlooking the river. We'd have preferred the Royal Arsenal but the 1 bed flats there start at about £180k. The thing about Woolwich we thought is that while at the moment it's only got the overground and the DLR (zone 4), it's now definitely got Crossrail coming in 2017 - which will mean travelling to Liverpool Street in about 10 minutes and the West End in 15/20 mins.

Also, there's quite a lot of regeneration going on there and with the rest of the Royal Arsenal development taking place, I think that facilities should improve over the next few years. We don't come from that part of south east London (though we are Londoners), but have visited several times - the town centre's a bit run down, but doesn't feel threatening at all to us and one thing we liked is that Woolwich seems genuinely multi-cultural - whereas the bits of East London we could afford (Forest Gate, Maryland, parts of Stratford, East Ham) didn't feel multi-cultural at all - extremely mono-cultural and we were routinely stared at walking down the street (not in Stratford, but definitely in East Ham and Maryland).

I think the act of terrorism earlier this year in Woolwich only happened there because of some local terrorist nutters. Isolated acts like this can happen anywhere - I think it's a shame if Woolwich suffers for this. I know there's gang and knife crime roundabout there, but no worse than where I currently live in West London and that's about 3 times more expensive than Woolwich.

[wozza2k]

SNIP

See I personally was very interested in Woolwich Arsenal with Crossrail being built there, but my partner isn't so interest, she thinks it's far from everything (she's a bit of a West end girl) and doesn't think there is much in that area of London for her.

We're looking more at Wembley Park area these days...

[samtheman]

What are the night buses like out of curiosity? I remember when I lived in Leyton the Night buses were every 15/20 minutes but took the best part of an hour to get back...

Is that the nightbus going to Ilford? That's a nightmare, like a lot of the nightbuses but there are a few exceptions. In the case of the N550 and N551, the buses are often fairly empty and usually with a less rowdy crowd: from what I can tell, mostly slightly older (30s and 40s) people who work in Canary Wharf and Docklands. Of course, if you're looking for entertainment during your nightbus like a 17-year old throwing up on their shoes and laughing about it or some drunkard talking to themselves, then that's not the right bus.

They're not that frequent though...

[fancyusername]

See I personally was very interested in Woolwich Arsenal with Crossrail being built there, but my partner isn't so interest, she thinks it's far from everything (she's a bit of a West end girl) and doesn't think there is much in that area of London for her.

We're looking more at Wembley Park area these days...

Wembley is very near where I'm living now. I have to say I don't like it there anymore - I preferred Woolwich itself. But Wembley's convenient transport wise and I see what she's saying about not much to do in Woolwich itself.

I'm hoping/thinking that'll change when the rest of the development at the Royal Arsenal and all of the other developments are finished. I know that as part of the Royal Arsenal there are plans to put a riverside restaurant in and a cafe/bars etc, and surely with several hundred more flats in the area Woolwich itself will attract a few more restaurants/bars? Anyway, here's hoping!

[cwk1977]

Does anyone have an opinion on Streatham or West Norwood? On my searches around the Brixton area these are coming up very cheap, though I'm not sure if that's because they should be avoided (?!)

Yes, I live in Streatham, have done for the past 6 years.

Streatham is a very big area and does vary from very nice to not so nice so it really depends where you are looking at in Streatham. Streatham Vale is as cheap as chips, not very well connected and is dominated with 30's and post war terraces, I personally wouldn't live there. Streatham Common area, is slightly better connected, some OK, streets just off Greyhound Lane seem to be the nices, prices do vary from street to street but it is still very affordable in terms of London prices.

Further North towards Streatham Proper or the St Leonards area, prices start to increase, going west towards Tooting Bec Common there are some really lovely roads with huge Edwardian Houses, many of them uncoverted, South of that area is the Gleneagle Road area which is relatively well priced, not the greatest area IMHO, but streets full of Victorian conversions if that's your thing, handy for Streatham station too.

Further North, both east and west of the High Road prices start to climb closer to standard London prices, but it does depend what you are going for, the choice of property in Streatham is huge, Mansion block flats, Victorian/Georgian/Edwardian Conversions, New builds, Post war, you basically have the lot. Prices towards the top end of Streatham Hill west of the high road are geniunely quite high IMHO, not that far off Brixton or Balham prices, but that Telford Park area is very nice IMHO, well kept houses and conversions, pretty much the "Balham overspill" crowd live down that way and will try and convince everybody they live in Balham lol!

In terms of the High Street whilst it does not look pretty there is now quite a bit to do, the high street has really improved over the last 5 years. You have a good selection of gastropubs, some great deli's, a handful of very nice cafes, some very good restaurants too. The high street is very long and you can get lost amongst the charity and pound shops but there is plenty good there too...of course it's not Kings Road but you get what you pay for.

[cwk1977]

Yes, I live in Streatham, have done for the past 6 years.

Streatham is a very big area and does vary from very nice to not so nice so it really depends where you are looking at in Streatham. Streatham Vale is as cheap as chips, not very well connected and is dominated with 30's and post war terraces, I personally wouldn't live there. Streatham Common area, is slightly better connected, some OK, streets just off Greyhound Lane seem to be the nices, prices do vary from street to street but it is still very affordable in terms of London prices.

Further North towards Streatham Proper or the St Leonards area, prices start to increase, going west towards Tooting Bec Common there are some really lovely roads with huge Edwardian Houses, many of them uncoverted, South of that area is the Gleneagle Road area which is relatively well priced, not the greatest area IMHO, but streets full of Victorian conversions if that's your thing, handy for Streatham station too.

Further North, both east and west of the High Road prices start to climb closer to standard London prices, but it does depend what you are going for, the choice of property in Streatham is huge, Mansion block flats, Victorian/Georgian/Edwardian Conversions, New builds, Post war, you basically have the lot. Prices towards the top end of Streatham Hill west of the high road are geniunely quite high IMHO, not that far off Brixton or Balham prices, but that Telford Park area is very nice IMHO, well kept houses and conversions, pretty much the "Balham overspill" crowd live down that way and will try and convince everybody they live in Balham lol!

In terms of the High Street whilst it does not look pretty there is now quite a bit to do, the high street has really improved over the last 5 years. You have a good selection of gastropubs, some great deli's, a handful of very nice cafes, some very good restaurants too. The high street is very long and you can get lost amongst the charity and pound shops but there is plenty good there too...of course it's not Kings Road but you get what you pay for.

Forgot to add, I live in the Sunnyhill Road/Wellfield Road conservation area, slap bang in the middle of Streatham and Streatham Hill. The area is dominated with Small family starter homes, Period Cottages, Some 3 bed terraces and the odd huge house, you have the odd conversion there too, but mainly it's a "starter" family kind of area if that makes any sense. For example, you could pick up a 2 bed cottage for approx 450-475k, conversions tend to go upwards of 200K for 1 bed, you maybe able to get a 2 bed for 250K, very unlikely though.