Earlsfield To Hold On To It's New Status?

[Shamus]

As a FTB'er with my partner and a combined salary of £35k in London in the heady property frenzy buying days of 1999 (since when has it not been a frenzy) we remember putting in offers but being gazumped by lot's of cash buyers. We eventually came across Earlsfield as an area which interested us. It's good train links to Waterloo and Victoria (via Clapham Junction) and closeness to Wimbledon made us think this would be a good spot to buy. After starting our search at the Wandsworth Town end of Garratt Lane and walking down stopping at EA's as we went we had trouble finding anything advertised for less than £100k. One EA laughed at us and suggested we go and visit lovely Streatham! What a cheeky chappie - we persisted and found a converted 1 bed flat on Garratt Lane for £75k, made an offer of £76k to show we were serious and so hopefully we wouldn't get gazumped. We moved in and did very minor redecoration to it and sold it in early 2002 for £130k (dropped several thousand because of buyers survey). A couple of years later (2004) and an extra bedroom and bathroom added in the roof space above and the flat has been sold again for £235k. Now this seems a lot for a flat with no garden, fronted onto a busy road and somewhere we had trouble keeping the windows open in the summer because of the noise?!? Who could possibly afford it? Would they have regretted the purchase?

I am just interested in what people think of the area now and in the past. In 2002 Earlsfield was getting more and more established, lot's of new bars and eating places. I have been there a couple of times since and it looks quite different to 1999.

Would you say that Earslfield is an area that has now arrived?

Will Earlsfield stay 'Arrived' if the whole of London falls?

Are people mad spending 1/4 of £1,000,000 on any flat of a similar size in a newly arrived area of London?

In the last property crash Earlsfield suffered quite badly I recall from an article about the last crash I read somewhere. Will things be different this time around?

[Ah-so]

I think it will. I rented there from 1999 to 2002 as my first place. As it rose I had to　move on (to Streatham!). I think it was undervalued before, being well-position and 15 mins to Waterloo. Limited selection of pubs/restaurants, but the ones there are good.

The prices are bound to fall withg everywhere else, but I think it will stay in demand. Earlsfield has arrived.

[BufferBear Bitcoin Bull]

Earlsfield is the poor relation to Wandsworth and Putney. I've never been keen on the area. Although it has changed over the years, I exect property prices to fall heavily.

Ps. What's wrong with Streatham? I am biased. I spent a fair amount of my childhood in SW16

[Michael]

Quote E.Gibbon

''I can't say whether it's(Earlsfield's) "arrived". It's smarter, certainly. But then so is Lewisham, Walthamstow, New Cross, Deptford. They are all "young" areas, with a touch of the MTV Detroitese about them, something we don't have here in Switzerland

I'd say the scruffiness of some parts of London is quite attractive to young Swiss & Scandinavians who have been brought up to shake hands with their teachers rather than beat them up, pick litter up rather than create it, etc).''

yes they love it!........

[rockdoctor]

I live in Southfields, having been priced out of Putney. We did look at Earlsfield as an area to consider, but it felt dirtier and rougher (and scarier) than we were prepared to consider. The main road is particularly overcrowded.

Now I live in Southfields and shop in the local area I see a lot more of Earlsfield and my view of it has softened - it doesn't seem so bad now. But first impressions are what counts - as far as I could see Earlsfield has a train station and little else to recommend it compared to surrounding areas. Wandsworth & Putney have river, parks, train (+ tube for Putney) and shops, Southfields is fairly quiet and has tube.

[Wiseman]

The only reason you'd live in Earlsfied is if you can't afford to live in Putney, Wandsworth or Clapham. If the prices in Putney, Wandsworth and Clapham fall 30-50%, there would be no reason to buy in Earlsfiend and it will fall by more.

[woody]

I lived in Earlsfield for 4 years (1998-2002). Should have bought and sold there but didn't because I didn't regard the area as being too great.

There isn't a great deal to do there. My girlfriend at the time (now wife) had looked at the map and said how green the area was and it would be great to go for a walk... unfortunately, the area is one large cemetary.

I rented there on Garratt Lane. As you say it is very noisy but it does have great links to Waterloo (12 minutes). Therefore, it has a perfect location and is likely to remain in demand. The quality of the housing there, combined with the busy road and the lack of things to do will mean that when the crash comes, it will be particularly badly hit IMHO.

Having said the above, in hindsight, if the prices went down a lot (in relation to prices elsewhere), you could probably get a good 4/5 bed place in Earlsfield for about 450k ... in about 1 year time ... and be very comfortable for quite some time.

[Michael]

''MTV Detroitese''..................Nice one!

[zzg113]

''MTV Detroitese''

What the hell is "MTV Detroitese"? Is it a language/programme on MTV?

[Shamus]

I live in Southfields, having been priced out of Putney. We did look at Earlsfield as an area to consider, but it felt dirtier and rougher (and scarier) than we were prepared to consider. The main road is particularly overcrowded.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

The north of the station towards Wandsworth Town I agree felt a bit scarier. The south of the station is the better part to live and there are some good roads to the east of Garratt Lane. Had no problems the whole time I lived there.

 

Now I live in Southfields and shop in the local area I see a lot more of Earlsfield and my view of it has softened - it doesn't seem so bad now. But first impressions are what counts - as far as I could see Earlsfield has a train station and little else to recommend it compared to surrounding areas. Wandsworth & Putney have river, parks, train (+ tube for Putney) and shops, Southfields is fairly quiet and has tube.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I think Earlsfield lacks green spaces close to the station and main road. There are several small parks including the park down from the 'Leather Bottle' pub. Actually that pub's garden was a saviour in the summer I recall.

[FreekBear]

I lived in Earlsfield for 4 years (1998-2002).  Should have bought and sold there but didn't because I didn't regard the area as being too great. 

There isn't a great deal to do there.  My girlfriend at the time (now wife) had looked at the map and said how green the area was and it would be great to go for a walk... unfortunately, the area is one large cemetary. 

You can enjoy some green by following the wandle trail. It runs all the way from the thames to merton and beyond. Sure, it's not the nicest bit of green you can have, the green runs along/through the industrial estates. At least for running it beats running on Garrat lane.

[FreekBear]

Best thing in earlsfield: Carnevale restaurant on garrat lane (south of earlsfield station). Proper italian food, very ehm 'characterful' waiters.

Nearby: Chez bruce (near wandsworth station), probably among the top 10 restaurants in london.

[Michael]

What the hell is "MTV Detroitese"? Is it a language/programme on MTV?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

i think Edward means young Swiss and Scandinavians find the urban skuzziness and shabbiness and sheer filth of London quite sexy in the way Detroit and New York are depicted in MTV videos..................it doesn't exist in their countries, you see........................

[Triumvirate1]

Best thing in earlsfield:  Carnevale restaurant on garrat lane (south of earlsfield station).  Proper italian food, very ehm 'characterful' waiters.

Nearby: Chez bruce (near wandsworth station), probably among the top 10 restaurants in london.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

The refurbished Youngs pub, the Leather Bottle, in Garratt Lane summed it up for me. The brewery wouldn't have bothered to spend a chunk of money on it if they didn't believe there was the trade there. Previously an old man's pub

it now definitely reflects the area's new status.

[Ah-so]

The refurbished Youngs pub, the Leather Bottle, in Garratt Lane summed it up for me. The brewery wouldn't have bothered to spend a chunk of money on it if they didn't believe there was the trade there. Previously an old man's pub

it now definitely reflects the area's new status.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I heard that they had ruined it and taken out its character. If you want somewhere crap and trendy, go up to the Puzzle or an All Bar One. I cannot believe they did that to a 300-yr old pub. It may have been an "old men's" pub, but it was popular with all. The refurbishment was short-sighted and unesessary.

Youngs have never been very good at being trendy. They own some rubbish wine bars called "Finch's". They also came up with a useless beer called XXX which was meant to bring ale to "the kids".

But your point is right, it reflects the fact the demographics of Earlsfield have changed in the past decade.

Sorry to all those hoping to read about house prices!

[The Masked Tulip]

As a FTB'er with my partner and a combined salary of £35k in London

Can I suggest an alternative - look for jobs outside of London. I do not mean to be insulting but a combined income of 35K is not good for a couple in London. I assume that one day you will want to have a family and what will your income be then?

In all seriousness, unless you are earning a very good salary combined please consider places elsewhere in the UK that will potentially pay you both good salaries but also offer lower costs and better quality of life.

I am always amazed by the people who work in MacDs in London. If MacDs, ( I am using this as an example.), is your career goal go and work in MacDs in Edinburgh, Bath, Cardiff, Bristol, anywhere but London.