Oh, and remember that you won’t ever be able to get a black London taxi to take you home from the west end etc. 😆

@benp1 I’m a “northerner” too!

You’re not a real one, otherwise you wouldn’t even consider moving the wrong side of the river 😀

“You’re not a real one, otherwise you wouldn’t even consider moving the wrong side of the river “

+1!

There are some nice suburbs in south London I could consider living in, but not the outer ones. Some nice parts of Streatham, Dulwich, Greenwich etc. Very quiet and leafy. Some beautiful old houses too. The outer suburbs are mainly 1930s or later, and not so nice (hence the lower prices). If I had to move to an outer suburb, I’d only consider north London. Spent a bit of time in North Wembley, and the surrounding areas are ok. Finchley starts to get quite expensive. Brent and Hendon not so bad. My personal tip for an area which I think will see a big surge in interest soon, is around Wood Green/Bounds Green/Bowes Park. Leafy and quiet, but still with good transport links, and easy routes out to green spaces. And basically, any area with lots of darker faces; cheaper house prices, and far more interesting cuisine! 😉

Have you considered Rochdale?

He could buy half of Rochdale for £450k! 😆

benp1 – Member
You’re not a real one, otherwise you wouldn’t even consider moving the wrong side of the river

clodhopper – Member

+1!

Oh the northern card is out; I was born and bred in Lancashire, makes me more northern than either of you? 😈

Re north of the river – missus’ parents live in Hastings, it’s MUCH closer to South of the river. Their help may be required in the next few years. 🙄

binners – Member
Have you considered Rochdale?

Erm, my geography is not the best – but isn’t that in Manchester? 😆

Cheers guys.

I just looked on rightmove for kt2 as I know the area well and there really is some speculative pricing going on. There is no way anyone would pay 395k for a non riverside 1 bed flat, suppose agents are not aggressive enough with instructions. I would look at actual sale prices and take off 20% as a start point.

Problem is lots of the sales are from landlords exiting the market and whilst waiting for a sale have a tenant in situ paying c 1200 pcm, so worth the wait.

Good luck

I’m SE19 although upper norwood rather than CP. Reading this 2 or 3 things strike me.
what one person likes another doesn’t.
The character of suburban south london can change from one street to the next
Its all very expensive.

given those things trying to decide what you want, leafy and parks or hustle bustle and chic gastro pubs for example, will help. Also accept every house is a compromise of cost, location and property size, so maybe determine a short list of must haves and a second list of nice to have but will compromise. Then for me there is no substitute to getting in the car/on the bike/on foot and visiting some of the locations, streets and nearby amenities. I suspect some places will make you think no, while others make you feel upbeat about living there. It might be that some visits make you reconsider your list a little too.
Hope you find somewhere nice for you.

As for the cost, well if you find a crystal ball and can use it to pick an area on the up, or avoid overpaying, brilliant. Usually we have to look back in a few years and identify our mistakes then either do something about them or feel happy with the successes we did make and not dwell on the could have beens.

We’ve found a house we really like the look of, it’s near Beckenhill station/golf course.

I’m going to cycle there tonight to snoop around. While I’m there I’m also going to check out a few the surrounding areas: Bromley North, Bromley South, Shortlands, Beckenhem Junction, Clock house, Kent house, lower Sydenham, Dulwich, Penge and then back into Ealing.

Thank you all for your input, it’s much appreciated!

Hopefully update this in a few months time with some good news!

5. Don’t even think about putting an offer in around asking price around Crystal Palace – prices are 70% higher than they were in 2013. I know of at least 4 properties at the top end of Crystal Palace Park Road which have been on the market for around a year and they’ve not sold – sales have fallen through. I used to live there – and one of those flats belongs to a friend of mine and he’s finally accepting he’ll have to drop his price – he was saying something very different this time last year… CP is also carbon monoxide heaven, although the park is very nice and the cake in Cadence is top notch…

another SE19 resident here. (2 min from cadence) though in southwark not bromley borough which is 50yds away
i have to say i think you have missed the boat if you want to buy round here, basically what has happened in the last 16 months is prices now have parity with the likes of streatham basically the least desirable (i.e. not victorian or bang up to date modern) properties in an expensive street right where you need to be (2min to shops/bars 6min to the 2 mainline stations)

paid £200k for mine in Oct 2014 flat downstairs is about to featured on Location Location Location as it was filmed a couple of weeks ago, its now sold for over £325k! 😯

there are no bargains here anymore. though if you can stretch to it then i’s a great place to live as it has the right mix of feeling like London but a bit leafier/suburban without being dead or full of retirees and chavs.

Be aware the London and se the vast majority of the UK market is massively over inflated and due for a correction

Yeah,look at this they’ve got a real cheek asking this for it when it needs the kitchen and bathroom updating 🙂 Only 6 miles from Rochdale too.

Oh the northern card is out; I was born and bred in Lancashire, makes me more northern than either of you?

Re north of the river – missus’ parents live in Hastings, it’s MUCH closer to South of the river. Their help may be required in the next few years.

In that case it’s a good job I’m reading what you’re saying and not listening, probably wouldn’t understand a word 😆

On a serious note, I do get the need to live near parents, when kids etc are around its so much easier and nicer with family nearby

I’m a North Londoner with all my family very local (both sides) so we are unusually fortunate in this regard

I’d echo MrSmith’s comments on CP. (I’m maybe 5 mins from Cadence, hi neighbour!)

It’s also more than 25 mins into Victoria and the Southern service is epically unreliable.

nick1962 – Member
Yeah,look at this they’ve got a real cheek asking this for it when it needs the kitchen and bathroom updating Only 6 miles from Rochdale too.

Wow! Still not enough for me to move back north though. 😆

benp1 – Member
In that case it’s a good job I’m reading what you’re saying and not listening, probably wouldn’t understand a word

Haha, I’m thankfully? accent free. This was beaten out of me as a small child. I can’t even do a fake northern accent!!

@mrsmith & jim – thanks, we were planning on being a bit cheeky with our offers anyway.

It’s also more than 25 mins into Victoria and the Southern service is epically unreliable.

‘waves’
but the overground service is very good and the london bridge/victoria services are only let down down by southern who will surely loose their franchise. once this happens and London bridge is finished then there should be a big improvement.
thankfully i can use either service to get to work in a similar time and just jump on whichever train turns up first.

@mrsmith

I heard, maybe incorrectly, that TFL is taking over Southern/Southeastern etc etc? As the current services are shocking.

I heard, maybe incorrectly, that TFL is taking over Southern/Southeastern etc etc? As the current services are shocking.

Afaik nothing has been confirmed, and the franchise isn’t otherwise up until 2021.

The Overground service is indeed good, but obviously isn’t very helpful if you want to get to Victoria.

I rode through bromley last night to look at a house we liked the look of. The area the house is in wasn’t for me.

This is the route I took (taking in the sights):
https://www.strava.com/activities/664702360

Feeling like I’ve got a much better feel for the area, will take a few more random trips down there. I like the look of Beckenham, not so much Downham. Without sounding snobby; it’s not Ealing, I’m going to have to get used to that. But like Ealing it’s quite drastic how a really nice row of houses can be next to a really not so nice set.

Thanks again for everyone’s input!

Feeling like I’ve got a much better feel for the area, will take a few more random trips down there. I like the look of Beckenham, not so much Downham

I’d steer clear of Downham – bit too close to Catford for my liking (I was born in Catford)

Beckenham generally nice though.
Looked at Farnborough/Crofton/Bromley Common yet??

freeagent – Member

Beckenham generally nice though.
Looked at Farnborough/Crofton/Bromley Common yet??

No not yet, just the areas on the route I linked above (https://www.strava.com/activities/664702360).

I was running out of daylight/energy by the time I got to Bromley south.

Hopefully do a trip out there on Sunday.

I’ve lived in Orpington the majority of my life, also a short spell in Bromley North and Shortlands (the no mans land bit between Bromley and Beckenham).

The slow train services to Victoria / Blackfriars seem to stop at every station known to mankind in south London, Cannon St/ Charing X is quicker. Most trains are filling up by Beckenham Junction or Grove Park with the people on the platform banging on the windows telling people to move down the carriage.

I find shopping in Bromley a complete waste of time, no flagship stores any more, just a load of tat so would rather go to Bluewater. However I treat a journey there like a military operation in and out as quick as possible.

Plenty of countryside on the outskirts – I’m sure most people don’t even know it exists.

Any opinions on Swanley?

A nice house has come up there – appreciate its not Bromley but is close to greenness!

Any opinions on Swanley?
A nice house has come up there – appreciate its not Bromley but is close to greenness!

Err… the only thing I can suggest is you take a walk around ASDA in Swanley and do some people watching…

Not for me – full of the sort of women who have more tattoos than teeth, and only put their fags down to whack their kids.

As I said before, I live in Hextable, 2 minutes from Swanley.
Pink Hill is ok in Swanley.
Yes it has lots of not so nice neighbourhood and I would not send my kids to school there.

Joyden wood is great for mtb riding.

Basically if you can afford a nice house in Swanley and use it as a base to sleep and food shopping it is fine.
There are no nice restaurant or pubs yet.
There are big plans to build some but not yet.
Bluewater is 15 minutes away.
Victoria is 35 minutes away and it took me 40 minutes to cycle to London.

That’ll explain why this is cheap then: http://www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/41066448#O6gxYVxfGesAM547.97

😆

Thanks again!

^^^agree with all that.
Hextable/Wilmington side of Swanley is nice, however you are straying well away from the original remit!

If you are looking that far round/out, you might as well look at Bexley.. nice but not cheap.

High Fir is a good area in Swanley.
I would live there. It is next to the station.

Yeah I think I’ll go back to the bromley area, I just did a street view through the town centre – it’s a bit sparse!

I know nothing about the area, but from the description above, I reckon you might not like Swanley 😀

Generally better to have the crappest house in the nicest area than the other way around!

If you fancy something slightly more rural whilst keeping the decent transport links Rightmove Link

I was down south this weekend, it’s not as nice as it used to be. The traffic is shite ALL THE TIME. Roads that used to be completely empty during the day are now just traffic jams. As you get closer to a town centre the grass just disappears to be replaced by parkng etc