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Places I can actually afford to buy a flat in London - how shit are they really?

Started by 23 Daves, June 19, 2015, 06:29:48 PM

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Jamie Oliver is fat

Quote from: 23 Daves on June 19, 2015, 06:29:48 PM
Friends, it's simple.

Try moving out of London a bit and commuting in perhaps.

And consider the positives rather than the negatives because people have been making the same tired old housing crash arguments for 15 years, enough time to be well on your way to being mortgage free

I've never had a boiler fail, and you can get insurance against it and plumbing catastrophes with British Gas.

The mortgage is flying by, fuck buy to let landlord cunts right in their holes.

Crabwalk

Quote from: Too Many Cochranes on June 21, 2015, 09:28:43 PM
Why did she do that? Surely she'd get hurt as well.

Yowsers, my post is clumsily written. Neg me to hell for it, everyone.

great_badir

This doesn't really have anything to do with the original question, or at least the intent of it, it's more of an observation on the "how shit?" bit...

A one-time friend of mine[NB]we mutually drifted apart a few years ago and have never really got back in touch[/NB] was an investment banker in "THE CITY" and his girlfriend at the time (whom we all dubbed "The Princess" - came from money, daddy paid for everything, had a maid etc etc etc) worked for a rival bank (I don't remember which banks, but that's not important to the story).  About 12-or-so years ago, they bought an "apartment" which overlooked one of the bridges (can't remember if it was Tower or London) for £385K.  But it really was a shoebox.  One open plan room, which included a little sitting area, the bed"room" and a tiny kitchenette, and then off in one corner was tiny shower/WC room (with no window), where you could easily touch the opposite walls at the same time.  It wasn't even that nice a place.

When the inevitable happened and they split up[NB]The Princess was way too high maintenance[/NB] about 3 or 4 years later, they sold it for £420K.

Madness.

mook

Quote from: great_badir on June 22, 2015, 01:06:58 PM


The Princess was way too high maintenance



yep, my grans brother had one when i was a kid, fucking thing was always costing him money. traded it in for a cortina in the end i think.

Dr Rock

Quote from: great_badir on June 22, 2015, 01:06:58 PM

When the inevitable happened and they split up[NB]The Princess was way too high maintenance[/NB] about 3 or 4 years later, they sold it for £420K.

Madness.

But their property's value had risen by about ten percent in 3 or 4 years - so did all the others and so did rents. So they weren't really any better off unless they live in a tent.

Endicott

Quote from: great_badir on June 22, 2015, 01:06:58 PM
A one-time friend of mine[NB]we mutually drifted apart a few years ago and have never really got back in touch[/NB] was an investment banker in "THE CITY" and his girlfriend at the time (whom we all dubbed "The Princess" - came from money, daddy paid for everything, had a maid etc etc etc) worked for a rival bank (I don't remember which banks, but that's not important to the story).  About 12-or-so years ago, they bought an "apartment" which overlooked one of the bridges (can't remember if it was Tower or London) for £385K.  But it really was a shoebox.  One open plan room, which included a little sitting area, the bed"room" and a tiny kitchenette, and then off in one corner was tiny shower/WC room (with no window), where you could easily touch the opposite walls at the same time.  It wasn't even that nice a place.

Sounds like the flats in and around Shad Thames.


great_badir

Quote from: Dr Rock on June 22, 2015, 01:17:44 PM
But their property's value had risen by about ten percent in 3 or 4 years - so did all the others and so did rents. So they weren't really any better off unless they live in a tent.

True.

But my (ex)mate did okay out of it cos The Princess (or, rather, her daddy) bought him out of his share, and then he moved back to Bristol.  So he probably walked away with a £50K-ish profit.

No doubt that flat is being rented out now for about £5000 a month.

Danger Man

Quote from: Endicott on June 22, 2015, 01:32:36 PM
Sounds like the flats in and around Shad Thames.

Studio apartments now sell for around £500,000 in that area.

£1,600/month rental.

Insanity.

Small Man Big Horse

Barking's pretty grim in my experience. I don't mind the other places you mention (though I've never been to Romford), but there's just something about Barking that rubs me the wrong way, I've only been during the day time but get the feeling at night it'd be even worse. The people just seem really unfriendly, the market is loud and shitty, and even though I walk with a crutch I get smashed in to all the time. Plus they have two Cash Converters but both are really crap, which is quite unforgivable if you ask me!

I had a friend who lived in Ilford and it seemed okay, the only thing I don't like about it is that it's not on the underground, but I know it's only a short overground journey to Liverpool Street, so if you don't mind that I'd say it was the best option.

Danger Man

You want somewhere cheap in London so you'll have to live in a ghetto (or 'communities' as they are called in the UK)

You don't want a scary ghetto[nb]a grotto[/nb], so that's all the black ones off the list. You want a nice ghetto, i.e. an Asian one.

Wembley or Southall it is, then.

WesterlyWinds

To completely derail your thread - what is Streatham like? It's one of the possible places I might move to in December when the land barons who own my current place come back home to reclaim their house

Quote from: WesterlyWinds on June 22, 2015, 06:27:08 PM
To completely derail your thread - what is Streatham like? It's one of the possible places I might move to in December when the land barons who own my current place come back home to reclaim their house


Pretty grim but with nice areas too. The high street is horrible (voted the worst street in Britain in 2002)  and incredibly long (1.8 miles) and at the bottom it splits towards Croydon and Mitcham at probably the worst junction you will ever negotiate at rush hour.

WesterlyWinds

Quote from: Nice Relaxing Poo on June 22, 2015, 06:43:02 PM

Pretty grim but with nice areas too. The high street is horrible (voted the worst street in Britain in 2002)  and incredibly long (1.8 miles) and at the bottom it splits towards Croydon and Mitcham at probably the worst junction you will ever negotiate at rush hour.

Not worried about the junction, I'll only be cycling northwards anyway. I have a friend who lives there who I want to stalk, too, so that's a plus.

Dr Rock


ThickAndCreamy

I live very close to both Barking and Romford and can say that of the two, Romford is better.

Barking is a truly depressing place. The few pubs that are left there are chock-full of UKIP cunts and the high street is essentially a long line of cheap takeaways, crappy mini-supermarkets and beauticians. It is one of the poorest areas of London and has pretty much no community spirit. It would not be a nice place to live frankly, with cheap rent being pretty much the only redeeming feature. I find people don't tend to live in Barking out of a real want to actually live there but because they were either born there, or stuck living there due to cheap rents or family commitments. It does have decent rail connections however.

Romford isn't up to much either. Chain pubs, chain restaurants, decaying shopping centres and an average market. The heartland of UKIP-supporting former East Enders who moved out there to get away from large new immigrant populations. Once again, I wouldn't personally want to commit to making it my permanent home but it is still a far nicer place than Barking.

If I was you, I wouldn't choose to settle down in either of these places. I live in Rainham, and formerly in Dagenham, and I've spent most of my life dreaming of leaving here. Good luck anyway, the London housing market is the most horrible of beasts.

Edit: Also, I would say try Hainault too. It's relatively cheap for London and is surrounded by a beautiful forest and some excellent parks. There's not too much happening in the town itself but if you are happy with a quieter place, it might be a good choice.

23 Daves

Quote from: WesterlyWinds on June 22, 2015, 06:48:17 PM
Not worried about the junction, I'll only be cycling northwards anyway. I have a friend who lives there who I want to stalk, too, so that's a plus.

Cycling? You want to go CYCLING in Streatham? You're a brave individual. The cycle route along the A23 is shared with the bus lane and has seen a number of cyclists killed. TFL are looking into doing something about the deathtrap that is the A23 (a road accident of some kind every week, it seems) at some point before the end of the decade. No really. That's more or less how they've prioritised it. "Yeah, we'll get round to looking at it by 2019 or something. Try not to die in the meantime".

Another shite aspect is the transport. Realistically, you should be in Central London in a jiffy, but because the overground service is so slow (and frequently delayed) and the A23 is almost always congested during the rush-hour, the commute is awful. It's genuinely frustrating being able to see central London's skyline looming towards you at a snail's pace, like some big mocking joke.

Otherwise, my honest view of Streatham is that it's nothing special and nothing terrible either, like most of the remaining affordable bits (to rent) in London. If you're looking for fun nights out or critically acclaimed eateries, though, Brixton is only a mile or so up the road (personally, I think Brixton is horribly over-rated, though the gig venues aren't to be sniffed at).

Streatham does still have quite a strong sense of community once you get to know it, but you'll have to make an effort. Some of the most politically passionate people I've met have been from that area and Brixton. Probably the thing I'll miss most about Streatham when I'm gone is the people - at their worst like something out of Citizen Smith, but that's considerably better than being like something out of Heil Honey, I'm Home (which is what I suspect I'd experience in Barking and Romford).

My family are all originally from Brixton (on my Mum's side) and Peckham (on my Dad's side) and I was certainly familiar with Brixton growing up, so there's a certain comfort about it for me too (in other words, I'm psychologically biased and your mileage may vary). Not that "comfort" is a word traditionally used in association with either area...

WesterlyWinds

Quote from: 23 Daves on June 23, 2015, 06:08:37 PM
Cycling? You want to go CYCLING in Streatham? You're a brave individual. The cycle route along the A23 is shared with the bus lane and has seen a number of cyclists killed. TFL are looking into doing something about the deathtrap that is the A23 (a road accident of some kind every week, it seems) at some point before the end of the decade. No really. That's more or less how they've prioritised it. "Yeah, we'll get round to looking at it by 2019 or something. Try not to die in the meantime".

Another shite aspect is the transport. Realistically, you should be in Central London in a jiffy, but because the overground service is so slow (and frequently delayed) and the A23 is almost always congested during the rush-hour, the commute is awful. It's genuinely frustrating being able to see central London's skyline looming towards you at a snail's pace, like some big mocking joke.

Otherwise, my honest view of Streatham is that it's nothing special and nothing terrible either, like most of the remaining affordable bits (to rent) in London. If you're looking for fun nights out or critically acclaimed eateries, though, Brixton is only a mile or so up the road (personally, I think Brixton is horribly over-rated, though the gig venues aren't to be sniffed at).

Streatham does still have quite a strong sense of community once you get to know it, but you'll have to make an effort. Some of the most politically passionate people I've met have been from that area and Brixton. Probably the thing I'll miss most about Streatham when I'm gone is the people - at their worst like something out of Citizen Smith, but that's considerably better than being like something out of Heil Honey, I'm Home (which is what I suspect I'd experience in Barking and Romford).

My family are all originally from Brixton (on my Mum's side) and Peckham (on my Dad's side) and I was certainly familiar with Brixton growing up, so there's a certain comfort about it for me too (in other words, I'm psychologically biased and your mileage may vary). Not that "comfort" is a word traditionally used in association with either area...

Thankfully I work in East London, so can avoid the A23 quite easily. I know a few people who live in Brixton and love it, but the chances of me being able to afford somewhere that isn't a shithole there are zero to none. I already spend 50% of my monthly income on rent in Forest Gate for fucks sake...


Coincidentally, Forest Gate is quite a nice place to live and still, as far as I am aware, relatively cheap. Might be good to look at.