Moving away from ED

[esme]

Honor Oak is nice, we almost moved there (but in the end people decided not to sell their house) so stayed in ED in the end. I would say that teh "ED effect" will def spread to Forest Hill and Honor Oak and they would be my first choices, or Brockley / Nunhead... I have a friend moving to Kent and she tells me there are grammar schools galore, which means saving on house prices as well as schooling :)

[Smiler]

My friend has just left chiselhurst, didn't like it there at all, said there were BNP supporters throughout her street, was v expensive etc. she'd been attracted by the "village" thing. she was a true londoner but has now gone to tunbridge wells!

[dulwichgirl2]

I am wondering whether more people are being tempted to move out by the gap between ED and eg Kent. The latter has been pretty stable while as we all know, ED has gone a bit mad price wise.

It is impossible to know empirically many people would have posted on this year a year or two years ago but it just "feels" a lot currently.

However there isn't very much on the market or at least not in my price range, which may be a different thing admittedly. Maybe more will come on over the summer with a view to moving by the end of the year.

[meredithdavis78]

I can second Smiler re: Chiselhurst. My husband is from Sidcup, went to Chis and Sid grammar and still talks about moving back to the area for more space, bigger house and better schools. I point out that there is a reason why the places are cheaper. If you are anything but white- people have no problem revealing their ignorant views and it is not a place where I'd like my son to grow up. I lived there for 4 years and heard people speak about London as if it were some far off, dirty place full of immigrants which irritated the hell out of me. Thanks but no thanks.

[kittenheels]

We moved from ED to Honor Oak in April, and we're loving it. Without over-stretching on our slightly scary mortgage, we've been able to double the square-footage of the house, and we're stumbling distance from the station.

Apparently HOP is about to get a Sainsbury's Local on the parade, and it's already got a lovely deli, florist, great restaurants in Babur, Tapatisserie and Le Querce, and an East Dulwich-style shop full of pretty things you don't really need. The Neroli beauty salon is also completely fabulous - and we're only five minutes in the car from ED when we get Lordship Lane withdrawal symptoms.

[dulwichgirl2]

So prices per sq foor are half in HO compared with ED? Wow, that is quite a difference for being five mins up the road. How are the schools in HO though?

[Live4mykids]

We are hoping to move to Kent also...the usual reasons, value for money, good choice of local schools, space etc. I like Bromley and Orpington as they are not too far out but we are looking for a house to completely renovate to make it worth our while.

FWIW, in the next three months, we are planning on putting our lovely 3 bed semi in Crofton Park on the market if anyone is interested :). Walking distance from Stillness Primary School, Honor Oak Park station, Crofton Park station and Catford Bridge station (between 6 and 10 mins walk).

[alieh]

For those talking about Honor Oak and Forest Hill....am I missing something? We've looked casually at a few places in the streets behind the Horniman and they seem to be the same or more than houses in ED? Is this pocket different re: prices? I just can't reconcile the prices in the sold register (sold prices in the ?400s over the last few years) with what people are actually listing for in this area (and expecting to get, according to agents). All of the places we've looked at need a huge amount of work/maintenance. At ?500K for a 3 bed terrace with no loft conversion and tiny kitchen and decor needing updating (and who knows what else lurking below the surface) this seems the same or more expensive than a similar terraced-house in SE22?

[dulwichgirl2]

Alieh, Yes the idea of HO being half the price confused me a bit as it was not at all my understanding. However, I wonder if the three beds you are looking at are much bigger than the ED ones? Then, even if they are the same or similar price once you factor in the doing up, they could well be much cheaper per square foot which is the only real measure. Is that possible?

[alieh]

I wouldn't say MUCH bigger, but yes probably a bit and gardens definitely a bit bigger. But maybe floorspace is bigger by 10 or 15%? And gardens by 20 or 30%? I was really surprised! I got the sense from some of these threads that there was more value to be had moving that direction from SE22. There are definite downsides in terms of access to high street (we have the Co-op, etc. on Forest Hill Road very near and Lordship Lane very accessible too).

Sorry to divert the thread - I can start a new one on house prices in SE23 I suppose!

[prm]

In my opinion Forest Hill is a great alternative if you like living very close to ED but need more space.

[dully]

I moved back to islington. Suburbia was not for me. Central enough that we have cctv everywhere which keeps crime down and very quiet in the evenings when everyone has left work. I love it.

[dulwichgirl2]

Suburbia?

Prm, double fronted six bed houses for the same price as 3 bed terraces - wow. I can see why you made that move. Also doesn't forest hill have the overground? It is a little further out but still must be pretty quick to eg canary wharf.

Alien, maybe once you add it all up, the original statement is a slight exaggeration but still pretty accurate?

[alieh]

Yes prm that sounds amazing! I'm not finding anything in that realm. Unless I'm underestimating ED prices, there doesn't seem to be that much difference. I'll keep my eyes open though as those streets are lovely!

[zeban]

suburbia dully? Are you kidding me?!!!! Do you really mean an abundance of green and a bit of space which Islington definitely lacks? And I'm sorry but quiet and Islington don't go together. I grew up around there so I know! Give me south London any day.

[prm]

I was just discussing ths with my husband and yes probably things have changed a bit since we bought in 2007..at that time house prices were going up like crazy and ED prices were just getting out of hand, more than the properties were worth really. Looking at estate agents windows I can see prices in ED have settled a bit more since then and are probably more realistic now. At the same time Forest Hill has become more desirable with the tube and as families hear about the good schools here etc. so the gap has proably become smaller... But you still get more from your money in SE23 so still a good alernative if you want to stay in the area and upgrade from a 3 to 4 bed for example with a bigger garden.

On a separate note for those considering moving out of London it's also worth factoring in the commuting costs which can be thousands per year if you still need to come into London for work!

[dulwichgirl2]

Prm, ED prices for, let's say, a three bed terrace in a nice road off LL are WAY higher than 2007, I can assure you, so I think that FH must have crept up.

Alieh, sorry I got your name wrong before.

[Live4mykids]

My 3 bed semi detached in SE4 (7 mins walk to Honor Oak Park station and 7 mins walk to Crofton Park station) will be going on the market for around ?350,000 in the next few months. Garage, conservatory, summer house at the end of the garden and office space in the loft (which cannot be advertised as an extra room due to height restrictions). The rooms aren't huge but they all qualify as double rooms.

I believe most of the houses around here go for a similar price and go fairly quickly because of Stillness primary school.

[simonethebeaver]

I really don't think you'd find that bargain now, prm! I've been looking in that area for a couple of years and prices have gone up and up. You still get more for your money but not that much more.

[dully]

Depends on which part of islington you are in Zeban and yes, you can keep south london. Dulwich is suburban and aptly named. A friend and I had a minor dispute over whether it meant dull or not. His finding was that Dulwich was derived from "Dill Field". My better research came up that "Dill" is old saxon for Dull. Dull Field it is. Different strokes for different folks. I got fed up with the posh/common black/white segregations. I'm fond of Dulwich, it has a charm but I wouldn't live there again and by the looks of it neither does a lot of this board. meh.

[StraferJack]

Still checking in on South London via the forum tho, eh dully?

I knew Islington was exciting, but never in my wildest dreams... etc

[zeban]

StraferJack Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Still checking in on South London via the forum

> tho, eh dully?

>

> I knew Islington was exciting, but never in my

> wildest dreams... etc

:-D

Does it therefore say something about your username dully!

[kittenheels]

Sorry if my post about doubling our square footage by moving from ED to HOP caused confusion... We did have to fork out a *bit* more money, it wasn't simply a like-for-like swap. I wish!

However, heading across the border certainly represented great value compared with SE22. We couldn't possibly have afforded a house the size of our new one on our old street. And being three minutes on foot from the station has changed my life!

To address the question about local schools, we don't have children yet so I can't speak from experience but we're close to Stillness, Fairlawn and Dalmain which I hear are all rated pretty highly.

[amydown]

Just resurrecting this thread as I'm always looking on Rightmove (shameless addiction). How about Crystal Palace? Hubby and I both work in canary wharf so the East London line connection is really appealing. Good primary schools?

[crystal7]

Glad you've just done that amydown. We have spent some time pottering around other areas in SE London. I like Crystal Palace but a quick look at ofsted reports at local schools didn't seem promising. Of course someone may know better...

Has anybody moved to Brockley? It's cheaper, on ELL and has more varied housing stock than ED but there didn't seem to be much there?! Hilly Fields park was quite nice though. Sydenham? Honor Oak and Forest Hill are becoming as expensive as ED...

Looking elsewhere has made me realise how convenient ED is, especially with small children. Gorgeous parks, you can buy just about anything you need, cafes, places to go on rare nights out. We've been spoilt.

*scuttled off to persuade OH that we only need 2 bedrooms really*