Trying to buy a house in this area is near impossible

[????]

Otta Wrote:

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

> This is why I shouldn't have used the term Middle

> Class. I just meant the gentrification of areas.

> It starts really well, then everything just gets

> samey.

It's just a different type of samey to be honest, less gentrified areas tend to look pretty samey too. Maybe there's a point when the balance is about right but I think you and Ratty just have the old rose tinteds on...

[ratty]

No rose tinteds on here. Was only joshing really. My new house (which has lost all it's roofs in the storms) is on a council estate in Hayes. Course I'd prefer a million pound house in ED, but moved here for the schools, the open spaces and the fact that a 4 bed doer upper cost me ?300k and is now mostly done up.

For me, this is a much better quality of life! Even got a nice new shiny job in Catford to make the journey to work less arduous!

House is about 3 times the size of my St Francis Place Wimpey home. Means I can get away from the kids!

Obviously this would not be for everyone, but for me. It's so much better! (Apart from the roofs)

[Mick Mac]

Glad to hear it's worked out ratty.

[Mick Mac]

"It can't be long before there are no affordable areas left in London at all, but nobody can afford to move out and commute in either"

Except that the prices reflect what people CAN afford. The problem is it's a bit of a ponzai scheme as the prices being paid by the purchaser gives the vendor a massive deposit on his next house so he can then pay the massive price being asked on his next purchase so the money moves the market. It ends only when the prices become unaffordable and it hasn't reached that stage yet but when it does a sellers market very very quickly becomes a buyer's market.

If you want to cash in do it now.

[Otta]

???? Wrote:

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

> Otta Wrote:

> --------------------------------------------------

> -----

> > This is why I shouldn't have used the term

> Middle

> > Class. I just meant the gentrification of

> areas.

> > It starts really well, then everything just

> gets

> > samey.

>

>

> It's just a different type of samey to be honest,

> less gentrified areas tend to look pretty samey

> too. Maybe there's a point when the balance is

> about right but I think you and Ratty just have

> the old rose tinteds on...

Possibly to an extent, but I just think it's a case of individual taste. I honestly walk in to somewhere like The Patch (and this is not anti patch) and PERSONALLY don't really feel comfortable / like I fit in. I'm more at home with spit n sawdust, it's just the way I was dragged up innit.

[????]

Fair enough but it,s about you rather than the places then really

[Twirly]

I suspect that what PinkyB means is that eventually those first time buyers on fairly average salaries with 10% deposits will be priced out of London, and they are often the people who keep things running (teachers, nurses, shop workers, cleaners, etc.) And the market needs those people. Another issue in a few years time will be those professionals graduating with ?30k worth of debt who won't be able to buy for a few years, unless the bank of mum and dad help out. That might dry up some of the first time buyer market and calm things down too, but it's hard to say.

[Otta]

???? Wrote:

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

> Fair enough but it,s about you rather than the

> places then really

Yeah absolutely. Or to turn it around, it's about the place changing around you. Seeing similar changes in Sydenham, at the moment that's a good thing as it needs some improvement, but I really think there comes a line, at which point I personally start feeling less like I belong in an area.

I'll be in Dartford in 20 years time! *shudders*

[Crissy]

Been reading this thread with interest. I rented in ED for many years and love the area, but as a first time buyer, unfortunately I couldn't afford to to buy there, which was really gutting. So, without the help of parents I had to settle buying (solo) where I could afford, which is South Norwood. Yep, it's a down at the heel area (it's got Crystal Palace up the road where I now go/hang out), and more multicultural than ED, which for me was a reality check (it's the real London).

I do miss ED and it will always be in my heart, but the house prices are way too expensive.

SE25 is zone 4 - I paid under ?230k for my 2bed house (prices have increased since last year, not like ED though, and property is getting bought quite quickly).

Here's a 2bed flat (the most expensive) in SE25:

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/new-homes-for-sale/property-38725409.html

Compared to a 2bed in SE22

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-43713686.html

When it came to buying, I was confronted with an unfortunate reality check, I had no choice but to buy outside ED.

Happy house hunting in ED

[ed_pete]

Ah well, if you want to compare properties in different areas...

http://www.winkworth.co.uk/sale/property/flat-for-sale-in-oakhurst-grove-london-se22/DUL140122

vs

http://www.smithsgore.co.uk/property-for-sale-appleby-in-westmorland-3489116

[GinaG3]

We have just heard our landlord is selling her whole property portfolio. Rentals are on a high, property prices are right if your selling but not buying. I feel stuck in this situation especially as the market is booming. I've looked in to buying with the help of parents. We could possibly put up 10% deposit on 250k. Mortgage quotes over 35-40 years are then 1600pcm. We would need it to be about 500pcm. My partner works FULL time on more than minimum wage and only earns ?990 after tax. There is no way we could afford it, even outside of the SE22 postcode. No-one will rent to us and no-one will let us buy, council wont house us either as we're not priority. Where does this leaving working families who are still struggling?

[Crissy]

GinaG3 Wrote:

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

> We have just heard our landlord is selling her

> whole property portfolio. Rentals are on a high,

> property prices are right if your selling but not

> buying. I feel stuck in this situation especially

> as the market is booming. I've looked in to buying

> with the help of parents. We could possibly put up

> 10% deposit on 250k. Mortgage quotes over 35-40

> years are then 1600pcm. We would need it to be

> about 500pcm. My partner works FULL time on more

> than minimum wage and only earns ?990 after tax.

> There is no way we could afford it, even outside

> of the SE22 postcode. No-one will rent to us and

> no-one will let us buy, council wont house us

> either as we're not priority. Where does this

> leaving working families who are still struggling?

It would seem that you are the right candidate for Shared Ownership. Alternatively, there are properties out there for under ?200k (examples below), but of course you have to sacrifice location. I saved for years, sacrificed not going on holiday on a regular basis, not owning a car and other things, along with location.

Example http://www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/32008715?search_identifier=494f45c5bdc336d6123c7e95d7c50a25

http://www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/32008359?search_identifier=02f26d09c5a1b52f409b3324fe432d06

http://www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/31981095?search_identifier=f69ea89f4b016a4ada31af07a1baeeba

[Earl Aelfheah]

Or maybe the answer is not to buy, but continue renting.

[GinaG3]

We cant even do that. I've checked everything. Based on income we could only get a loan of 42,000 maximum. That would mean buying at 62,000 or part buying, even then its more than we can afford with shared ownership.

Will have to carry on renting, lining the pockets of landlords with more properties than they can manage and gaining no position for ourselves on the property market.

[????]

Do you work too or have you kids, you don't say? Are yours skills portable and are you willing to move? Are your partners income expectations flat? If not you haven't a hope to be blunt.

[Loz]

No second income possibilities??

[Earl Aelfheah]

OK, slightly overstated it with 'incredibly', it's not Tower Hamlets - but that said, it's been getting more diverse over the years rather than less (there is a far wider spread across the income bracket now than when it was predominantly working class). There is also a mix of housing sizes and tenures. It's probably a bit whiter than a lot of zone 2 areas, especially for SE London, but there are still a lot of different nationalities here. When I think of my immediate neighbours, they are all from pretty different backgrounds. The point is that from reading this forum you could get an impression that the area which I feel is unrepresentative.

ratty Wrote:

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> I would say it's not incredibly diverse. Tower

> Hamlets is incredibly diverse I would say, East

> Dulwich, for central london (zone 2) is far from

> it imo!

>

> Lived there for 20 years so must have some idea

> surely? Watched it get less and less diverse year

> on year!

[Otta]

Just had to the call to say I've completed on our flat in Penge. So I am now the proud owner of a whopping 7% of a property. And whilst it may not be the home I always dreamt of buying (actually I've never really dreamt about buying a home), I do feel very fortunate to be in this position.

And I'm a 10 minute walk from McDonald's! ;-)

[Mick Mac]

Big congrats Otta !

[LondonMix]

Congrats Otta

[red devil]

Nice one Ots!

Is it working out cheaper than renting?...

[Earl Aelfheah]

Congratulations

[Otta]

RD it's actually costing slightly more than renting but only because we're paying low rent (and in return our landlords do nothing to improve the property. once we're gone they'll defo do it up and start charging at least ?500pcm more).

It's cheaper than current msrket rates for renting a simikar property in Sydenham/Penge. A LOT cheaper than ED rents.

[bob]

Congrat's Otta First foot on the ladder all way's the Hardest.

Bob S

[strae]

Otta Wrote:

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

> Just had to the call to say I've completed on our

> flat in Penge. So I am now the proud owner of a

> whopping 7% of a property. And whilst it may not

> be the home I always dreamt of buying (actually

> I've never really dreamt about buying a home), I

> do feel very fortunate to be in this position.

>

> And I'm a 10 minute walk from McDonald's! ;-)

I look forward to the inevitable article touting Penge as the new hot spot!

Shortly followed by the also likely inevitable post about on these forums about how Penge is just not quite what it was!

Jokes aside, congratulations and well done!