ED tenants looking to get on the housing ladder in East London, would love some advice!

[MattOliver]

Hey everyone,

Myself and my girlfriend have been living in East Dulwich now for about 2 and a half years and have loved every minute. However, we've now come to a point where the landlord is selling up and its given us a kick to get ourselves on the ladder. As it happens due to our budget (around ?220k max) and 2 bed requirements we're looking to East London to hopefully discover the next ED in the making. To me Stratford seems like a great investment on paper, amazing rail links with imminent cross rail to be added as well as recent olympic regeneration and proximity to central. Now we both realise it ain't gonna be East Dulwich just yet but we're hoping one day in the next 5-6 years it may well be, however it is important that we survive unscathed in the meantime ;)

Would love some of your advise on Stratford and the nearby areas (West ham, plaistow, upton park etc) and also some sensible critique of my logic please. Would like to know we've considered it all before making the plunge in 4-6 months time.

Thanks in advance for your help!

Matt

[????]

Stratford is never going to be an East Dulwich because it's a major transport hub and shopping centre so a very different place, but probably the best of the ones you mention. Of the others, I'd probably go for Plaistow as there's a couple of decent pubs and a bit more community/villagey feel but without being too negative they are all a lot different to anything in SE22...a lot!

[uncleglen]

I came to ED from there many moons ago and it was horrendous- there are some very weird people there....

[StraferJack]

What quids and uncleglen said.

It's affordable and one day, one day, you might see green shoots of what you like in dulwich appear

When I realised I couldn't buy in dulwich, I didn't look east despite 3 years in e6/e12

But someone will gamble there someday and win

[Oxalis]

I'd go for Wanstead rather than Stratford. Nice high St, green space and I don't think it had the massive price rises that happened in Stratford pre- Olypics. So it may give you a better return although I doubt your budget would be enough for 2 beds (similarly in Stratford). Having said that I think you would get much more for your money in South London. I moved from the east end about five years ago. The sale of my ex council flat funded the move, there is no way I could have afforded an equivalent house (or indeed any house) in the area I left but I could afford one in ED. Similarly for several friends. Have you considered moving further south - Catford/Penge/Sydenham?

[Townleygreen]

if you want to make a big profit, go for Abbey Wood. It's not very pleasant, but when CrossRail comes the prices will go through the roof.

[Sue]

uncleglen Wrote:

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> I came to ED from there many moons ago and it was

> horrendous- there are some very weird people

> there....

Please tell :)

[MattOliver]

Catford and Penge have crossed our minds actually, will have to look further into those areas. Will also check out Wanstead and Abbey Wood, we're looking to get on the ladder but also make a good investment in an area which is likely to appreciate, all the while being somewhere we may even enjoy living for the next 5-6 years... Probsbly too much to ask isn't it?!

Thanks for the advice and discussion everyone, very useful and enlightening!

Matt

[reeko]

Tbh you are going to struggle in those areas looking for a 2 bed on your budget, your choice may be limited. If you are hoping for an area on the up, look for good housing stock( even if much is not in good nick), decent and improving transport links, at least one pub/deli/shop that wouldnt look out of place in ed. Stratford is all very new build. The olympic park is amazing, and hackney wick has a vibrant arts scene, but housing stock not great. You will struggle on your budget in wanstead, plaistow more likely. Imo west ham has a long way to go. Really scruffy high street and you will be very dependent on the tube.

Good luck!

[Bovine Juice]

Penge has really changed a lot in the last three or four years and feels like a place fast changing for the better.

Some great pubs (one's owned by Antic) with another to hopefully come soon (run by Late Knights), a theatre, the brilliant Alexandra Nurseries (cafe/plant/vintage place), cafes incl a Blue Mountain, a great butcher's, fishmongers, a med food store (PFC), guitar shop, loads of practical shops (Boots, Superdrug, Wilkinsons, Sainsburys, Lidl, Homebase, etc).

Plus the stuff that was always there, such as hundreds of Victorian houses and some nice parks, including of course, Crystal Palace park and brill transport links (18 mins to Victoria, Overground to Shoreditch, etc)

Additionally a good social scene is spawning from Penge Tourist Board facebook group members, with a Film Club starting soon, good local art scene, open mic nights and a steadily increasing number of music gigs that suggest that could take off too.

Check out http://pengetouristboard.co.uk/

[Jeremy]

If there's an area close-ish to ED which has potential to boom, then Penge is it.

Much of East London is super-grim, and though the Hams, Forest Gate, etc look cheap, it's for a reason. They might get better, but I wouldn't personally want to take such a big risk.

Stratford and Wanstead are both fairly popular now so you might struggle with your budget. And for me... Stratford feels a bit soulless, and Wanstead feels too suburban/Essex.

[MrBen]

Penge is the hot shit now.

[MrBen]

But I'm told you cant get sourdough there.

[????]

I think I'd even go Catford over Plaistow, UP and West Ham

[Bovine Juice]

Sourdough is coming soon hopefully... ;) A bakers/tea shop is opening in the old teddy bear emporium.

[ratty]

Wish people would stay out of Catford! Rents and prices already shooting up there creating a huge amount of homelessness as landlords evict their long standing tenants or raise their rents way above what is affordable in the hope of catching the newer money spilling in from already overpriced areas. My fear is in three or four years time Catford will be as socially cleansed as other areas.

[StraferJack]

It's all in the original posters'a comments isn't it

People don't just move to an area they can afford - they move and actively want prices to continue to go up after they move thus preventing others from doing what they did

[MrBen]

Bovine Juice Wrote:

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> Sourdough is coming soon hopefully... ;) A

> bakers/tea shop is opening in the old teddy bear

> emporium.

It's a horrendous situation (no sourdough) so I for one am keeping clear of the area until this is rectified.

[Jeremy]

StraferJack Wrote:

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> People don't just move to an area they can afford

> - they move and actively want prices to continue

> to go up after they move thus preventing others

> from doing what they did

It does sound distasteful when you put it like that, but realistically it's just about finding the best (in the long run) area you can afford for your budget. I don't think anyone can be blamed for that.

[Seabag]

But there is a Greggs & another bakery right next door

So y'know - sourgh dough or not, wheat-based snacks rule in Penge

I'd head Beckenham way if I had too

Don't even try Sydenham, we don't like strangers in these 'ere parts

[????]

I presume Wickham and Lewes are somehow above the horrors of the market or do I just detect some sneery hypocracy....do what I say not what I do type stuff maybe

[Jeremy]

ratty Wrote:

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> landlords evict their

> long standing tenants or raise their rents way

> above what is affordable in the hope of catching

> the newer money spilling in from already

> overpriced areas.

A bit like... ooo... everywhere else.

[StraferJack]

Quids you are detecting nothing but windmills - you are in contrary form lately even by your standards

Nowhere am I giving out about people moving. Absolutely nowhere

What I do have s problem with is people wanting property prices to rise when they move there

[StraferJack]

Jeremy. As I say absolutely nothing wrong with people moving anywhere.

But the dynamic of wanting prices to rise (or looking after yourself in long run or whatever phrase we use ) is the key reason more houses aren't being built. People keep saying "supply and demand. Build houses and the prices will come down". But too many people do not want prices to come down

[Jeremy]

SJ... are you saying that moving into an up-and-coming area is synonymous with a desire to cash in? Sounds like it. Seems a bit harsh.