Hi folks, I hope you don't mind my asking another of my returning questions. I'm very grateful for all the support from the people here in doing something that I long for, but is ultimately very difficult.

I'm 29, and given the crazy house prices I'd been living with my parents until I was 27, when I decided to move to Australia. One of the good things about the experience is that I had my own place, and this is something I'd like to have in England - I'll stay with my folks for a couple of months when I get back, but I've decided I'd like to rent a place with a friend (not sure which poor sod yet, I've just never done it and it seems like fun).

I used to live in Streatham, South London, which is neither the best or worst suburb in London. I'm going to live somewhere else though, and thought I'd ask for advice here as to where that might be.

Influencing factors, in no order, are:-

- I would like to be near my friends, although they are scattered all over London and the near counties so it's not too much of a factor. Greatest concentrations are in South East and North West London.

- I would like to be near enough London to commute in for work (although I'd prefer not to have to - I'll make another thread about that soon), but somewhere preferably greener. I've been thinking Green Belt Surrey or Kent.

- Hobby 1 is best available in NW London, although available elsewhere less well. It's not something I'm very good at travelling to. Hobby 2 is in Chislehurst, Kent, near SE London, and nowhere else, although I'm prepared to travel for it - being near it would just be a convenience.

- If I'm going to live in a suburb, Hampstead and Greenwich are by far my favourites.

- Price of renting needs to be affordable, not the biggest factor as I do well for myself, but I don't want to be paying a fortune.

- I can't stand tower blocks, but otherwise don't care too much what the accomodation's like.

- I'd like decent big and modern supermarkets and other big shops nearby.

- I'd like a decent gym to be within 15 minutes drive (although I suspect this will be easy enough to find anywhere in the SE).

So what do you think, folks? I'm thinking it's a choice between once of four areas - Hampstead, Greenwich, Surrey near London, Kent near London (Beckenham/Bromley/Chislehurst/Bexley area), in no order. Any recommendations for particular areas/towns? Any personal experiences of the ups and downs of the four areas I just mentioned?

Sorry if the question is a little vague, I'm happy to clarify or answer questions, I just don't want to waste this opportunity to 'move' at very low cost in terms of time, money and stress, as I have to do it anyway on my return!

Thanks in advance for any replies.

How much of a mortgage do you think you can get and how much of a downpayment do you have??

Have you looked at house prices especially where I come from? They are quite expensive in Bromley. That's why I'm looking at moving outside of London around Cambridge possibly which is still close enough to London for me.

Well, I'm looking at renting for now. I'd like to get a mortgage, but I don't have the deposit for it, and I'd like to make sure I'm in the right area. That, and it's not clear that it's a great time to buy at the moment anyway.

House prices are awful, which is a shame, because I'd love to live in the Bromley area.

Apparently, both longer-term mortgages and 100% mortgages are coming in slowly, but presumably they won't be great deals.

Have you thought of Croydon at all? I originate from Croydon. The southern parts are nicer, more surburbia like.
It's still within a reasonable distance of Chiselhurst, it has a regular fast train service into London, and more shops than anyone could ever want. The only problem is the price of rentals, same as every where in the London boroughs.

check this website out
www.intolondon.co.uk

its got flat shares etc and a good web site and will give you idea of rentals etc....

i used to live in chiswick and loved it but it same boat - where do i live? im thinking of edinburgh or london at this stage...

forgot to say about your super fund...
for every employer you will have a fund so you need to ask payroll where it is held - contact them and they will send a form out to you.. once you get home you send back to them with a copy of your cancelled visa and they will send cheque back to you minus 30% tax of course!

I second Croydon too. It has a kind of a bad rep but there are nice areas. I used to live quite nr Bromley and although it's nice, I prefer Croydon for the transport links.

AND if any of you are looking for a flatmate, I'm in the same boat! Going back to London on 7 May and will be crashing at my friends place til I find a flatshare. Contact me if you're interested. I'm 30 and F.

Good luck!

check this website out
www.intolondon.co.uk

its got flat shares etc and a good web site and will give you idea of rentals etc....

i used to live in chiswick and loved it but it same boat - where do i live? im thinking of edinburgh or london at this stage...

forgot to say about your super fund...
for every employer you will have a fund so you need to ask payroll where it is held - contact them and they will send a form out to you.. once you get home you send back to them with a copy of your cancelled visa and they will send cheque back to you minus 30% tax of course!

i'm surprised guys are looking for pads before getting jobs. lets face it you're going to be spending a big chunk of your time at work so you'll want to live at a convinient place. there are gyms, shops, supermarkets all over london. other than east london, everywhere else can be pricey. both greenwich and hampstead are trendy. IMHO surrey>kent>greenwich=hampstead.

PS. i got my 3 bed townhouse up for rent from July. its pricey though as its in the isle of dogs.

Hi

how pricey exactly? I might be interested..

I might be interested too... I'd generally prefer a larger house shared with more people... any details appreciated.

I'd actually prefer to be taking freelance development contracts than working permanently in an office, hence living somewhere I will enjoy is preferable to getting a job and living near it. On that note, if anyone needs any web design or web application development done, let me know, I currently don't have any clients so I'm sure I could negotiate a good deal for you.

Jat, thanks for the link, good site. There are some rooms in Greenwich which are much cheaper than I expected.

its a 3bed/2 bath, modern town house with garage plus garden. 1 king size en-suite bedroom and 2 doubles. walking distance to dlr. furnished. might leave TV and other electricals, as of no use to me here in US. i'm getting the appraisal done end of may when i ship out my suff to the US. i'm not expecting less than 350 per week.

i will let it out through countyhall or fjloyd (sp). they'll do the checks.

hmmmmm

you know what??

Unless you have a lot of disposable income many areas that were nice and suburban in London a few years ago are now quite mediocre - and not happening.

eg. We used to live in a run down area near Bromly, Bexleyheath and parts of it are suburban and tidy at best eg Bromley, but surrounding areas very grey and depressing. Think Australia with less good weather, tiny houses, higglepiggly architecture AT BEST. A general feel of neglect at worse..it was this mix and match that was so depressing.

My advice is to live in a posh village: as you say like

1) eg.Greenwhich, Hampstead or Richmond
2)Posh parts of INNER S London - inner in. eg Balham, Clapham v exp
2) Posh parts of SUBURBAN SW London - VERY NICE , eg Twickenham, the Hamptons
3)Avoid OUTER S London. It's either rough eg Mitcham, Foggs Marsh or very mediocre suburban rows of 1930 houses with none of the Australian benefits of suburbia eg Morden.
4)posh parts of N London which I don't know at all. Or a recently refurbished area like Docklands, Surrey Quays.

The nice thing about a whole tranche of SW London is that it is a string of villages along the Thames - a whole corridor of nice places with no bad areas ,all well connected and things to do. (Where I was brought up)

Unfortunately you need money esp 1) if you want a place of your own, or 2) want to buy in any of these places.

That's one of the reasons why we went to Australia.

Good luck

BM

What Badge really means is "why don't you want to live in a cloned, characterless box perched on the edge of nowhere? It's a real pity, because Oz cities are full of them"

There are a lot of nice villages and reasonable sized towns within 45 mins rail journey from central London. You then have to trade-off the increased fares, lack of local night-life against lower cost of housing and more peaceful existence. But, if you don't need London's amenities on your doorstep, they can provide a reasonable alternative. Places like Hitchin, Kings Walden (lovely, even though close to Luton Airport), Berkhampsted.

I guess what I am saying is that I would rather live in a nice, big box in an Aussie suburb with trees and flora and fauna, and rolling fields and hills (have you seen E Melbourne?) with a guranteed summer than live in a 1930s small house in a grey street, with nothing but a park, a pub and a Sainsbury with no guarantee of a summer. All things being equal.

That is leaving aside any other consideration of why I choose to lie in Australia.

Commuting to London is an otion but I doubt we could afford the prices in commuter belt.

cheers

BM

Hi BM

Hows Mrs BM?? hope you are both having a good time...so come on get off this forum for at least a day and show her these beautiful places in E Melbourne....lol!!!

I get the impression you lived in a shitty area of the UK then ??? For you summer must mean everything yes?What sort of street do you live in now?Where will you take your kids when you have them?The beach no doubt but what about a PARK . I miss having parks near me....all the playareas are on reserve land near the main roads..nice!! and most have been vandalised and are full of used needles and litter.!Now this happens here in OZ and the UK doesn't it!!Anyway off my soapbox....!

So have you got PR in OZ now??? and the missus???

Cheers
Pants