Meow

I know what you mean. SW & North Surrey would be my first choice on those grounds too. I lived in Surbiton, Worcester Park and in Kingston just near the gates to Richmond Park. I really like Richmond as a town, but you do get a fair bit of airplane noise there.

If I had to pick places further in I'd consider Chiswick, Kensington, Chelsea or Marylebone. Purely academic though as I just can't see myself living in the UK again.

kidsam

If you are looking Sarf of the the river take a look at East Dulwich around Lordship lane. It is a direct bus into the City so you can stick two fingers up at Bob Crow!!

alfrombarking

south woodford or Epping Forest, perhaps?

Autonomy

agree with it depends on where you "land".

I lived in Willesden, Ladbroke Grove, Maida Vale, Stockwell, Ealing Common, Wimbledon Village (*ahem* Southfileds I mean), Harlesden (the worst), Stockwell & Camberwell - I think that's it - over 12 years.

Pretty much all of them had something good going for it, but the best was simply because of the time and place - and that was probably Ladbroke Grove.

flares

Cla-ahm
Bla-ahm
Batter-sia

as my dear ol nan used to refer to her ol stomping ground. Cat's Whiskers dancehall in Streatham Hill which I knew as Rizy's.

but to answer Ethos' q - London by the Sea - Brighton.

Ray

Brixton, tooting broadway

Ray

it was The Locarno Dance Hall when I was a lad

lullabelle

Wapping or shad Thames - maybe even the riverside part of limehouse or southwark. Central, buzzy, great walks along the river, full of history. Excelent commute into the city (walk even... I used to walk to the southbank for work) shoreditch and brick lane up the road for great bars/restaurants/markets.

Lived in London most of my life: started in ladbroke grove (bit different back then) then went out to suburbs (yuk), shoreditch, southwark, wapping then kew. Would only live again in wapping, shoreditch or southwark riverside.

Of them all wapping was my favourite. Bloody loved it there.

Ray

I had a boat moored there ..with a nice blue light

Boomhauer

Whats the opinion of Ealing?

If I had half mill to spend on property, I had want a proper detached house with yard . Apartments/flats are soo restrictive in what you can do.Can't really work on your car / have hobbies that require plenty of space for equipment , dogs etc..

Ethos83

I had fun wasting a few hours last night prowling through primelocation and google earth for all the neighbourhoods mentioned on this thread. Fun - until it hit me how little I'll be able to buy for my budget. The two-beds are identical all over central London and the inner suburbs. Two tiny bedrooms, a small reception room, a closet-sized kitchen and one bathroom. For the same price I could get a nice villa in Arabian Ranches. I suppose one needs to go by the character of the neighbourhood rather than any flat specifications.

Battersea and the SoR neighbourhoods look promising - lots of modern flats. My heart pines for proper Georgian terraces but the new flats look roomier and have big expanses of windows with river views. Scoping out this part of town is now on my list, as is Chiswick, Richmond and Kew.

London has remarkably changed in the past ten-fifteen years so entire areas that were formerly off the beaten path are now suddenly fashionable. Shoreditch! Even Hackney is getting pricey. Some of you, by the way, are showing your age. English people don't live in Kensington or Chelsea anymore - it's all rich Arabs and Iranians and hollywood stars down there nowadays.

Madam Medusa

if you need info on specific roads/areas/developments in richmond/kew let me know and i can tell you whether they are any good or not...got to avoid the train tracks/tip/cemetary which aren't always obvious from the blurb...

MM, xx

kittycat1

Dulwich and Crystal Palace are all promising although public transport links aren't great. Greenwich is a lovely part of town and also the Royal Arsenal which has clipper links into Bank in 15 mins although Woolwich is a bit dodgey.

Depending on your personality I would say Brixton, theres a lot of creatives moving there as its so much cheaper than nearby areas, same as Camberwell- personally I wouldn't as I don't know anyone that has lived there without being mugged/burgled.

Shoreditch, Hoxton Square, Hackey, all now very overpriced as is eveywhere towards the east because of the Olympics and the general improvement they are doing in that area.

If you are a northern Londoner at heart I would go up to Belsize Park area- is posh and its lovely- close enough to Camden for gigs, close enough to Hampstead Heath for lovely walks and its posh (perfect fo you Ethos). I also have fiendsin Maida Vale but I don' like the people around there.

Angel is worthlooking at, although I hate all the beggars around there but its a nice area. There are also some interesting flats around Farringdon.
Persoanally I think you know what part of London appeals to you, you are either north or south.

Jim Smith

Ah! Remember the Cat's Whiskers well. I used to live in Thornton Heath, but not sure I can recommend that!!!

GuyinUAE

Thats Coombe isn't it? To be honest, having lived in and around Kingston for the best part of 25 years, I can honestly say that after watching it change, it's one of the last places I would move too. Apart from the fact, that at that budget, you'd be at the Lower end of the price bracket and not necessarily get value for money.