london

Try to find somewhere near to the Piccadilly or Central Line - I've been recommending Leyton/stone because a lot of artists and writers w/kids have gone there from Hackney, and I've been recommending Turnpike Lane/Manor House/South Tottenham/Seven Sisters because it's not too far into Zone 3. There's also an area in upper Leyton called Bushwood which has a Wanstead postcode, where a lot of people seem to be trying to buy, too.

The worst thing about E6/E7/E12 is having to use the fucking District Line. If you fancy a walk around there at the weekend to check it out, give me a shout because any excuse for a trip to Green Street market...

haha re forest hill/gate further upthread i forgot there's a DLR station called "Abbey Road" that is nowhere near Fab four.

it seems ridiculous but my sister and i once went down to stratford, london and perplex as to why Shakespeare has to do with a crappy shopping centre (this was before olympics when it became a slightly bigger crappy shopping centre)

were perplexed

Am currently kind of obsessed with Pollard's Hill.

If I found that park in Wilshire or somewhere, I would say that was an iron age hillfort, with a motte and bailey constructed on top of it. But no, it is a strange park in suburban South London.

anybody have opinions on higham hill? south chingford?

am caught in frantic scrabble for someplace affordable to live

Higham Hill is Walthamstow, so good luck with that - it's all open houses and guide prices around there.

How much time have you got to find someplace?

Higham Hill is pretty unremarkable too, though nicer on the Lloyd Park/Chingford Rd side as opposed to the Blackhorse Rd end.

Lloyd Park is nice but it's got ludicrously expensive round there.

Why did all these bastards find out about Walthamstow before I could buy a place :(

rent 4 lyfe

I love Chingford. Highams Park is a really nice area. Good school too.

he local MP would be a deal-breaker, surely? ;-)

Whenever I read people talking about where to get property in London, I thank God we were in a position to buy in the mid-90s. We've got a three bedroom house in Kentish Town. If we were starting out now, I think we'd have to be looking at somewhere in the very outer suburbs to get that space.

Xp

The local MP is apparently surprisingly affable in person. He's one of the few Tory big guns who comes across like he doesn't really enjoy the destruction, even though he thinks it's necessary.

A colleague was living in the flat upstairs from the local MP and said that he and his kids were polite, but MP was a nocturnal creature who could be heard muttering into a telephone/yelling into same and loudly typing stuff well into the small hours.

East Ham supporters all over the place

Those poor guys, wandering around without a match for ages: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Ham_United_F.C.

anybody have opinions on higham hill? south chingford?

Higham Hill is the north-west corner of Walthamstow, stuck out in isolation because it's hemmed in by marshes and reservoirs. The further north-west you go, the more non-descript it becomes. If you start off in the Lloyd Park area it's all nice-ish red-brick Victorian/Edwardian terraces, but as you head north-west it gets a bit scruffier and has less character, lots of boring suburban semis. Over by Blackhorse Road it's just a big industrial estate.

Confusingly, Highams Park is a totally different place in south-eastern Chingford. This seems quite nice (I've got a colleague* who lives there), but I've always assumed it's expensive (not that I've checked).

*who does not have nice things to say about the MP, fwiw

It's pretty expensive now. Lots of nice houses going for four or five times what they were bought for in 2000 or thereabouts.

i've been visiting estate agents and getting v, v depressed about my future in london

had i started looking 4 years ago, or even 2 years ago, i'd probably be able to live in a neighbourhood i liked, or had at least visited before

http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2014/jan/28/eastenders-revamp-gentrified-east-london

do hipsters go to wine bars?

http://www.sagerandwilde.com/

i see no hipsters

Fifteen years ago, people wondered where the Asians, Turkish people and the artists were.

That is a hipster wine bar, for sure. As such, it's something of a rarity in London though.

Peckham Refreshment Rooms might be another, I think. But there aren't many as far as I know.

MY BANK IS NOW A TRENDY WINE BAR.

But now I really freaking miss The Foundry. Even the trendy wine bars have been knocked down for expensive investment flats.

i thought that was a pub

Not a pub.

The local MP is apparently surprisingly affable in person. He's one of the few Tory big guns who comes across like he doesn't really enjoy the destruction, even though he thinks it's necessary.

idgi, the local mp is Iain Duncan Smith isn't it?

Even the trendy wine bars have been knocked down for expensive investment flats.

^

can't say I miss the foundry though, fucking stank in there.

I was actually quite fond of the particular *smell* of the Foundry, especially on a wet Saturday night. It smelled like a rave afterparty that had been going on for ten years.

(But, it was my local, and so many of the "important" events of my life happened there so it's not really objective.)

Ha, yes, good description. I mean, I never liked it in there so can't say I miss it specifically, but it's still shit that it's been replaced by speculator flats.

They're ruining everything, even the crap things.

I want to know where the Worm Lady reads her poetry now. :-/

Never liked the Foundry much but I will love them forever for hosting this exhibition, the poster hangs proudly on my wall to this day.

http://www.atlaspress.co.uk/theLIP/img/dora3.jpg

Transport issues aside, how is Thamesmead these days?

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/feb/06/hackney-house-price-bubble

that fucking creperie

I was about to wonder how people in their late 20s can even be in the market for buying a house, but I realise that neither I nor most of the people (anyone?) I know have really made the best career choices for accumulating wealth.

That's a good article. Completely OTM in my experience.

Everyone I know who bought in their 20s was pretty driven about it; e.g. living at home with parents (as a couple) for a year after university and saving all their income for a deposit, or doing something similar while renting a very small cheap room somewhere (which is what my sister did). Or working in the city, of course.

Am still somewhat amazed that we bought a one bedroom flat in Clerkenwell for under 300k last year. Haven't been looking at the prices since, but all these Hackney prices articles make me suspect that there aren't many left at that price now.

It's less the deposit, more the idea that young people are in the market for flats that will demand mortgage payments of £2500 - £3000 every month and more if rates rise. A few years ago I'd have assumed that was solely finance ppl territory but it doesn't seem that way. Again, my strategies for the accumulation of wealth haven't been great though.

I mean, it says something about the perceived buoyancy of the London economy when a mortgage broker sits down with a 28 year old couple 'in marketing' or 'in publishing' and everyone agrees that they are going to have an uninterrupted six-figure household income for the next twenty five years. I'd be completely terrified.

I was about to wonder how people in their late 20s can even be in the market for buying a house, but I realise that neither I nor most of the people (anyone?) I know have really made the best career choices for accumulating wealth.

― Merdeyeux, Friday, February 7, 2014 12:47 AM (7 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

seriously!

but even taking the various freelancers, artists, permanent students and so on out of the equation...even most of the people i know with good, successful, respectable late 20s/early 30s jobs can't even think about buying a house. i mean things like "head of department at private school" and "editor of national magazine". by any normal measure, people whose careers are going well. probably 99% of people i know who have bought/are buying are either finance people or had parental help.

that said, that article made me wonder why anyone would want to buy a house - the urge to own property is so strong that you'd consider some of those shitholes described? it's baffling to me. though this is probably my own rationalisation of the fact that i'll never own a house speaking (plus the non-desire to have children which seems more and more like a blessing every day)

f ucking finance people

that article made me wonder why anyone would want to buy a house

a mortgage is usually cheaper than rent in london, so then couple that with the fact you end up with something tangible you can sell then it's a pretty simple equation. maybe not so much if you fancy moving to a new city, being a bit rootless - owning a house can put a damper on those things. but it doesn't have to. i know a few couples who have just upped sticks, put stuff in storage and rented their place out indefinitely.

the word that keeps jumping out at me in this coversation is 'couples'

well yeah, pooling resources is pretty key

although i know a dude who bought a house with his best friend a few years ago near seven sisters