Owning your own home

Certainly looks like it. Our two bed on the Lea Bridge Road was £190k (admittedly with a short lease and a shitty managing agent / freeholder) but even with those variables you definitely get more for your money this way. I'd love to grab a Warner flat after I've got a bit of equity in this place.

Lovely. Too rich for my blood I'm afraid but that'll make someone a lovely home.

Just had a quick Zoopla scan and we'd certainly have got a lot more for our money out in Walthamstow. We were quite rigid in where we were willing to look as we wanted to stay close to where we've been renting and our life/friends are

Yeah we really didn't want to move out of Clapton. We'd lived in Stokey for 20 years but couldn't afford the rent anymore so it was a bit of a wrench moving to Clapton, but at least that was in Hackney. Then when looking to buy there was no way we could get to buy in Hackney so we ended up on the Lea Bridge Road. It's not too bad, I'm not going to complain, but I do miss it.

FWIW, the right part of Walthamstow is still super close to Stokey and Hackney. I was in the same situation - have lived by Viccy park for about 12+ years and couldn't face moving away but wanted a bigger place. Long story short bought St James/Coppermill area of Walthamstow - I'm actually facing the waterworks - it's 15 min ride to Hack Wick (one of the places I enjoyed going to while living by Viccy Park) and Clapton and Stokey are closer than from my old place.

I now get waken up by the sound of birds rather than sirens, the community spirit is amazing (we had neighbours knocking on our door offering cups of tea our weekend of moving in and there is also a Street WhatsApp where folks chat and offer hands when needed etc).

I miss the level of gentrification that I was used to, Sourdough is harder to come by and you can't get Borough wine or Ecover refills, but overall I'm happy with the move.

Is the ‘murder mile’ description of the Clapton Road still accurate or am I 10 years out of date?

Couple of mates of mine bought a beautiful first floor Victorian conversion in Clapton twenty years ago, £60k... Next door to Les from the Bay City Rollers... They split up, she kept the flat, she sold up a few years later for £250k and bought a massive house in Walthamstow... #csb

Warner flats aren't all they're cooked up to be. They might look pretty but they're thinly built and you can hear five different neighbours' goings on - even their farts.

I'm in a downstairs Warner and if you've got a family upstairs (or indeed anyone) with hard wooden floors I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy. If you can get an upstairs flat then maybe a different matter.

10, maybe 15... It was well on the way to gentrification 8 years ago when I moved there. The windsor castle was pretty rough until it changed hands a few years ago but that’s about it.

I live on LCR for 8 years from 2005. At the start it was still very much arguably murder mile (tho this was never really a fair assessment, clapton has always been no worse than anywhere else tbh); but by the end of my time there it was sourdough and health food and cocktail bars galore

I'm currently living in Gibson Gardens, Stokey, a lovely little gated community type thing that's just over the road from The Axe. I'm going to miss the ready access to high priced bread and my walk to The Axe is going to move to a massive 11 minutes but i'm pretty happy that we were lucky enough to be able to go for something relatively future proof in the area we wanted to stay.

Windsor Castle has now closed its doors and I've heard rumour that the rents have been hiked toward the bottom of LCR (the Del 74 taco place has also closed) to make way for retail. Gentrification on gentrification.

really? 650sqft for nearly half a mil sounds like an expensive prison cell to me. FTBers really need to stop buying property so this here bubble can hurry up and burst.

I ride my bike up Coppermill everyday, I've always wanted one of those houses down by the water works with their gardens backing onto the reservoir

Absolutely. V aware they're not perfect, but for quarter mil and cycling distance of the office, there's not much choice. The way I see it is that I'm on a ladder here, and Warner a step up from my current flat, which is equally shoddily built, has an aggressive managing agent / freeholder. My current flat is like that and isn't even pretty, no private garden, etc. Great shout on the upstairs bit tho. Totally antisocial to have wooden floors upstairs.

Speaking as a born-and-raised Londoner, I'd say there were a lot of people worth having a go at for the state of London's property market, but I think first time buyers are very far down on that list.

Woah hang on, the 'right' part of Walthamstow?

dealwithit.gif

The mid century esqe ones? They are a tiny bit isolated for me but location is amazing. I’m just round the corner from the pub so tube stations are still walkable. Can’t quite face the ride to Victoria yet (commute).

Haaaa.

Depends what sort. Agree it’s hard to blame people who have been saving for a deposit for 5-10 years.

But the bank of mum / dad / granny FTBs (ie people like me) cause massive inflation and drive prices out of whack with local earnings.

yeah theres a whole load of people to blame but someone is still buying these boxes at half a mil. People are locking themselves into a life time of debt. you only have to see how much these places sold for 6 or 7 years ago to see how crazy this shit is. A debt deflation is underway and it Will hit people like a bit of 2 x 4 in the face. People will blame brexit but thats a small fish in the ocean of Shit the world economy is in. Anyway i'll stop banging on again about house prices. Rectory road is a great station to live near.

The situation is even more fucked in that buying is cheaper than rent.

Its not just about investment, its about having a home.

This. Not sure I could have afforded to rent the last place I bought.

I'm forcasting 7+% interest rates within the next 7 years, thats where I worry for people taking on £300K plus mortages at 5 times earnings in a falling market.