Being a first-time buyer in London can seem overwhelming but you don’t need a massive budget to move into a thriving, up-and-coming location.
Research by Savills for Homes & Property has shown that, armed with a budget of £300,000 to £350,000, it is possible to buy in dozens of postcodes.
Some, it must be admitted, are cheap for good reason.
But others offer a combination of brilliant lifestyle, transport links and the possibility of capital growth.
Hanwell, W7
- Average price: £320,000
- Deposit: £48,000
- Monthly repayments: £1,604
- Minimum household income: £71,111
At the start of the pandemic, Jessica Bynoth and Oli Silver found themselves squeezed into a cramped one-bedroom flat in Queen’s Park, desperate for more space.
Despite years of saving for a deposit they couldn’t afford to stay local but wanted to remain in west London.
“I had never heard of Hanwell, but Oli loves to cycle and he came back one day and said: ‘I have just discovered this really lovely area’.”
Bynoth, 39, and Silver, 36, went for a recce and agreed to refocus their property search on W7.
In 2020, they exchanged their £1,500pcm rental for a home of their own — a four-bedroom period terrace in Old Hanwell.
“What I really love about Hanwell is that it has got so much green space,” says Bynoth, who runs Friendly Shoes, her own business selling stylish wide-fit shoes.
Since buying the house the couple has had their first child, Sacha, who celebrated his first birthday over the summer. They have half a dozen parks within walking distance as well as easy access to the Grand Union Canal for towpath strolls and duck feeding.
“Old Hanwell has a lovely vibe,” says Bynoth. “Everyone watches out for everyone; I feel really safe here.”
The area has a good — and improving — range of shops, cafes and restaurants. Bynoth recommends L’oro di Napoli for its pizza, The Fox for its beer garden and The Dodo, the local microbrewery.
The other recent(ish) local improvement has been the arrival of the Elizabeth line, meaning journeys from Hanwell to the West End now take about 20 minutes.
Deptford, SE8
- Average price: £335,000
- Deposit: £50,250
- Monthly repayments: £1,680
- Minimum household income: £63,277
The one-time location of the royal dockyards has evolved during the 21st century.
Small entrepreneur-led regeneration has brought new bars, cafes, shops and nightlife to SE8 and an injection of young Londoners have followed the vibe, among them Yasmin and Joshua Myat.
When their landlord announced he was hiking their rent, the couple decided it was time to do some sums. They calculated that, rather than pay the requested £1,700pcm for their one-bedroom flat they would be better off buying.
In July last year the couple, who married and set up home together in Deptford in 2022, became the proud owners of a one-bedroom flat just down the road from their old rental.
The actual properties are pretty similar but, even with heightened interest rates, their mortgage on the £285,000 property costs them £1,200pcm.
Joshua, 24, was brought up in Sydney, Australia, and what really appealed to him about Deptford was its waterside lifestyle.
“Deptford has got so many nice shops and bakeries,” he says. “I get a lot of access to food from different cultures, and you also have access to Greenwich and Canary Wharf.”
Yasmin, also 24, went to Greenwich University so she has known the area for years. To her, the best thing about Deptford is its vibrancy, without being too hectic.
The couple, both civil servants, is hopeful that the billions of pounds which has funnelled into Deptford over the past decade, in the shape of thousands of new homes and amenities, will also encourage price growth and make their first property a good future investment.
Deptford, regularly described as London’s hippest neighbourhood, has an atmosphere all of its own — quite unlike more sterile Canary Wharf on the other side of the Thames.
Proximity to Goldsmiths, University of London, means the area has a lot of current and former art students as residents, its cultural scene is lively with an annual visual arts festival, a community-run cinema and The Albany, a great arts centre. The choice of independent cafes and bars is impressive.
“We love the community and everyone knows each other, which is really nice,” say fellow local couple Coco and Baby.
Its growing reputation has, of course, increased local property prices, but it remains far better value than neighbours like Bermondsey or Greenwich.
Its fame has also encouraged plenty of investment, including an ambitious £1 billion plan to redevelop 42 acres of Henry VIII’s shipyard with 3,500 new homes, plus public spaces, sports faciities, shops and restaurants.
Trains to London Bridge take from seven minutes, and you can be in the West End or Canary Wharf in about a half an hour or less.
Chislehurst, BR7
- Average price: £335,000
- Deposit: £50,250
- Monthly repayments: £1,680
- Minimum household income: £63,277
With access to Bexley’s grammar schools, an easy commute to the City, and acres and acres of open space, Chislehurst has long been catnip for affluent families.
But it could work just as well for younger buyers on a budget.
“I’d say that 90 per cent of my buyers are quite established and looking for a forever home,” says Steve Brown of Winkworth.
“But it also offers great value for money because it’s one of the cheaper London boroughs.”
For Brown, Chislehurst represents a slice of country life within the capital.
“It is incredibly green, a lot of the area is woodland,” he says. “It has got a villagey feel, but you are close to places like Blackheath and Bromley for the shops and leisure facilities.”
Chislehurst’s high street offers a good range of cafes and restaurants — popular with the after-school mums set — and some cracking pubs for when you fancy a Sunday lunch.
Brown recommends sampling the roasts on offer at The Tigers Head, Bull’s Head or the Ramblers Rest, which you can find just beyond the cricket green.
For those still required in the office, trains to either Charing Cross or Cannon Street take about half an hour.
Leytonstone, E11
- Average price: £317,500
- Deposit: £47,625
- Monthly repayments: £1,592
- Minimum household income: £59,500
The E11 postcode is a sprawling one, but Martin and Co’s Wanstead branch manager, Richard Conlan, says that first-time buyers after value for money ought to give up on chi-chi Wanstead, with its Ginger Pig and Gail’s Bakery, and look towards Leytonstone — a more up-and-coming option but one with plenty of plus points.
It is leafy, thanks to Wanstead Flats, has some great quality period housing stock and it just squeezes into Zone 3 (Central line).
Conlan’s buyers come from all over the capital to buy in Leytonstone, and the best value is to be found in an ex-local authority flat on the Cathall Estate, now run by the Peabody Estate, or in a flat above a shop on the high road.
Prices rise the closer you get to the station, too, so looking west of the A12 is another buyer-on-a-budget tip.
Leytonstone’s High Road has started to look better and better in recent years. This once dismal strip of shops is now full of dim sum spots and coffee shops, although you will still find the likes of Poundland.
Conlon thinks what has really helped the area up its profile is the improvement to its pubs — the Heathcote & Star, with its massive beer garden and Espresso Martini Fridays, and the craft beers at the Leytonstone Tavern.
“People just follow the pubs,” he says.
Kingston, KT2
- Average price: £333,000
- Deposit: £48,000
- Monthly repayments: £1,669
- Minimum household income: £62,900
Most of the first-time-buyers who end up on Matt Aboud’s doorstep are renting in more expensive parts of south-west London and want to buy a property with the same sort of leafy, riverside vibe.
Aboud, sales director at Featherstone Leigh estate agency, says the most expensive property in the sprawling KT2 postcode — which stretches from the town centre to Richmond Park — tends to be by the river, the park, or a very close to the town centre and station, so accepting a slightly longer walk is one way of finding more bang for your buck.
First-time-buyers tend to be a slightly older crowd, in their late 20s to late 30s, who appreciate Kingston’s market town vibe, its plentiful open space and its good train links to central London (journeys to Waterloo take from half an hour).
“Kingston has one of the most comprehensive town centres you can imagine,” says Aboud.
“It has got every chain you can imagine and really good independent shops and restaurants, too, so it caters to all.”
