Brockley's property market 'beginning to bloom'
Eagle-eyed BC reader Paul has pointed out that local estate agent KFH believes 'Brockley is beginning to bloom'.
Findaproperty.com quotes KFH's Brockley sales manager Chris Early as saying: 'In certain price brackets, the housing market in Brockley has really taken off over the last four weeks. New and newly-reduced stock is at a premium and selling fast and the spring market is looking good.'
However Chris warns sellers not to get too over-excited - prices are still competitive: 'Vendors really should not get too carried away with the price that they think they can achieve for their property and concentrate more on trying to get buyers interested so they can choose the best buyer rather than the highest price.'
At risk of fuelling the perennial property prices controversy, dare we suggest this evidence of strong demand is good news for the area?
113 comments:
KFH says similar things about the other 6 areas on their website including 'Crouch End is once again the place to be', 'Confidence high in the Balham area' etc etc
but, every cloud has a silver lining, as 'citywire' reports:
Property groups Land Securities and Barratt Developments are both suffering from ongoing weakness in the property markets and remain cautious about the outlook for their businesses.
Both 'groups' have vested interest in Lewisham...
How can one not get "too over-excited"?
Hugh, questions about your premature ejeculation should be addressed to your doctor.
The developers at 'Silkworks' say there has been more interest in the past month.
George Wimpey is this week launching a showroom for its development on Lewisham High St. opposite Riley's snooker hall.
Would they be testing the water before committing themselves to building the flats?
I see Brockers also got a tip in the new Evening Standard's property section last week - not sure if this got a mention elsewhere? Think it was Thursday.
I was merely noting the solecism. Yes, look it up.
Hugh, you never miss a chance to patronise or boost your own self regard. Some could argue that your ego is that puny that it needs all the stimulation it can get - even at your own hand. Kind of appropriate for a w****r don't you think?
Feel free to demolish my English, it would help illustrate the point.
anon, some could argue that you are angry becuase you didn't understand solecism.
Get that offer in on the 7 bedder on Wickham Rd quick Hugh, before prices rocket!
BTW how was the KotD?
Puny is the new black.
Headhunter, the weather was crap yesterday so, as promised, I didn't ride.
nope, angry because I find Hugh a smug, self satisfied, arrogant prick.
Smug people are generally self-satisfied, to be fair.
...but not always arrogant pricks.
It's a thankless task but someone has to do it.
And you do it beautifully....are we gonna keep doing this until one of us gives up?
Children children........
Now shake hands and make up.
I'm glad I'm not the anonymous who doesn't like Hugh - I find him amusing, but would stop short of asking him to father my children.
But he started it by being mean!
Are any of the Anons here leggy stunnas from Goldsmiths?
Don;t change the subject with the old 'casual sexism to anoy Guardianistas' ploy
yes, and I often take part in dogging sessions on Hilly Fields. Are you the chappie who lurks at a safe distance (albeit making the bushes rustle with rhythmic movements)?
I don't know how he manages to hold on to the binoculars, move branches out of the way and focus with only one hand free.
Dixons were selling some decent kit at Xmas at silly prices.
didn't realise they sold night-vision goggles
Last pair.
did you get the ones with the helmet attachment?
Yes but it's a bit tight. They only had a medium.
little bit of vaseline helps
hi,
guys i have just bought my first flat in brockley ,does someone know any good and trusted builder in the area ? sorry to be out of topic.
thanks.
on your helmet that is...
Are you the man who bought the small one as I came into the shop?
No , im not. im a girl.
no, i was just browsing the monoculars.
incidentally, I'm not the other anonymous
hey hugh, don't you do a bit of plastering and grouting in your spare time?
you might have a customer here.
Hi dany, we used a chap called John Guerin. I will do my best to get his details for you this evening. He was very good and built a new internal wall for us and put a door in a structural wall all at pretty reasonable prices.
thanks a lot for the help.X
that KFH website is awful half the stuff listed on it last time i looked was SOLD.
a trip to estate agents in new cross was horrific. peter james had about 5 properties and just repeated the same sales particulars over and over again.
Parkers on the other hand was just depressing - absolutely nothing at all.
That's coz no one sells in a difficult market unless they have to, so there's much less choice than there was a couple of years ago. Everyone's holding on til the market takes off again...
Which won't be for a long time.
It's funny how certain newspapers (the Dailymail in particular) appear desperate to push the idea that the housing market is in recovery.
Journalists have houses too!
Small ones, in the main.
Not if they're married to rakish city lawyers.
True but I dumped Frostrup.
Is anyone going to explain scrotum or will I have to look it up?
See that thing in the mirror?
Michael Jackson?
I'd like to know how 'newly-reduced stock' can be 'at a premium'...
Contradiction in terms?
Well a house on our street has just come on the market at 20% more than we paid for ours a year ago and it's not much bigger and has a worse position on the street so there is clearly some optimism around!
I'd say wait and see what they actually get for it.
This is useful if you haven't seen it:
http://www.houseprices.co.uk/
According to surveyors about 30% of transactions at the moment are cash buys. In a normal market, cash buys represent around 10% so the cash buy level at present is unsustainable and unless the other side of things catches up, there will be a ‘W’ shape trend to the recovery.
house prices
Cash buys make up such a large proportion of sales because it's mainly investors who are taking the plunge rather than ordinary buyers with a 10-20% deposit. Ordinary buyers are still fannying around wondering whether we are at the bottom of the market whilst the investors get stuck in.
There isn't as much property on the market as there was a year or 2 ago, so it takes a while to find what you want and there is clearly some optimism out there at the moment, so if you have the finance and you want in, get in now, it may take some time to find what you want.
As for "newly reduced stock" at a premium, I think what they mean is that there is less and less reduced stock around perhaps as people are sticking nearer to asking price than previously, so property that has actually been reduced is becoming rarer.
It isn't clear to me how the overall market is going right now (and I am being very honest as I am a propertyowner already).
What IS clear is that relative to other areas of London, the SE "quartier" represents pretty good value in light of the forthcoming ELL which will (literally) put us on the map.
So, my thoughts are the following:
1. if you are selling elsewhere and buying here, you'll do fine.
2. if selling and buying here, ditto.
3 if entering the market for the first time, or gearing up considerably, I'd wait as I think there will be either better opportunities or flat prices and you can save in the meantime.
Having said (3), I do think there are manifest bargains in the shape of more or less ANY of the big Conservation Area houses that come on from time to time. THere simply is not much supply of these across London in that mega size, with gardens. They don't exist and once the ELL is here, everyone will realise it. They currently go for ludicrously low £/sq foot.
(i'll send you my bill!)
Why would I want to pay anyone for low-level estate agent advice when it's all perfectly obvious?
er er order...
You're Fired!
Thank you for the opportunity
House prices yet again. How utterly boring.
As a fully paid up member of the organic ciabatta eating, cycling to work, middle classes, I have to say that discussions on house prices are fundamental to my existence.
If you want to talk about something else, don't visit this thread, perhaps go off and have a bitch about schools in the area or the amount you pay for your travel pass to work both of which I find boooooooring...
Seems pretty clear to me, that in London at least now's a good time to buy as long as you can secure a good low rate on the mortgage, reflective of base rates. There are increasing numbers of good deals to be had.
I don't care what is fundamental to your existence. This topic is boring.
Don't bother to bitch at me for speaking my mind.
Are you two still living together?
I don't care what anyone says about you Hugh, you are the most consistently funny person on this site.
comment - why are you on a thread about property if it's boring you? It's clearly labelled so easily avoidable if you want...
Yep, Hugh has his moments. BTW Hugh have you ever tried one of those Respro face mask things to cut the pollution while you cycle? I'm using one at the moment as a guinea pig for someone doing a university project on air quality in world cities and I must say, I have been pleasantly surprised at the results...
Comment - How can you come on to a thread with a troll comment and not expect people to respond? If you're really not interested in a topic, why the need to tell everyone?
Headhunter, I have one but never use it. I find it gets waterlogged when you put the hammer down, making it hard to breathe.
Yeah it's a bit harder to breathe through but they've supplied me with the "Techno" model which is supposed to be the top model and easier than the others to breathe through. Gives you a better cardio workout anyway! When I get off I have noticed that my throat's less scratchy and sometimes I haven't got that cough that I sometimes have when the air quality's bad
Hi,
I'm planning on moving to Brockley, and will be looking for a 3-bed house. Does anyone have advice on the best bit to aim for. In my price-range (upto 350K) the choice seems to be between roads west of the station, the cluster of roads off Brockley Road (Braxfield etc), and the odd house in the conservation area, which presumably have problems at this price.
Many thanks.
One shouldn't laugh
There aren't many 3 bed houses in the conservation area, apart from newer, infill developments in places. Most of the houses are much larger, grander, multi storey Victorian houses with steps to the front door. If you want a 3 bed house, you'll be largely restricted to the west side. Personally I would look at houses near to Brockley station or between Brockley and Nunhead. You could also go down towards Crofton Park, lots of 3 bed houses down that way too.
Also think about the roads just to the east in Ladywell. They are far nearer to Hilly Fields than a lot of properties in the Cons area, and there is a greater choice of stations as Lewisham, Ladywell and Brockley are all about the same distance. I've moved here after living in various houses in Brockley for over 24 years and this part beats the others hands down.
Or Sprules Road and Pendrell or Bousfield and Waller in Telegraph Hill. Lovely Parks - Nunhead, Queens Road Peckham or New Cross Gate as stations and a great Festival. (Ducks below the parapet...)
But agree about Ladywell too - lived for quite a while in Fossil Road - a lovely house.
Well I don;t know about anyone else but I'm relived someone has moved the thread onto high end cycling equipment.
How about the area around St John's Station? Some lovely looking 3 bedders around there for 350k.
If it doesn't have to be a house, you can get a 3/4 bed flat in the conservation area, over two floors (ie half of one of the big Victorian properties) with garden for that price. Upside is the huge rooms.
Huge rooms are also huge heating bills. When we first came to London we looked at a rental flat in Penge overlooking Crystal Palace. We were quite taken with it but when we asked about the heating the landlord showing it to us laughed and would not meet the eye.
Thanks for all your suggestions, it sounds like all of Brockley is worth looking at - are there any bits that you would suggest avoiding?
Revlon Road - that's where Cat Man lives.... (Just joking Andy...)
The Heath Estate is very pleasant. Lots of 3-bed houses there. Those are the roads between Brockley Grove and Chudleigh Road, still SE4 but very close to the boundary with SE13 - I suppose more Crofton Park/Ladywell than Brockley. If you have children, or think you might have, you should think about schools. The Heath Estate has the advantage of being very near Gordonbrock and Prendergast, which are both good.
Move over rover, here is a house of epic proportions.
http://tiny.cc/4GAMl
Quite why you would need a 1500 square foot bedroom is besides the point.
Plenty of big 3-beds under £350K in the Crofton Park area - Manwood Road, Glynde Street, Crofton Park Road, Salehurt Road, Bexhill Road. There was a beautifully renovated one in Glynde Street on for £335K recently, not sure if it's still available. Very nice part of SE4, quiet, close to transport (Ladywell and Crofton Park), Blythe Hill Fields up the road for open space.
I personally would go for a sort of masionnette with garden if possible. maybe something like basement and ground floor in one of the tall thin 4 or 5 storey houses, that sort of thing. Not sure how much they would go for these days but you might get something around 350/400?
the thing is - you would get better proportioned rooms and higher ceilings than in eg ladywell.
In which part of Ladywell are these cramped, awkward rooms with low ceilings?
yeah, don't diss our ceiling heights
It's not that rooms are cramped or low ceiling-ed in Ladywell, they're just not quite as high, spacious and airy as in the brockley conservation area.... (Dives for cover from abuse...)
oh dear now I am in trouble. I am sorry I obviously offended a couple of people. however, it is selfevident that a wickham road flat will have better proportioned rooms than most other places in london, inc Ladywell!
don't be ridiculous HH, have you been around measuring all the ceiling heights in Ladywell?
...and it may have escaped your notice that parts of Ladywell are in the conservation area anyway
I live in Ladywell and the conservation area but you may not come around and discuss/approve the 'better proportions' of any of my rooms.
it is selfevident that a wickham road flat will have better proportioned rooms than most other places in london, inc Ladywell
Did you mean Brockley in this statement rather than London or have you really measured up the housing stock of the capital to make this assumption?
It's pretty obvious that the enormous houses on Wickham Rd for example are going to have higher ceilings and more spacious rooms than your average 3 bed terrace in Ladywell.
Not that I'm saying that space is everything, as Tamsin pointed out, it costs more in heating and there's something to be said from owning the freehold of a 3 bed house over leasehold in a large flat, but I doubt there are many 3 bed houses in Ladywell or for that matter, the darkside in Brockley or down near Crofton Park or wherever that have huge rooms.
Perhaps, but the whole of London?
Come off it.
Unless you are Bao Xishun, ceiling height is of little relevance in the grand scheme of things.
In Ladywell Ermine Road, Embleton Road, Algernon Road and Vicars Hill; in Crofton Park Brockley Rise (the bit by Stillness School); some pretty big houses all along those roads.
I live in Ladywell, not in a three-bed terrace, but in a grand mansion overlooking Hilly Fields. My house, and myself, are grandly proportioned.
I often find people who live in Brockley to be short, awkward people with ideas well above their station in life.
My house, and myself, are grandly proportioned.
So you are fat in other words?
"I often find people who live in Brockley to be short, awkward people with ideas well above their station in life."
Blimey, that's me!!
Mustn't have people wanting to try and improve their lot though, must we?
Not fat, no, but taller than average but not tall enough to touch my ceiling.
Proportion is elegance, a house can't be 'fat', and as I walk down my road, monocle in eye, riding crop twitching, people sometimes stop me and remark upon my elegance.
If I were doing this in Brockley I'd be mugged, not so in fair Ladywell.
Overlooking Hilly Fields? So in the Brockley conservation area then. Brockley.
Ooh. Goody!! Somebody's trying to usurp Hugh's position as resident reactionary!
Must admit, I've given some thought to doing it too. I think it's important once in a while to get in touch with one's inner superiority.
Really HH, look at your conservation area map a little more closely - and then report back
As it's a matter of proportion how high is high?
In the 1920's when the government was funding a social housing scheme in Lewisham a row broke out over the height of ceilings.
The council wanted 8 foot 6 inches but the housing minister refused to fund the extra 6 inches.
Basketball players were outraged.
my house was built in 1910
Reporting back, anon. Here's a map of the Brockley conservation area from Lewisham BC's website into which Hilly Fields comfortably fits. As I said, you live in Brockley....
http://www.lewisham.gov.uk/Environment/Planning/ConservationAndUrbanDesign/ConservationAreas/Brockley/MapBrockleyConservationArea.htm
You are not looking closely enough HH. I live in Ladywell, I am in the conservation area and I overlook Hilly Fields.
I can rotate my head from where I am sitting to write this (and shoulders a bit, I'm not an owl) 180 degrees and I can see Hilly Fields.
Please consider the map once more.
Notice last night driving down Tressillian Road that approx 6 houses have 'sold' boards outside. Some of these places have been on sale since before Christmas. This is a change from last month. Clear signs that Brockley has bottomed out price-wise I think.
Sold signs, but has anyone actually home?
Just bought a 9-bedder on Trezzah for 800K. Get in.
Hmm? Party over at yours? Seeing as everyone will now know where you live or bought.
i live in a 3 bed terrace in west brockley and the ceiling height is approximately 9ft on the ground floor, abit less on the first floor.
house built 1904.
Shhhh, can we stop all this property talk until I've actually completed!
The Cat Man said...
i live in a 3 bed terrace in west brockley and the ceiling height is approximately 9ft on the ground floor.
Is that enough to swing a cat?
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