we are planning on moving to London, possibly to sydenham, and just wondered if anyone could present their views on Sydenham as a location, for crime, culture and community.
We are professionals in our early 20s, moving into a first time buy flat around the Sydenham train station area.
Is there anything we should know about, except the big cat!!!
Thankyou
PS- I am very impresssed with this website and forum
No disrespect to Sydenham in particular, but I would strongly advise against buying property anywhere at the moment. A great deal of informed opinion is currently pointing to a significant crash, or at least a major downturn, in property prices.
If you're only in your early twenties, don't feel under pressure to rush to buy a flat right now. Keep saving for a deposit, come back in maybe two or three years' time, and you should be able to get a much nicer place for your money.
property prices go up and down. i wouldnt worry about it, having lived in a property for many years with negative equity. there are pros and cons to renting or buying; a mortgage is really just like renting from the bank/building society anyway. so long as you can afford the payments, i wouldnt worry about it.
sydenham, and lewisham generally, has never really seen the meteoric price rises anyway, so any drop in price should be pretty minimal. also, bearing in mind we are supposed to be getting a tube line over the coming years, then i think prices will actually increase in this area.
views on sydenham generally, as per the original question. it's a great multi cultural place, as is most of london. it has its problems with grafitti and crime - as does most of london. in the 20 years i have lived here, i have witnessed one crime, a bag snatch. you just have to be a bit streetwise, which is the same all over london.
i think a lot depends on where you are moving from. moving from a village in the cotswolds, for instance, might be a bit of a shock. if you are moving from another large town or city, then you should know what to expect.
if you intend to live near the station, then you will be within 5 minutes walk of everything you need, and only about 15 minutes, by train, to the centre of our glorious city. the jubilee line, through london bridge, also means that you can be on oxford street (if that's what you want) in about 25 minutes.
sydenham itself is a bit behind when it comes to decent bars/pubs (see other threads on the website) but, again, it is only 10 minutes to crystal palace, which has an amazing array of bars and eateries. both forest hill and east dulwich are also close; you cant move in east dulwich for trendy pubs and bars - they seem to be opening on a weekly basis. hopefully there will be some decent places opening a bit closer to home, as demand grows.
as for the people here, i think this website should give you a decent idea of what we are like.
personally, i think it's (honestly) the best part of london, and ive lived in a few. it's not hoxton or mayfair (thank god) it's a real place, with real people. i love it.
I'm also a 'twenty-something professional' and my boyfriend and I jumped onto the property ladder here in Sydenham last year.
I've lived in SE London (inc. Forest Hill and Crystal Palace) since I moved to London six years ago, having never lived in a city before. There is nowhere else in London I can see myself living - somehow there feels like there is more 'breathing space' than other areas of London. Lots of green spaces, hills etc. It's probably a bit less 'Londony' and 'urban' than many other places you could live in Zone 3, but I think that helps to keep me sane!
I agree with everything fishcox has said. You might not be on the tube here but trains every 10 mins, and you can almost always get a seat (and I mean without having to fight for one). Not many places on the tube you can say that. If you work in the City or the West End, you might be able to get by with only a rail season ticket instead of a travelcard, which is about £30 less a month.
In terms of crime and safety, I feel as safe here as anywhere else I've lived. There are some horrible incidents mentioned elsewhere on the forum, but the same would be true of anywhere else in London. I have noticed that there is often a 'bobby on the beat' on the High Street which is a good thing.
We used to live in Crystal Palace, and we do kind of miss having all the bars and restaurants on our doorstep. But if you're anything like us, as a first time buyer you're more likely to be thankful to have a decent hardware store on your doorstep (Sydenham DIY) than a fancy bar anyway! Although we seem to have lost the butcher and the fishmonger, there is still a good array of practical shops on the High Street,
Compared to other places in the area we were looking (mostly Crystal Palace) you get a lot more home for your money down in Sydenham. And at the end of the day that made all the difference to us.
One tip if you are buying in the area - it is quite prone to subsidence. The same is true for lots of London, but I think this area is particularly bad. Don't let that put you off, but check if there is a history of subsidence at the property you are thinking of buying, and whether any corrective action has been taken (underpinning etc).
I moved here from central London 18 years ago and have never regretted it. I can't think of anywhere else in London that is better. I love all the parks, the hills (and therefore the views) the transport links, etc. I'm sure crime here is no worse than in any other big cities. You just need to be a bit careful as you would anywhere. The people are really friendly and we have the Sydenham society, Sydenham music, thriving churches and this forum. What more could anyone want? Whenever anyone suggests I move, I think, " Where could I move to that is better than here?"
Well I am also a young professional in my twenties, and we bought in Sydenham last summer, having previously bought in another nearby part of South London. Sydenham was the only decent area where I could afford a decent garden flat, and I am not disappointed with our choice of location.
I personally wouldn't wait another 3 years to buy. This is because as a first time buyer, prices for the type of property you are probably looking for (1 bed flats) aren't going to fluctuate very much. (On the other hand if you are looking for a big family home then perhaps its best to leave it a while.) And the other reason not to leave it too long is the East London Line extension, which is likely to make Sydenham a lot more appealing to investors and developers, pushing up prices in a few years time.
As a place to live it's great - far enough out to be a quiet suburb, and only 15 minutes commute into the city. A few more bars and pubs wouldn't go amiss, but maybe its better to buy somewhere that's on its way up, rather than somewhere so expensive you couldn't afford to go out anyway (if that makes sense!!!).
Good luck and let us know how you get on...
Rebecca
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Good luck with the move and dont forget to join the Sydenham Society! Keep up to date with what's going on, and get an informative quarterly newsletter and all for £6 per year.
new resident wrote:Any other comments or advice you have would still be much appreciated!
Welcome!
And when you do seal the deal with the estate agent - do tell them to start supporting Sydenham Town. We have offered free space to help them bring new custom to SE26. You prove it can be done and they can take the extra profit.
