Minimum price for a decent property in London ...

[sasguru]

...seems to be about £500K. That would be for a flat. For a modest house in a nice area, it's more like a million. How very depressing.

[Francko]

...seems to be about £500K

No. There are many parts where you spend much less and some are just as nice. Problem is that you need to know where they are and it's hard to know, London being such a vast town.

[sasguru]

No. There are many parts where you spend much less and some are just as nice. Problem is that you need to know where they are and it's hard to know, London being such a vast town.

I don't think so. You get what you pay for - there are no bargains.

[Francko]

i.e. example Lewisham/Catford is bad but there are many nice parts just not far away for the same price. You can get something nice for 250k perhaps. But then if you look at Blackheath you have to spend 500k because then people can show that they belong to a superior class status (which seems to be the most important thing here). Living in Unknowingham which might be a very nice area, with nice school, with reasonable crime and not far from the center does not sound very appealing to the average Joe English.

[sasguru]

Living in Unknowingham which might be a very nice area, with nice school, with reasonable crime and not far from the center does not sound very appealing to the average Joe English.

Name one such area and I'll eat my hat. It just doesn't exist.

[Francko]

Name one such area and I'll eat my hat. It just doesn't exist.

Bromley, Brockley, Beckenham, some parts of Dulwich.... there is a long list where you can buy something decent for 250k.

[Captain Jack]

Name one such area and I'll eat my hat. It just doesn't exist.

Ahhh, mum's the word. Don't want any old property speculator moving in on my patch.

[sasguru]

Bromley, Brockley, Beckenham, some parts of Dulwich.... there is a long list where you can buy something decent for 250k.

Not exactly happening places are they, nor very central. Isn't Beckenham in Kent, anyway?

[Hart-floot]

But then if you look at Blackheath you have to spend 500k because then people can show that they belong to a superior class status (which seems to be the most important thing here).

Is n't that true of other big cities around the world?

For example, Paris. Where the well-to-do all live in certain arondissements and wouldn't dream of living in others!

[sasguru]

Ahhh, mum's the word. Don't want any old property speculator moving in on my patch.

Waiting for the inevitable crash so I can move in. (cue LordLoser, no doubt). Not many people know that the US housing market has started a free-fall. How long before it hits here?