[Closed] Talk to me about Bromley (London Borough of)

"Any areas we should ... avoid all together?"

Bromley.

It's cheaper for a reason, the main one being it's crap to get to and from central London. Or indeed anywhere nice. It is leafier and you'll get more for your money. A bit 'UKIP'.

Seems like you're looking at getting on the ladder, in order to make something on it and be in a financially better position to move on in a few years. Like so many others. If that's the case, then a flat somewhere more central/accessible, would be a better option. You'd get a better return.

"she can get to her office in Victoria within 20 mins on the train."

Unless of course there's one of the many, many delays that affect such services, not to mention the insane crush if you do actually get on a train. Every single week day. Fun fun fun.

I wouldn't live in Bromley if you paid me.

We moved here just over a year ago after living in North London then a year in Epsom - wife didn't want to be too far out, my parents are just down in Kent, and better value for money meant we could get a roomy extended 30s semi with a decent garden for our budget.

No catches really, it's all quite suburban but you have a decent size town on your doorstep with plenty of shops, restaurants, theatre, etc. We have a young daughter and she goes to a great nursery and there's plenty of other groups and activities going on. Yes, trains can be busy at peak times but I can live with standing for 20 mins.

We're north of the town (towards Grove Park station, frequent trains to Cannon St / Charing Cross) but for Victoria the southern side probably works better for Bromley South or Shortlands stations. We looked at a few houses down that way, either side of Norman Park - quite a few to choose from within a mile of Bromley South.

Haven't done a huge amount of riding since the baby but there's pleasant lanes for quiet road riding within 10 mins or so of town. Haven't joined the local club but they do two MTB night rides a week plus some day rides on weekends as well as a big road program.

I wouldn't live in Bromley if you paid me.

Interesting.

I live in Bromley (well, Bromley Borough - Farnborough Village)
We like it. a lot.
Neither of us commute into London, however we have lots of friends/neighbours who do.
Our nearest station geographically is Orpington, however it is at the different end of the same bus route as Bromley South, so not much in it.

Chislehurst, Bromley Common, Petts wood, Farnborough, Keston are the nicer parts of the Borough, New Addington/Biggin Hill not so much.

Not sure if it is of interest but there are a lot of good schools in Bromley.

Pretty good for cycling - many of the S/SE London roadie clubs head out through Farnborough/Keston/Downe on their Saturday morning runs, and there is plenty of MTB riding on the North Downs.

Have you been looking at any houses in Particular?

450 should get you something in the epsom area. Not sure of your priorities but there's more biking this way.
Not all of Croydon is a shit hole. It has superb transport and doable biking. I used to cycle to Battersea in 35 -40 minutes on my mtb.

If you're looking that far out there are loads of places inside the M25 that are doable and have cracking transport links

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-40428264.html

The one above is convenient for the train at least 😀

I'm a Caterham/South croydon native, although croydon itself is a dump further out is a lot nicer.

Thanks guys!

@clodhopper Where do you commute from? Is it any worse than the Piccadilly line? 😆

@simon_g Thank you, will check those areas out. I'm enticed by all the greenery just south of Bromley, the coast is only 50 odd miles away too! 8)

@freeagent Thanks, again will check those areas out too. Need to start looking at schools too (see below). Not looked at anything in particular just yet, it was only last night Bromley caught our eye. Did come across this quirky looking place though: http://www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/40923508#z3ZqHE4vSGstzbL1.97

We've got a cat (garden essential), car and are probably going to start a family soon within the next 2-3 years (we're 27). So yeah being close to a decent nursery/primary school would be highly beneficial, but may also be looking to move again in that time frame if circumstances change. Also her parents are moving to Hastings soon - which would only be just over an hour in the car, perfect for when the time comes for their help haha!

@zippykona Epsom is a little too rich for us I think, will have a look though cheers!

@scaled A little too close to transport links that one 😆

"@clodhopper Where do you commute from?"

I don't have to. 8)

Piccadilly line is ok anyway. It's the Northern line that's horrible.

I would say, that just because you can get a mortgage 'up to' £450k, doesn't necessarily mean you should Why not lower your sights a bit, because if you are going to get into debt, then surely less is better. Don't know what jobs you do, but I'm increasingly hearing about young people who work in London, facing redundancy as their employers downsize/shift operations overseas. I think the canny thing to do at the moment, is to take on as little debt as possible, and be prepared to be flexible as to the future and where you might be living.

Quite.

I live in Enfield - not quite as "green" as Bromley but still 10 mins bike ride from Essex/Herts green lanes, and have a 3 bed semi, outbuildings & gardens and double garage 5 mins walk from a direct line to Liverpool St station valued about £100k less than you've got.

Its also one of the "last" boroughs to come around the anti-clockwise development upgrade scheme of things after the Olympics, which means house prices are relatively low, subject to growth and the area is recieving quite a bit of investment / improvement.

@clodhopper.

Fair enough 😆

£450k + our deposit money is the back of the cigarette packet calc that the banks would lend us.

But with the help to buy our cap is 450k, we provide 5% deposit (22.5k), the gov gives us a 5 year interest free loan for 20% and we get a 75% mortgage. This will enable us to invest in the property with some of the deposit money we have freed up, and bank the rest for a rainy day/kid. Plus with a lower mortgage we'd be able to save more money, with the potential of buying the gov out or look at selling within the 5 years (the gov takes their 20% back from the sale).

I worked in Bromley for a couple of years, seemed ok and I don't really like London towns.

Traffic was bad but perhaps not relative to similar ares.

I thought the cap in London was 600k?

Agree with Freeagent

"Chislehurst, Bromley Common, Petts wood, Farnborough, Keston are the nicer parts of the Borough, New Addington/Biggin Hill not so much "

Locks bottom is also a good spot as is Crofton.

I grew up round Farnborough village way .. very nice and easy access to Orpington station with quick links into London.

From a riding perspective you have heaps of great road routes out into Kent and Surrey but MTB is slightly limited depending on your stance about riding on footpaths (still better than most London boroughs IMO)

@wilburt it is for over-inflated new builds only unfortunately. But I'm quite glad we've got a cap to be honest.

@nicks Thank you, I've only got road bikes so all good for me.

I live in Horsham. It's an hour by train into Victoria (or 2 hours by push bike :D). Eight years ago £450k got us a four bedroomed detached house with garage and a garden 15m by 15m.

OP - the place you lniked to in Beckenham looks nice - Beckenham is a good start - my folks live there and like it.

[url= http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-59689145.html ]2-Bed cottage in Farnborough[/url]
^Not perfect but it is in a nice part of the borough, under budget and easy to get to either Bromley South or Orpington Stations.

I live in Hextable, small village near Swanley.
Same train line as Bromley South.
Swanley station is 15 minutes walk.
450k will get a 3/4 semi detached.

Riding of road is good, and very easy to get to good spots.

Be aware the London and se market is massively over inflated and due for a correction. I have always bought around kingston and the good areas withstand any correction better. Houses in Kingston are not selling, I know they have to drop a lot to 450 but a nice 4 bed terraced is on at 600. I reckon in a year or so depending on th3 vendors situation that may be 450.

As others have said you don't have to go far back to see 450 buying a nicertain house in say Teddington. C 3 years if I am honest.

I looked at Bromley before my last purchase, Bromley common and Beckley, I liked it. A mates sister knows the area far better than me and she said it was...well not very nice. So I saved a bit more and bought in my comfort zone.

After Ealing you would really notice the difference living in a cheaper area.

Be aware the [s]London and se[/s] [u]the vast majority of the UK[/u] market is massively over inflated and due for a correction

Housing, specifically the lack of affordable stock, is the single biggest problem in society. When you do a rough root cause analysis on the issues of social mobility, injustice, inequlity etc, you don't have to go down too many branches before you end back at housing.

A bit 'UKIP'.

putting it mildly....

Loving a bit ukip as a description...

Also, look where we are on the interest rate cycle, in 2 or 3 years there's no way when you come off a fix you will be getting these rates again and on c 500k you would have to be sure you were buying in a prime area.

I would hold out and try cheeky bids in better areas

If you pick a good area within easy commute of London (i.e. near a good station), whatever happens with the housing market, you'll have chosen well

Aim to find a house where you can convert the loft at a later point, gives you a way of upsizing without moving

I live in North London and the area I'm in as shot up in value in the last few years, mostly through supply/demand.

There's a big difference between living in Bromley town, and the London Borough of Bromley. For a little stint I worked near Bromley South station, and commuted from North London. The line to Victoria is brilliant, and I very rarely had a problem with trains

I'd say stretch yourself as much as you're comfortable, don't worry about furnishing the house - you can do that later. You can move as often as you want, but it gets expensive once you start factoring in stamp duty

Mixed views so far then! 😛

Armed with a list of the above I think I need to do some cycling around these areas, google maps can only show so much..

But yes, comparing it to Ealing isn't going to be easy, it's the only bit of London I've ever lived in. But I don't want to be paying someone else's mortgage for the rest of my time in this city.

Thank you all for the comments so far!

[url= http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/news/society/moving-to-london-not-compulsory-20160315107140 ]This might help[/url]

And failing that, [url= http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/news/society/london-property-market-boosted-by-people-pretending-grim-places-are-great-2013053070398 ]this[/url]

You're welcome... 😆

Not a place I would live. Live further out. Horsham, reigate. Even Redhill.

I have a little hobby about asking people why they live in the area they do. And for those that move to London, why they picked a certain area

I'm not critiquing their choice, just trying to understand their rationale

You need a list of priorities, what you want and their order of importance

e.g
1 hour from London
Travelcard, not season ticket
Cycling distance from X
Near school
Affordable within budget etc

Otherwise your options are potentially endless

Is it just me that thought one of Binners links would be a Greggs orientated version of the Tube Map?

@benp1

I think our list would be:

Under 25 mins (train time) to Victoria (her travel is paid for by the company as she's classed as a homeworker)
Near a decent primary school
Sub 90 mins to Hastings

My place of work is due to change, but I think within 25 mins on the train to Victoria will equate to sub 60 mins cycle to work?

I spent most of my working life in Sw London - Teddington kingston Surbiton and loved it. The few occasions I ventured out of my comfort zone I was in Sutton and tooting, gosh I hated it.

So think carefully about leaving the leafy enclave of Ealing, you have everything close by, good links via tube and overground, 24hr bus service. Life's stressful enough without adding to it, there's nothing worse than looking back and comparing life now with what it was.

Good areas are expensive for a reason, I am always looking at new areas as kingston is just silly money now, but then I go and have a walk round, say Croydon, yikes, back to kingston...I see you are renting so eager to get on the ladder.

Sorry if I offended anyone in above areas btw, it's just I am the biggest property snob out there.

I live in Beckenham and would recommend this area if you're intent on staying around London. There are 3 different train lines all within 10 mins walk for me: to Victoria; to London Bridge/Cannon St/Charing Cross and the Thameslink routes that go Elephant&Castle/Blackfriars/City/St Pancras. Add in the 10 min ride to East Croydon and ability to jump on the train to go for a nice ride outside of London (or get back from a ride) and it's ideal.

Even without jumping on the train, you can be in country lanes in 20mins and there are loads of parks around.

Yes 75% voted Tory or UKIP in the election but you can't have everything!

Sorry if I offended anyone in above areas btw, it's just I am the biggest property snob out there.

House prices in London would suggest you're far from alone.

Ha ha, funny thing is if you look at surrounding not so nice areas the prices are only say 10% lower. Again not offending anyone which I am sure I will but say new Malden v kingston, neighbouring areas but chalk and cheese. New Malden is only a bit cheaper than kingston, suppose if you can afford the better area go for it.

Sorry btw new Malden residents it's really nice..

Not a massive fan of Central Bromley but Hayes/Keston are OK and nearby. I think I'd look there, 450k is likely to get a 3 bed ex authority house which might not be the prettiest. As said before Epsom, Cheam, Ewell and maybe some of Sutton is worth a look too.

We had similar criteria and have ended up in Eltham, We need to travel to Canary Wharf rather than Victoria, so being a bit further east works for us but I think Victoria is about 30 minutes from Eltham on the train. Its very green here with plenty of parks, the schools are good, and its on both the A2 and the A20 which is good for us as our families are mostly to the south.

There are good bits and bad bits, but it's worth a look round and hits your budget

Edit: Having checked a map it appears I don't know where Bromley is in relation to Eltham, Eltham is only a tiny bit East and a bit further North of Bromley.

Cheers guys!

The list is:
Chislehurst,
Bromley Common,
Petts wood,
Farnborough,
Keston,
Hayes,
Eltham,

Other potentials:
Crystal Palace,
Kingston,
Epsom,
Cheam,
Ewell.

I'm not keen on Sutton (sometimes have to work there).

The list is:
Chislehurst,
Bromley Common,
Petts wood,
Farnborough,
Keston,
Hayes,
Eltham,

Personally I find Chislehurst a bit overpriced. The high st (especially the top end) is lovely - definitely try to stay toward the 'Petts wood' end rather than straying near Mottingham.

Bromley Common - good choice for transport (loads of busses go straight to Bromley South) but some roads a bit rough.

Petts Wood - nice - but a lot of the houses are huge - I'd be interested to see what £450k buys you.

Farnborough - I love it, but the nearest Station is a decent walk/bus journey away.
Good road links (straight down A21 onto M25) and a good safe bet if you want an investment.

Keston - really nice, but not very close to a station.

Hayes - Good transport links - nice high street

Eltham - personally I don't like it - but a good place for travel etc.

Cheam has some of the best restaurants in the land. Direct link to Victoria and an amazing gift shop.

zippykona
Cheam has some of the best restaurants in the land. Direct link to Victoria and [b]an amazing gift shop.[/b]

Sold! 😆

freeagent
Personally I find Chislehurst a bit overpriced. The high st (especially the top end) is lovely - definitely try to stay toward the 'Petts wood' end rather than straying near Mottingham.

Bromley Common - good choice for transport (loads of busses go straight to Bromley South) but some roads a bit rough.

Petts Wood - nice - but a lot of the houses are huge - I'd be interested to see what £450k buys you.

Farnborough - I love it, but the nearest Station is a decent walk/bus journey away.
Good road links (straight down A21 onto M25) and a good safe bet if you want an investment.

Keston - really nice, but not very close to a station.

Hayes - Good transport links - nice high street

Eltham - personally I don't like it - but a good place for travel etc.

Thank you, really helpful!

A lot of the houses in petts wood in our budget are terraces like this: http://www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/39058191#KYyKgzI0ZXSYZfmG.97

Doesn't seem too bad.

@nathb - good list

I'm not much help as I'm north of the river so have no idea where everything is, but sounds like many here do!

1. Don't touch any property being sold by Curran & Pinner... seriously...
2. If you're a Bowie geek then there's all kinds of random trivia around Beckenham and Bromley round there e.g. he got married to Angie in the Registry Office and Ziggy was created in a salon in Beckenham High St 🙂
3. Drivers get noticeable nastier once you're out of Crystal Palace - I nearly died in Bromley once stopping at a red light and the driver behind me tried to run it - he then spent the next minute giving me abuse...
4. Nigel Farage lives in Downe village... although it has a great coffee shop
5. Don't even think about putting an offer in around asking price around Crystal Palace - prices are 70% higher than they were in 2013. I know of at least 4 properties at the top end of Crystal Palace Park Road which have been on the market for around a year and they've not sold - sales have fallen through. I used to live there - and one of those flats belongs to a friend of mine and he's finally accepting he'll have to drop his price - he was saying something very different this time last year... CP is also carbon monoxide heaven, although the park is very nice and the cake in Cadence is top notch...

@benp1 I'm a "northerner" too! 😆

@brooess Yeah CP is at the very top of our budget - hope you're right about the prices. Pollution doesn't seem to be too bad?!

Oh, and remember that you won't ever be able to get a black London taxi to take you home from the west end etc. 😆

@benp1 I'm a "northerner" too!

You're not a real one, otherwise you wouldn't even consider moving the wrong side of the river 😀

"You're not a real one, otherwise you wouldn't even consider moving the wrong side of the river "

+1!

There are some nice suburbs in south London I could consider living in, but not the outer ones. Some nice parts of Streatham, Dulwich, Greenwich etc. Very quiet and leafy. Some beautiful old houses too. The outer suburbs are mainly 1930s or later, and not so nice (hence the lower prices). If I had to move to an outer suburb, I'd only consider north London. Spent a bit of time in North Wembley, and the surrounding areas are ok. Finchley starts to get quite expensive. Brent and Hendon not so bad. My personal tip for an area which I think will see a big surge in interest soon, is around Wood Green/Bounds Green/Bowes Park. Leafy and quiet, but still with good transport links, and easy routes out to green spaces. And basically, any area with lots of darker faces; cheaper house prices, and far more interesting cuisine! 😉

Have you considered Rochdale?

He could buy half of Rochdale for £450k! 😆

benp1 - Member
You're not a real one, otherwise you wouldn't even consider moving the wrong side of the river

clodhopper - Member

+1!

Oh the northern card is out; I was born and bred in Lancashire, makes me more northern than either of you? 😈

Re north of the river - missus' parents live in Hastings, it's MUCH closer to South of the river. Their help may be required in the next few years. 🙄

binners - Member
Have you considered Rochdale?

Erm, my geography is not the best - but isn't that in Manchester? 😆

Cheers guys.

I just looked on rightmove for kt2 as I know the area well and there really is some speculative pricing going on. There is no way anyone would pay 395k for a non riverside 1 bed flat, suppose agents are not aggressive enough with instructions. I would look at actual sale prices and take off 20% as a start point.

Problem is lots of the sales are from landlords exiting the market and whilst waiting for a sale have a tenant in situ paying c 1200 pcm, so worth the wait.

Good luck

I'm SE19 although upper norwood rather than CP. Reading this 2 or 3 things strike me.
what one person likes another doesn't.
The character of suburban south london can change from one street to the next
Its all very expensive.

given those things trying to decide what you want, leafy and parks or hustle bustle and chic gastro pubs for example, will help. Also accept every house is a compromise of cost, location and property size, so maybe determine a short list of must haves and a second list of nice to have but will compromise. Then for me there is no substitute to getting in the car/on the bike/on foot and visiting some of the locations, streets and nearby amenities. I suspect some places will make you think no, while others make you feel upbeat about living there. It might be that some visits make you reconsider your list a little too.
Hope you find somewhere nice for you.

As for the cost, well if you find a crystal ball and can use it to pick an area on the up, or avoid overpaying, brilliant. Usually we have to look back in a few years and identify our mistakes then either do something about them or feel happy with the successes we did make and not dwell on the could have beens.

We've found a house we really like the look of, it's near Beckenhill station/golf course.

I'm going to cycle there tonight to snoop around. While I'm there I'm also going to check out a few the surrounding areas: Bromley North, Bromley South, Shortlands, Beckenhem Junction, Clock house, Kent house, lower Sydenham, Dulwich, Penge and then back into Ealing.

Thank you all for your input, it's much appreciated!

Hopefully update this in a few months time with some good news!

5. Don't even think about putting an offer in around asking price around Crystal Palace - prices are 70% higher than they were in 2013. I know of at least 4 properties at the top end of Crystal Palace Park Road which have been on the market for around a year and they've not sold - sales have fallen through. I used to live there - and one of those flats belongs to a friend of mine and he's finally accepting he'll have to drop his price - he was saying something very different this time last year... CP is also carbon monoxide heaven, although the park is very nice and the cake in Cadence is top notch...

another SE19 resident here. (2 min from cadence) though in southwark not bromley borough which is 50yds away
i have to say i think you have missed the boat if you want to buy round here, basically what has happened in the last 16 months is prices now have parity with the likes of streatham basically the least desirable (i.e. not victorian or bang up to date modern) properties in an expensive street right where you need to be (2min to shops/bars 6min to the 2 mainline stations)

paid £200k for mine in Oct 2014 flat downstairs is about to featured on Location Location Location as it was filmed a couple of weeks ago, its now sold for over £325k! 😯

there are no bargains here anymore. though if you can stretch to it then i’s a great place to live as it has the right mix of feeling like London but a bit leafier/suburban without being dead or full of retirees and chavs.

Be aware the London and se the vast majority of the UK market is massively over inflated and due for a correction

Oh the northern card is out; I was born and bred in Lancashire, makes me more northern than either of you?

Re north of the river - missus' parents live in Hastings, it's MUCH closer to South of the river. Their help may be required in the next few years.

In that case it's a good job I'm reading what you're saying and not listening, probably wouldn't understand a word 😆

On a serious note, I do get the need to live near parents, when kids etc are around its so much easier and nicer with family nearby

I'm a North Londoner with all my family very local (both sides) so we are unusually fortunate in this regard

I'd echo MrSmith's comments on CP. (I'm maybe 5 mins from Cadence, hi neighbour!)

It's also more than 25 mins into Victoria and the Southern service is epically unreliable.

nick1962 - Member
Yeah,look at this they've got a real cheek asking this for it when it needs the kitchen and bathroom updating Only 6 miles from Rochdale too.

Wow! Still not enough for me to move back north though. 😆

benp1 - Member
In that case it's a good job I'm reading what you're saying and not listening, probably wouldn't understand a word

Haha, I'm thankfully? accent free. This was beaten out of me as a small child. I can't even do a fake northern accent!!

@mrsmith & jim - thanks, we were planning on being a bit cheeky with our offers anyway.

It's also more than 25 mins into Victoria and the Southern service is epically unreliable.

‘waves’
but the overground service is very good and the london bridge/victoria services are only let down down by southern who will surely loose their franchise. once this happens and London bridge is finished then there should be a big improvement.
thankfully i can use either service to get to work in a similar time and just jump on whichever train turns up first.

@mrsmith

I heard, maybe incorrectly, that TFL is taking over Southern/Southeastern etc etc? As the current services are shocking.

I heard, maybe incorrectly, that TFL is taking over Southern/Southeastern etc etc? As the current services are shocking.

Afaik nothing has been confirmed, and the franchise isn't otherwise up until 2021.

The Overground service is indeed good, but obviously isn't very helpful if you want to get to Victoria.

I rode through bromley last night to look at a house we liked the look of. The area the house is in wasn't for me.

This is the route I took (taking in the sights):
https://www.strava.com/activities/664702360

Feeling like I've got a much better feel for the area, will take a few more random trips down there. I like the look of Beckenham, not so much Downham. Without sounding snobby; it's not Ealing, I'm going to have to get used to that. But like Ealing it's quite drastic how a really nice row of houses can be next to a really not so nice set.

Thanks again for everyone's input!

Feeling like I've got a much better feel for the area, will take a few more random trips down there. I like the look of Beckenham, not so much Downham

I'd steer clear of Downham - bit too close to Catford for my liking (I was born in Catford)

Beckenham generally nice though.
Looked at Farnborough/Crofton/Bromley Common yet??

freeagent - Member

Beckenham generally nice though.
Looked at Farnborough/Crofton/Bromley Common yet??

No not yet, just the areas on the route I linked above ( https://www.strava.com/activities/664702360).

I was running out of daylight/energy by the time I got to Bromley south.

Hopefully do a trip out there on Sunday.

I've lived in Orpington the majority of my life, also a short spell in Bromley North and Shortlands (the no mans land bit between Bromley and Beckenham).

The slow train services to Victoria / Blackfriars seem to stop at every station known to mankind in south London, Cannon St/ Charing X is quicker. Most trains are filling up by Beckenham Junction or Grove Park with the people on the platform banging on the windows telling people to move down the carriage.

I find shopping in Bromley a complete waste of time, no flagship stores any more, just a load of tat so would rather go to Bluewater. However I treat a journey there like a military operation in and out as quick as possible.

Plenty of countryside on the outskirts - I'm sure most people don't even know it exists.

Any opinions on Swanley?

A nice house has come up there - appreciate its not Bromley but is close to greenness!

Any opinions on Swanley?
A nice house has come up there - appreciate its not Bromley but is close to greenness!

Err... the only thing I can suggest is you take a walk around ASDA in Swanley and do some people watching...

Not for me - full of the sort of women who have more tattoos than teeth, and only put their fags down to whack their kids.

As I said before, I live in Hextable, 2 minutes from Swanley.
Pink Hill is ok in Swanley.
Yes it has lots of not so nice neighbourhood and I would not send my kids to school there.

Joyden wood is great for mtb riding.

Basically if you can afford a nice house in Swanley and use it as a base to sleep and food shopping it is fine.
There are no nice restaurant or pubs yet.
There are big plans to build some but not yet.
Bluewater is 15 minutes away.
Victoria is 35 minutes away and it took me 40 minutes to cycle to London.

That'll explain why this is cheap then: http://www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/41066448#O6gxYVxfGesAM547.97

😆

Thanks again!

^^^agree with all that.
Hextable/Wilmington side of Swanley is nice, however you are straying well away from the original remit!

If you are looking that far round/out, you might as well look at Bexley.. nice but not cheap.

High Fir is a good area in Swanley.
I would live there. It is next to the station.

Yeah I think I'll go back to the bromley area, I just did a street view through the town centre - it's a bit sparse!

I know nothing about the area, but from the description above, I reckon you might not like Swanley 😀

Generally better to have the crappest house in the nicest area than the other way around!

If you fancy something slightly more rural whilst keeping the decent transport links [url= http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-59781653.html?backListLink=%2Fproperty-for-sale%2Fmap.html%3FlocationIdentifier%3DUSERDEFINEDAREA%255E%257B%2522polylines%2522%253A%2522k%257BfxHvxj%2540asGseW%257Du%2540e%257CF%257DrHflAzu%2540ywQl%2560%2540siJpvE%257EeBm%2560%2540dtI%257EtCpmHxsCwfFu_CebP%257EfMq%257BNvrIhnLe%257E%2540feU%257EbDb%257CQs%257DCpgVqzOoc%2540%2522%257D%26minBedrooms%3D3%26numberOfPropertiesPerPage%3D24%23_includeSSTC%3Don%26auction%3Dfalse%26locationIdentifier%3DUSERDEFINEDAREA%255E%257B%2522polylines%2522%253A%2522k%257BfxHvxj%2540asGseW%257Du%2540e%257CF%257DrHflAzu%2540ywQl%2560%2540siJpvE~eBm%2560%2540dtI~tCpmHxsCwfFu_CebP~fMq%257BNvrIhnLe~%2540feU~bDb%257CQs%257DCpgVqzOoc%2540%2522%257D%26maxPrice%3D475000%26minBedrooms%3D3%26numberOfPropertiesPerPage%3D24%26previousSearchLocation%3DUntitled%2520(Drawn%2520Area)%26radius%3D0.0%26searchLocation%3DUntitled%2520(Drawn%2520Area)%26searchType%3DSALE%26useLocationIdentifier%3Dfalse%26box%3D-0.13597%2C-0.02096%2C51.29504%2C51.33753%26popupPropertyId%3D59781653&fromMap=true ]Rightmove Link[/url]

I was down south this weekend, it's not as nice as it used to be. The traffic is shite ALL THE TIME. Roads that used to be completely empty during the day are now just traffic jams. As you get closer to a town centre the grass just disappears to be replaced by parkng etc