Cannot let 4-bed house in Thamesmead; bad area?

[yorkeilsa]

I am trying to rent a 4 bedroom house in Thamesmead , London but despite approaching various estate agents I am having no joy:(

[MrShed]

Is there a question here?

[Poppy]

Now that's a good question MrShed.

[pippay]

Knowing the area I'm not surprised ...
I am trying to rent a 4 bedroom house in Thamesmead , London but despite approaching various estate agents I am having no joy:(

[jeffrey]

Knowing the area I'm not surprised ...

Is that sarth of the river? Not goin' there, mate.

[pippay]

Its Near Woolwich and is home Belmarsh High Security Prison .. the area had a VERY bad reputation after the Local Council developed (in late 60's early 70's) what they hailed as being the most modern housing complex ever; the stairwells and alleys of which soon became riddled and infested with the rats of society ..

Then in late 80's they decided to "develop" other parts of Thamesmead and turned it into a regeneration area, and in mid 90's developers bought up every spare bit of land and started building, which was OK for a very short time. It was very popular initially because it offered some quite nice, relatively spacious new homes at affordable prices (for a London post code) ..

Then the second phase came along again with reasonable prices; the first phase buyers started moving up the ladder elsewhere and prices slumped even further because there was so much building going on and properties outstripped demand. As each phase was developed, the prices kept falling so investors started buying up cheap (blocks of flats at a time as well as individual properties) Word started getting round other London Boroughs, Peckham being one example, (as well as other countries which shall remain nameless !!! ) who were offering people on their Housing List, cash incentives of several thousand to go and rent in Thamesmead.

Before long the regeneration was going backwards .. no extra community facilities and tenants outnumbering owner occupiers by about 4:1 - with the inherent problems that properties weren't being looked after and in the flats in particular, communal areas were being scrawled over, carpet burns in the carpets, rubbish left outside flat doors, noise and general nuisance and that type of thing not to mention the high turnover of tenants. Some Ll's were openly and illegally evicting tenants left right and centre (not that I could blame them in some instances but in others it was outright bullying and harassment).

No-one felt safe enough to go out in the evening and neighbours never spoke to each other ..

The police were never seen unless called, and even then seemed more intent on handing out traffic tickets (a PC who worked the area knew my daughter and told her that they concentrated on traffic tickets at the beginning of each month cos they knew they could nick people, especially ethniic women, for no road tax, car insurance and licences .. and it kept their stats up!)

In the end, I think it was probably safer INSIDE the prison that outside it. A catering chain opened up a carvery type restaurant .. and they employed BOUNCERS, no less, from 5 pm onwards and all day at the weekend at what was supposed to be geared towwards families .. !

And on top of that the nearest place to shop or bank was Woolwich. Or Bluewater. Guess where I went ?! Yup, I headed to Kent to shop AND live ...

I wouldn't recommend Thamesmead to my worst enemy .. correction, it sounds just the sort of place Billy Whizz would fit into quite well!



Is that sarth of the river? Not goin' there, mate.