What will £500,000 buy you in the London property market?

This cottage in Chislehurst. This is where you buy when you want to kid yourself that you are a villager. Although it’s caught in the suburban sprawl of south-east London, it has retained its dinky cottages, rustic common and woodlands. This three-bedroom cottage is testament to what this part of Kent used to be like. The rural delusion is reinforced by the common in front and by the quaint period features. There’s a conservatory and cellar, and off-street parking.
Click here or call Kinleigh Folkard & Hayward, 020 3641 5018 Photograph: PR

This house in Lewisham. If you want decent space for your money you’ll have to head south-east to the borough of Lewisham, where this double-fronted house occupies a large corner plot close to Hither Green station. You still only get three bedrooms, albeit doubles, and you’ll want to rescue the decor, but there’s plenty of room for expansion. There’s a cellar, a large garage and a driveway capacious enough to host four cars.
Click here or call Ludlowthompson.com, 020 3463 0354 Photograph: PR

This house in Richmond. Half a million counts as a bargain for a house in the rock star postcode of TW10. The downside is this is a Lilliputian residence – one bedroom, one reception and a minute sliver that the agent optimistically calls a courtyard. Still, you get fetching looks, a chic interior and the handsome charms of Richmond, with its parks and riverside on your doorstep.
Click here or call Gascoigne Pees, 020 3318 5441 Photograph: PR

This flat in Docklands. You are paying for the views of the Thames from your private terrace as much as the 82 sq metre (881 sq ft) of living space in this two-bedroom flat close to Canary Wharf in the Docklands. Security gates keep the poor at bay and you can, without venturing out through them, exercise in the on-site gym. Your car lives in similar security in a covered lot.
Click here or call Chesterton Humberts on 020 7510 8300 Photograph: Chesterton Humberts

This flat in Streatham. Even Londoners occasionally lack the odd half million. If you can’t afford £500,000, this 52 sq metre (565 sq ft) flat in SE19 will tide you over if you can muster £149,950. The one bedroom is a generous double, the reception is large and wooden floored and the kitchen and fittings are smart, but you’ll have to brace yourself for a toil up to the third floor. It’s a mile from West Norwood and Crystal Palace stations.
Click here or call Kinleigh Folkard and Hayward on 020 3441 3420 Photograph: Kinleigh Folkard & Hayward