Herne Hill/ Denmark Hill Please help me narrow down a location

[freezingcoldasalways]

After reading the thread about where to avoid in London I've been inspired to start my own.

We are FTB looking for a 2 bed with plenty of space inside and maybe outside and an easy (read v. short! 10-20max & probably not more that 30min door to door) commute to Farringdon/City Thameslink, with maybe potential to extend in a few years. We have a really good budget 400-500k, it would be with help to buy so we really want to stay within that but we are struggling with locations and don't know where to start.

After lots of research we think maybe Herne Hill or Denmark Hill might be good places to live but I don't know anything about them. Does anyone know the area and think it a nice place? I guess we want to know if it's somewhere with restaurants, coffee places, etc and things to do on the weekend for adults that don't yet have any children!

We've been incredibly lucky with our current rented flat and we manage to walk to into work (we know we are very very lucky! and maybe now are a little spoilt! ) but now we need more space. However we are struggling with the location/space compromise. I guess we still want to go out in central London occasionally and don't want to go too far out.

Can someone please help me narrow down where to start looking?

[bigTillyMint]

Herne Hill has lots of places to eat and drink, a little market/independent shops, etc. Definitely a middle-class choice Also right next to Brockwell Park which is a great green space.

Denmark Hill is really just a station close to Kings and housing - lots of flats and some houses. Ruskin Park - also a nice green space and towards Camberwell lots of shops and places to eat, but not as chi-chi as Herne Hill. I would imagine housing would be cheaper there.

[bigTillyMint]

I would suggest you spend a day looking around asap!

[freezingcoldasalways]

thanks bigTillyMint! Do you live in the area?

We are going to start looking around etc but we started off with London as our search criteria on rightmove. It's taken a few months while watching the prices going up everywhere to narrow down to Herne Hill, etc.

We've even been thinking maybe Greenwhich or Blackheath but I think the commute would just be a bit too long and not as good with just one line etc.

[bayrans]

You could maybe look at Tulse hill/ West Norwood and Streatham too. You may get a bit more for your money than HH.

[RiverTam]

Herne Hill is very lovely indeed, and very pricey too!

Denmark Hill is the station serving Camberwell, which is a pretty mixed area, grotty estates and beautiful Georgian houses. Lots of places to eat, drink and be merry, plus you're a hop,skip and a jump to Brixton for more places and the cinema (as is Herne Hill, in fact).

I would say Denmark Hill is the better station as it's on the Overground as well (i.e on the tube network). Loads of buses too.

I would say HH is more family-friendly, Camberwell more cutting edge (there's a big art school there, and a very big hospital), but also pretty family friendly - DD is about to start primary school in Camberwell. HH is not cutting edge at all!

[dinkystinky]

Herne Hill is more of a family area - Denmark Hill has lots of medical students/arts students living there (as you have Kings College Hospital and the Maudesley near the station and Arts places down by Camberwell green) with some houses too. I used to live there as a student. If the Thameslink is down (which does happen on occasion) you have to rely on buses to get you to the nearest tube link - bear that in mind.

I suggest you spend a day wandering around the two areas to see which you like the best and what you can get with your money there.

[freezingcoldasalways]

I'm not sure we want to be in a place full of students. We are currently dealing with noise pollution issues from next door neighbours and frankly that's not been fun! We're not really cutting edge people and really don't enjoy Brixton, Hoxton etc. We have friends in Clapham but it's just too noisy and messy for us with all the studenty bars and people wondering around in fancy dress every saturday, which is why we are looking at somewhere more calm but still has restaurants and bars for an occasional night out.

Sounds like Herne Hill might be a good choice. We are planning to spend a few weekends wondering around different areas but I figured it would be good to have the mumsnet collective wisdom to get us started.

I figured if Thameslink is down we could probably get buses to work from Elephant and Castle. Is that not feasable dinky?

[AllMimsyWereTheBorogoves]

Denmark Hill is on the Overground as well as Thameslink so you have more options now. Plenty of buses from Camberwell to E&C, and to other places as well.

Camberwell is a very mixed area indeed, in my experience of working rather than living there for a number of years. KCL once described it as 'vibrant, multicultural Camberwell' in the prospectus, with a picture of the Love Lane street sign against an old brick wall with tendrils of ivy twining round it. That must have led to some nasty shocks for any student naive enough to take that at face value. I like the place, but it's not a cosy suburban idyll.

[dinkystinky]

The road down to Elephant and Castle from Denmark Hill/Herne Hill can be v slow - you could get a bus from Camberwell to Oval which can be faster or to Brixton though (Victoria line is v good)

As Allmimsy says, Denmark Hill is on the overland now too so may be less of a pain to commute when the Thameslink is down

[AllMimsyWereTheBorogoves]

Walworth Rd (the slow road dinky mentions) is also studded with Pentecostalist churches, each with a longer, more elaborate name than the one before. You see the same thing on the Old Kent Road.

[freezingcoldasalways]

Oh right, I see. Victoria line wouldn't really get me to work without lots of changes and that would probably take a much longer than the bus get to Ludgate Hill.

AllMimsy is there any areas which we should look at, other than the HH etc?

[Blueskies80]

I know both well (used to live in HH). Herne hill is pricier than Denmark hill but has a quieter feel, coffee shops, market, delis etc. You should be able to get something within your budget although prices have gone loopy recently. Denmark hill feels more built up to me, busier, trendier as others have said and noisier IMO. Although the Brixton side of herne hill would be similar I expect.
You could look around the top end of what estate agents like to call the 'north dulwich triangle' (danecroft rd, Frankfurt rd etc) and then you have multiple transport options from herne hill, Denmark hill (via bus) and north dulwich. Heaps of buses running up and down herne hill to station and bottom or up to Denmark hill and a walk to north dulwich station (services to London bridge, think you can walk across London bridge to city from here too). It's got a very family feel so quieter but there are some houses that have been converted into flats.
I would say that herne hill better for thameslink than Denmark hill, I think there are more services, although both get very crowded. Will change when thameslink project finished in 2018 I think.
Also from herne hill you can walk or catch 37 to Brixton and pick up the Victoria line which is very handy indeed!
Good luck x

[RiverTam]

Camberwell-Oval bus can be even slower than Camerwell-E&C. But there are lots of options.

Parts of Camberwell, like Camberwell Grove/Grove Lane/Grove Park are pretty expensive and won't be rammed with students. But from what your saying HH would be better for you, living-wise, but depends on your budget - the cheaper end of HH drifts into Brixton one way, Camberwell the other, the nicer bit (and more expensive!) is central HH itself and more towards Dulwich.

It can depend so much on the road itself - we are in Peckham which is grotty/trendy, but our actual road is lovely and if we like we don't have to go anywhere near the grotty or trendy bits! Around Bellenden Road is lovely. Peckham itself could be an option, and even more transport options - Thameslink to Farringdon, plus other southern/southeastern trains, plus the Overground.

[AllMimsyWereTheBorogoves]

I always put in a word for our area, Brockley. Crofton Park (south end of SE4) is on a direct rail line to Blackfriars and from there you could probably walk to work, if you are based near City Thameslink/Farringdon. Nunhead, Peckham and Catford might all bear investigation too as they are all on the same line. Tulse Hill might also be worth a look.

I'm not really in touch with house prices as we have the good luck to have been here for decades but I believe they're all still cheaper than most parts of North London.

[freezingcoldasalways]

Being near the overground doesn't make it any easier to get to work. We don't work near the London Bridge side of the City more like Chancery Lane, Farringdon and Ludgate Hill which feels like it has less transport options. I'm finding it really hard knowing where to look, I'm not originally from the UK so it's been a steep learning curve!

[AllMimsyWereTheBorogoves]

Decades ago I worked on New Fetter Lane and commuted Crofton Park to Blackfriars. I have to say I hated it but that's commuting for you! Another thing to bear in mind is that the Docklands Light Railway runs from Lewisham to Bank. In extremis you can get back to our area or Catford via Lewisham using the DLR. Or just get on a bus - it's slow but they get there in the end. I love London buses.

[whosafraidofnaomiwolf]

I can't believe no-one's mentioned fab East Dulwich yet?! Evenings are young-couple-pre-children heaven round here with loads of great bars and restaurants, daytime it's nappy valley though. It's a busy thriving very cool place to live, kinda cross between HH & Cambrwell really. Especially if you look around Bellenden Village (posh new name for Bellenden Road - see RiverTam's post). Come & see. :)

[whosafraidofnaomiwolf]

Actually, Mimsy's right too - now I come to think of it Brockley - especially round the conservation area & going into Ladywell is really lovely.

[freezingcoldasalways]

Mimsy I used to commute from Canary Wharf DLR to Paddingdon and it was hell, and I left that job after 6 months because of the commute. I'm trying my best to mimise the time spent commuting but still trying to get more space for our budget, which is why I don't want to go too far. I think Catford is too far, I can't do 30mins on a train. We really want to buy so that we can finally put some roots down and feel like its our 'home' iykwim. Also I want to decorate and possibly nest in the near future.

[freezingcoldasalways]

East Dulwich is totally the wrong train line otherwise it would make the top 10! It sounds really lovely.

[RiverTam]

You can commute from either Peckham or Denmark Hill to Blackfriars and it would be short walk to Ludgate Hill, for example.

Bellenden Road isn't East Dulwich!!! Peckham through and through! East Dulwich - a lot of it is nowhere near a station, and the train options are very limited.

[freezingcoldasalways]

Okay any suggestions on 'good' roads near supermarkets and stations to live in HH , Denmark Hill or Peckham?

[bigTillyMint]

East Dulwich is lovely - that's where we live! Rubbish for Farringdon though!

Herne Hill sounds more your cup of tea. I thought Thameslink went Farringdon/Herne Hill? Surely that's reasonably fast?

[bigTillyMint]

here
or here?

[OddFodd]

Somewhere on the Thameslink would be good (Loughborough Junction/Herne Hill/Tulse Hill)

You'd get more for your money in Tulse Hill but both that and Herne Hill have lots of restaurants and things to do for childfree people :)

You're very near East Dulwich too