Where to buy in South-East London?

[shouldwemovebacktolondon]

Know I'm being daft, but I can't find the right place to post this... surely Msn full of people asking others where to live...

We think we would like to move back to London from Brighton. We need large 5 bed + house, large garden, South-East London, £800k, good schools, nice enough area.
Is this doable?
SO grateful for any advice. We feel completely out of the loop London-wise after leaving. Used to live in Marylebone, pre-children, and don't know South-East London very well - but it looks more affordable.
Our trouble is the size of house we need.
Thanx!

[Mintyy]

Just about do-able. Perhaps consider Bromley or Beckenham? Look for the schools first.

[MrsSteptoe]

Crystal Palace? Supposed to be nice. Not sure if 5 beds. yy to the schools thing.

[showtunesgirl]

Can I ask how old your DC are as the biggest problem with South East London is good secondaries. Loads of great primaries.

[shouldwemovebacktolondon]

showtunes, they are unborn, 19 months, nearly 4, 5,5.
What do people do for secondaries then?

[MrsSteptoe]

If they're both bright and good at exams, one of the things they do is go the grammar route - St Olaves, Wallington (can't remember what the girls' school is called) etc. But that is a challenging route as competition is fierce, places scarce, standards high etc.

[shouldwemovebacktolondon]

Would consider actually ANY part of London for nice enough area, large house and good schools.
We don't know where to start looking. I just put 'London' into Rightmove, but don't know what I'm looking at when the results come up.
Any tips on areas that we could buy a 5 bed for £800k with garden and schools would be amazing.

[shouldwemovebacktolondon]

MrsS, actually there are 4, soon to be 5 of them. I did the grammar schools thing myself when little, and am comfortable with that. But where would that mean we'd need to live - can you do that from Crystal Palace?

[MrsSteptoe]

There are going to be a lot of posters with better advice than I have to offer, but it might help to clarify what you mean by London - some people mean that it has to be on the tube, some people mean it has to have a London postcode, some people don't consider Richmond to be London (not that you'd get a 5 bed there for £800k, but you see my point)

Do you need to be within a 20min train journey to the centre, for example?

[scrivette]

Bromley/Hayes/Beckenham and West Wickham are lovely with very good schools and good transport links to Central London.

[shouldwemovebacktolondon]

MrsS, good points.
I think we mostly want the London 'feel' and easy access, that's what we've been missing. So an easy commute into central London (where DH works several times a week). So probably not Richmond, unless it actually WAS Richmond, as it's so nice ;-) Not Croydon, for e.g.
Having never lived out of zone 1 or 2 before, we're not sure exactly what we're talking about, but zone 1 or 2 were affordable when we left, with no children, and they're not now, so we need to extend our search.
We would like to live near tube or train, rather than long bus ride THEN tube or train.

[shouldwemovebacktolondon]

Thanks scrivette. Beckenham looks slightly out of our range, but I will keep looking. I had heard bad things about Bromley (an area going downhill etc.) but I can't understand how that could be with good schools...

[hotcrosshunny]

Hayes/west wickham have good primaries and secondaries. Plus line into Charing cross/London bridge - takes about 30-40 mins. Plus houses in your budget.

[hotcrosshunny]

I'm in Beckenham down theroad from Bromley. It is a nice place but £££ (we're moving to get a house, probably near Hayes)

[ItsWarmerInTheSouth]

Forest Hill, Sydenham, Honor Oak... All fabulous and should be within price range. Great schools too

[scrivette]

I live in Hayes and love it and the schools here are very good. I haven't noticed Bromley going particularly down hill to be honest. They are ploughing lots of money into the town centre at the moment, lots of new restaurants etc.

[hotcrosshunny]

scrivette what's your nearest supermarket? (Wondering where to shop if we move there!)

[Mintyy]

5 beds and large garden in Honor Oak, Forest Hill or Sydenham for £800,000?? Please point me in that direction!

[RiverTam]

you could get a 3 double bed terrace with a fairly long garden on my road in Peckham for that. Primaries OK, secondaries a disaster unless you can fork out for the Dulwich private schools (JAGS, Alleyns, Dulwich College). Very good connections into London, DH cycles into central London in around 20 minutes. Very funky, if that's your thing.

[MrsSteptoe]

The other thing you could put is whether the fifth bedroom or the location has to be sacrificed first, OP...? (Notice I'm asking all the nitty questions, but have none of the smart answers. Sorry about that.)

[WalkingThePlank]

Would you consider Sanderstead? You get a lot for your money, has 3 outstanding primaries, train station, village pond, parade of shops and a Waitrose. However it is in the Borough of Croydon so some people would discount it, hence the bargainous pricing.

[shouldwemovebacktolondon]

Just found some lovely houses in Bromley tho...

[RandomFriend]

What about Herne Hill?

[hotcrosshunny]

Bromley is great but pick the right bit for secondaries!

[StandsOnGoldenSands]

Croydon is 15 mins into London Bridge. Then Jubilee line is another 15 mins max to West End. Far better than Richmond, which is basically halfway to Reading.
So why not Croydon? Fantastic commute.

[shouldwemovebacktolondon]

MrsS, we do need the 5th bedroom. Location more flexible.
I do like the look of Forest Hill, Sydenham, Honor Oak, but haven't found 5 beds with large garden...

Walkingtheplank - we live in Brighton, and find it too provincial. So we want more cosmopolitan than Brighton if poss on our budget.