To ask where young families are moving to when leaving London?

Bishops stortford, ware, hertford

I live in Walthamstow and I love it but I also know west London where the OP currently lives and I don't think Walthamstow is the move the OP is looking for. If nothing else, the secondary school situation isn't great - my son is in Y4 and families are starting to move for that reason.

I was going to say this! Also Purley and out from there- Riddlesdown etc??

I'm going a bit further afield here. Here's two options, both of which I'd pick in a heartbeat.

1). Marlow, Buckinghamshire. Super beautiful town, lots of amenities, green space, river, countryside, wine bars, brunch spots etc. Requires a change of train but still under an hour to London.

2). Bath. Again, absolutely beautiful, lots of green space and amazing city centre. Good links to Bristol and Cornwall if that's your thing. Longer train but very frequent.

Streatham is nearby - houses on my street are usually £750k for a 3 bed terrace. Not as fancy as Balham of course but lots of green space and there are nice enough places for coffee and food. Look at Streatham Common area. We are between Streatham and Streatham Common stations which is great for transport. Trains into Blackfriars take about 21 minutes from Streatham..The only thing I regret is that where we are is a bit of a black hole for secondary schools so will need to move at some point. If you look at Streatham Vale area you'd be able to buy for less and be in catchment of a good secondary. Excellent primary schools though, and loads of them.

Why wouldn't you recommend Leicestershire? I'm from there, and moved back from London with my husband during COVID - couldn't be happier to be living in a nice place!

You can definitely get something around Mitcham on that budget. We are 5 mins walk from station then 5 min train to balham. 20 min train to victoria. Plenty of young families around. Reputatuion isnt greatest and Mitcham town centre isnt that great either, but we are close enough to tooting/streatham etc it doenst matter, and never felt unsafe or anything.

We left London altogether to the West Country 36 years ago as house prices were unaffordable even then in nice areas. Luckily my husband could get a transfer (engineer) and I didn't have problems getting work when our children were older. It is a global problem. Cities like New York, Vancouver, and capital European cities all are unaffordable for ordinary people

And in fact Raynes Park, Motspur Park, Worcester Park, New Malden. Maybe even Kingston.

Right, but you will in Beckenham, Mitcham and Orpington.

I know quite a few young families who live in Walthamstow if you're willing to consider NE London rather than moving out. You can just about get a 3 bed house with garden in budget and then you're walking distance to the Victoria line.

For example:
www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/150127895#/?channel=RES_BUY

Look Sutton/cheam/epsom way. Really good transport links, close to London, excellent schools and near to loads of parks etc l.
Also close to Kingston, Wimbledon etc

Leigh on Sea?

Faversham in Kent is just over an hour to St Pancras. Cafe culture, historic buildings and good schools. You can get a five bedroom detached for your budget.

Lots of people I know have moved to Ramsgate, Margate and Broadstairs. Sandy beaches and a high speed train to London.

It depends where you work if you need to commute to London.
There is a feature on Rightmove where you can set some condition like radius, proximity to train station to london, etc, and it tells you were you can live! I found it really useful when we were looking to move a few years ago.

Most people with families in my company have left Central London, and live in Brighton, Reading area (some as far as Oxford but that's only possible because we work in west London), Welwyn garden city is also quite popular...

So do I, and we spent just over half of that to get a 3-bed house with a garden.

I'd stay in London. Whereabouts in the SW are you at the moment? You can get a 3 bed house with garden and easy access to wine bars and green space etc within your budget if you look somewhere like Tooting. Plus you'll be much closer to your friends and not paying a fortune to commute.

Windsor?

You can definitely get a house in Worthing for far less than 750k. We lived there 5-6 years ago and it was where all the young Brighton families used to move. I imagine it has come a long way since then. We loved it. Lived 2 minutes walk from the beach and 7 minutes walk to East Worthing station and 15 minutes walk to Worthing "Proper". Train to London takes just under an hour.
40 min cycle to Brighton along the coastal path or 20 min train journey for a fiver.

Our friends moved to Cambridge, Oxfordshire, Suffolk and Brighton. We moved to Leicestershire, which I don't recommend.

Deal in Kent? I know a few families who moved out that way.
Not sure that budget will get you more than a terraced in a good location for the trains but it’s really pretty when I’ve visited.