£500k to buy in London. Three kids

[Batteriesallgone]

Where should we go?

Don’t know london at all (went to Natural History Museum once as a child!). Need a three bed. House or flat. Good transport links to central London. Good primary schools.

Is this possible? I know London is crazy prices, and it’s huge, I have no idea where to start looking on rightmove. Love the idea of living as close to central London as possible but don’t know if that’s too idealistic / unaffordable / ridiculous.

My family moved from this area in 1968, to zone 5 for a better life 😂

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-71384069.html

Sorry if I missed it, but how important are schools for you? Because that's one of the things that pushes up the price in London (and you run the risk of paying the premium AND having the catchment area shrink to a postage stamp so you still don't get into St Lovely's School anyway)

I'd suggest having a look in Tooting. There are two tube stations and the overground, and you are very close to Clapham Junction and then onto Heathrow or central London (both Victoria and Waterloo). If Crossrail 2 happens, it will be even easier to get to the north, but even just sitting on the Northern Line up to St Pancras isn't terrible at the moment (just a bit dull)

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-72152519.html

Live here and you'll be beating the hipsters away!

Is £500,000 your absolute maximum budget?

I’m asking, as I know someone who is trying to sell a lovely, large (just under 1000 sq ft), 3 double bedroom flat, but it’s on for just under £600,000. They could probably come down to around £575,000. It’s in a very pretty and family friendly area. It has access to a communal garden, and is in between 2 tube stations on two different lines. It is very near to Ealing Broadway.

For Heathrow I would say West Ruislip or Harrow will get you a 3 bed house. These areas have good schools but not much by way of independent shops etc but lots of parks. Hanwell probably a 2 -3 bed flat and it's not too far from Ealing Broadway which has loads of independent shops . Some good schools. All the above will get you into central in about 30 Mina too

Gatwick - probably Bromley as they will get you into central London in 20m. Not sure about the schools though

Sydenham 4 bed.

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-75734564.html

Who could resist the kids' bedroom?

Rail connections from East Croydon are excellent - fast trains to Victoria, London Bridge and St Pancras (Eurostar, javelin to Stratford and Kings Cross is next door for getting North). Going South Gatwick and Brighton, or you can connect to various places at Redhill, or you can go the Clapham Junction direct and get to West Sussex etc. Sometimes being further out makes it easier to get to the centre!

schoolcatchment.co.uk/
for school catchment areas

tfl.gov.uk/plan-a-journey/
tfl journey planner for traveling times

btw that house is close to a special school

First of all OP you need to live in one of the areas you mention for several months. I don't mean to sound negative but Streatham, Greenwhich and Croydon are very dangerous for England, with high gun-crime , stabbings, hard drug dealing and with very poor schooling; in fact anywhere that you can afford a decent 3 bed semi in London isn't going to be great to be honest. As previous posters have said there are a few oases, south and east Bromley, east havering (upminster, hornchurch, not romford). If you're willing to downsize the safest and most child friendly borough is Richmond upon Thames. Very beautiful too as it straddles both sides of the river and has a bit of a Old England vibe to it with thatched roof pubs etc. Particularly attractive in RUTC are the towns of Barnes Village, East Sheen (which practically in Richmond Park) and Twickenham. Kew, Richmond town and St margarets are other nice options in the borough. Other safe areas are Kingston upon Thames, the town centre is pretty hip and new malden is cool with a big korea town if you want a bit of vibrancy whilst still being low crime. Really for the price though you should be looking slightly outside LDN - think Woking or maybe Dorking. Hope this helps.

OP I think you need to realign your expectations. 500k won’t get you a family home in a ‘nice’ area IMO. We live in Enfield - 500k - not a chance unless you fancy living on the other side of the A10.

cunt yes I love flats. Communal outdoor space would be fine, would absolutely love a balcony.

That is lovely moredoll. Quite big though. I think it would all depend on walk to station / buses, I get the feeling it’s that price because it’s a little inconvenient, might be wrong.

celt there are people on this thread who live in Streatham, surely they would have warned me if it was too dangerous to leave the house? I have young children not teenagers, we’ve got another 10 years at least before I worry about them out on their own.

Also - poor schooling - when you have kids with SEN, what you are looking for is not the same as what lovely middle class people are looking for. When I say we are close to two good schools at the moment I’m not talking about their Ofsted rating. I’m talking about an inclusive atmosphere and staff experienced with a wide range of needs and behaviour difficulties. I may end up flexi schooling one or more child anyway.

Absolutely we need to get a feel for the area. One thing we don’t want is too much of a close knit community where everyone knows everyone else. Not looking for my kid to be bottom of the list when it comes to party invites because ‘everyone knows’ he’s ‘difficult’. Doesn’t happen as much somewhere busier and trendier in my experience.

Oh and £500k isn’t absolute maximum, no. I imagine we could possibly scrap a bit more together. £500k is definitely affordable.

Moving always costs more than you think though, and moving cities / having to rent for a bit is going to be a nightmare, so I’m trying to be a bit cautious re budget

Oh and LBOCS2 yes that’s also true and it’s nice to hear the same places being recommended by people who seem to ‘get’ what we’re looking for. Certainly Streatham and Walthamstow seem to be two areas that are very different to each other but both sound like they have their charms.

Also the child in me really wants to live in Crystal Palace because, you know, it’s called Crystal Palace AWESOME lol

I dont think what youre after exists in london for that price. What makes you want to buy in london if youve barely visited? I can only cope for london for maybe a day

re: travelling North. I used to live in SE London & used to drive up to Halifax/Leeds a couple of times each year. Forget about travelling out to the M25 & then around, just go through the centre, up the A5 and onto the M1. If you leave at around 6:00 you miss the congestion charge and can be on the M1 well before 7 am, with more options if there's a hold up, unlike the M25.

Comping back down, M1, M25, M11 and head for blackwall tunnel.

What rot re Streatham and Greenwich being 'dangerous' areas!

I have lived in SE london for over 20 Years (Streatham borders) and have never seen any crime. My kids go to an amazing primary school in Streatham, and ALL of the schools in the area are great.. you're hard pushed to find a primary that isn't excellent and there are a number of good secondary's too.

Really good community too. Far micer than the leafy suburban Ealing I grew up in.

Don't listen to people ( who probably have never set foot in these areas) scare you off OP. Do your research, visit these places and talk to people who actually live there ( lots of good advice on this thread).

LMAO off at the suggestion of Richmond.. you need a few millionto live in Mick Jaggers neighbourhood!

As for the crime stats, check the area on police.co.uk and you can see what the drugs crime etc is like. I think different people have different thresholds for it, that’s why some people mention it and some don’t. I hate Edmonton but some friends love it for the market despite the risk of stabbing. You also get pockets of really great roads but to get a bus means walking to the bus stop along a high street of teenage stabbers who stink of skunk. If you were driving trough you may not even notice that.

If you are happy in a flat then I think that money is alright actually. Try Camden, Old Street (like my link above) or Islington. You’ll get the lifestyle there.

All travelling would be public transport, even to get properly out of London. We both detest driving, not to mention how much the kids hate being restrained in car seats.

Ah, if you are using public transport and choose S London, look for somewhere near a thameslink route as they go through St Pancras, with Kings X next door, and Euston a 5 minute walk away.

Simply, jobs.

Every time something comes up it’s in London. Every time I look into a flexible return to work scheme for people in my industry (pre-kids) it’s london. I couldn’t face moving them all once they are all in school. If we are going to make the most of our careers we need to be there.

DH already spends about 1/5 of the year staying over in London.

I always said I’d never move to London but funny how missed opportunities stacking up wears away at your resolve. This job is an amazing opportunity for him.

I do have form for moving places on a whim. I’d never visited where I went to uni. I moved to my post-grad city with a backpack and 3 days booked in a hotel room. My current city I got the train here, thought hmmm I like it, I’ll stay - and moved two weeks later. Then I met DH and never escaped maybe I’ve just got naturally itchy feet.

Sorry that was to Branleuse

Would you live in an ex-LA flat?

If so £500k and 3 beds is achievable in many really central and very London areas (like Old street as mentioned above).

Dunno what the school situation would be like though.

I think you’ll find it hard to get answers form MN that match what you are looking for. Most people with a 3 bed requrment and 590k have probably already ‘done’ London before kids so moving to a zone 3+ area for schools and space with decent commute times makes sense to them.

Streatham, Greenwhich and Croydon are very dangerous for England, with high gun-crime , stabbings, hard drug dealing and with very poor schooling

This is the most hilarious thing Ive seen on MN for a long time

OP, I live near Streatham and Croydon, Streatham Common is a family enclave and v nice. Yes Croydon has its issues but also plenty of nice family areas (mainly South Croydon). Im going shopping there later, to return something to M&S. Won't need a stab vest. As for schools - Whitgift and Trinity anyone? Wilsons, the top preforming boys grammar school in the country?

Hanwell is good for paddington/lhr and schools.....parks, canal/ couple of cafes lots of chicken shops but also a microbrewery /pub (some wannabe hipsterish ) and dodgy irish bars!
currently over 1hr for statford though as other end of central line - in theory this will be 20mins once crossrail comes online - but thats still a couple of years away...
It'll be tough to get a 3 bed house for 500k though even doer-uppers.and is more suburban than urban ...(to a londoner)