...to move from a big house in the 'burbs to a small flt in the city?

[CockneySparra]

Has anyone else ever made this 'back to front' type of move?

I grew up in small flats in inner London, but we made the move to a 4 bed semi in the suburbs some years ago.

I miss living more centrally, though. DH does too. Would we be crazy to sell up - which would mean losing an extra bedroom, probably the garden, definitely a lot of the space in the house and the driveway etc - to move back 'into London'?

Anyone else done this.

We currently live in way up on the London/Herts borders, btw, but are thinking of moving to Kensal Rise/Queens Park or even Maida Vale if we can find something we can afford.

You can live further out than Maida Vale and still have access to everything that London has can't you. I would split the difference and move to a less fashionable area further in than where you are now.

tatty - children are so fickle when it comes to relocation decisions that seeking their opinion only serves to make things as clear as mud really (not that we shouldn't of course!) . My DS has wanted to move to every place where we have gone on holiday or visited for a couple of nights. And I do mean passionately.

We are going to do this in about 12 months, but it is when DC will both have left home for uni.

We have put it off until now, mainly because of schools. We have fantastic state schools on the doorstep, both DC have done really well. That's not to say you can't do well in london-but from what I hear, it's a bit of a lottery to get into a good school. Maybe that is media hype?

At the end of the day it is what makes you all happy. Hopefully someone will come along who does live in London with young children, and beable to give you good advise.

We live in a city (not London) and have less space than friends who live further out, no garage, tiny garden, less space around us etc BUT we can walk everywhere from local shops to main shops, parks, cinemas, theatre, restaurants etc etc and we can still drive out if we feel like it. Friends who live out definitely have "better" house/garden/garage set ups on paper but do seem to spend a lot of time driving in and out of town etc. What I'm trying to say is it's swings and roundabouts and depends what you want. Friends who lived opposite sold up and moved to a lovely village and put the new place on the market 2 weeks later and moved back into town. You are definitely not mad to consider it.

Just a bit of advise about consulting children. As mine are 17 and 20, I can honestly say that by the time they are teenagers they hate their house/school/parents/siblings/place they live etc etc etc

We live in the middle of nowhere and DC always wanted to move to town where their school is. But ALL of their friends who live in the town, think it is the most boring place on the planet and want to move into the nearest city, where their are clubs a TOP Shop etc.

If you listen to your DC you will be moving every 5 years!

brightlightsandpromises yes but that not a suburb that a town with a community so completely different.
suburb living is awful IMO, I don't mind small towns (I use to leave in chepstow and it was great with small children) plenty to do, big parks, a high street, library....
suburb you couldn't even pay me to live there doesn't matter how nice and safe the houses are.

I am wanting to do this as well (not London though). Don't know how to make the decision either...

London is no place to bring up children great when they are teenagers (or not?) and young adults but not before. I would never live there I cant think of anywhere I wouldnt want to live as much as that actually

We live whilst not in central Brussels in one of the Brussels postcoded areas. We live two minutes' walk from the closest metro station which is ten-minute journey into town. I have quite a few suburb-living friends. Although we have a smaller house, my DSs have said they are so happy we live here with public transport so close. It's given them so much more independence which they feel is more valuable than a bigger bedroom/garden etc. There is also no lengthy commute for my dh.

Don't consult children either, you are supposed to have the answers, they will be scared if you don't know what you want and let them make big decisions....

I didn't consult DS, he's four, he has imaginary friends fgs, but he is very clear that he would like a garden. Of course he would, what child wouldn't?!

Not sure if anyone's said this yet, but raising children in flats is the norm for city families on the continent. I would go for it - but do choose a bigger flat in a less fashionable neighbourhood. Best of luck!

Career plans could be another consideration too. If you have a secure job to which you can commute in your field of choice (or work from home) then moving out is not a problem.

However, if, like myself, you are seeking to retrain, then a lot of the courses are based in and around London - moving out right away could prove expensive to the point of frivolity.

Surely it depends on commute? I would argue its better for a family to be in a small house in central London if that meant they got to see their parents more each day. If there are good jobs in the towns further away, then fine, but don't see the point of having a lovely big house and garden if one or both the parents have a massive commute.

My children also love living in central(ish) London: we take them to museums and galleries several times a month, they go to a fantastic school (contrary to popular opinion, London has some brilliant schools), they do a ton of activities that they would never find in the deepest burbs (flamenco dancing anyone?), they have lots of friends living locally whose homes they can walk to (benefit of a densely populated area); they also come with us to the cinema and restaurants and, occasionally, the theatre so the facilities that I mentioned do benefit them too; we can walk, cycle or take public transport to most places,; they are surrounded by different cultures and a city in which they can truly seek adventure.

Whenever I have visited friends in the country they have been surrounded by fields and open land but have not got permission to walk across them - we have a huge common about 150m from our door. They have to drive everywhere; there's really not very much to do.

I'm not saying that life in London is perfect but I get irritated beyond belief by these myths that it's all Swallows & Amazons for children growing up in the country and Oliver Twist for those in town.

I get so pissed off with this idea that london is a terrible place to bring up kids. London is the greenest city in the world - we have 7 huge parks all within walking distance or a short bus journey. I think that some people think that we don't have trees here. Every museum/art gallery does stuff for kids, even very young ones.We go to Kew gardens, walk along the Thames, call in at the festival hall for a free concert.We did have this idea about moving out a few years ago as a lot of their friends seemed to be moving away "for the sake of the children". They were absolutely devastated and begged us not to move. when we stay at my parents which is in a small suburban town, they get bored to tears after a few days. They also get to mix with loads of different cultures. My best friend moved to a small town is Surrey 2 years ago and the kids HATE it and are always begging to come back as there's nothing to do and they have to be driven if they want to go to eg the cinema. When my DCs are a year or 2 older, they can go off on their own for free on all the buses - we don't have a car as we don't need one. DC1 starts secondary school next year and, of the 6 schools we've put down, 4 are rated as good and 2 as outstanding. I wish i'd been brought up here rather than in the stultifyingly smug boring suburb that i had to endure.

We're about to put our Berkshire house on the market, and do the same. South London is calling me.

We will probably have to settle for a 3 bed flat or maisonette.

London is so diverse from area to area I can't see how anyone can make sweeping statements about whether its a good place to bring up dcs. Clearly many many families are bringing up dcs here.

Parts of London are much nicer than the provinical town I was brought up in. I was in Dulwich yesterday and it's lovely there.

For me the country is boring. As someone said alot of the surrounding land is private so you can't walk on it.

I live quite near to central London(3 miles east) but it feels quite suburban/family orientated but not boring as close to everything. My ds1 aged 14 is not keen to go out in our local area but feels it would be OK in other parts of London.

I think some people move out when they have dcs because they think they should do IYKWIM or because of received wisdom about what it's like.

I would hate to live in a small town again.

I grew up in the suburbs and then lived in Central London for 7 years. We recently decided to buy and were expecting so moved back out to the suburbs.

In truth, it was all about being able to afford a bigger place further out, so we've got a proper "family place" (3 beds) rather than the one bed flat we had in town.. and the schools, being near family, nicer neighbours and parks etc and not just feeling more secure.. yes that's probably because I was moving back to what I know, but still, I just felt happier with a family in that environment. Everyone is different though.

May I extend a very warm welcome to you on behalf of the people of south London devil. You won't regret your move .

I don't think my Dcs have ever used the expression "I'm bored" . It is more "Lets go to X or Y". Their rurally-based cousins on the other hand...

We love living in London. We moved out to zone 3 in order to buy a house with a garden; luckily there are 2 good schools in our neighbourhood too. My DD may not play out on the street (she's 2.5 years old) but she has loads of fun playing with friends in our gardens and as you know parks in London can be grerat. There are loads of free things to do here too and most weekends we take DD to central London museums, shops, parks, zoo etc. We're near two tube lines (10 min walk - 10 mins into central London) and loads of buses "into town".

I grew up in the countryside and hated it because I was so bored. I couldn't wait to move to London. That's obviously just my own experience though.

If you can't afford a house and garden in zone 2 could you not look at one or two zones out and close to tube lines?

I think some people move out when they have dcs because they think they should do IYKWIM or because of received wisdom about what it's like.

Could not agree more.

Lala - whereabouts in S London are you if you don't mind me asking?

Waves @ Devil from SE4

Ha, ha we were long due this "I love London" thread - makes a change from all the usual London bashing.