To want to live in london?

[Amy700]

We've been living out in the sticks for hubby's job but have the opportunity to move to london and I want to go. We would have a combined income of about £100-120k plus £500k for a deposit (enough to buy an entire house in most other places!) we live in a nice 4-bed house here and have two children in private school. Hubby thinks moving to london would mean giving up our 'lifestyle'. I'd be ok with putting the children in state school but I do want a decent house in a nice area. Hubby thinks you can't get that in london on our finances. Is he right?

You can afford to buy in New Malden then, nice area with very quick rail access to central london. And Richmond Park is only 5 minutes drive away, so you can have the best of both worlds.

actually, this is quite lovely, in Surbiton, which is a lovely area with good transport links

www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/47787079?search_identifier=37286b1621d82d8114a9dd7948a81f92#pKgdklirMKBj4zqI.97

Oooh that house is lovely crispbutty! Off to research schools in surbiton and show DH...also your user name made me hungry!

On that budget you could get a 5 bedroom in very good decorative order in my area, and have change left over. It's reasonably central, and good transport links. It's not considered that nice though! Pm me if you want to know the area.

Your budget is certainly doable, but you would need to be prepared for scaling back your lifestyle. You would also need to decide on central location, good area, and size. Sadly on your budget you wouldn't get all three!

Somewhere like Carshalton/Banstead or Sutton perhaps would mean you could spend 800k on a good size property & have access to good state schools. If you wanted to move further in to get the aforementioned lifestyle you would probably have to go smaller to either afford the catchment for good state skills or to pay private.

Is Surbiton London ?!

I would say yes & no.

Zone 6, Kingston postcode, fast trains to Waterloo.

I second surbiton and as I said before Hampton.

Go visit these areas, eat there etc.

It’s worth it.

I grew up in SW london, DH have just moved back after a few years in your direction although probably not as nice an area. I’m mixed race and growing up in London I lived in a naice area but had friends from all over, both ethnically and local areas too. I loved being a citizen of the world. I live that when DD is 13 she can go anywhere in London with her mates and not just the local shopping centre or bowling or cinema. Just a wider choice and always something going on.

Both Surbiton and Hampton quick have access to Kingston which is like a much better version of Reading. Plus you have parkland near by with deer etc. Easy to get to M3 and M4 if leaving london it visiting Oxford.

Forgot to say overground to Waterloo then either walk or northern line to tot court or jubilee to ox circ.

Beware the long commute. No matter where you live it will take an hour door to door, possibly longer if you have to wait for trains.
We are on a similar household income and left London, I constantly felt poor which is ridiculous given our income. But nursery fees, travel (we lived in zone 8 so £700 between us a month), rent etc ensure we had barely any money left over at the end of the month. We moved away, earn a little less now but are much better off. I also see DD a lot more with a 10min commute.

I would choose SW London, have lived in both north and south and loved SW. it’s very green, Kingston, Richmond, Wimbledon, Clapham jct all lovely (although Clapham unaffordable unless you have millions).

You can get a decent 4 bedroomed houses on the London Surrey borders - new Malden, Kingston, norbiton, Morden, Sutton, etc all nice with a few best kept secrets in there too, if you're prepared to do your research.

fairymuff ooh what are the best kept secrets?

There are pockets of housing that are really nice, well proportioned and many have big gardens - some short walking distance from tube or rail. Motspur Park has an overland station which goes to Waterloo - there are houses around that area - around West Barnes Lane backing into the park and also towards Portland Ave that are good value for money. Another best kept secret is the run of houses between Raynes Park down to Morden and Lower Morden. Morden has plans for gentrification, and is the end of the Northern line so houses are rising steadily but still reasonable value. Some have huge gardens.

I'd recommend Putney - in SW London zone 2, not a suburb lol but also near Richmond Park and has excellent transport options

Here's one example www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/41536930?search_identifier=64eeca90178927757875d1331c767c81#seZJRdQMmJqWHsij.97

I live in East Dulwich, which has plenty of high performing schools nearby both state and private. Loads of green space, very family oriented. I live in a little flat worth around £400k, but houses go from 800k to 1.3m.

fairymuff Thank you, I know Raynes Park as went to school
in Wim but not been to Morden in yrs.

I lived in Worcester Park. I would avoid Morden to be honest.

Sydenham, Penge or New Beckenham - train to Victoria is just under 20 minutes?

sunshinesupermum that’s more Roehampton. There’s not much around there and some big estates that aren’t that nice (used to have to walk through them)

The house above isn’t really Surbiton but still a good area to consider. There are some good schools nearby.

Living within half an hour or so of London is brilliant.

Thames Dutton is really lovely with a great school. It’s an actual village which is five minutes drive from Surbiton and ten from the very lovely Kingston.

www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/47676703?search_identifier=eed8bbcc04f3b6e165df3d683bf34c9c#5j5SfYM5RpWZE5Iw.97

Oxford Circus is an arse of a commute, from almost anywhere! Train plus tube is grim.

London museums are always rammed. Unpleasant.

Commuting to London really isn’t exciting IME. It’s exhausting, especially with two people doing it and rushing back on unreliable transport before childcare hours finish. There are plenty of DC living in bubbles here too.

I and most people I know would probably swap with you in a flash! And have weekend trips to London and other cool cities to enjoy them.

Do you work in london and commute in already or would you be getting new jobs/transferring office?

Sorry but Morden, Sutton, Surbiton etc are not London!! You would be better looking at Ealing, Putney, Chiswick and Barnes, (probably too pricey but worth a look), Kew, Southfields area of Wimbledon, East Sheen etc. In my opinion Richmond is the best area to live in but is VERY expensive. And yes I know that it’s technically ‘Surrey’ but only technically as it borders lots of other great parts of London such as Kew, Chiswick and Sheen. It’s an amazing place to live with great shops, transport, schools, beautiful houses, fantastic facilities and Richmond Park.

And yes London museums are always rammed but you get to know the little tricks and some such as The Museum of London are much quieter. A house in a good area will most probably have good state schools, many are better than private preps. I’m a teacher and have worked in both sectors.