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?

Just to echo what others have said, it would be difficult to send 2 DV to private school in London on £100-120k

*DC!

I think you're talking about a major major rejig of lifestyle and how you spend your money. It sounds as though you live a pretty comfortable if boring to you life at the moment but putting all your money into a smaller property in an area you don't know and moving from provincial independent schools to state schools in the capital could be a massive adjustment and not without its challenges for you/ your DC. Do you have friends/family in the capital? Otherwise those dreams if dining out and taking advantage of the nightlife etc will be hard to achieve etc.

I'm no help really as I grew up in N London (one of the areas mentioned) and have worked v hard to make sure my DC get a childhood away from traffic and the population pressure etc of the SE and I revel in the benefits of living away from the rush and bustle like being able to get where I want to go without stop start traffic the whole way, or being able to get a GP appointment etc, and I love having a spacious house and garden. We live in walking distance of a mainline station and can do day trips to the museums etc and am v grateful to be able to visit London, but also v grateful to come home again!

@Merryoldgoat Aha, I see. I'm surprised it has discount shops because the houses are still expensive and I'd have thought Morden folk would have enough cash for a Waitrose lifestyle.

It looked like a very nice area to me - safe and suburban. I like 1930s semi detached houses and the large gardens they often have.

On areas, the key in London is the transport system. You won't be driving into Oxford Circus.

Get a tube map and look at where it's easy to commute to.

So, there's the Victoria Line, Central Line, and Bakerloo lines going straight to Oxford Circus.

Tottenham Court Rd and Bond Street are really close too, so you've got the Northern Line and Jubilee line to look at too.

That's a lot of places to get started with.

Can you get anything in Hampstead or Highgate in your budget? I'd love to live there. Beautiful houses, the huge Hampstead Heath right on your doorstep, great independent shops, loads of place to go out, easy access to Camden Town if you want hustle and bustle. Tubes into the centre when you want to be there.

My info on schools is about 25 years out of date though!

Having grown up in London, I'm surprised at some of the places people are mentioning, they're really far out, not what I'd consider the London experience if that's what you're after? But if what you're after is a bigger house in the burbs then maybe that's right for you?

OP - I live in a 4-bedder in Surbiton, feel free to PM me if you want more detail on where’s good to live, schools etc. I know many of the surrounding areas (New Malden, Raynes Park, Kingston etc) quite well too.

What school year are your children in Amy?

I personally have settled for a smaller home in zone 2/3 & I don’t really see the benefits of further out, as you lose a lot of the “London benefits”. Having said that my work is within walking distance as is my mum & the school & park are around the corner so I would give up a lot for more space.

mollyhuacha

Morden town, as merryoldgoat says, and the Mitcham end is not so great but the run of houses in and around Hillcross ave through to motspur pa/raynes Park and over to Merton Park still have the Morden post code but are nice. Lots of young families and good primaries. For senior there is the choice of going for the grammars and both Rutlish and Ricards have recently got outstanding in their ofsteds.

Most people I know in that area head to Wimbledon or Tooting for nights out. House prices have steadily risen over the last few years and with the planned gentrification of Morden, that will only push them higher.

Walthamstow or Wansted. They border Epping Forest and are about 20 mins to Oxford Circus door it door - no changes. Due to the tube some areas of zone 3 and even 4 are faster into Z1 than places like Hackney (Z2) with no tube. There are loads of outstanding state primaries and private secondary’s near by (they both close to Essex) in places like Buckhurst Hill,Woodford etc).

Both Walthamstow and Wansted have lots of restaurants and nightlife themselves so you may find that you have less need to go into Z1 outside of work hours anyway.

In addition NE London prices whilst rising astronomically in recent years are still lower than W and SW.

Good call Unfinishedkitchen! some friends of mine moved to Wanstead and they love it.

You could get a really nice house for £900K there:

Garden needs some tlc but a gorgeous house

I like this one - 3 bed

Nice bath! 5 bed

4 bed

Needs a bit of modernising but a nice house - 4 bed

5 bed

I think this is the kind of question that has to be answered with very hard facts, which means a spreadsheet where all your living costs are carefully itemised.

What is the current cost of this 'lifestyle' your DH speaks of?

What adjustments would you need to make to afford the extra expenses necessitated by London?

It should quickly become clear whether it's worth it or not!

Have to second what fairymuff said - I live in one of those houses, big garden, plus rear and side extension (we'll do loft later in the year). Raynes Park is a great area and feels a bit 'leafy'.

With your deposit you could afford something nice round here.

I would look at South East London. East Dulwich, Forest Hill, Beckenham, Brockley and Nunhead would give you a decent home for your money albeit a terraced house rather than detached.
Fab state schools and friendly, thriving welcoming communities. Oxford Circus easily doable too.

Everyone is different. I'm from there and grew up there. But I could not wait to leave. When I did I was a lot happier as it was a fresh start and a new beginning. I'd never ever want to live there again. But that's just me. Everyone is different as I said.