Moving back to London from suburbs

[carine23]

Hi mums
I need your advice and wisdom please!

We moved out of London to St. Albans 4 years ago to buy a house and start a family. The idea was to get garden, green space for kids, excellent schools and community etc.
We feel now we have all this but being foreigner (my husband is British) we miss the cosmopolitan aspects of London and most importantly opportunities to expose them to languages (so hard to find French speaking nannies for ex).
Also although in theory commute should be good, we both have to go to London at least 4 days a week and with 50 min to 1:20 each way , we feel we are missing out on kids and we are getting tired. Also we rely on thameslink so if any problem or delay we will miss meetings or most importantly bed time.

So we started considering London. But we feel crazy to do though and in theory we live in family heaven!

I would love to hear your opinion.
For example if we moved to hampstead we could get a 3 bed flat instead of our 4 bed house and massive garden. But we gain between one hour to 2 hours commute time a day and most importantly we could to work via tube bus taxi etc.

State schools in St. Albans seen to be better so we probably would need to go private. Little one is 3 so we might be too late for thst ?

Any advice or thoughts would be welcome.

Thank you

I think you will all be ok if your plan is to live in Hampstead with private education for your children.

South West London is good for young families. A lovely mixture. Easy to get au pairs. Perhaps Putney/East Sheen/Barnes. Hotham in Putney is bilingual (French). Lots of green space, good state schools.

God no, didn’t you know that all children bought up in London (even privately educated Hampstead living ones) either join a moped gang or spontaneously combust at age 17?

i moved back from outside London. I moved my kids to state school and they are having a brilliant education - many London state schools (esp primary) are better than out of London ones. (and that was my experience). If you move back you could also ensure you are in the catchment of a good state secondary.

I don't regret it at all.

I've lived in Hampstead and don't particularly like it.

What's the budget?

(if you're french there's the french school in Kentish Town and lots of french nurseries).

There are countless excellent state schools in London!
I also think (and do do my kids) that London is a brilliant place to bring up children.
What’s your budget?

Your existing commute time isn’t too bad. I live in south London about 5-6 miles from my workplace and it still can take me around an hour door to door.

Lots of French in and around Ealing - cheaper than Hampstead and good state schools or lovely French primary (cheaper than private English schools and dc is 3 still time to enroll).

I think it's a great idea though would try to find an area where you can get a house with a small garden.

Hampstead is ridiculously expensive if you’re thinking NW how about Barnet or other outer zones eg Hendon Brent etc which all have lovely areas

Agree with Ealing - lots of French people and you won't need a flat, plus with crossrail coming soon it will be an even shorter commute to central London, with more options than Thameslink on bad days.

I’d research London French schools if that’s your thing. Why Hampstead?

From what saw there are grear state schools but tiny catchment areas?

Do you know about the secondary schools there? I could see only private ones

I wouldn't be looking at Hampstead. You could get a nice house with a garden in Finchley, Woodside Park areas for a lot less than Hampstead and still be on the Northern Line and a quicker commute into town and there are decent schools in the area. I live on the Thamelink line not far from you and I agree, it's a nightmare. I luckily don't have to rely on it for work, but even for social use it's a nightmare.

Whereabouts in London do you both work?

Do you know about the secondary schools there? I could see only private ones

I’m not an expert, but anecdotally I expect many locals either go private for secondary or to Camden School for Girls, William Ellis or the one near Parliament Hill Fields. I think (anecdotally again) that there’s a certain wealth point past which the “average” family (who aren’t average by any normal measure) will go private, with a potentially detrimental effect on local state secondaries. It doesn’t have to be detrimental - it may just widen the applicant pool - but it’s worth looking into very closely.

Faringdon abf Tottenham court

May I ask why you didn’t like it ? And where do you live now?

south east London you can go straight into Farringdon from a number of stations including Denmark Hill and Peckham Rye.

Good state schools though small catchments for some secondaries but also good private options in Dulwich.

and you'll get a lot more house for your money than in Hampstead which is £££££££!!!

and if you have friends in St Albans you can easily get there, either direct if your lucky, or a single change at Blackfriars.

and if one of you is Tottenham Court Road tube there is a private French lycee on Bedford Square.

I wouldn’t do Hampstead flat over a house

You could use private somewhere else in London and get a house

Greenwich, Westcombe Park, maze hill - all go direct to Farringdon - cheaper and IMO as I live there, nicer than Hampstead.

I love Hampstead and I considered it but it 'just' has the Heath whereas Greenwich has the park as big as the Heath, loads of museums, the observatory plus the river and river boats which are great to use. And the Dome is a stop away for lots of activities.