To need opinions on southwest london

[Whereshallwelive]

Hi
We currently live in wimbledon and are looking to move. Torn between whether to stay in wimbledon or move to Teddington, Hampton Wick or Twickenham. We are a couple in our late 20s, no children. Enjoy being outside and very aware that things (pubs, restaurants etc) might not be functioning normally but do usually enjoy going out for food and drinks. I work near Pimlico and partner works outside of London so normally drives.

Please can anyone with experience of these areas offer opinions on pros and cons? Thankyou!

Ignore the vote option, forgot to take it off!

It's over 20 years ago now, but my husband and I lived in Hampton Hill, almost in Teddington, when we first married. I was 30 when we moved there. We really liked the area - the train service was fine, especially from Teddington, though obviously it will take you longer to get to work than from Wimbledon. It was also handy for Heathrow. That comes with some disadvantages of course, but it will be much less noisy now there is no Concorde and that was the only plane that ever used to disturb us.

The local shops and restaurants were fine, again especially in Teddington and we liked the proximity to bigger ones in Kingston and more interesting ones in Richmond. We didn't tend to go out much locally during the week though, because we both worked in central London so we'd usually go out there before going home.

We also liked the closeness to the river and to Bushy Park (which our house backed onto), especially once we had a child. It was easy to get out of London (we chose SW London partly because my parents lived in the West Country and my husband's parents were on the south coast so it was well placed for getting to both of them).

So it was a nice area, but so is Wimbledon. For me I think it would depend on how much more you could get for your money by moving out a bit and whether you think it's worth it.

Thanks - we do think we can get more for money there than wimbledon!

Absolutely. I don't know what either housing market is like now, but obviously you'd have to factor in the costs of moving, given that you lose a lot of money by moving once you've paid stamp duty, estate agents, solicitors etc.

In my view if you can go eg from a 2 bed flat to a 3 bed semi or from a 3 bed semi to a 4 bed detached, it's worth it. If it's a question of going from a small 3 bed semi to a bigger one it might not be. Are there alternatives to moving, like extending your current property with the money that you'd otherwise wasted on stamp duty etc?

Only you can decide whether it's worth it, but I thought it was a lovely area and we were very happy there.

We live in Teddington, and one of the things since lock-down is realising (and chatting to all our nearby friends) just how bloody lucky we are to be locked down in such a beautiful location. Bushy Park, Richmond Park, drinks by the riverside, so family friendly. I'd have to say, if you're not planning to have kids, most of the benefits of the area (excellent schools, safe to let the kids out etc.) are a bit wasted on you. Trains into town can be slow from Teddington though, although Twickenham's better. We're never leaving, it's the best of both worlds.

Most of our friends moved out, we didn’t partly because we wanted our kids to be able to be independent as teenagers and not rely on us for lifts, partly for the excellent range of selective secondary schools gettable at from Wimbledon, and partly for a shorter commute and to be closer to family. It was the right decision for us.

But we don’t have a garage, a spare room, off-street parking, a garden big enough for ball games or really anything except sitting in / drying washing. We do have multiple parks, kids activities, shops and stations in walking distance, and that’s more important for us.

I've lived in both areas. Much preferred Wimbledon. The noise from planes as you go west is horrific!!

Do you want kids? If so, I'd absolutely go for Teddington. It's the place I most want to live in all the world (but very much can't afford to!). If not I'd stay in Wimbledon.

I'm so envious of your choices here that I could cry! 😂

I grew up in this area and know it very well. I lived in teddington for many years and think that is the nicest of your 3 suggestions. In the years I've lived there it has become increasingly upmarket and now has a real village atmosphere- lots of independent shops, getting nice new restaurants and loads of cafes, plus near bushy park, teddington lock, Richmond park, kew gardens and Kingston and Richmond for shopping.

If you want somewhere you can wander to a nice high street, teddington is best I would say. Hampton wick does not have much of a high street and is more of a through way to Kingston, although still with the advantage of proximity to all places listed. Twickenham has the biggest high street but it's not quite as nice, although church street is a little villagey road in twick with nice cafes and restaurants, outdoor fairs from time to time etc. Walk down Twickenham riverside to Orleans park as also lovely plus you can walk to Richmond from there. Twickenham also much quicker on train to London and house prices cheaper than teddington I think. For that area, st Margaret's just by Richmond bridge is also nice.

I could go on about this area forever! Feel free to PM me if need any advice!

Teddington of your three choices if you can live near the high street. Flats are in very low Supply so tend to be comparatively expensive.

Travel to town is a bit of a pain though - slow train prone to overcrowding.

Have you looked at Surbiton?