To ask where to move to in London?

[Firsttimemumxxx]

Hello,
Looking for some advice from Londoners about which areas are nice to move to? Me and my partner are moving from Oxford as I have a job in the city and he’s working from Heathrow. We have a budget of 500000 at the most for a flat and have been looking at areas such as Chiswick, Fulham, battersea and clapham; but having not spent huge amount of time in London we can’t decide what’s best for us! Looking for somewhere nice, fairly safe and with nice places to go (pubs , cafes etc). Also somewhere nice to bring up young children as hopefully will be thinking about that soon. I stayed in Chiswick last year and loved it- nice pub on the river and the relaxed ‘vibe’ I’m looking for. Just wondering if there’s any other suggestions of where might suit us/ which part you’d recommend?
Sorry for the long winded message!
Thankyou x

Surbiton - good travel hub; direct fast and semi-fast services into Waterloo for the City - but SW railways haven't been without problems. About seven miles from Heathrow but not usually flight noise, unlike other places such as Richmond etc. Will he be driving? If not, buses, one of which is an express every half hour from Kingston. River, walks, local parks and recreation grounds and tennis club, towpaths, large parks not far away include Bushy Park, Richmond Park. Community events such as food festival, sports day and other local fun and activity days - also arts festivals and activities in Kingston. Great for schools, a mixture of state and private in Surbiton - also Kingston Grammars. Loads of flats of various styles, types, ages, prices - more than in Kingston - and a variety of house types for the future. Plenty of young people about as students, many of whom decide to stay on afterwards.Young couples in Surbiton like to live in flats centrally, with everything in walking distance, and not have cars. Plenty of families with children and a good mix of ages of population. Cycling is popular; hire bicycles from a vending machine at the railway station and there are always taxis and people around if you're coming home late at night - unlike say, less busy stations which I wouldn't want to use at night, such as New Malden or Hampton Court. More cafes, restaurants, pubs than you could shake a stick at. Good food shopping with Sainsbury's, Waitrose and M&S, plus Cook and many small businesses featuring in the monthly Farmer's Market. It's quite safe and low-crime relative to London stats and a convenient and relaxed sort of place to live, with a sense of locality.

Clapham and Battersea are indeed a pain for LHR. I’d definitely be looking west. How about somewhere like Kew or Richmond. Both are lovely.
Alternatively down by the river in Hammersmith is lovely and links to LHR are pretty good. And it’s close to Chiswick.

If you hadn’t considered this already, Hammersmith Bridge is closed probably for the next few years, so transport around Chiswick is currently very hit n miss. If you’re thinking about sprogs, you need to consider accessibility for public transport. Our nearest station is only step-free in one direction, and not manned, so useless for a buggy/pushchair, which makes certain journeys a ball-ache. Other stations are great, though.
I’d suggest renting for a bit, to get your head round how the city works before going all-in with a purchase. You might loose a bit if prices go up, but not as much as two lots of stamp duty if you buy somewhere then hate it and move again.

Acton is a good idea. So are Brentford and Hanwell. This flat needs decorating but is a good illustration of how much more you get than in Chiswick, where you can spend 2m and not get a garden like this.

Buxton Gardens, London, W3
www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-78561996.html

The north bit of Chiswick that borders on Acton is definitely worth looking at too, though room sizes will be smaller (houses less grand, other than the properly expensive Bedford Park ones) and it will be a patio garden.

Not Surbiton or Sutton. Surbiton isn't really in London and Sutton is a fucking nightmare journey from Heathrow. Kew would be OK, because it has a station but, like Richmond, it's very expensive (and sort of deadly quiet
and boring). Nowhere South of the river is going to be a good commute to Heathrow.

If you want to be more central, then the little pocket around Baron's Court/ West Ken might be cheaper than you'd think.

I’d look for somewhere on either the central or Picadilly line so you can get to work easily. West Ealing has cross rail coming so house prices might have gone up too much already. I don’t know about Hanwell public transport links but it’s a lot cheaper.

Agree Ealing and Hanwell - more for your money in Hanwell. Re transport links in Hanwell until cross rail comes in you'd need to catch a bus to Ealing Broadway/Northfields and get the tube to take you into the City or out to Heathrow. The overground currently would take you Paddington or in the other direction Heathrow.

I’d go North - if you were in Maida Vale you’d have the Heathrow Express on your doorstep and a decent tube access for the city.

There may be a direct bus from Sutton to LHR but it's not a journey I would want as a commute! Not unless you were going at completely unsocial times.

The traffic makes it a very slow journey. Probably minimum 1.5 hours!