To ask if anyone is living in Surbiton/Kingston in a flat with DC?

[HolyParc]

Posting here for more traffic.

We are thinking of buying in the area as we love it but we can only afford a flat or a maisonette. I know there is plenty of young professionals and families living in flats around there but was wondering if it's also common for people with older DC to live in flats and maisonettes or if there is a tendency to move away or upgrade to big houses (for those who can afford it, as it's very £££ over there).
Reason why I am asking is that I feel a lot of "pressure" from society to provide my DC with a house and a garden etc but equally I also want to live in the area as we love it and it's so well connected with work. Would my DC be the "weird" kid growing up in a flat whilst everyone else lives in houses with DC?

Comments above are to @Merryoldgoat - def not to @MNetcurtains sorry!

@Namechangedforthis25

Has the upgrades really made such a big difference?

I lived in Surbiton for nearly 15 years off Ewell Road and you could certainly smell it then on the wrong day but I left in 2012 so obviously I’m woefully out of date.

Fair enough - yeah the works have made a massive massive difference- smell is virtually negligible unless right by the sewage system - and even then I only smelt it by the station on one day last year

This has meant most parts of it have become a super affluent area as surbiton proper becomes impossible to buy in for a normal family - so really roads and roads of £1m plus spacious semis and detached

there was even a website called the smellometer - but been 0% for years and closed down!

https://surbiton.com/smellometer/29-april-2015

Been in Surbiton for many years and I have never, not even once, smelled anything

@Namechangedforthis25 I love that 1 million is considered a budget for a “normal” family🤣 I am pretty sure people who can afford that earn waaaayyy above average or have benefitted from massive equity increases from properties years ago. There is no way a “normal” family with normal job can afford to spend 1 ml on a house

Yeah fair enough - it shouldn’t be the price you need to pay for an extended semi! But unfortunately seems to be the case in that area

Also I was comparing it to £3m plus houses in surbiton proper

I'm in Teddington and bought my place a couple of years ago for slightly under your budget. Its one of a number of units in a converted retail building. I live here very happily with my teenagers. It's true that Teddington is rammed full of posh families in proper houses, but I also know loads of people raising kids in flats.

There's some lovely mid century blocks here and in Strawberry Hill that I would be so happy to live in. Mind, I have lived all my life in London flats and don't see the problem tbh.

@Namechangedforthis25 but the majority of places in Surbiton are actually flats, surely there must be “normal” families on decent incomes living in those!? I can’t believe everyone is either very rich or decides to move out!?

That is a phenomenal change. I remember the first day I got that train to college and couldn’t believe the smell (WAY back in the 90s).

Interestingly I live in an area a bit like Berrylands in terms of affordability a few years ago on the borders of a very affluent area of SW London - it’s shocking how unaffordable a basic 3 bed semi has become in a really not that desirable area which is what I think of where I live.

You could grab a massive bargain back in 2008 when I first bought.

@Ketzele Teddington is lovely. Yes I agree, me too, never lived in a house before and I don’t get this obsession. I’d rather be in a flat in a lovely area than a house somewhere more remote

Plenty of my kids' friends live in flats, plenty of green spaces in the area.

@Merryoldgoat yeah it’s changed a lot. Zero smell (at least in Surbiton) and incredibly affluent and expensive. There are lots of nice period flats and maisonettes though

@SissySpacekAteMyHamster can I ask what age? Families eith older DC seem to either move or upgrade

Yes of course - and I really didn’t mean to offend!

Clearly £1m isn’t a normal price to pay for a family house - it just so happens that’s the price required for what is a “normal” house in most parts of berrylands now.

We're in a maisonette on a river road with a tween child - no plans on moving as we don't want to give up the location for a bigger house but further out. Our close friends are all in houses, but some of them not much bigger than our maisonette - others much bigger houses - but we still have the better location! Wider school friends that I know are in flats. Location, location, location....

@HolyParc we live in Surbiton by the river roads in a 2 bed flat and have a one year old baby. We made sure that the rooms would be spacious and it wouldn't be far from the station to have an easy commute. In a few years we would be looking to move and I wouldn't mind going again to a flat.
From our NCT group, 2 families live in flats and from nursery at least 2 other also live in flats.
I have always lived in flats (it's the norm in my home country) and I would prefer to live in a flat in a nice area than in a house in a bad area just for the sake of living in a house.
I have seen some houses that the footprint is smaller than our flat!

@Merryoldgoat it’s become a desirable area is the point. Leafy, wide roads, spacious houses, close enough to Kingston and surbiton. Train line. Families and elderly residents - low crime. Even a small Sainsbury’s now(!). And no smell

not sure what you mean by desirable areas otherwise tbh.

@EweCee if you decide to sell lwt me know…😂

@EweCee *let

Yes.

the people I know who live in flats by maple road or around the river - tend to have more space than some of the 2 (or small 3) bed houses I’m aware of

plus they are in the centre of the shops/bars/ rivers with great schools nearby

@MsBubbles85 yeah same here. Also the norm in my own country

I mean that where I live now wasn’t desirable until Wimbledon and Raynes Park became so bonkers that now people want to buy here.

I still have in my head I moved to a slightly shitty area but it’s clear it’s changing.

the people I know who live in flats by maple road or around the river - tend to have more space than some of the 2 (or small 3) bed houses I’m aware of

I used to live on Maple Road too. I loved it so much. Such a beautiful road.

@Merryoldgoat I love Maple Road❤️

Yeah I get that with Raynes park

but Raynes Park is expensive because it’s close to Wimbledon. the parts I know are still pretty urban - less leafy and green (although I do find it weird it has a waitrose no offence)

on paper - berrylands is quieter and more suburban and for that and the reasons above (and the fact it’s got parks and cafes and the surbiton tennis club) it’s become a really desirable place to live for families. Some roads are so so quiet you barely see anyone during the day