Dulwich Prep London - where to live?

[lovebaby]

Hi, we want to move out of London as our family grows. Our DS will go to Dulwich Prep school (3+) this Sep and we'd like to keep his commute relatively short. I work in Canary Wharf and DH works near Paddington and the commute within an hour would work for us.

We are planning for a 3-4 bed detached or semi detached in a family friendly area. We are new to South London area. What is a good place to live given a max 800k property price?

Any advice at all is greatly appreciated!

Hmm. Paddington is a bit of a faff from this part of the world, think you need to be in striking distance of herne hill or sydenham hill (the station behind DPL), so your DH can get a train to Farringdon and then metropolitan line, bus etc. You'll want a train in to peckham rye (then overground and jubilee) or london bridge (then jubilee) - former has more changes but nice to avoid LB.

Not cheap around here. Would somewhere like this be an option?

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-39061518.html

How about the beckenham area. From Beck Junction or Kent House you can get to Syd Hill in 8 mims. For DH trains go from New Beckenham or Clock House to Charing Cross( then bakerloo line to Paddington from there). For you trains go to London Bridge from those same stations.

You can also get a direct train from tulse hill to farringdon

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-55728791.html

Congratulations - see you there in Sept!

Have checked out the London rail and tube map? Jeffy's suggestion is a good one. If you can buy/rent near Clock House and Kent House then you can get into London Bridge, Charing X, Waterloo East, Victoria, Kings X/St. Pancras within 30min. Kent House is on the same line as West Dulwich (10min to the Early Years Dept) and Sydenham Hill (8min to the main school site).

Or, you could try near Penge East and Sydenham. Penge East is one stop nearer to London from Kent House and Sydenham is on the London Overground which goes direct to Canada Water.

Our DS is at DPL (loving it) and we live in Nunhead - 3-4 bed houses round here in 700k-1m bracket I would say. Beckenham also a good call, I've noticed a few school parents moving that way and it seems to work for commuting.

Have you got details of where the school mini-buses pick up from? That might help you decide. I know one boy who started in Y3 and got the bus and his parents live in Bickley. They are conveniently located for Chislehurst station for trains to Lewisham and London Bridge etc (change there for DLR). Also trains to Charing Cross then Bakerloo line to Paddington. They are also close to Bickley for Victoria snd Blackfriars.

For example this 4 bed detached for 700k www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-39917622.html

Yes there are parents coming in from Chiselhurst, Bickley and Beckenham.

Streatham? Trains into Victoria in 15 mins and then round to paddington and trains direct to London Bridge in 20 mins for your Canary wharf route. The London Bridge train goes via West Dulwich for pick ups/drop offs if the timing works and then later on you could use the school mini bus.

Many thanks for all your useful information. Just wondering if Forest Hill is a nice place to live for families and if it is easy to commute to work. It seems it is around 10min drive to DPL.

FH is nice for families, nice quirky cafes and the horniman museum, though for me the centre is a bit lacking in more practical facilities. Beware the traffic on the south circular at rush hour though, 10 mins sounds extremely optimistic!

If driving to the school there is a toll gate (£1) apparently that depending on what direction you come in can mean you avoid the regular south circular traffic.

Started to view properties in Forest Hill and Beckenham. Not cheap around the station areas with less than 15 min walk...
The school advised our DS is not allowed onto the school buses until he attends the lower school, i.e. Year 3. Do you know how parents get to the school if they live in areas like Chiselhurst or Bromley? Also how is the morning traffic if we drive to Dulwich? Many thanks again for your kind help!

It's about a 30min drive from Dulwich to Bromley outside rush hour so probably expect to double it during the morning as you would be driving in the direction of traffic.

There are some stations from that area (Shortlands, Bromley South, Bickley) that stop at West Dulwich/Sydenham Hill with a separate line that goes to Peckham Rye so you can change to the overground for Canary Wharf. For journey times, plug the details into the tfl journey planner to give you an idea.

Most parents I know that are coming from these areas are driving / have a carpool.

Tbh you won't find a 3/4 semi or detached for that budget in some of the places suggested here (Forest Hill, West Dulwich, Peckham Rye etc). Sydenham/Penge might be more affordable.

The toll gate isn't near Dulwich Prep, btw, it's next to Ducks (which is the Dulwich College pre-prep, a different school), so that shouldn't affect you.

Be warned though, we do the school run in this exact area ( without wanting to out myself) and the traffic through Dulwich village etc can be horrendous in the morning.

Both the pre-prep and Junior school (different sites) are about 10 minutes walk from west Dulwich station.

Are you local at the moment? Just wondering why you chose DPL if you're planning to leave London?

The problem is we are not local at the moment .
We live in Canary Wharf area and it's not a great place to raise a family and for schooling. We had applied for a few schools for our DS. He did well and received offers from all these schools. We like the history, culture, environment and staff of DPL. DS is also sporty and we believed DPL will be a good fit for him.
Indeed we would need to increase the budget and also travel by train to the school.

Hello again, would you say 45 min door-to-door journey is too much for a 3 or 4 year old boy? 10-15min walk to station + 20 min on train + 10 min walk to school.

I am thinking areas like Chiselhurst and Petts Wood.

Many thanks again for your help!

Good luck with your search! I dont have much to add but we will be in the same position as you. We live in Canary Wharf and have registered our son in a few schools, none of which are local to us. DPL is also on our radar, but it definetely not commutable from canary wharf! At the moment, the most likely option is a 30 minute door to door commute to Eaton House Belgravia. We are hoping he goes on to get into a lovely prep and senior school and then we move close to wherever that is.

I see a little boy in a Dulwich uniform and his mum at Petts Wood station most mornings. So it is done but don't know how they find it. Petts Wood is a great place to live. Chislehurst I don't think has the direct trains.

Sorry to be doom and gloom, but I think it is too long at that age. He will be at school for 6hours (longer if he does breakfast club/after school care) then will have to commute back; even worse if his journeys coincide with rush hour. It will be on par with an adult's day.

Hi There,

I saw your post regarding Dulwich Prep and that you were planning to move somewhere close to the area.

We currently also leave close to Canary wharf and my son has got admission in Dulwich prep from September this year. But we still do not know where would we move as commuting from Canada water is not possible. West Dulwich is very expensive overall.

Wanted to hear from you if you have finally decided which area you are moving to. Would be good to hear your thoughts and also good to speak to another prospective parent of a child in Dulwich prep.

many thanks.
Sumeet.

Someone earlier on the thread suggested Streatham - there are loads of boys going to DPL from there - it's a quick drive or there are buses, decent transport links and houses are better value than Dulwich

Yes Streatham. Train to west Dulwich is very quick, or short drive and on the DPL mini bus routes when they are old enough. Lots of DPL boys around here and it is a really nice place to live.

Houses are a bit cheaper too.

I grew up in camberwell and went to dcps (as it was then) and then the college. My mum worked on the village so wasn't an issue for us. But there were loads of kids that got on daily coaches from the school out to various suburbs such as chislehurst, Orpington, etc. Would be worth asking the school where those routes go and working outwards from those areas.

Try looking in West Norwood - trains to both London Bridge and Victoria and considerably cheaper than West Dulwich