Moving to London with three little kids

[Loubluv]

My husband got a job at King's College London and we're planning to move to London in August. We have three little kids: a 4 year old and 18 months old twins. We would probably need a three bedroom, and our rental budget is around 3000GPB/month. Our priority are schools/nurseries for the kids, but also reliable public transportation. Which neighborhoods do you all recommend? Some that have been recommended to us include Stoke Newington, Maida Vale, and West Ealing. Many, many thanks in advance.

Hi OP if your husband is working in Kings then I recommend south east London. All the places you've mentioned are North and Ealing is far west.

Look at Nunhead, Telegraph Hill, Brockley, Honor Oak, Forest Hill. East Dulwich is next door to Kings College and is lovely with fab primary schools but may be out of budget.
You could go closer to the centre and look at parts of Kennington, also great primaries.

Also Greenwich and Blackheath are fab and very family friendly, and although a bit further from Kings I doubt the commute would be difficult.

Loads if other spots in SE London that would work, but these are a good starting point.

Do you mean the university or hospital? They are in different places.

How does he plan on getting to work? If he's happy to cycle, I'd say def look at Hackney, inc Stoke Newington.

your budget suggests a doctor's salary than an academic's one so I assume it's Kings College Hospital in Denmark Hill. There are various transport lines to the place but the more reliable one will probably the orange one in the map (called London Overground). Places popular with young families especially international ones on that line are Clapham in the West and Canada Water in the East.

Ah yes good point! I assumed the hospital but could well be the university. Important distinction there 😆

I'd prioritise an easy route to your DH's work - the exact location will be important, as it will be much easier to have a single leg journey (one tube or train ride) rather than having to switch. Personally I'm not keen on areas without a tube, as trains from rail stations tend to have longer gaps between trains and are more affected by strikes and weather. But if you go for SE London then they tend to have rail stations rather than the tube.

You'll miss the application deadlines for your 4 year old to get into primary school - places to start in September 2023 will be allocated in April 2023. You won't be able to apply until you move here and have an address to apply from. You will get a primary school place when you apply after you move but it may not be your closest school (and it may not be walking distance), and it's likely that the most popular schools will already be full by August, so even if you live on the same street you won't be able to get a place there.

Most family friendly areas will have good nurseries but there are long waiting lists in London for the good day nurseries (many women make the application when they are pregnant). For 18 month olds they will be private businesses and they run their own waiting lists, so I don't see why you couldn't put your name down from overseas (they may charge a small fee just to go on the list, with no guarantee you'll ever get a place). Fees are high (averages about £320 a week for a full time place per child). There are also free school-based nurseries from age 3, and community playgroups from age 2 which are low cost and provide some social interaction and early years education but only for a few hours a day (so not that helpful if you need childcare to enable you to work full time).

You should live in East Dulwich. Your husband can very easily commute (walk or short bus ride with many direct buses on the route) and it has outstanding primary schools. Due to
covid many do have spaces - contact Dulwich Village Infants school and Harris Primary East Dulwich. Both are outstanding but different- you can read their Ofsted reports to get a feel for them as well given you can’t visit.

You’ll struggle to get two nursery places for the twins but if you are flexible on timing you could try a nursery attached to a private school as they start from 2 years old and have good sized intakes. Herne Hill School is amazing though it’s term time only and finished at 3pm as it runs on school hours.

I agree that for either the university or the hospital you should look at SE London. I went to the university and my son was born at the hospital and know the area pretty well.

I'd look at Herne Hill. It's a short cycle ride/bus trip to the hospital but also well connected by train to Victoria/the city (Blackfriars, Farringdon, King's Cross). Very family friendly. Great primary schools (look at Judith kerr, dulwich village infants, rosendale) and various nurseries, although I'm not up to date on how easy it is to get a place.

For the university, if your DH needs to get to the strand campus Herne Hill also works well as he can get to Blackfriars and walk down fleet st/the river or take the 68 bus to Waterloo bridge (although that's a bit of a slow route). If he needs the Guys campus then he can get the train from north dulwich or East Dulwich to London Bridge (then you could look at properties further towards East Dulwich but I don't know the schools that way other than DVIS).

Wimbledon Park / Southfields grid area is lovely

You could live in Ealing and your husband could get to work in about an hour (if you’re talking about Kings College in the Strand). Schools are good but you’d have to check exact catchments.

Many thanks for everyone’s time and these super helpful suggestions. My husband will be at the university (the budget reflects our shared income, but my job is not location specific).

If it’s the university, think about East London. Bow is at Mile End Tube, so he could get the central line to Holborn and walk down to King’s. Or district and circle line to Embankment and walk by the river to King’s.

Schools are good and most have nurseries that start at 3.

Can be a bit rough around the edges though.

Have you plugged your rental budget into Rightmove to see what comes back?

I haven’t! I’ll try that!

@Loubluv you could move to Crouch End, which has very could primary schools and your DC could take the 91 bus all the way to work or the tube from Finsbury Park to Holborn. But your budget would probably only stretch to a three bed flat. Muswell Hill is also an option, and he could walk or take a bus to Highgate and get off at Charing Cross for work.

Kings is about 15 mins walk from City Thameslink or Blackfriars, so you could consider Thameslink routes to St Albans. Trains take 30 mins There are over 12 an hour in the rush hour. They run all night.

St Albans has the advantage of lots of good primary schools. Catchments aren't as tight as in London . Plenty of green spaces. Lots to do with kids. You can go into London very easily.

Having lived in various North London locations, I don't think it's that different from living in zone 2. It just has more facilities & doesn't feel quite so cheek by jowl as London. (BUt I get you might want the London experience.)

Rents aren't cheap and the train fare is expensive, so you'd need to factor that in.

I think you would be a lot happier out here in the suburbs or in places like St Albans www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/129821090#/?channel=RES_LET. King's college is I think on the Strand, inner London near Holborn etc. Or you could try somewhere like the Barbican www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/129821090#/?channel=RES_LET.

We live in NW London but did not need to find a place based on schools as we went for fee paying schools which slightly changes the scope as where you live does not determine for which school you might be eligible.

Check if the university has a subsidised staff nursery for the twins as if so then living near the university might be a better option.

Bounds Green is a very family friendly community, on the Piccadilly Line, also close is Alexandra Palace, Hornsey or New SOuthgate (all with train connections) - close to Muswell Hill and Crouch End which are famous for being safe, green, leafy areas