Moving to the UK narrow London

[Busymom79]

We have 3 boys ages 12, 9 and 3. Looking at moving to the UK from South Africa. We have family in the South of London but none with children. Work would be West London so preferably looking at areas South West.
Good schools, restaurants and shopping centres, travel up to an hour into London.
Any suggestions.

Budget? Buying or renting?

start with rightmove.co.uk to give you an idea of what you get for your budget. Remember to factor in the costs of the commute, which will be significant.

Budget is the big one in SW London TBH. Do your boys play sports (rugby/cricket?) - if so, they're both big in SW London so you could try to make sure you're close to a club. Most areas are centered around a high street with shops. For schools, will you be looking at state or private?

Look at your exact work location and then work out which parts of SW London are easily commutable. Although west to south west should be straightforward, some routes are a bit of a schlep! It's not the most important factor but if you have young kids you don't want a long commute faffing on trains in and out and across town.

WImbledon, Raynes Park, Kingston are all good areas for families, with more affordable properties in their surrounds.

Great thanks. All very sporty boys (well the bigger 2). Renting at first on a £2000 to £2500 pm then hoping to buy.
Only my husband will work and probably Chiswick.

And further out areas Guildford? Reading?

You should get hold of a train and tube map and think about commuting time/transport links. On the tfl website, there is a journeyplanner which can give you commute times between areas.

I would look at Chiswick itself if you can get what you want - it's a lovely area with good parks, shops and schools. Otherwise, Ealing could be a good bet. I personally wouldn't look too far out as can take a surprising amount of time to get from A to B - and traffic can be really bad in London so I wouldn't count on driving.

Quick rightmove search:

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-to-rent/property-38960019.html

As a South African I found the move from Sandton to London traumatic difficult, because of what passes for enough space in the latter!

So you get a vote from me for "further out" where you can get a bit more space for your money.

tfl.gov.uk - for checking routes and travel times to and from places

commutefrom.com helps you decide where to buy around London, which stations are within your preferred commute time of the central London station nearest to your work. It also tells you information like the average house prices, crime rates, and schools in the area.

Our friends used these guys they found them a house in Streatham really quickly and got quite a lot knocked off the price.

They were looking in Brixton/Streatham as well.

www.sw-londonproperty.com