Where to live with family while working in London Bridge Riverside ?

[dummymum]

Hi all,

I am coming from overseas to London with my 4-years daughter and wife within 2-3 months and my workplace will be 3 mins walk to London Bridge station.

Our priority is of course my daughter's education and we will send her to a state primary school (seems to attend reception class). Her first language is not English so our concern is how she is going to adopt both English and London. Additionally, my wife will not be working for a while until we ensure everything is ok for daughter and so as a lively-streets lover I would like to know she will be also happy and not get bored while daughter is in the school. I pay attention to this as well since it may depend my wife's quick adaptation.

From my side, I like also lively-streets however would like to feel the nature, river, luxury and good pubs in London and will be happy if the location is not far away from my workplace.

Thanks God, London Bridge is a very central station direct links to Nothern and Jubilee lines and I can also take a short walk from monument bridge to the office (approx 10-15 min) which means I can use District or Circle lines as well.

According to my investigations the candidate places to live are;

• Richmond Upon Thames (42 mins to work)
• Wimbledon (41 mins to work)
• Chiswick (35 mins to work)
• West Hampstead (21 mins to work)
• May be Greenwich (23 mins to work)

Please note, I would like to ensure the resident area is very close to outstanding schools, decent and not very very diverse like Notting Hill, Chelsea etc. in terms of better adaptation of my daughter at school (I don't know where mainly EU peers or UK people live) and where decent people live next to us.

Can I ask your thoughts around all above ?

Thanks and cheers..

You could look in Sevenoaks. That's 25 mins to London Bridge in peak times. It's a pretty and safe area with lots of available housing, gorgeous countryside nearby, and, given all these, much more affordable than many places.

What is your first language? Many schools in the East End have predominantly Asian populations with English not being the language most spoken. That area is thought of as rough but pockets of it are gorgeous with beautiful parks and river/canalside walks and cafes, docklands for shopping etc. There are some good and outstanding schools in the area too.

East Dulwich/ Dulwich Village are both family friendly and under 15 mins on train to London Bridge. Loads of young families and good pubs etc. Take a look there as well.

Hi OneStepMoreFun,

We are coming from Greece so it is Greek.

Do you want a city lifestyle, suburban or more rural? Unless you are working antisocial hours it is usual to commute an hour or more. Do you have the budget for central London?

Presumably you have an extremely well-paid job as the places you have quoted are very expensive to buy or rent in?

I think you're slightly underestimating commute times particularly once you factor in what a nightmare the jubilee line and London Bridge are in the morning. I live closer in than West Hampstead and 5 mins walk from the tube and my commute is generally 45 mins door to door. District line from Richmond would be at least an hour once you factor in the walking at each end. That said, I don't think you can go wrong with any of the areas you suggest as they're all pretty nice (if expensive!)

What’s your wife’s first language? Have you considered the overground into London Bridge? There’s fast trains to lots of places in Kent.

The places you list are very nice but some of the most expensive in London. I presume you have a healthy budget? I’d say Wimbledon, Chiswick and Richmond, whilst lovely areas, have longer travel times than you have suggested. From that list I’d go for Greenwich.

I’m not sure what you mean by “not very diverse”. It’s a pretty diverse city.

As they say in London regarding schooling: you pay or you pray.

Shad Thames is an excellent area if you have the money (area from Tower Bridge to Mill St, bordered by Tooley St). You are 15 mins walk from work, it's very international and there's loads to do! Potters Field Park is your garden.

I used lived there myself for years and highly recommend.

Dear Lizs,

If it is exactly same in the videos, Richmond seems perfect and if it also has a great high street with shops, pubs, etc. then I would normally vote for it. However, I am not sure if it is far away from my workplace because some people says District line is too slow and not to depend what I see on the route planner applications.

For Wimbledon, most people recommend to live in Wimbledon Village but then I will need to use South Wimbledon station to go to work which increases the trip longer than 1 hour.

Indeed, what I would like to have briefly;

• Decent and Safe
• Have some outstanding schools
• Have a good highstreet to go out when get bored
• Close to the nature and hopefully river.

We get bored from so much nature and sometimes need to walk on a good street. But all we need nature to walk, run, cycle and visit with daughter as well.

As a quick note, we can afford a flat/house up to £2000 monthly

London is diverse. Wherever you end up in London there will be people of different races, religions, socioeconomic backgrounds, in the mixing pot that is your neighbourhood. The only way you would be able to achieve that is to go outside London.

And because of this diversity, state schools in London are very good at dealing with children who speak English as a second language and integrating new students.

I don't know what your budget is like but have you looked at the nice end of Bermondsey? It's had a lot of regeneration recently, the high street has a lot going on, you could walk to work and it's extremely central. The only thing I don't know about is local schools.

serkhan

I've lived in Richmond too. For London Bridge, you take the overground to Waterloo (not the district line) then tube (or walk) to LB

Greenwich has a similar vibe to Richmond - big park, on the Thames, nice shops, pubs and cafes, but is a much better commute for London Bridge.

If you’re set on Richmond (and it is lovely) I would look at the overground to Waterloo and either the Jubilee line to London Bridge or the overground from Waterloo East to London Bridge. The district line takes forever, although you’re more likely to get a seat.

Gven your daughter is already 4 (when is she 5?) the applications for state school places will have already happened so you will be allocated a place at a school with a vacancy when you have an address. This may not be a local school , nor a highly rated one. If she is 5 before September 1st she would be due to join Reception year on arrival, if not in September. You really need to visit these areas, I doubt the scale of the areas you mention comes across on video! Many merge together and one good road can have a less invested area behind, Does your 2k allow for utility bills, council tax, travel etc on top?

not very very diverse like Notting Hill, Chelsea etc.

Hi dears,
Apologies if you get me wrong by the above statement and let me clarify what I meant in details. My daughter got used to live with only greek pupils and lived within only one culture. This will be the first time we she will be abroad (like us) and I meant that since she will change her language what she heard all the time, the country she lived in, the home she grown up already, I am just also concerned if it will be too much if we relocate to a diverse town where pupils come all around the world who are speaking greek, chinese, japanese, arabic, polish, etc. etc. in the same class and asked your thoughts whether it will be better or worse if the main population of pupils consisting of local children or children from all over the world. I hope that makes sense as we are coming to London from Greece as immigrants which means we are also helping to make London more diverse :)) It is the last thing I would seem like a racist. I hate racism.. Apologies if it is misunderstood again

How about Clapham / Balham area? Easy commute to London Bridge and good parks.

Dear Kennohora,

I didn't mean that of course. Sorry for my English, may be I couldn't use correct words to explain the case. Also it doesn't make sense to come to London as an immigrant if you are racist :D

You won’t get a place for this September at any outstanding school, because the applications have closed.

You can apply late, but you’ll be much lower than the priority list and all outstanding schools have many more applicants than places.

If you don’t mind home educating her (or paying for private education) for a while then you can go on waiting lists for the good schools. Depending on what happens with Brexit a lot of Europeans may leave which would open up spaces, but obviously there’s a gamble there.

District line is terrible, constant delays.

Greenwich has everything you’re looking for - you can get mainline to London Bridge from westcombe Park, maze hill, or greenwich stations.

You want a lot for £2k/month!

You might want to be more flexible on areas and consider private schooling.

Yeah as people have said, the outstanding primary schools will be full by now. Private schools may take later admissions?

Hello! I live in South Wimbledon which, as you say, has great schools and is a very easy commute to London Bridge. I know people who arrived late to the area and got into the local (good) school just by renting a house very close by. It’s a lovely family friendly area, lots of families from everywhere! Worth a look. Best wishes.

I think budget will be key - I think you are looking at a decent 2 bed flat in a zone 2/3 border area. If you arrive before the summer that is good - they will be movement in April/May on state school lists and the fact your a late applicant won't matter if you meet the criteria better than others - normally this is distance to school. As it's London Bridge I would avoid the tube - and stick to overground options (personal prefrence) so Greenwich / Blackheath or Dulwich / Sydenham / Crystal palace. You will get more space for you money and a less costly commute.