Where to buy a 4 bed in London - £1.2m?

[Pinksta]

Living in Nw3 at the mo which we LOVE but cannot afford a house in. Want somewhere on a tube line (pref Northern), absolutely must feel safe with parks/cafs etc. around. Been totally spoilt living in lovely Hampstead and scared to go South. What about Balham, Vauxhall, Battersea?

Yes ok I am a total privileged snob, let's get that out the way.

DS just turned 1 and want to get school sorted asap. Will start thinking about #2 once The Tired starts to subside.

Are you thinking of state or private for primary school?

I'm not as up on house prices and schools as I used to be BUT I'd be surprised if your budget will get your requirements + good state school in Vauxhall or Battersea (though I could be wrong).

Try googling the area around Telferscot school (Balham-ish). It's a short walk to the Northern line + train lines. Really lovely area, close to a great bit of the common + close to shops of Streatham and Balham. Great (state) school and lots of good private, too.

Prices are definitely falling at the moment, so you'll be able to get something in SW11 for that.
The school catchments used to be ridiculous (200m for the 2 most desirable primaries), but the council has changed the rules for out of catchment siblings, which has opened the catchments up to around 800-1000m, so as long as it stays like that, schools won't be a huge problem.
Or if you want to go private, there are stacks of great schools - Thomas's, Broomwood, Eaton House etc

The roads 'between the commons' (the roads off Northcote road that run between Clapham and Wandsworth commons) are walkable to Clapham South, and the roads around Clapham Common Northside are walkable to Clapham Common tube

The northern line extension will be opening in Battersea Park in a couple of years, but until then, you will be reliant on a bus to Vauxhall for tube connections, or Clapham Junction/Wandsworth common overground to get you into Waterloo or Victoria.

The local forum NappyValleyNet is well worth a look

These are super helpful, exactly what I need - thanks sparechange and thecatfromjapan! If there are good state primaries we would consider but not going to be slaves to catchment areas so private otherwise.

Battersea extension scheduled for 2020...seems a long way off but maybe we should bite the bullet. Though a rightmove nosey seems to suggest there is not much price difference vs. Balham currently.. .

Some examples:
Clapham Northside
www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-62778797.html
www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-60449710.html
www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-66441389.html

Between the Commons:
www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-49707639.html
www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-58405465.html
www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-49018869.html
www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-48414474.html

I've lived in Balham, and I've lived in various bits of SW11, and would take Battersea over Balham any day of the week!
But a lot of it is your gut feeling, so it would be worth spending a day in and around Balham high road and another day in and around Northcote road and seeing which you prefer.

Both have everything you would probably need - libraries, play cafes, Waitrose, independent shops, butchers etc, baby shops. Northcote Road has the edge on the chichi factor, but Balham has a big Sainsburys plus a tube and overground station. Balham definitely feels 'younger' and has a few hipster bars, but Battersea has the nice boutique wine shops and more restaurants.

Both are equal in terms of open space but Battersea houses tend to have smaller gardens.

Price wise, SW11 leads the pack for South of the river postcodes, so if there isn't much difference between them at the moment in a falling market, that suggests to me SW12 prices are going to fall faster and further

SW11 prices started to drop around Easter time and seem to have leveled out in the last month or so, but that might be partly due to the summer slowdown (we are currently in the middle of buying and selling so have been watching the market very closely)

Wow, sparechange, maybe I should hire you as my Kirsty !!!! Thanks so much! Yes we are using our weekends to mooch around the areas we are interested in. Scary taking the plunge to buy in an area you don't know which is exactly why I thought to check in with you smart mummies :)