London with 3

[overthepondmum]

Does anyone live in London with three or more children? We moved out of London when we had one (during lockdown) but now we have twins too. All children are under four years old.

I don’t like where we live (a commuter city) and I want to move back to London asap but I don’t know how manageable it is with three children - since I don’t know what it’s like to have a big family (I’m an only child).

I’m thinking not only now but when they’re in high school since I don’t want to move them around.

I grew up in big cities but I was an only child so living in a condo was plenty of space.

Do any any families love being in London or has anyone decided it was better to move out?

Any areas you can recommend? Our budget would be £700 000 - so not huge - I'm not expecting to live in zone 1 or 2 but somewhere safe with good transport links.

Thanks in advance.

“So not huge”

understatement Op. massive massive understatement

You must be from the suburbs where your expectation of space are quite grand.

You can definitely find places that are 1100- 1500sq.ft. - that's really not that far fetched, a lot of London families live in similar spaces.

Oh op - good luck!

I was referring to your budget not being huge

Okay - well that's relative but thank you for calling us poor 😭

Good grief

I didn’t call you poor

and you’re absolutely right. It is “relative” and relative to London …. £700k family home for 5 in zone 3 - is let’s just say very optimistic

Not for London unfortunately.

I'm in zone three and there are one bedroom flats selling for that.

That is precisely what I meant

£700k for a family home in zone 3… not going to happen

I think me and the OP both misunderstood your post the same way.

I live in zone 3 with 3, plenty of other families of 5 at our brilliant state primary. You can get a 3 bed round here for 700-800k if your twins can share. In time you could do the loft.

I’ve seen a lot of friends move out and I’m so glad we didn’t! Feel free to DM me.

Zone 4 se London here...many families of 5 here at state primary. Ok secondary's too which I think are more important when buying. A but suburban but great transport links

We're going on a a few viewings in SE London this weekend. We're from North London so never ventured south of the river much. Any areas you would recommend or avoid?

Brilliant, we're viewing a few 3 and 4 bedrooms this weekend in SE London. Where abouts are you? When did you feel it easier to navigate the city with 3 kids? Every time I go to any museums I come home exhausted. 😅

Look at the Corbett estate between Catford and Hither Green. You'd get a house for your budget. So many young families and lots of families with 3 children too.

Ummm please go easy on yourself, you have 3 under 4! Mine are slightly more spread out (eldest was 5 when youngest was born) and all singletons.

Small buggy + board or small buggy and sling is easier on the tube than a double. It’s better when eldest is school age. Also age 3 easier than 2 for public transport. Our tube has escalator and no stairs which is better, although a lift is the dream! I find tfl transport less stressful than the commuter lines.

south east used to give you better value for money although you pay with less good transport. I’d also look in the less fashionable areas just inside the north circ eg Leytonstone vs walthamstow, South Tottenham vs stokey etc

I only have 2 but loads of 3 kid families in our bit of SE London (zone 3/4 borders), with nice primaries, loads of parks and good transport links. 700k just about doable if you're prepared to do a bit of sprucing up and perhaps bide your time for a loft extension. Most of the kids schoolmates live in flats. I've noticed that some stuff is not shifting so you could do an optimistic offer if it's been on for a while.

So glad we didn't move either- we won't have a 5 bedroom in the burbs with a double garage but we have everything on our doorstep and won't need to be a teenage taxi.

Look out along the ELL - Sydenham/Penge/Crystal Palace are all great family areas and also Catford, Hither Green and Lee.

I can't comment on tubes and buses with 3 but it will be no time at all until you're not using a buggy any more and if you use public transport a lot they get well trained fast.

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/137228915#/?channel=RES_BUY

This sort of thing (near Penge) is perfectly fine.

I have 3 under 4 including twins too. We are zone 5 now but lived in z3 for a long time. I would second the suggestions of Sydenham and the corbett estate in Catford.

I have 2 in London but with a bigger gap. Know lots of families with 3 dc but usually more spread out. Common to have bigger age gaps here due to cost of childcare.

I find that almost everyone with bigger families switches to car use even in London. Mainly because their budget means they live further out and don't come into central so often, but mostly because it's easier to wrangle kids and all their kit.

I do think London is a brilliant place to bring up kids and feel quite smug about having so many museums and other places to visit this rainy summer! I'd just pbe careful to pick somewhere with the best transport links in budget - soon they'll be out of the buggy but trying to herd them to a station 15 min walk away will be painful!

@overthepondmum I would look at Hither Green, Beckenham in South East London. We were north London and moved here only because we had friends who suggested it...

Quickly looked on right move.. www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/125793779

This is in budget in Beckenham for example 20 mins from clock house to London Bridge every 15 minutes for example.

Or this Hither Green ... www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/137116688