Whitton: how is it like to live there?

[Clementiness]

Someone recommended Whitton as a nice area for a family with affordable housing. In my experience, if housing is affordable it means there is a reason (I am talking about London and SW London specifically.
I haven’t yet been to check it out but its closeness with Hounslow makes me wonder whether it has a similar vibe (I really don’t like Hounslow).
Anyone here can let me know if it’s worth checking it out? I am mainly interested in safety, schools, train connections, amenities and also whether the plane noise and smel from Mogden is as bad as Isleworth?

I like Whitton - traditional High Street with many individual shops, good train service, lots of 1930s type housing - I haven’t noticed plane noise but I don’t live there

@trader21c thanks! What about the smell? Is it safe and family friendly?

Smell? It seems safe and family friendly to me but perhaps someone else with younger children will jump on this thread?

I lived there for over 20 years and loved it.
It’s not cheap. Just in comparison to the rest of Richmond borough I guess. Around 6-800k for a modernised central 3 bed semi.
It has a fantastic high street. Decent trains into Waterloo. Easy to get to all the green areas of Richmond. Some great primary schools. It’s pretty safe and neighbourly.
Mogden smells are pretty localised. Central Whitton very very rarely affected.
concentrate around Redway Drive and Montrose Avenue. Avoid the Tesco end of Whitton Dene. The Woodlawn Estate in the West has some lovely houses and access to Crane Park but the local rec can be a bit sketchy and it’s far from the station. The primary there is not sought after.
On the down side. There is hardly anything that’s not a 1930s semi so no good if you want a period property or a modern one.
Plane noise is fairly constant.
I have lived in Twickenham too and much preferred Whitton. It’s a great place to raise a family. I miss it!

Just looked at Rightmove. Maybe 7-900!

It's actually quite reasonable for rentals compared to other areas close by - downside is it's bang on the flight path and pretty non stop -and it's mainly 30s semis and a few 89s and 90s townhouses and traffic a nightmare of Rugby on

There are worse places though but I would go and see what you think ref plane noise-

Thanks all.
Our budget is much lower, we are FTB and are looking for a spacious 2 bed

@Clementiness if you are open to Whitton had you looked at new Malden too- other side of Kingston- similar feel , similar money, but far more off the flight path - I only mention the blooming planes as having lived in Twickenham and Windsor- in the end I couldn't hack it- I never got used to them roaring in at11.10 or 4.45am and I rarely sat in the garden in both places -

@Crikeyalmighty aw that’s such a shame. I can imagine how annoying the night ones are. I have considered NM but the housing stock there is generally above our budget, mainly 3 bed

@Clementiness the maisonettes in st Margaret's are nice and lots of them around £485,000 - not as bad on the planes as Whitton but still there -(we lived there and was nowhere near as bad as Whitton)

@Clementiness another reason it was historically cheaper than Twickenham (apart from the flight path) was that the local secondary school was in the doldrums for many years. It has changed names a couple of times, is now called Twickenham School and rated Good, though some locals have long memories of the dark days of its past and still talk it down. There is also now the relatively new Richmond upon Thames school nearby, and the relatively new Turing House (though their main catchment is centred around an off site admissions point, so their Whitton catchment is tiny). So house prices have risen higher in recent years.

Know it well. Lovely area and good bus services into Richmond .. schools on the up and lovely community feel ..planes are not a problem at all ..

p.s. The high street is lovely, with an independent butcher, greengrocer, good cafes, etc.

Hello,

We are really liking a house at Knellers Garden. Any thoughts on this area please? Any info will be much appreciated.

Honestly...Whitton is a bit rough.

@flippingflips In what sense? They do have really good schools in the area which is important for us at this stage.

Only in the sense that some people on the Twickenham side of the A316 are snobby about it.

Are you looking at secondary schools?

Historically, the school that is now Twickenham School failed to thrive due to poor buildings and a run-in with an eccentric academy trust (see here for a potted history: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/TwickenhamSchool). Therefore, Whitton didn't "gentrify" at the same rate as Twickenham because it didn't get as many middle-class families moving in to access school places.

Twickenham School has now been on an upward trajectory for a few years but, unfortunately, some people have long memories, and don't always give credit where it is due.

Richmond upon Thames school is also popular with Whitton families, as well as the faith schools in Richmond borough and Hounslow borough.

Whitton has good family-sized houses, which are cheaper than Twickenham (but rising).

Some people are snobby.about Whitton bordering with Hounslow, which is relatively deprived.

https://www.ilivehere.co.uk/whitton-twickenham-wheres-gone.html

Nasty, and only one person's opinion.

As to planes noise: in most of Whitton it's only an issue when planes take off towards the east (which is approx. 30% of time), because only the southern runway is used for this.
Heathrow promises to introduce alternation for easterly operations by 2028, so it will become less on an issue,