Moving to London. Seeking advice on Neighborhoods

[Britv82]

Hello Mums! Would any of you kindly share your thoughts on great places to live with kids (girls) ages 7 and 9? My family is relocating to London from the US in June for my husband's job. He does not have an office to report to (he is in sales with the whole of London and the southeastern UK as a territory so we can live anywhere really) which makes it a bit harder to decide on location. He will have to travel out of London a good bit so getting out the city fairly easily is appealing (we will have a car). We have explored SW London a little bit and liked Wimbledon, Teddington, Chiswick, Wandsworth/Clapham. Any thoughts on Barnes, Southfields or East Dulwich? These keep coming up but we have not visited in person yet.
Here is what we are seeking....can you help identify a nice place for a family or give your thoughts on the above places if you live there?

1. Good state primary schools (feel free to name a great school to visit or send me a private message with recommendations! My husband is moving over in April so he can do a visit)
2. Good secondary school as that is coming up in 2 years
3. Strong community/family feel (we consider ourselves very social) :)
4. Good transport links
5. Green spaces & access to sports/fitness options
6. Good variety of restaurants and cultural activities
7. Our top end budget is about 4000 a month (renting - not buying)

I know this is a bit of a broad question and likely everyone is seeking this :) but we are overwhelmed and would so appreciate any bits of guidance from fellow mums! Thank you so much!

One thing I would say is that if your DH is driving out of London a lot and going all around London, I wouldn’t base yourself too centrally because otherwise you have a hell of a lot of London to drive through. I live in zone 2 Near East Dulwich (which ticks quite a lot of your boxes) and it could easily take 45 mins to clear London depending on what direction you’re going in.

outer London makes more sense so your DH can get to a motorway quicker.

Do you want state or private secondaries? Most primaries are good but some inner ones are suffering from falling rolls (reduced pupil numbers).

While he will be leaving London often he will also be going into Waterloo quite a bit to call on a specific account. Since he will be all over it's really hard to narrow in on where to live. But we will be doing daily life like going to school the vast majority of the time and we want a walkable neighborhood when we aren't working/schooling .... and since we really want to give London a try we are still searching in London for now. I am going to check out East Dulwich when we are there for spring break around Easter so thanks for that suggestion!

Wimbledon/South Wimbledon sounds like it would meet all your needs, especially if your DH will need to get to Waterloo.

We are hoping for state schools all the way but understand that it can be more difficult when you get to secondary schools. Someone suggested St. Albans in a private message so we will check that out. Any St. Albans people out there? :)

Kingston/Richmond direction is probably your best bet for the biggest selection of good state secondaries. Or North Kingston close to Sutton where you could also try for grammar's.

Wimbledon/South Wimbledon sounds like it would meet all your needs, especially if your DH will need to get to Waterloo.

Best state options are catholic though aren't they?

Very good state schools in Merton - Pelham, Merton Abbey and Wimbledon Chase at primary level, and then Ricards Lodge at secondary.

No definitely not!

You could rent something like this for 4k & I think it would be in catchment for Kingston Academy.

www.dexters.co.uk/property-for-rent/house-to-rent-in-richmond-park-road-kingston-upon-thames-kt2/245095

I’d be looking at somewhere like Woking/Guildford, close to M25, but it’s walkable and fast into London. Otherwise look to having a car outside London?

You can’t easily get into Waterloo from East Dulwich.

I would base yourself in south west London if Waterloo is important.

And I really can’t strongly enough state what an utter pain slogging through London’s traffic to get out of London is. We only tend to do it on a Sunday, sometimes a Saturday - the idea of doing it multiple times on a weekday makes me feel ill!

I would look for something in zones 4 or 5 on a line into Waterloo. Maybe Surbiton, that has a fast train.

Wimbledon, particularly around the South Park grid. Three good to excellent rated primary schools (Holy Trinity, Priory, Garfield), walking distance to tube and train, nice parks, bus ride from Wimbledon Village and the Common, loads of shops and restaurants and cafes. The schools keep the area family friendly. Three beds (they may be listed as four but on the grid the fourth is usually tiny) rent for £3000-3650ish. Parking is on street with permit.

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/159438308

I’m in St Albans and it’s wonderful. Pricey but definitely still in your budget. Best of both worlds IMO - and fairly easy to get to Waterloo by train, and then you don’t have to worry about London traffic/insane parking costs/congestion charges, and close to good motorways. FWIW we’re in a state primary (I won’t name which one as it’s way too outing already 😂) but everyone I know in the area is happy with their state schools, primary and secondary - personally I picked a state school over private because they seemed so similar, private would’ve been a waste of money! There are very good state secondaries about too.

I agree.

Richmond, Kingston, Wimbledon are your best bets. Cheam is also nice

Beckenham/ Hayes/ West Wickham, all on the trainline into Waterloo. All have great primaries and secondaries and are very family friendly. Dsis lives in East Dulwich and finds it a nightmare to get out of London.

Twickenham for Waldegrave (girls) school? Be very careful with the catchment area. Quick train into Waterloo.

@BIWI Ricards has 63% achieving grade 5 in English & Maths & Attainment 8 score of 55. Ursuline is 68% & 61?

I know Wimbledon Chase and Dundonald are very good primaries.

Cheam is also nice

I think the best non grammar option is a Harris but I believe the catchment is tiny.

Teddington is nice. Not too sure of the state secondary provision as DD is in reception so a while before we have to cross that proverbial bridge but great choice of state primaries, close to the park, relatively decent high street and a direct, albeit slow, train to Waterloo.

Loads of options in Teddington I believe; Waldegrave, Orleans Park, Grey Court, St Richard's.

Bear in mind that school admissions don’t work like the US and this often catches out Americans coming over. Moving to eg East Dulwich doesn’t guarantee you’ll get the nice primary school you like there in the neighbouring road. You can only have spaces that are available in schools.

That said the birth rate is lower for those years than 5 years ago and so school places are generally less pressured in London than they were.

Thanks so much for taking the time to respond! Had not considered Cheam. WIll look info, thanks!

I used to live near Barnes. Lovely area. What I wouldnt do if you need to commute is to base yourself where trains are the only option into London. St Albans is lovely but much too far for regular commutes as the train services are awful. My DS travels from Bucks into London most days and its expensive and trains are full, delayed or just not running/on srike. I would prefer to be much nearer London and Waterloo/Barnes can give you some options. There is a train from Barnes to Waterloo or if that is up the spout then you could drive to say Kew and get the tube in.

I found living in London - the secret was different options for travel. Just dont rely on one mode.