Advice needed - where to live in London

[notyet]

I moved to London a couple of years ago and am currently living in Islington and loving the access to "interesting" shops, delis etc - i.e. a living highstreet. We want to try and start a family within the next year and want to buy a house. The issue is where. DP would be happy with any safe/decent area, but I am latish starting a family (31 next week) and am really worried about being isolated with a young child and nowhere to go.
Money, of course, is an issue. Where in London can you all recomment where there is an "interesting" highstreet with nice shops/cafes, places to go etc, nice area, but doesn't cost the earth. I really want to be able to walk places, not be dependant on a car as well. and be within walking distance of tranport links.
I know this is a tall order but its becoming a real issue as DP, while kind of understanding my fears, also just wants to get a nice house and settle down in suburbia, and I am really frightened of being isolated at home with a small baby. My support network in London is not large and I really want somewhere where there are parent/todler groups, schools within walking distance etc.
Please help

A few nice cafes/wine bars in raynes Park. Near merton park too, but main draw is it's so close to Wimbledon. I used to walk it in 10 mins! Sooooo many babies too. Health Centre does lots of postnatal groups and a thriving NCT as well. agree findaproperty is the best site for the area. Check it out! (also decent transport links to central Ondon if you/dp need).

Come to East Dulwich! Lordship Lane is filling up with shops, bars and cafes, full of mummies with lots of activities for babies, good schools, lots of parks (& Dulwich Woods is wonderful!), London Bridge is 7 mins away and you should be able to find something within your budget. We moved here from W6 and are loving it.

Do you/your husband have to commute into London? If so, try to stay on a direct train/tube line into work.

What about Pinner (sorry no idea about house prices) but area is nice, or if that is too expensive around Rayners Lane. There are some very good schools round there, High St is not great though.

Titchy, thats great, it just needs to be within easy walking distance. Thanks for the recommendation.

Kitegirl, hadn't looked at east dulwich as thought it was outside our budget but can see that there is property there, thanks for the glowing recommendation, I will go and visit the area.

Blue shoes: DP has to commute to the center of town and, more worryingly, could get posted to other parts of town at later date!! So needs to have good acess.

Saadia, will check out pinner, also no idea about house prices there. The thing about Raynors lane is, as long as it was walking distance to wimbledon, then that gives you the highstreet, but don't know if that is possible

I just wanted to say many thanks to everyone who has posted. This is my first time posting on Mumsnet. I am very nervous about the idea of becoming a mother and knowing there is a community out there that can provide help and support is immensely reassuring.
Plus great suggestions on where to live. In the end I think there are lots of great places we can afford if we get a two bed place in stead of a three bed. Now, how to convince DP........

Hi notyet, just wanted to put in a plug for Greenwich/Blackheath, SE London. Convenient if your dh works in the City (direct trains into Cannon St and Charing Cross) or Canary Wharf. 375 may not get you a 3-bed in the heart of Greenwich or Blackheath but there are lovely streets of terraced Victorian houses in the vicnity which should be within budget. All within walking distance of Greenwich park and the trendy shops/restaurants in Greenwich and Blackheath. Lots of leisure activities for families. There are reasonably good state/COE/Catholic primary schools, though secondary state schools are generally dire. But you have at that point the option of travelling to the grammars in Bexleyheath, Kent etc.

Here is a link to one of the largest estate agents in the area John Payne

plug here for Balham, very up and coming, LOADS of children of all ages, decent high street with fantastic high street (Northcote road) very nearby. Prices still reasonable compared to nearby Clapham and Battersea and good rail and tube links. Highly recommend but slightly biased!!

Hi notyet, I'm in that boat too!
Haven't started TTC yet, and DH wants to get all his "ducks in a row" before we do. We're toying with the idea of commuting and I'm q new to MN and have been asking for help too (everyone has been very helpful) look

Do drop me a line [email protected] and we can be newbies together. (I'm near Queen's Park by the way).
Anela

Hmmm, having been born and brought up in north london. i would have to say muswell hill or crouch end if you want that villagey feel but both areas cost the earth and neither are near a tube station which makes going into town difficult. I have now moved to west london, acton and I like it here. There are good parent groups and a few nice play areas as well as good transport links. Acton is more affordable than its swankier neighbours chiswick and ealing - both of which are pretty close and easy to reach by public transport. Acton is still relatively 'undiscovered', there are some interesting shops & restaurants down churchfield road and the high street has a few mainstays like boots and snappy snap as well as a library, but yes it is considered up and coming ie needs some investment and work! So if you don't want to 'rough it' then take a look at ealing or chiswick. I think Acton is a pretty great place once you get used to it and I sense a real desire for improvement and positive change in the air. However, as a north londoner at heart, I yearn to return to north london!!!!!!!

Oops one other shout out - think about northfields/little ealing, again both near tube stations and more importantly good primary schools!

Crouch End great if you have babies but do you want a house for under £400,000 or would a flat be ok? House out in CE but you could look Finsbury Park (there are some ok bits and the park has had bit revamp and now has fab playground and new cafe with boating lake etc) or Stroud Green which is between Crouch End and Finsbury Park, ie you can walk to tube and to chi chi crouchie shops...
Otherwise you can get a big house on Haringey Ladder for £400,000 mark. Other stuff Hornsey Rise...
all of these places near(ish) Islington so whatever you're used to isn't too far away!

hi there notyet. just wondered if you'd ever thought of East London? i lived in Leyton with dd and dp before moving over to Oz, and found it a nice place to live, although not as obviously green as most of the areas mentioned already and a bit rough around the edges. however, its very close to Epping forest (we regularly went mountain biking there - 10 mins cycle from our door). Woodford, Wanstead and Snaresbrook are surrounding areas that are probably a bit nicer, but more expensive. lots of families around - a good mix of different people. i didn't really go to toddler groups etc as i was working p/t, so afraid i can't help too much with those, but am sure there must be lots around.

there are great transport links into London, and its on the bus route to Islington if you're feeling a bit homesick for the high street! its also one of the cheaper places to buy - we got a 3-bed place for just under GBP250 a year ago, but not sure what prices are doing now in light of the successful Olympic bid. that might be another reason to look at it - there's a lot of developing going on now and i think its going to really smarten up by 2012.

just a thought!

Thanks for the great suggestions everyone, I can see I will be spending my next few weekends visiting different areas of London.
Has anyone heard of the Avenues in Queens park? Apparently you can get a three bed there for around £375K, but I just think there must be something wrong with the area for them to be that price and so central?
The biggest issue I think is going to be the number of bedrooms. We can afford what we want if we get a 2 bed house, but DP is insistant on 3bed, and he doesn't really care about the highstreet etc in the way that I do.

I lived near Woodside park tube (nr nth Finchly) station many years ago and thought it offered a good compromise - it was a nice three story town house which was 3 bedrooms - only 3 mins walk to the tube if you wanted to go into town.

I am very luck in that havn't been in london long enough to "have" to be in south/north etc though DP is very much keener on South London. How big are the differences between south and north?

Anniemac i will look in to that. I don't feel that I necessarily want to or have to pay the extra to be right next to hte highstreet or to have the posh postcode, but I want easy access (i.e. can walk 10/15 mins and take buses) so thanks for the suggestion. I will check out the area.

If I was moving back to London I'd definitely be looking at Muswell Hill or Crouch End. They're mummy central. Lots of gorgeous little shops, delis and cafes and Crouch End has a good park for pushchair strolls and toddler exploring.
Why not have a recce one afternoon... sit on a bench and just count those travel systems and bugaboos go by.
Of course, my friend swears by Clapham South (Abbeville Road area - another yummy mummy area).
I think you're right to be thinking about these things now - don't forget to think about nearby outside space for when your little ones start to totter on their own too feet!
Good luck!

notyet, I can completely relate to what you are saying. I also currently live in Islington/Hackney Boarder and love it but as we now have two kids (2.5 and 8 months) and currently are on one salary we have to move further out. Being on one salary makes it almost impossible to get a decent mortgage and I really don't want to move anywhere without a decent high street. Have no family here and rely on friends and other mums. Unfortunatley all the areas where we can afford to rent are not very nice. How do peeople manage to live on one salary in a fairly nice area? Don't want to put my children into a nursery yet, at least not the youngest and feel that the costs of nursery for 2 would hardly be covered even I would get a full time job.

Try Harlesden -it's cheap and has a great community feel

I read something in a newspaper recently about the Avenues in Queens Park - can't remember which paper unfortunately and haven't been able to Google it. I remember reading that the people living there love it and there's a great, quite artistic, community. Don't know why it's relatively affordable though.