London dwellers - please help me advise my friend where to move to

[catski]

I have an american friend here in sweden who is considering taking a job in London. It would be based at canary wharf. It's been a while since I lived in london, and even then I always lived south west and and was footloose and child free, so find it hard to advise her on suitable areas. She would be moving her family there (husband, 4 year old and 2 year old).

Can anyone advise on suitable areas, or point me in the direction of other websites which might help? I haven't asked, but I don't think they'll be exactly rolling in it, so financial restraints may be a concern, and I presume they would want somewhere family friendly and with decent schools/childcare.

Seeing as noone else has replied, I would suggest looking into the Victoria Park area in Hackney/Tower hamlets. It is close to Canary Wharf (a cycle ride down the canal or the 277 bus would take about 15 mins ish), and there are lots of families in the area.

As for schools, I'm not too sure. Lauriston is good but massively over subscribed so you have to practically live in the playground to get a child in. In Tower Hamlets it varies depending on where you are so I'm not too sure of those. There is an independent school nearby on the edge of the park.

If they don't mind apartments, they could try the Millennium Village, which is at North Greenwich station. Just 1 stop on the Jubilee line. They've done a lot of building there, and so they have an overabundance of apartments, so they could probably haggle a good deal.

There is also a good primary school next to, and health centre within, the village.

Thanks for the replies - they are very used to apartment living so that shouldn't be a problem.

I will pass on your suggestions.

In terms of schools - where would you find out how schools are rated in a particular area? I think there's some kind of league table or something in the UK isn't there - anyone know how I would find it?

Just use google.co.uk to do a search for 'school league table'. The league tables can be a bit deceiving, so once you've had a look it would schools could be a good choice do some extra searches on the schools and don't just rely on the league table.