Where should I move to london as single mother ?

[TianTianMa]

Dear Friends,

I need to move to London because of my job. I am moving with my 5 years old daughter. Where is the best place (affordable accommodation, good commute to UCL, good primary school, and not so bad school run)?

looking for all advice!

My friend lives on Coldharbour Lane, and I remember her showing me a report in the Observer a few years back that it had been rated as the second most dangerous street in Britain.

She didn't seem surprised...

Easy commute to UCL, good local amenities, still 'affordable' area of central London is Lisson Grove -- the nether region sandwiched in between Marylebone, Maida Vale, etc

Gateway primary school on Frampton St is meant to be v good (don't know, my DS still too young)

The commute to UCL can be by bus, tube or even bike from there. It is great, very laid back, diverse, and right next to Regent's Park

oops, bolding didn't work!

Can I just say that it's a myth that London secondaries are rubbish - they're outperforming the rest of the country's according to latest figures. In fact the rest of the land is up in arms because all the resources have gone into improving inner city schools instead of their country cousins.

Polly but some secondaries within inner london are rubbish lol

[hbfac hangs head in shame over gratuitous "Cambridge" joke.]

PollyParanoia - I think that's actually true.
And I, personally, take it as proof that if you fund schools, you get big improvements. I really hope it continues. It needs to be carried forward, not stopped.
Which is why my joke about Cambridge is a bit "off", actually. There really have been changes in London, and it's a good thing, and should be talked up.

Anyway, back to OP. Because you work in Central London, there are many areas on the tube lines that become available, and, actually, quite a short commute.

Love the hint about Lisson Grove, I'll bet that would be a lovely place to live.

There are some lovely urban village-y bits in SE London that are going to be very commutable when the new transport links come in. Anyone out there who knows about Ladywell area?

And Wanstead always struck me as v. pretty - and surprisingly close because of the tube. Perhaps to far out for the OP? Anyone know what it's like living there?

Polly has a point- I am a secondary teacher, and have worked in some lovely schools in London.

hbfac, you're right about the similarity between Brixton and Hackney, but I feel really comfortable in Hackney; it's bizarre- I suppose it is just the familiar which makes somewhere 'good' IYSWIM...

If we're talking lottery-win-London-move... oooh... Hampstead? Although I may well stay in Bethnal Green... Camden... too many to choose from!

I'm in Crofton Park - which is the Ladywell area, before that I was in Forest Hill. I was always a north London girl before, but I love it down here now and wouldn;t move back.

Lots of green open spaces, lots of great primary schools (and some pretty good secondary as well but not yet had to researcht those!). Easy commute into London and a really nice feel about the place.

Good schools in the area are Dalmain, Fairlawn, William of York RC, Stillness, Gordonbrock has a good reputation locally but the last ofstead wasn;t great, but I know loads of parents with children there who are very happy.

Hiya TianTianMa. London accommodation is (as you probably know - or if not are about to find out!) not really reasonably pried anywhere - more varying shades of pricey to very pricey! But wages are much better here than most places too, so it's swings and roundabouts.

Sorry to be blunt, but do you have any idea of figures? Are you renting or buying? What's your budget, and what do you expect for it (e.g. are you after a 2 bed?)

This will have a big bearing on which places you should be looking at, as prices vary widely.

Round where I live, for example, private rented 1 bed flats are about £200 a week. Go half a mile into the fashionable bit with good schools down the road, and you could be looking at £300 a week. Go half a mile in the other direction to the rough bit and you could get 1 bed place for £150. Regarding buying, for my area at least, you can simply add thousands on to the end - so a 1 bed flat here is about £200,000; £300,000 in the posh bit, and £150,000 in the crappy bit.
Prices here are inflated by it being pretty central, but then also kept down by being off the tube network.

Prices in the rest of London will be different.

So, if you give us an idea of budget, you'll get a much more realistic idea of where's doable.

HTH

Many thanks for all these good suggestions!

My aim is private rented 1 bed flat/studio at around £150 a week, max 250 a week.

Thank kazookazoo , Lisson Grove -- is quite good.

OK, I'll have a think. Here's some tips to help your search in the meantime:

If you want to know how long it would take to get from a potential new pad to UCL, use the Transport for London Journey Planner and it should give you a few options.

Here's the London Tube map. Euston Square is just one stop from Kings Cross, which has lots of lines going through it (and totally walkable to Euston station too) so you have a huge choice of places if you want to be near a tube that's easy for UCL.

Anywhere on the Northern line (black) Victoria line (light blue) or Picadilly (navy) would be excellent, but also you're only 1 change away from most of the lines on the tube network, so if it was me I'd consider pretty much anywhere near a tube stop, if the price / place was right.

When you're trying to work out how far somewhere is by tube, as a very rough guide, allow 2 minutes per stop, and 2 or 3 minutes for changing lines (unless it's the circle / district lines - in which case you may wait a while IME).

HTH

2 bed is totally doable within your budget. Here are some suggestions based totally on price and travel times.

Hopefully some other people can say whether these areas are any good for schools etc ...

Crouch End / Muswell Hill

These two areas (next to each other) are really nice / trendy AFAIK

£230 - this looks lovely

£230, Crouch End

£220 Muswell Hill

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Walthamstow

This would be a really easy commute for you. Walthamstow has been 'up and coming' for a while - lots of first time buyers who'd been priced out of more central areas moving in. What it's actually like, particularly for schools though I've no idea.

3 bed! £240

£200 a week, 2 bed, garden and parking

£980 a month - 2 bed with garden

Hackney

Hackney probably deserves a topic all to itself! If you want a community feel, and somewhere that there is loads of free and cheap stuff for kids / parents, bags of culture and lots of arty stuff and great parks then Hackney is worth considering.

But ... it does have the 'edge' that others are talking about with Brixton. There is a lot of deprivation hidden below the surface. It doesn't always feel so safe at night.

There are some great primary schools, the secondary schools weren't good at all a few years ago, but I see they've opened a few brand new ones recently, I wonder how they're doing?

In truth, Hackney is huge and there are many different areas in it. Homerton (miles of council estates) and Stoke Newington (very trendy, full of restaurants and artisan stuff for sale) are both in Hackney, for example, but feel worlds apart.

Clapton Pond (in Hackney)

£240 Victorian conversion

Well Street / London Fields

£240 Period property

Sorry - should have said Well St is in Hackney too

Or South Wimbledon? (last but one stop on the Northern Line - takes about 40 minutes into central London).

And am loving your name - I presume you're 'everyday mother'?

OMG!

Surely some mistake!!!

I just found a 2 bed place in South Kensington for £150 a week!

South Ken is a seriously posh area! I'm guessing, but I'd expect rent for a 2 bed here to be three times that at least!

Just shows anything's possible.

It's a private landlord not an agency I think.

Does anyone know about schools in Muswell Hill / Crouch End?

I reckon Crouch End / Muswell Hill would be my first choice if I was in your position.

You can get to Euston Station in about half an hour, it's a really nice area and you could get a 2 bed there for your budget - 2 beds are coming up from £220 through an agent. If you rent directly from a landlord it's likely to be much cheaper.

Here's another 2 bed in Crouch End for £235

The borough of Barnet. Very good schools (primary and secondary), 25 mins on the tube to Euston, not as pricey as Muswell Hill and Crouchy.

Not so sure about Lisson Grove. Church St is one of the most deprived areas in the UK. This can mean that the council will be pushing extra funds into the area but there are still problems. DH used to live on the Lisson Green estate and I still work nearby.

Tian:
I was recommending 'affordable' places to someone on here the other day.

IMO Brixton is a reasonable bet because for somewhere on a good tube, so close to C London, it is less expensive than others. (and I have lived in Brixton for 20 years, and have a job that entails walking home late at night and never had any bother).
But as another poster says, you would need to be only a couple of minutes walk fom a very very god primary school - check the Lambeth league tables on the BBC schools league tables site, and check the 'value added' as well as the 'Aggregated' scores.

BUT it's possible that Streatham would be an even better bet. If you could find somewhere very very close to Streatham Wells Primary, say, or Hitherfield Primary your rent would be cheap, both schools have breakfast club and after school care (vital for single parents, IME) AND you would be very close to a good London secondary. Two, even (Dunraven and Elm Green).

But for popular schools you will need to be in the same road or only one road away. And maybe go on the waiting list as places will have been allocated by the time you move.

lowrib - those 'too good to be true' flats in South Ken for tuppence a week on gumtree are almost certainly scams, sorry! Gumtree is absolutely swarming with scammers

NOT NOT NOT Lisson Grove!! I live nearby and know it well. It is a massive massive council estate (though a lot of it is ex-council now). My cousin lives on a nice street bordering it and says all she gets is teenagers hanging out on the street corners drunk and loud. I went to a playground there once with the kids and would never go back. Most kids there were unaccompanied, swearing etc.

Marylebone and Maida Vale are lovely, but not affordable.

Of course it is Molesworth, silly me.

And I'm usually quite cynical!

Here you go - I used to live in the flat above so know the neighbours are lovely and you're opposite a decent enough school...here

You are actually in a great position - I would narrow your area down and then rent near the 'best' school.

[Apologies to those who disagree] but I really wouldnt choose somewhere like Peckham - it does have some lovely houses but it also can be frankly very scary and doesnt have a tube line...

I would stick to south west (though only the cheaper bits and wanstead/woodford etc)

I personally wouldn't go to Walthamstow. Its been up and coming for abut 15 years now, a good friend lives there and is looking to move out as there's bugger all to do (or anywhere decent anyway - his words not mine!) and getting into London can be a pita

Have you decided where to go yet?