Stay in London to have children or move to country?

[PandaSam]

Help - I can't decide!

DH and I currently live in a two bed flat in SW London (on 4th floor - no lift) with a cat (no garden).

We both work in Central London and we love the area we live in but can't afford to buy anything more practical (with garden/ground floor).

We have thought about moving to Surrey to live near DH's family and we could afford a 3 bed house in a nice village - but we would both be commuting to London (until I have a baby - then could work part-time) and the costs of commuting would be £700 per month.

WWYD? Which is worse - forking out £700 per month to commute for a total of 3.5 hours a day - or living in a top floor flat with a baby and a cat!?

starmucks
you could have written my post! DH and i just moved to sevenoaks - we used to live in zone 2, we are both FT working. alas, my nanny didn't move with us but our new one seems great too!
we enjoyed london when our kids were still v. young (we were in clapham) and was really ambivalent when we made the move. And though we are only in rental at the moment, it has been great so far

We didn't move out of London, and initially had a baby and a cat in a one bed first floor flat. We did 'compromise on area' and moved further south east in London after looking at suburban estates and villages in Essex and deciding that we would slowly die if we had to live there. This view was proved correct when we lived in suburban Toronto for two years and loathed it. We now live back in London, our children are 12 and 10, and we have never regretted it.

Whoever said further up that babies need fathers not gardens is absolutely right. The problem with commuting is that when it goes wrong, it goes really wrong and then the working partner is stuck far away from home totally at the mercy of the train companies. I wouldn't want to be in that situation with a small baby.

Also, if you live in the country/suburbs you will end up in the car all the time, driving from place to place. In London you can use buses, tube, walk - life is so much more do-able with little car use (although perhaps you don't hate driving as much as I do!).

I'd stay put, or look at some cheaper areas of London outside the SW postcode. It's not the wild west over here in SE!

How funny Page62...we're in rental too. I think we should play down what a great place it is given how tight the market is . I should also keep quiet about how I've yet to have a problem with the train. Not something I could ever say about the district line.

hahaha starmucks we will probably be competing for the same houses!
i'm glad the move is working out for you -- long may it continue for both of us...

so sorry, hijack over.

so really, a move is working for us - but i've only done it for 10 days and we did have the kids when we were in London and loved it there too. Our kids are now 6 and 4.....

I think I've decided to stay put with a baby for a year or two and then move out when space/schools are more important.

Thanks so much for all your advice

London is a great place to bring up children the move to the country better for kids argument is a myth!

noddyholder were you brought up in central London? I was, I would have preferred somewhere smaller and quieter to be honest. I felt quite vulnerable as a young teen in London. I think I saw too much too soon and I don't want my kids to have the same experience. Also I felt stuck inside alot, with great schools which had tiny outside play areas. I was in zone 2, we tried zone 4 and to be honest it wasn't much better. Each to their own.

PandaSam

I present you with:

[http://www.findaproperty.com/displayprop.aspx?edid=00&salerent=0&pid=6968129 2 double bed cottage]] in London sw15.
Close to Putney and Barnes british rail, close to waterloo. Close to the A3 and Surrey. FAB nct ante natal classes. Good schools nearby (especially if you are religious)

Nice parks and playgrounds.

PandaSam

I present you with:

d=00&salerent=0&pid=6968129 2 double bed cottage in London sw15.
Close to Putney and Barnes british rail, close to waterloo. Close to the A3 and Surrey. FAB nct ante natal classes. Good schools nearby (especially if you are religious)

Nice parks and playgrounds.

sorry the link did not work the first time

shoot!

HERE

for example.

OOh I like that! Have a day off tomorrow so might see if I can arrange a viewing

I can vouch for that being a really nice area to live in. We lived a stones throw from that road for 10 years! I totally LOVED having and bringing up my boys there.

We lived in a 3rd floor flat in London with no lift.
Everything was difficult esp after a C section, and I went out very rarely at first as couldn't go downstairs.
There were lots of baby-friendly things to do and places to visit however.

We moved to a 2 bed garden flat almost immediately in the same central London area (with DC2) but the primary schools were rubbish so we moved again.

You don't actually have to leave London, it has so many exciting things for kids.
Just find somewhere right at the end of a tube line or overground and maybe DH could drive a few miles to the tube/station and park there?

I would try it for a while and then see if you could live somewhere quieter. It all depends on if you like the city life occasionally.