Deciding where to buy in London this year - need advice from parents on priorities

[Naomhan]

Posted a second with new title with the hope of getting a better response. Would be grateful for any advice / suggestions.

This is my first time posting here. I currently have no children. My husband and I are thinking of buying our first property next year in London. The only problem is deciding where. I hoped Mums on this forum would be able to help because we are thinking about having children in the next few years.

We currently live in south west London in one of the cheaper areas. We have lived here for coming up to 4 years and I have lived in this part of London for more than a decade. Unfortunately, all we can afford at the minute here is a 2 bed flat - we could probably get a spacious upstairs one with a garden if we bargain hard or a dooer upper house at a push.

We love this area. There are lots of bars and restaurants that we like to go to and we have recently made lots of friends through meet up groups. There is also lots of parkland around for nice long walks and a real community feel.

The other area we are considering is on the complete opposite side of London. A friend has recently moved there and really recommends it. We could afford a two or three bed terraced house there. The other big advantage is it is on the north side of London so it would make it much easier for our parents who are based in the Midlands and the North to come to see us.

So the question is, do we choose a home based on our current circumstances or our future circumstances? We are in our early thirties and would both like to start trying for a family soon. However, while we are still without children we wouldn't want to live in a place where we felt cut off from our social life.

I'd be interested to know from parents on this forum which of the considerations above are important and which are not. There maybe things we haven't thought of, for example I recently read about a mum with young twins living in a first floor flat who had trouble with pushchair. She was one of these people who'd bought at the top of the housing boom and was trapped in a mortgage.

Unfortunately, staying put is not an option. We are renting a one bedroom flat and rents have surged since we moved in here so a larger rental would actually work out more expensive than a mortgage at current interest rates (we will have a large deposit).

Thanks in advance.

Sounds as if you've made you mind up already. Why move to a different area if you dont want to lose contact with your friends?

Thanks for the response Mollie. Do you think we would be mad to give up the opportunity for extra space for a flat? Also, in practice do you think being on the right side of London for parents to visit is a good idea? Thinking about it, it probably wouldn't be that important day to day.

We are in SE London with families in the Midlands/North. We thought about being north of the river for the advantage in travelling time to family, but it just wasn't worth it to pay the extra for the relatively few times it would have been an issue. We're near the Blackwall Tunnel so it's actually a pretty quick and easy journey here from north anyway.

If you move area I'd probably still rent for 6 months or so. It gives you time to get to know the local housing market better, as well as to see whether you do really like the area or regret the move and want to move back to SW London.

Thanks pootlebug. It's good to know that being in south London hasn't been a problem for you in terms of your parents visiting. Interesting to hear about the Blackwall Tunnel. I'd always thought that part of south east London would be difficult to get to from the north but thinking about it at least you could avoid the centre. I briefly lived in Forest Hill so like the south east too. Great tip about renting while checking out a new area.

You need to be close to a nice park, a good community of other families with children, good transport and really close to a very good primary school. With good secondary options, too.

What's your budget? MN-ers are very good at finding areas!

Hi IndieSkies, thanks for the response.

Our budget would be £250,000 max (plus stamp duty, conveyancing and other moving costs). In the area we live at the moment asking price for 2 bed maisonettes with gardens is about £270,000 - £280,000 but they tend to sell for £250,000 or not sell at all. It is slightly more on the more popular streets. You can get 2 bed houses for about the same price but they tend to be similar floorspace to the larger maisonettes.

I think the area we are in at the moment scores well on most of those things but one slight concern is that the local population of children is booming due to a lot of young families which is putting pressure on school places.

Thanks to everyone who replied to both this and the other thread. I have also found this thread very helpful too.

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/property/1379704-Talk-to-me-please-if-you-have-2-young-dc-in-a-small-2-bed-flat-house

You have helped me realise that it is important to live somewhere where we are happy and not to worry too much about people we won't be seeing frequently. As long as we have room to put the parents up it should be OK!

Hi there,
I think London has alot of good baby groups, library groups etc as there are so many people in each area that there is alot of business.

I have a one year old and definitely see things from a different view now! I would say look for the following:

1. Community atmosphere, good local libraries with free story time, rhyme time etc. They also often have good info on other local groups.

1. Good schools, nurseries, childcare facilities

1. Local station with good access for a buggy so you can get into central London easily with the baby.

1. Somewhere you feel safe. If you feel slightly nervous in an area when it's just you, you will feel alot more vulnerable when pushing a pram.

1. Perhaps good local leisure centres with sessions for kids.

1. Lots of good parks and playgrounds. Not many people in London have good gardens so a few local parks are invaluable.

1. Local child friendly cafea, places where you can meet a few friends and there will be room for multiple buggies, you would feel comfortable breastfeeding etc.

Sorry that's all I can think of off the top of my head. Tbh I think you'll struggle to buy a house in a nice area but I wouldn't worry too much a out being in a flat. I know quite a few people with kids in flats in london and it isn't too much of a problem.

We live near East Dulwich and I can't recommend it highly enough. Before you have kids it is a great place for eating and drinking and pottering around the shops at the weekend. But it really comes into it's own when you have kids. Everyone is very friendly and inclusive, there is no cliquiness etc. There are tons of baby groups, parks, libraries etc. ED is expensive for property but there are loads of cheaper areas really nearby that are still great. Check out Nunhead, forest hill, crystal palace, Sydenham, Camberwell, Herne hill etc. They are all a short walk/bus ride from ED and most have good links to the city.

I also have family up north (Manchester) and it's v easy as I get the train
To St Pancras and then walk to Euston. I usually leave the house around 9am and am in Manchester around midday. We used to drive until my daughter stopped sleeping in the car (!) and it would take about 4 hours. We considered buying in west London for the motorway links north but I agree with others that it's not worth it for what woul probably only be a handful of trips a year by car.

Good luck!

We moved out of SW London after we had children - having to be right on top of a school we wanted our children to go to meant that we needed a much bigger budget than was available to us, or, despite being Catholic, get the priest to sign an attendance slip every week - which I didn't want to be my driving motivation for going to mass.

All of our NCT group, bar one, moved out of SW London as soon as they had to start looking at education - the ones who stayed are privately educating. The problem with choosing an area based on schools now, is that heads can change, catchments can alter as it's a minimum of 4/5 years away.

To be honest, I would buy in an area that you want to live in NOW - who knows what the future holds?!

I wish we had been more mindful of schools when we moved when Ds was about 2. We had stayed put in our general area because we had such good networks of friends and excellent access to parks, baby groups and all things baby and toddler-friendly, but also within easy reach of good transport and a short journey to work. If both parents are working it is harder, inconvenient and expensive to have a long commute (expensive because you have to have childcare to cover an hour or meore each way travelling). Personally I think a long commute suits families where there is a sahp. The calls from nursery or school to say your child is ill, there is a power cut or whatever are very stressful if you are a long journey away.

So, we moved into a house that suited all those pre-school criteria, all laissez faire about primary school, making all sorts of assumptions about catchments and being gung ho about the nearest school. In the end we needed a school to fit certain criteria and found a place in a lovely school in the adjoining part of the borough. It would have been far better had we moved into that area in the first place. We moved to be within easy walking distance of the school when DS was in Yr 1, partly because there were problems in the house we moved from, but re-locating to be within walking distance of the school improved the quality of our lives no end. Less panic in the mornings, all school friends within easy walking distance, a great community of parents all helping each other out and sharing childcare on days when the school is unexpectedly shut down, etc.

Just plan to be able to move into a place which suits your work/life circumstances AND has access to good schools by the time your child is 3. 2 if you would like them to go to the school nursery.

West Norwood is nice enough And this flat might even be in the catchment for the fantastic Julian's Primary.

Needs work but in catchment for Streatham Wells primary and near lovely park

I moved further into London when I had my first DC. Smaller place but nearer work. Simply could not do a commute and childcare. Managed to keep up with my work friends to some extent but made new ones through schools etc too. Also when I was made redundant it was easier to find work closer in. Agree with Mrs LL2B and others about communities, parks, cafes etc and with PanicMode about how fast schools can change. (Our local Primary went from awful to one of the best schools in London in the 14 years we have lived here but the secondary went the other way!)