Family Friendly Areas in with max 30' commute to Central London?

[Sunnybee12]

Hi ladies,

We are a family of three, our baby is under one, and we are looking to relocate somewhere close to South West London, or London. Ideally we'd like a 3 bed house with a garden, we have a budget of 400K.

The problem I have is that I am a consultant and and I never know where my next project will be, so the location needs to have excellent transport links.

Any advice you could give me about family friendly locations in or near SW London with good schools will be very much appreciated :-)

I would suggest Borough of Sutton. Some of the stations have a shortish commute - I think Hackbridge for example, and you could live in nearby Carshalton which is quite nice. Lots of good schools too.

A 3 bed house with a garden for 400k in SW London and within 30min of central town? Good luck! Give yourself closer to an hour's commute door-to-door and you might find something.

Sutton and the villages/small towns around there are indeed worth looking at but are a bit further out than 30mins.

Would you go further east or west? SE London has some nice areas with good train links into London Bridge, Charing Cross etc.

Earlsfield? Really nice and But you'll need more than 400k for a 3 bed house.zoopla list a 3 bed maisonette for 480

Oh and it's 14 mins to Waterloo on train

I wish you luck (lots of people want that!), but try this site for a starting list of locations.

Coulsdon areas are half an hour into London and you may be able to find a house at that price.

Motspur park.25 min to waterloo Only 2 stops from Wimbledon. Also New Malden but might be tricky on 400. Worth a look though.

I'd look in SE London too but then I would say that as a proud Lewishamer!

Very good and quick train lines into Charing X or Cannon Street. It's 20 mins to Charing X from my local station.

Lots of areas to consider - Hilly Fields, Brockley, Hither Green, Lee, Greenwich (expensive), Charlton, Westcombe Park, Blackheath (expensive). You can look further over towards SW London too in places like East Dulwich (soooo expensive though), Peckham, Camberwell (a friend of mine has an amazing house there).

Good luck!

I'd look for places with at least two transport routes to central London.
Balham is very family friendly - trains every 5-10 mins to Victoria, or Northern Line. Streatham Hill for Victoria/London Bridge and is cheaper.

If you want access to Heathrow and motorways, try Hammersmith.

You'd struggle to get a 2 bed flat in Balham for £400k these days. Most are £500k plus. You'd be lucky to find an inhabitable 3 bed house for less than £700k there.

I think you are going to struggle on that budget. If you'd be willing to consider SE London, have a look at Bexley borough. The commute is around 35 mins and it's a grammar school area, if schools are a consideration.

Limelight's list is a good one for commuting times, but I think you will struggle with that budget. I live in one of the areas named (and not one of the ones labelled expensive) and you would struggle to find a 3 bed here for less than £500k.

You're right Euro! Lots of those areas are becoming expensive so you need to shop around. Still cheaper than SW London though

For what it's worth, I live in Hither Green and my 3 bed terrace would probably go for between 350k and 400k now. We bought it for 300k three years ago (needed a lot of work(.

My 3 bed semi in Brockley was just under 500k 5 years ago! Probably just over now.

Does it have to be London?
Milton Keynes is 40mins
Harpedon Is 25 mins
Bedford is 50 mins

I assume there are south London equivalents? Reading? Slough?

Thanks girls :-) I've been checking some of the places you suggested and visiting different areas, and Streatham/Tooting Bec seem to be affordable areas

SE of London but Sevenoaks is lovely and lots of family things there. this place is an easy walk to the station and has some lakes (well, I say lakes, they're more very big ponds) which is a great duck feeding place. Good train links to London. Somewhere like Petts Wood might also work for you but I'm not sure on prices, will have a look...

this place is walkable to knockholt station which is the last station in zone 6 in the area.

are streatham/ tooting family friendly? We're in Walton (25-35 mind to waterloo depending on trains) - hersham, close by & still only 30 mins away from waterloo), is cheaper and you'll get a 3 bed house there easily. good primary schools, nice feel.

I agree that Sevenoaks is a great place. All the schools are absolutely excellent without exception. This is theoretically the most expensive place in SW England because of all the mansions but actually you can find a three-bedroom house for less than 400K - it just won't be very big. Just look at rightmove.

You might find the house prices in Streatham/Tooting rocket somewhat if they're close enough to get a place at a primary school. Research exactly how close you need to be to the school before you buy, unless you're planning to send DC private. If you seem to be getting a lot for your money, that's probably because it's in a school black hole. That said, if you hunt around you should be able to find something in your budget. And the Streatham Common end is family friendly and pretty well connected.

Limelight's list is also def worth investigating. Also the nicer parts of Norwood (esp Upper) and maybe Sydenham now it's got the Overground.

Yep you should come over to lovely sunny south east London, still houses here for under £400K!

Very green and family friendly. Forest Hill/Honor Oak/Brockley or Lewisham/Catford even. Great schools in whole borough of Lewisham.