need suggestions on areas to live in london.

[bargainbuyss]

Hi everyone,
my family and i are planning to relocate to london or suburban, we will be renting at the moment at least for a year or two, with 3children( 12yrs, 10yrs and 9months.) we are looking for quiet, family friendly areas of london. we need idea from families about the areas they live or have lived before, or visited. please we need your help. we are working family on a tight budget.

How tight is tight?

Budget is everything - how much have you got and what sort of property do you want?

You should check out Wanstead. On central line, a few stops from iverpool Street, very friendy, lots of families, good schools, lovely high street, but it is quite expensive. If you search E11 in rightmove.com it will give you an idea of what you can get for your budget.

Surbiton is quiet good as your money will go a lot further there than somewhere a bit closer in, and there are fast trains into the city, so has quite good transport links.

Seems to be a lot of families around Woking as well, but think it's a bit more expensive/not as well connected.

If you want somewhere closer in to London, you can get more for your money in Earlsfield than elsewhere in SW London.

London rents are ridiculously expensive. Can I suggest that you look at Right Move or similar website to see what you can get for your budget in different areas.

Why are you moving? Where do you need to be?

Traveling around London can take much longer than you think, it might take 15 mins to drive 8 miles outside of London but could take 45 mins or longer to do the same journey on public transport in London.

And obviously the nicest areas generally aren't cheap. I live in Ealing and love it but we can only afford this because we've lived in London most of our lives.

whatkatydidt:What i mean by tight( can only afford rent of 1,000 a month max, considering deposit and other bills). lalalonglegs: 3bed, apartment or house. thanks blueberryupsidedown: do you have any idea of rent or part of the area that is okay? reggiebean: will look at surbiton on rightmoves or primelocation, do u have any idea how far earlsfield is to london(distance in km or minutes. many thanks all for your suggestions. cheers.
mothershipG: WHY? hubby got a job in london and i just need to transfer mine over, so i get to choose the area b4 i request transfer.

£1000 per month is going to be very very hard with three children to consider. How many bedrooms do you need? Could the older two share and the baby go in with you?

Earlsfield is sort of in between Clapham Jct. and Wimbledon, so from the station to get to central London, I say half an hour, max?

However, looking at your budget, and what size house you want, I think you're going to really struggle anywhere with good transport links. To give you an idea, I was renting a 3-bed in Clapham Junction last year, and it was £525/wk. Earlsfield will be cheaper than that, and Surbiton, cheaper still, but be prepared for sticker shock.

London is extremely expensive. I think you need to look at areas such as Croydon, Catford, Lewisham, or even Bromley (which is in neighboring Kent).

Council tax can also be high in London, and vary from borough to borough. For example, Richmond is 3k per year for a 3 bed house, whereas Wandsworth (the cheapest borough) is only 700 per year.

Transport is also expensive if you need to use trains.

For that sort of money your options will be limited to places like Croydon, Dagenham, Bexleyheath.

If you are planning on buying, what sort of budget will you be looking at? Could you get a shared ownership flat through your profession? Some offer nursers, teachers, police officers, "vital workers" good deal on shared ownerships in new builds. If you cant afford to rent in an area you like, and with good transport links to where your dh needs to be, it could be worth investigating these options.

where in London are you/DH going to be working? As a general rule, south London is cheaper than north, and south-east London is cheaper than south-west. You will need to factor in commuting costs to your monthly budget too.

I've had a look on rightmove, within a 15-mile radius of Croydon. There are three-bedroom properties out there at £1000pcm or less but they are generally flats, a long way out and ex-council.

South Norwood, Anerley and Penge are all affordable areas and close to the lovely Crystal Palace Park which is great for kids. Good transport links to Central London too (15 -25 mins).

To be frank for that kind of money you're not looking at the nicest areas unless you are prepared for a significant commute and then you have to factor in the additional time & expense.

Where in London is your DH's job? As if you want to minimise the commute that will narrow down your search area.

I think East Croydon might be a good bet. Decent 2 beds and some 3 beds for £1k/mth. Fast trains into central london, if that is where your jobs are. Also agree with suggestions of Anerley and Penge.

That's a very tight budget in our area we can't even get a studio apartment for that.

I think you need to look outside but bare in mind that high commuting fees occur. So cheaper house/ higher commute in money and time.

Would £1000 include commuting fees? Ie Woking to London was £3200 ish a year for a ticket in 2011, I presume higher now

You could look at Essex - Chelmsford is the county town but there are lots of towns around Billericay/Benfleet/Wickford/Rayleigh etc. that are all around 30mins commute from Liverpool Street. But I think you might even struggle to find something for £1000 unless you are able to make compromises.

quintessentialodear;will look at that option may be later, but just to settle in first and see how it goes. mrsoakenshield: He works in NW(WEMBLEY) very expensive rentwise, so not an option. lalalonglegs: thanks, very helpful. sat1977: will check those areas aswell, thanks. Whatkatydidnt: Is croydon nice?.mothershipG: NW(WEMBLEY). forevergreek: that is one of the major reason, why we keep the budget at that 1k/mth for rent. piprabbit:thanks.

If he's working in Wembley, then the only area suggested which makes sense is East Croyden ( direct train) - otherwise I'd be looking North West ( harrow, Wembley, willsden etc) otherwise he'll spend two plus hours commuting.

Watford too far?
www.rightmove.co.uk/property-to-rent/property-39412024.html

Wembley would be a PITA of a commute from Essex - sorry about that.

To be cunning / to think like a Londoner, you need to look at transport links to Wembley (not distance as the crow flies) and focus your search that way.

Could you squeeze into a 2 bed? This looks nice, at £1150 near Bushey station.

Local primaries look good on paper.