The strains of house hunting it begining to take it's toll

[leadinglady]

I am exasperated, not having much luck finding that lovely family home that i'm after. The problem is that me and DP are separating finally and he has found a nice 4 bed house in Thornton Heath. For the sake of the kids he decided we should live reasonably close to each other so they can get from one house to the other fairly easily. I have been looking at properties around Birbeck, Elmers End, South Norwood (can't afford CP or Brockley etc.

I have sort of settled on S. Norwood but need assurance that it is safe and my teenage DCs will be OK coming and going to school by themselves.

I don't know whether anyone is up at the moment who can give thought, experience of the area.

I am looking at a few properties tomorrow. We have visited both Birkbeck, elmers end and S. Norwood to get a feel for the area, the boys said they preferred Birbeck but i can get more for my money in SN but can't base our safety on that.

Please help

Sorry, I don't know anything about the areas, but I just wanted to offer a bit of sympathy. I know they say that moving house is one of the most stressful life events, but so is a relationship breakdown, and with that, you tend to get the moving house thrown in for good measure.

Reserve judgement till you've seen a few places. If what you can buy in the preferred area is wildly inadequate, then that's ruled out. Or if its beyond your expectations, then maybe you don't need to consider sacrificing the location.

By all means listen to your boys, but remember that this is YOUR choice, and trust your own judgement. There are some advantages to being single, and making your own decisions can be one of them, but it takes practice to build up your confidence.

Good luck!

I dont know the area at all, but this was a good thread recently discussing those neighbourhoods: www.mumsnet.com/Talk/property/a1848731-Thornton-Heath-With-young-children-would-you