Lewisham regeneration- a good place to buy & bring up young family?

[TurquoiseDress]

Currently live in SE London in Camberwell area.
Renting a small 1 bed flat.

OH and I looking to move further out to hopefully buy a home (not sure quite how at this moment!) where we can bring up LO and hopefully have another baby at some point.

We've seen a lot of work happening in Lewisham- flats being built, station area being changed and the new leisure centre opened.

What are opinions on Lewisham as a place up settle and bring up kids?
I know it's got a bit of a dodgy reputation although I think things are slowly changing.

We've got friends who live on the Greenwich border, they love the easy transport links, park etc.

We're no way in a position to buy however we're trying to work out where in SE/London we could start to settle and build up family while continuing to save for a deposit.

Any thoughts and opinions?
Thank you

Also looking at North Kent as a possibility too.
However do not want an overly long commute to work- we work in Canary Wharf and Victoria.

Lewisham is a lovely place to bring up children. I am originally from there and feel totally at home; it is an amazing melting pot, lovely victorian houses(many have been restored or extended), good amenities and great transport links. Your neighbors could be anyone and everyone, professionals of all races, celebrities, sahms, students.

North Kent is very opposite: quite homogeneous (white working class), box houses, poor city links, basically yucksville by comparison. sorry that I'm so polarised but its true. North Kent also has a bad reputation due to very bad race relations (think Stephen Lawrence).

Stephen Lawrence died in eltham, which is se9 not north Kent.
I dont think I would buy near the station in Lewisham, I would look more at hither green.
We live in Bromley at the moment, transport to Victoria is good canary wharf not so great. Bromley is not all white working class there is a mix of everyone. House prices vary across the borough schools are good but it is not an exciting place to live!

I have lived in Lewisham, Greenwich and now London/Kent borders. All have their pros and cons. The following is my opinion only: the more central london boroughs are great with babies / little ones as there is so much to do ie. mother/baby activities and lots of choice for nurseries. However, the quality of primary schools is really hit-and-miss and the local councils don't necessarily give support to those schools most in need. Also I found it very hard to make friends with neighbours and build up the local support network you need with a young family (I used groups & eventually school for this).

We were very happy with our primary school but moved out for a greater choice of good secondaries. And the commute into town now is only 10mins longer. I have met more friendly and supportive people in the last six months than I met in 8 years in London. However, house prices are higher. Also, I agree that I have moved into a middle class enclave and it is definitely less racially mixed. However, I'd like to point out that the Stephen Lawrence incident was in Eltham, not Kent, and that area is more openly BNP-inclined than where I live now.

I hope this helps a little. Obviously going to visit the areas you're thinking of will really help.

Thank you for your quick responses!

TeaAddict great to hear from someone who grew up there and knows it well!

nancy why would you not buy/live near the station?

I know there are lots of new flats round there and the next DLR stop- have a few work colleagues who live in them, one has bought the others are renting.

Thanks for being honest and saying Bromley is not an exciting place to live! One of my work colleagues grew up there and refuses to move back as she thinks it's dull, middle class suburbia.

Maybe the deciding factor will be the schools.
At this point LO is tiny and it's not really massively on the radar. I know some people plan hugely in advance eg move to the 'right' area before even having a baby...not us!

eltham, bromley, orpington, welling, chiselhurst... all leading to north Kent and the inhabitants all have very similar mindsets quite frankly. but, your choice.

monkey thank you for your thoughts.
Yes regarding SL that was in Eltham- I think there were marches last year by the English defence league after that poor soldier was murdered in Woolwich.

Ok, so house prices are higher out in places like Bromley/North Kent compared to somewhere like Lewisham?

I guess we need to decide whether we want to go for the whole surburbia/North Kent thing or stay more into London.

Have to say that Lewisham is very attractive due to the transport great links. I just wonder if the schools will be the negative factor.

What do people think about the whole regeberation- will this help to improve standards overall?
I do acknowledge what you say about local council support so that doesn't always follow if an area itself is improving.

The number of people living in or near Lewisham to get to Canary wharf has increased I think due to the large amount of flats that have been built...but I guess the question is would those people actually settle there to make it a family home?

What's Hither Green like? And Catford?
Thank you again for your responses so far!

Have to admit, colleagues at work who live in Bromley/North Kent look at me in horror when I suggest we're going to look to settle in Lewisham with LO.

Equally, when I tell some of them where we live now and the size of our home people can seem a bit judgemental- have to add, these are firmly colleagues and not true friends!

I'm thinking it's just the snob factor but equally wondering what's so bad about Lewisham?!!
Definitely get the impression that Bromley has much better schools by comparison.

I'm in Hither Green with a 20 week old. We get the advantages of Lewisham (leisure centre, transport links, shopping) without the grot. The centre of lewisham (shopping bit) is pretty grotty, tbh, but useful, and IME perfectly safe. Not sure about residential bits, but round the hospital has a bad rep (the hospital's pretty dire as well!), I think otherwise fine.

There are LOADS of baby friendly groups and activities in lewisham and surrounding areas, and it's easy to make friends through them.
Have a look at Blackheath Standard (more affordable than Village), Ladywell and some of the fringes of Catford (honestly!)
They are all pricey areas, as bloody Location, Location, Location has been blathering on about them, but they're cheaper than North London equivalents, and v leafy and pleasant.

Op, the bit by the station is just loads of new flats and the station, I wouldn't want a new flat which is why I wouldn't live there. Bromley is boring but it is not the miserable racist place that tea is making it out to be! We live here because of the schools, once dd has finished school we probably would look to move back towards London ( I grew up in deptford so bromley does feel suburban to me). House prices in Bromley vary massively, you certainly pay a premium to be near a good school.

Do bear primary school catchments in mind; it will come around very quickly and provision is very mixed. Are you considering a new build flat? Remember that distance upwards counts for distance from school...

We moved from Lee Green to Bromley 30+ years ago because we needed a 4 bed house and prices were cheaper. I always thought we'd move back closer to London when the dcs had left home. But Lewisham and Catford shopping centres have gone steadily downhill, especially in the last 10 years. The department stores have gone and every time a shop closes down it seems to be replaced by a chicken n chips or pound store. Don't know about regeneration. It certainly needs it. It really does feel more of an economically deprived area than it used to be. I think the trend seems to be for families to move out.

Yes, it has good transport links. But schools are very mixed, especially at secondary level. Even the best can't match Bromley schools.

Prices are not necessarily higher in Bromley. Have a look at Penge and Anerley. Still has a London feel and the Overground, but with suburban amenities in Beckenham and Central Bromley close by.

And there are frequent fast trains - 15 mins - to Victoria from Bromley South.

Thanks for all the responses, really is food for thought!

It sounds like a few of you think that Lewisham has gone downhill compared to several years ago...it's so hard to see things clearly, to us we've seen all the building going on and glossy signs in Lewisham...it felt like new things and changes were going on.

However we don't know the place at all so it's very hard to judge!

No we're not looking to buy a new build flat- ideally we'd want a small family house.
At the moment this is all pie in the sky though as I don't think we could afford anything and OH trying to sell his flat up North without losing too much money!

Flats feel restrictive as you generally cannot extend, plus the newbuild ones have tiny dimensions.
Would consider a Victorian conversion maybe, high ceilings
etc.

Will check out Penge and Anerley, thanks for the suggestions. Having now started to give it more thought, I think schools will be the deciding factor for us!

I really don't think Lewisham shopping has gone downhill in the last few years. I've been in the area for 7 years and it is much the same except we now have a Costa! in the shopping centre there's m&s, Next, Boots, Tiger, H&M, TK Maxx, Argos, Sainsburys, Holland and Barrett to name a few and yes a poundshop... And a brilliant Italian deli outside.

We live in Hither Green which is nicer than central lewisham as it's greener and a bit quieter. Trains to Charing Cross are better but more of a walk to the DLR and no Victoria trains. We have some pockets of new flats here too if that's what you want but much lower rise. Lots and lots of babies. A few nice cafes, decent enough pub (and another near the hospital), expensive baby shop. We have a mn meet up too, what more could you want!

Oh and humptydumpty feel free to join the local meet up group if you're interested

glorious that would be lovely! When and where do you meet? Ta!

Catford is about to go through a huge regeneration I think,it certainly needs it!It's much cheaper there than lewisham when it comes to house prices but that will change.
We are in Sydenham so know the lewisham area a little bit.
People are really snobby aren't they?Our dd is in a good school but people always ask what will we do for secondary ?Well... We can't afford private and we can't afford to move so I guess our DC will have to go to the local secondaries!!

About once a month, most often Friday afternoon but it varies and this month probably a weekend so that people who work weekdays can join in. You need to go to the page and click 'join group' and then you'll get all the notifications local.mumsnet.com/lewisham/group-meet-ups/hither-green

Yes people can be really snobby about things!

Our LO is only a few months old but everyone seems to be questioning what we're going to do for schools/secondary education...feels like we should have everything planned & sorted already!

Another thing I find people quite snobby about is the whole having a car/not having a car thing.
We don't have a car- we could afford one if we wanted but we simply don't need one right now!
We use public transport, there are buses everywhere in our local area.

I've noticed it's the ones who live in suburbia who do the sharp intake of breath- "oh, you don't have a car?" and asking how we get around, visit friends and transport LO.
I find it quite tiring now, listening to people's inane questions and inquiries!

Thanks glorious I'll do that.

I live in Hither Green (have done since 2012) good transport links into Cannon St and Charing Cross. There are good primary schools here but from what I hear hard to get into (like everywhere in London I guess?!) I like the community spirit here lots to do. I've only lived here a few years so can't comment on what lewisham was like before but yes central lewisham is not the most glamorous place but useful for the DLR and shopping for some of the high street shops (M&s, H&M, TKmax etc) as someone pointed out before Hither Green is a lot greener and quieter - lots of families and young couples here which is why we decided to settle here.