Where would you spend a million in London?

[hiphophippity]

I have NCed for this. Would love some ideas/MN wisdom. if you have a budget of a million or thereabouts and wanted to buy a family house in London for a young family of 2 young girls where would you look? Can budget for independent school. Have been looking West but wanted some new ideas thrown out. Happy to go pretty urban... Too suburban would probably put us off.

But more I would love to here where YOU would go (or already are) and why. Need reasonable access to town for daily commute (West End/City). We have lived all over (but not with children, and now moving back from abroad)

Parsons Green/fulham etc. love it.
Have fun looking- send links on here so i can property perv :)

Wandsworth - some areas out of reach for decent house at a million but battersea and balham/tooting borders are nice; southfields, earlsfield

just seen house rather than flat- streatham/wandsworth

How about the London/Essex borders like Woodford, Chigwell, Loughton? Close to Epping Forest so close to gorgeous green areas but well connected to London via the tube on the Central Line. £1m would buy a lovely family home there.

Swathes of Battersea are well beyond £1m now.

How about Earlsfield?

What do you define as 'too suburban'? Another vote for Southfields/Wimbledon Park.

Gidea park, Essex. In fact I'd go from here to shenfield. Quick links to London. Quick links to m25/North via m1/m11/a14. Southend airport and City airport both easy.

There's excellent schools in Essex of state, private and independent.

PM if want more

God don't think we could afford Fulham parsons green at a mill... unless anyone can prove me wrong. We had been looking in Chiswick (Acton borders) but have been under offer 3 times and something has gone wrong. Nightmare. So we are taking a breather. And -perhaps as I believe in fate for some stupid reason - I have decided I should spread my search. Great friends of ours have just bought in Peckham. Beautiful Georgian

I've go for Richmond but you don't get much for a million

Oops. Bloody phone.

Beautiful Georgian house for less than a million and it got me thinking. Maybe West isn't best? ! It certainly feels a bit damn expensive

Some great ideas here, thank you. Googling away.

Herne hill. Near station.

Chiswick is obscenely expensive and under the flight path. I would focus on Acton, maybe Ealing. Acton central is getting Crossrail in a couple of years.

Ealing, really near chiswick, great schools, lovely parks, cross rail, lots of development/investment.

If you fancy village life, go great dunmow in Essex.

Equally if you want sea life try Leigh on sea. Very quirky, great beach, cafe culture not at all kiss-me-quick.

Otherwise what about Waltham abbey? Or Epping? Central line.

if you wanted to be central I'd go for Katherine Dock a bit further out, Blackheath maybe?

Definitely Earlsfield/Southfields

Brockley SE4. Look for houses in the conservation area.

Very good state primary schools nearby. Excellent girls' comprehensive school in the middle of the park (Prendergast Hilly Fields College). If you're set on independent schools, there are plenty nearby - St Dunstan's in Catford, Colfe's in Lee, Sydenham High, Blackheath High and various prep schools in Blackheath, JAGS and various prep schools in Dulwich.

Brilliant transport links - trains from Brockley to London Bridge (8 min journey), Overground to Highbury, easy change at Canada Water (about 10 mins from Brockley) to Jubilee Line. Other stations in easy striking distance are St John's, Ladywell, Lewisham and Crofton Park (on line to Blackfriars and St Pancras).

I'd also check out Chichester. Old town lifestyle with cafe culture.

And most stops going into London Bridge station. Some great spots inside 1hr on a train. Which is nothing! And borough markets marvellous.

If your looking central, friends have a flat in parliament sq. not house.

What about North. Highgate is gorgeous although I don't think you'll get much chang for 1m. Crouch end, Stroud green Alexandra palace etc all nearby and on the train line into city plus buses. Cheaper than West!

Muswell Hill/Crouch End.

I live in Chiswick, but to be honest, it would now be very difficult to find anything that was potentially large enough for under one million. You also find that there are lots of people looking at the same house and they are often sold go rover the asking price. We are looking for a larger house and have found that Ealing offers much better value and the market is not as competitive.

I'd go zone two or three south west London (Southfields, wandsworth, balham, Tooting Bec, earlsfield, Wimbledon park, nicer bits of streatham) or Dulwich area (East dulwich, herne hill).

most of battersea (sw11) will be out of price range but sw18, sw12 and sw17 all doable for £1m. In those areas it will be a trade off between space and exact location, for example in the Nightingale triangle (most expensive bit of sw12) you will get a 3/4 bed; further towards tooting or streatham you could get more space for the same money, but will be further from the smart shops and private schools. Earlsfield is a nice family area. Tooting is smartening up fast at the moment.

My friend has just bought in Hither Green- amazing Georgian refurb for under a million- massive!