Forest Hill/Crystal Palace?

[poppybell]

We rent in Wimbledon at the moment but want to buy in SE London. We're thinking Forest Hill - we've been there a few times and love the Horniman, and the fact that the area is full of young families. I've also heard Crystal Palace mentioned a few times as a good place to bring up kids; but a colleague of mine who rented there until recently says he wouldn't buy there - full of boarded-up businesses, pound shops and tramps apparently ... but then again he dreams of gated communities in Surrey so we probably don't have the same taste...

Any opinions/advice greatly appreciated. We have a budget of £700,000 and two small children, so will need to think about schools as well.

I am moving from fulham to west dulwich, which is close to crystal palace. I think there's lots of potential in the area. It's not the finished product yet though, but then if it was, you wouldn't get much for your money. It feels much more like "real" london to me than SW london and I'm looking forward to moving there.

I live in forest hill near the horniman. I love it!! We've got a toddler and another on the way. Junior schools v good and loads of families here. I'd highly recommend it, it's got a lovely community feel.

Your budget is good too. We got a 4 bed place for less than that last year.

Are you looking for a 3 bed or 4 bed?

I personally would go for FH, down the road from ED, the horniman and still up and coming. CP is still up and coming but only a few streets I personally would want to live on. It's not full of boarded up shops, tramps and pound shops!

I think West Dulwich, Sydenham Woods is nicer than Crystal Palace.

We only need three bedrooms but four would be great if our budget would allow. We're pretty open to the type of property, DH is mad keen on 60s townhouses. I thought that West Dulwich would be a bit too expensive, but maybe I'm wrong. Hadn't considered Sydenham, will check it out.

There's a 60s townhouse for sale on Little Brownings - Sydenham / FH borders. £675k. It's practically next door to Eliot Bank school, one of the best schools in the area and just up the hill from the Horniman. It's got your name on it OP!

Link

Little Brownings is lovely, feels a long way from the main road - very leafy.

I will out myself now - I have close family who live on little Brownings!

I was raised in CP and, believe me, back in the 1970s it truly was full of boarded-up businesses and tramps (not so many pound shops back then). It was down on its uppers and well rough.

These days, I hardly recognise the place - it's chock-full of coffee shops and overpriced retro furniture shops. They're even building 'loft style apartments' on Westow Hill. True, they are nestled in with one pound shop and some chicken shops, but that gives the place a truly London feel, I reckon. There's also fantastic housing stock there from CP's glory days.

Having said that, I'm also fond of Forest Hill. I am sure I recognise Little Brownings - I used to stay with family friends there in my teens - and it is indeed a lovely place to live. Possibly a bit less 'now' than CP but also less edgy - and of course very close to trendy East Dulwich. It is fantastic to be near the Horniman if you have children. I've got the impression schools are better around Forest Hill but I haven't checked it out so don't take my word for it.

Hi Devora - I wonder if we know each other? I grew up in CP too (we moved there in 1972) and had family friends who lived in Little Brownings. PM me if you feel like it!

I live in Forest Hill and LOVE it! Moved for the school that my eldest now goes to. Love the Horniman, the views, the people. Crystal Palace is lovely too, although, like the trinket shops on Lordship Lane in East Dulwich, the antique shops on the CP triangle are less relevant once you have toddlers and above! Forest Hill is awash with friendly playgroups, young families and excellent primary schools - all with differing vibes to suit different preferences. Highly recommend it as an area!

I live in East Dulwich and I would choose Forest Hill over Crystal Palace. The schools in Forest Hill are really outstanding. Fairlawn is probably one of the best primary schools in London.

700k should still get you a 3 bed there, especially if it doesn't have to be a period house. Good luck!

Sounds like we've sorted your destination and your house then, OP

Bluestocking - will PM you.

The Little Brownings house looks promising. DH more into that style than me, but love the location, will try and get a viewing this weekend. I think we will go and check out CP as well. Schools could be a bit of an issue though, as far as I can glean there is only one really good primary and it's in Gipsy Hill. Though there is a 1960s townhouse on the Gipsy Hill/Sydenham borders here www.primelocation.com/for-sale/details/32357365?search_identifier=493451140af1a5d12eba2b8f9e5bc243#y2epwCtAmxwvWSly.97 . Does anyone know the area? Close to Sydenham Woods I think.

Noooooo. Little Brownings is off the market...

We moved to CP just over two years ago. Like you, we had been keen on Forest Hill, but viewed a house here on a whim and ended up buying it as we kept getting outbid in Forest Hill.

On the positive side it's very family friendly, lots of playgroups and baby-friendly cafes, CP park is great (farm, dinosaurs!) and a fab market and vintage shopping. However, it does feel rather more scruffy than Forest Hill and feels like it might not quite make it, gentrification wise (one of the biggest pubs in the area has just been sold to a Wetherspoons. I am sure this isn't a good sign...). Also, Forest Hill is next to West and East Dulwich. Crystal Palace is next to Norwood and Penge....

As for schools, Kingswood (officially in Gipsy Hill but just behind the CP triangle) is an amazing school, but has a tiny catchment area. Rockmount also gets good reports, but again, is oversubscribed.

On balance I would say go for Forest Hill. We kind of regret that we didn't keep looking there.

We got outbid in Forest hill too.

So we slightly shifted our search to include SE26 (sydenham postcode) and ended up getting a lovely house much cheaper than places we had been out bid on in SE23. And maybe just an extra 5-7 minutes further walk away from the station?

People in London can be funny about postcodes!

The townhouse you've linked to is probably in the catchment for Dulwich Woods, formerly Langbourne. It's previously been the school that people got when the other closer schools were full. However, it's having money plowed into it. If you've got young kids then maybe it might be a good bet by the time they're old enough to attend.

There's been a whole bunch of townhouses for sale in Forest Hill recently so as long as you don't need to move right now, you can wait to see what comes on the market.

You might squeak into Fairlawn with this one. www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-48319021.html

This should hopefully get you into Eliot Bank
www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-50161025.html

Another Forest-Hill dweller here, have a 4 year old and an 18 month old and love it! We're waiting to hear on school places for the 4 year old but the primaries here are all pretty good. Tons going on with regards to playgroups/classes etc, great parks nearby and good transport, good luck with the house hunting!

Also SE Londoner. We are on the forest Hill Catford border. SE6 postcode makes it cheaper and still only 20min walk to Forest Hill or honor oak or 5 mins on the bus.

Great schools too.

Love it.

Whoever said upthread about the Crystal Palace shops... I have a shop here which I'm just about to refurbish and Costa Coffee are moving in, just getting the place ready. I also hear on the grapevine, Oliver Bonas are looking for a site in the Triangle.

The property between Crystal Palace and Dulwich, for example, the one in Giles Coppice is a good area.

You could go along to west Norwood, massive investment in local amenities and fancy little bistros/cafes/gastro pubs popping up. It would be a bit cheaper too.

PM me if you want, been in the area for 15 years, though I'm moving out tomorrow.

ChocolatePecanPie, we are planning to move across to SE6 soon as parts of it are just as nice and close to all the things we need, the SE23 postcode is not essential to us! Which bit are you in?

We have family in Gipsy Hill, stay there every other month and it's def on the up in the last few years but god that road (gipsy road? Where the Mansion/Paxton pub is) is a bottle neck problem!

Lovely family friendly pubs in the Paxton/Mansion (it used to be one and now is the other, can never remember which!), Rosendale, & Alleys Head is ok for older kids too.
They're not so keen on parking permits around there which is fab considering it's london!

Oooh I can't wait to move to w dulwich. I think the Paxton will be our local pub....

Another plug for West Norwood where you will probably get more bang for your buck, though that may be changing as property prices seem to be shooting up by the second. Lots of great housing stock, decent trains to both Victoria and London Bridge, exellent primaries, new pool/leisure centre, lots of new cafes and pubs opening, and a picture house cinema in the pipeline.

You're not kidding about the prices. Just saw a similar style of property as yours, but semi detached and smaller in size, on the market at £100k more than we paid only a year ago! That is nuts.