where to live? West Drayton, Ruislip, Northolt or Rickmansworth?

[Frederick1984]

Hello everyone, I am looking for my first property at the moment. I think I need more advice from friends in Mumsnet.

I was looking for Southwest London and beyond, and some friends suggest Northwest London and further area. They mentioned places like West Drayton, Ruislip, Northolt and Rickmansworth. My friends said these places generally have better public transport (tubes, for most of them), convenient facilities (more shops etc. in High Street) and prices are lower than Southwest London. Schools are also Ok. I am not sure about safety. It might be a problem.

I am commuting to Central London every weekday, we have a daughter and my wife would like shops around within walking distance. It means we are looking for properties close to rail/tube stations and good schools, ideally with shops around. My wife would like it to be quite and safe too. But I think a convenient location is very hard to be quite and safe anyway.

If the mortgage works as planned, hopefully we can afford something around £400k benchmark. Not sure if it is a realistic number for my description above.

Please let me know what do yo think. I am new for these areas. So any comment or advice will be welcomed.

Thank you very much for your help! Wish you all a nice day!

Bumping for you OP.
I know Ruislip and Rickmansworth quite well, both are very pleasant.

That’s a fairly small budget for Ruislip within walking distance of the high street, you would get something in your budget maybe around South Ruislip or perhaps Ruislip Gardens. I would stay away from Northolt, although cheaper, but schools not as good and just a bit grotty.

West Drayton will be on cross rail and is much more reasonably priced but not as nice as Ruislip, don’t know much about the schools.

Rickmansworth is lovely but I don't think your budget will go far there, you could get a 2 bed house or flat. We lived in Bushey until recently, which is also nice and has better quicker trains into London than Ricky - 20min to Euston. Both are great places for families with small children; excellent schools and lots of things to do.
If you do go into Rickmansworth definitely pay a visit to Cinnamon Square, an independent bakery on the High Street - it's divine.

Ruislip is a lovely area, with a good high street, lovely community feel and great schools. Unfortunately your budget would be low for the area unless you'd consider 2 bed with a shared garden? South Ruislip may come within budget or Northolt but would agree, it is grotty.