Hither Green or East Dulwich?

[caroallis]

I'm on maternity leave with a new 10 week old (first baby). We are currently in Finsbury Park/highbury but need to move SE for my husbands new job.
We have narrowed down to Hither Green or East Dulwich. Hither green seems to have more on offer on our budget but East Dulwich has a good feel (more like crouch end of the south!).
Does anyone have recommendations? Would love to hear from those of you who have made the move from north to south!
Looking for somewhere to live with a nice friendly family feel and good access to kings cross for visiting family in northern England!

Hither green varies by area.
Also consider places on the direct line to kings cross ....Westcombe park and Charlton have direct trains to kings X every half hour and are nearer the Blackwall tunnel too which makes driving north much easier. Also v family oriented areas.
I moved to Westcombe Park /Blackheath borders with a small baby and soon met people and made friends.
What sort of budget do you have for what sort of property?

Out of he 2 areas Dulwich will always come out top, in fact the comparison is like chalk & cheese. It is a more desirable area for sure but there is a price premium for that. Have you thought of surrounding areas to dulwich, e.g crystal palace. Depends what your budget is really.
Blackheath i is much better to hither green imo and has similar village 'vibes' to dulwich. I went to school in blackheath (quite a few moons ago albeit) and you have Greenwich near buy also which is nice although traffic leading towards the main A2 route down towards shooters hill can be nuts at peak times.

Where does he/do you need to commute to?

I'd personally choose HG - much more for your money, genuinely "up and coming" with new little shops etc opening every day, good primary schools with decent catchments, lots of young families and therefore lots of activities during the day.

I like ED to visit but wouldn't live there personally.

I prefer West Dulwich to East Dulwich, it's far nicer. East Dulwich has a nice high road tho. Hither Green is ok - have you visited there? It has a good feel to it.

Blackheath is lovely I just find it a bit soul-less.

What about Forest Hill or Crystal Palace? Lovely areas and they have both Rail and London Overground links which is good for travel. The Overground can also link you to tube stations

As pp have said, East Dulwich is a lot more established than HG. What's your budget and what are your room requirements? If you are looking for a 3 bed house with garden etc and have less than 750k, I would opt for HG.

I would actually recommend Greenwich as a happy medium between HG and ED.

I don’t know HG well. ED is a nice enough area but I think there are nicer, space limited, cafe culture with a 10 week might be lovely but garden sizes, narrow and busy roads with crazy toddlers not so much. I much prefer Herne Hill, west Dulwich, west Norwood and rules hill would be on the quick line through to kings cross/st Pancras. Are you renting or buying? Budget? Size you want?

Thanks so much for all of the input!
We have a 900k budget and need at least 3 beds. Definitely want freehold house this time with our own garden.
DH is working in Kent at the moment though will be moving locations around south east London over the next 5 years (he's a doctor so will be going as far in as guys and tommys, kings and the other local hospitals).
Hither Green is attractive as our budget would go a lot further (we could get the dream home), and East Dulwich would be a bit more of a squeeze financially but better high street and generally a more polished area!
We have considered some of the surrounding areas (Peckham rye looks good, and I love the horniman with farmers market at forest hill).
With a new family and originally from a tiny village up north, I'm looking for a community feel!
There will have to be some compromises along the way, I'm sure!

Despite the hype Peckham is still 'gritty' and I find Hither Green is a bit dodgy in parts too although it does have lovely housing stock and a nice community feel. Primary schools good, secondaries not so good but the train connections go out to neighbouring Borough Grammar Schools. Dulwich is lovely but very expensive. For that budget I'd look at the Westcombe Park area (Maze Hill station) or Blackheath Standard SE3. Quick journeys into town or Kent, safe, also have good primary schools.

900k and 3 beds? You can get something in Herne Hill or North Dulwich maybe West Dulwich.

I wouldn’t go do HG with a 900k budget.

Peckham isn’t anywhere near as nice as Dulwich / HH.

Check school catchment areas, they are small.

Really good school catchment area, you’d get into Dulwich hamlet.

Red Post Hill, Herne Hill, London SE24
www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-75061583.html

I live nearby - it’s great! I would also consider West Norwood, which feels further out but has a nice atmosphere. For your budget I would look in Herne Hill.

Think about where you’ll be working too, and look at the areas with multiple transport links.

The red post hill house linked is a good call. Walking distance to Denmark hill, north Dulwich and Herne Hill train stations giving you 3 lines as options. You’d be in the catchment for 2/3 good primary schools and a good secondary school. Green area, parks and a great community feeling.

There is a fixer-upper of the same style round the corner on a slightly bigger plot for 700.

It’s a properly fab area. So great to bring up children, amazing community, genuine ‘village’ fell bumping into people you know all the time and great links into central London.

East Dulwich!

@caroallis you would get something in Dulwich with that budget, I would also have a look at Beckenham, good train link into London Bridge/Waterloo have a look at the roads around Kenthouse or Clockhouse stations, some really beautiful houses with large gardens lots of facilities, some really lovely parks & good high street also excellent schools, could also look at the conservation area around Langley Park the nearest station would be Eden Park.

Amazing, thank you guys! Lots of food for thought! I've got some property viewings lined up in East Dulwich this weekend and we'll look more at the other areas whilst we are there.
It's great to have so many options on our budget

Do you mind if I ask a personal question.
What is your combined salary, what job do you do and how much is your mortgage.
Living in Yorkshire, I just can't fathom how people afford houses of 900k when typically you can only borrow around 3 x your salary.
And this is a 3 bed house.
I know London salaries are more, but are they THAT much more.
I don't mean to cause offence by this but I just can't understand how people can afford to live in these places.
Me and DH have a combined income of 95k and our mortgage is 200k.
We have a second child on the way and it's going to be tight.
I just can't see how we would be able to afford to live down south.
Do you have insanely well paid jobs??

@caroallis forgot to mention, the high street in Beckenham has road works at the moment, so it’s a bit of a pain but will be finished very soon, some good coffee places especially up by M&S (Deli Nene has a nice children’s play area at the back) also have a look at Kelsey Park just at the back of high street, it really lovely place to have a stroll.

Notanaturalmum house prices have doubled or tripled in London since 2005 (particularly in the last 4 years). Al lot of our friends, all late 40's, early 50's are property millionaires and now own two homes or more, often mortgage free, on public sector salaries. Can't see that happening again.

@notanaturalmum yes it is mostly equity. We bought a flat in our thirties and on a combined salary of 135k we had to move out of London to get a house. We made about 200k on our flat so that was our equity but we still couldn't afford London prices for a house. If we'd been in a position to buy earlier we would have made much more in equity like most of our new neighbours who also came from London and don't now have a crippling mortgage like we do!

Shout out for Forest Hill - it's very close to east Dulwich if you're on the horniman side and I think it's got a better community feel than hither green (lived there too...) The Hill between forest hill and Peckham rye park (forest hill road) is very handy for the east Dulwich community and shops.

@notanaturaum you've got me thinking and wondering...! I never expected to buy down here when I started out on my 14k graduate salary 10 years ago and lived in grotty flatshares!
DH got on the ladder 7 years ago with help from his parents. (they bought in London 30 years ago and caught the big wave! We are hoping for more help from them on this next move)
DH made money on his first flat and we bought our current place together adding my life savings and have done extensive work to it so as to make money again in a more challenging market.
We have also always maxed out on mortgage along the way (our current mortgage is 375k)
DH is a registrar doctor on a training salary. I'm a sales manager. Combined income around 110k. We saved last year (DH did some extra shifts) as I only get SMP and I suppose we are also relatively thrifty (we don't have much designer stuff) and don't have anything bought on finance. Hope that helps!

Herne Hill is brilliant, great restaurants and bars, good child orientated community feel, Brockwell Park, farmers market, walking distance to Brixton for tube and Ritzy and new theatre coming soon. But schools can be tricky, would need to be in Rosendale catchment, probably. Good transport links.

West Norwood: good high St, the ‘Feast’ every week, excellent primary school (Julian’s).

A bit further west , Streatham Hill. Some areas have brilliant community feel, several outstanding primaries, outstanding secondary, more house for money.

I like ED. And WD but primary school catchment can be hard in WD.

Depending on where you are in Herne Hill; DVIS, Bessemer, goose green, st saviours, Lyndhurst, Rosendale, Judith Kerr, dog kennel hill and jessops all may be an options for state primaries.