Clapham/Battersea or Putney

[MrsFudge]

Another where should I buy a house thread (sorry!), but can't seem to find any recent threads comparing these areas so here goes.

Currently renting in Clapham/Battersea and looking to buy a 4 bed house, budget c£1.5m. Search so far mainly Between the Commons and Nightengale Triangle. However I'm now second guessing myself and wondering if this is the 'best' part of London for us. Main criteria is south, good private schools and

Oh and how is the airplane noise in Putney? Particularly around East Putney as that would be where we would look I think

@mrsfydge Are you sure the commute from Wimbledon is too long? 15 minutes to Waterloo on the mainline.

We're house buying at the moment and have rejected Putney as too urban and too polluted. The high street has some of the worst pollution levels in London and the High Street is very sad these days.

Oh and if you're commuting to Bank you can get the Northern Line from South Wimbledon. DH does this commute on a regular basis. It's good because you will always get a seat in the morning. You could look at Merton Park - lovely period houses near John Innes Park.

Agree Putney High street is a bit sad these days but Putney as a whole definitely feels less urban than Clapham and has the big benefit of the River. I'd say West Putney is nicer than East Putney as lots more green spaces such as Putney Common, Barnes Common and near to Richmond Park etc. Very good state schools as well although looks like that isn't a factor for you.
Don't really notice the aircraft noise anymore.

How about Surbiton, quick train to Waterloo. Lots of green spaces around like Bushy Park, Hampton Court, Richmond Park. Close to the river, shops in Kingston and private schools in the area, great community feel. You could find somewhere walkable within 15 mins of station.

I don't think Putney is nice for children, I think of the area for bars etc

Lived in Clapham, worked in Putney. Clapham definitely. Also would consider Wandsworth. I miss my SWs.

Have you ever considered Tooting ?

Lovely area for families, great high street, lots of parks and open space, a mix of everyone there and still one of the areas in London that feels very ‘safe’, lovely spacious properties and access two tube stations, a rail station and plenty of busses to get practically anywhere.

I grew up in Tooting for 21 years and have to say it was a picture perfect lifestyle, and I don’t remember ANY crime - literally nothing bad every happened there and there are no ‘slummy parts’. Not that that’s a bad thing as I like abit of everything but it was very safe and peaceful for families and still is. Definitely within the catchment areas for local private schools which are great and there is also fantastic state schools. I went to a girls school there and it was great (honestly I didn’t realise at the time but now I’m older I have to say the education was second to none !) and there was also a neighbouring boys school which again were great.

Battersea is nice but some parts are quite run down and I find sometimes the people can be abit hit and miss. But that’s everywhere I suppose. Having said that it’s easy to get to anywhere - being near to Clapham junction station and you can be in central London via a quick bus journey (15 mins) over the bridge. My sister and aunts and cousins grew up and still live here and still love it. But it has definitely changed over the years. Along Northcote road is lovely and again great for families - (think ‘yummy mummy’s and dog cafe’s) and you can get a lovely house for your budget and there’s the huge Wandsworth common nearby if you like open spaces.

Putney is nice. Lovely houses and again think yummy mummy’s. However has changed a lot over the years and doesn’t really have the WOW factor it used to have. The high street is ok. Some of your usual chain shops and “The Exchange” shopping center but shops are constantly closing down and then another pop up and so on so. Nice area though and great for families. Close to green space and there’s the lovely Putney Bridge which you can walk over and watch the occasional rowing/ boating competitions. Good for private schools though and the local state schools are fantastic also If your open to it.

I like to refer to this deprivation map. It’s largely accurate IME.

vis.oobrien.com/booth/

It finds Tooting less than nice, which I’d agree with, I’m afraid.

I’d also say that Wimbledon is much better connected than say Battersea, have you planned out some actual journeys? Including looking at train/tube frequencies.
If you can be near a station you’ll get into the middle quicker than if you live further in.
It’s also really useful to have more than one mode of possible transport, so that if there’s a problem with the underground you’ve still got the overground etc.

@BiscuitDrama - yes, that's why Wimbledon and Richmond are so good. If one line is messed up you just switch to another. Wimbledon has mainline to Waterloo, Northern, District and Thameslink. Thameslink (when working) is a brilliant way to commute to Blackfriars and Kings Cross.

Merton also has excellent state primaries where it's perfectly possible to go independent at 11+ (as OP asked for).

Thanks everyone, this is really really helpful. I think I need to have another look at Wimbledon - we spend quite a lot of our weekends there on the common etc, so it would be great if we could make it work.

And thanks also for the map of London areas - it's really interesting and useful!!

I haven't looked at either Surbiton or Tooting yet - slightly nervous of widening the net even further again otherwise we'll never narrow it down, but I will bear in mind!

I’d say you’ll find Surbiton takes too long to get to.

Oh and I'm not set on private for primary (but will be private secondary). I only said private primary as from what I've seen so far in Clapham, catchments are tiny and houses in catchments tend to be quite a lot more expensive than those outside! But if that isn't the case in other areas then we would consider state schools too.

I'd spend your weekends hanging out in various parts of SW London and see where you like. All the places have pros and cons and are nice places to live and you probably can't go wrong! Prices aren't rising so no rush!

With your generous budget I’d look at the South Park Gardens area of wimbledon. 2 outstanding faith schools and one (very) good non denominational school just a few minutes’ walk. And of course very easy access to the tube or main line station. Very family friendly and green, great schools (private and state) and easy commute plus lovely shops and village up the hill.

Or pine grove (closer to the village but further from South Wimbledon tube) and get into bishops gilpin school. Or near Dundonald school (Wilton crescent is v nice).

Wimbledon does looks faster commute than I thought, via Waterloo (I had mainly been looking at district line before). Think we'll go there again this weekend and perhaps look at some areas near the station we haven't seen before and compare to what we can get in Clapham. Thanks again!

Definitely look around the South Park area as it's walking distance to South Wimbledon. Merton Park (Dorset Road and Church Lane) would also be worth a look.

Ineresting map! Seems very accurate

North Battersea is lovely & obviously has the park. No tube but decent buses & depending on how far north can walk to Sloane Square - but a proper walk not a 2 min walk - or walking distance to Clapham Junction - that may rule it out for you. A couple of v good private prep schools

Map seems v accurate!

Interesting how yellow/green the map gets in specific hot spots eg around Francis road in Leyton in a seenof orange/red.

*trendy hot spots

We’ve lived in North Battersea, Between the Commins and Balham

Between the commons is our stand out favourite on all fronts. If you look around the Broomwood end of Northcote Road, you have commuting options from Clapham South (northern line) and Clapham junction, and all the Clapham commons privates as well as Broomwood, Thomas’s and the Balham privates

We’ve got 2 sets of great friends who live in clapham old town, and they seem to spend more time around Northcote Road than they do in the old town, but I think you get slightly more house for your money in SW4 than SW11 at the moment
That said, BTC prices have fallen and I’ve seen some nice places come on the market recently around £1.4 which would have been £1.7 at the peak

Have you looked at Balham? Not just nightingale triangle but the other side of the high road. That would be my second choice based on school choice and commute, as well as being a nice high street and lots of green space

Miss Clapham Jct. We lived in Streatham for a bit. Love SW.

Thanks @Sparechange - we've only really looked at Nightingale triangle and not Balham proper (mainly as I think we'd like to keep Clapham schools as an option and it seems a bit of a trek from further into Balham). Agree re. your comments on Clapham Old Town - we ruled out it and Abbeville Village for the same reason!