family moving to london 500k budget .........where to?

[zurich09]

We are currently moving from abroad and have been shocked at just how expensive london has become in recent years. We are trying to find somewhere to buy - need a two-bed place close to good schools............Used to live in London, but have been completely priced out of everywhere. If you had to commute to Euston/Bloomsbury and were looking for a nice family area with good schools where would you look? Everyone seems to be raving about SELondon but got a bit scared that the commute is really long. Used to live in Muswell Hill but thats way out of our price range nowadays. Any advice would be very welcomed.

Beckenham is just lovely
One of my dream places to live in London plus plenty of decent schools there

I always loved forest hill and Brockley

If I won the lotto my dream would be to buy in Muswell Hill - schools there are so great been in to Many of them as part of my job

Depends on the lifestyle you're after. If you'd rather have a house with a garden in a nice, family area with top schools, then living further out might be a good idea - as mentioned upthread Kingston, Sutton or Carshalton- Top local authorities in the UK for attainment in schools at primary and secondary level (and also have grammar schools). The trade off would be a longer commute but not that pricey as you'd still be in London.

If you decide to live more central, do your research when it comes to the local schools. Catchment areas for good schools are often tiny and if your children are of school age already, there might not be any spaces and you'll be asked to travel far to a rubbish school. Less of a worry in Kingston or Sutton as most schools are fab. I think Borough of Bexley is also quite like that.

And consider secondary options carefully as the closer you are in, the more difficult it is to find a school that you'll like unless the whole inner city thing is your thing. If you're even remotely snobbish, you'll be truly stuck.

If you’re happy to have a flat, or a former council house, have you thought about White City? You could take the Hammersmith & City line into work, and walk to the museums in Kensington at weekends. Westfield on your doorstep. I don’t know how to do links but go on Rightmove and look for W12.

You're also better off renting for a bit if you can (not sure how old your DS is), especially if you don't know an area that well any more, that would give you the time to spend weekends places and test the water. Watch out for new build flats with expensive annual fees too,
Pollution is bad here most days, so take that into account if you can
It's meant to be a buyers market so you might be able to get some of the places down a bit.
Good luck!

Pinner Village in Harrow or Harrow on the Hill. Both places are stunning.

Should've said- the Met Line takes 20 mins to get to Baker Street and 40 mins to Euston.

yep decided that the plan is to rent for 6 months and check out some of these areas. hoping house prices dont rocket back up again. buying/plus having a kid is so much more complicated. up till now just been livng in the same place for years and years renting but this was in europe and everywhere is safe, easy, and the schools are ok. london seems properly overwhelming. our priorities - aside from the budget are: easy commute, schools and safety. but with 500k i think that might prove a challenge.....i mean ideally i would love to live in zone two with fab parks, coffee shops, slightly alternative left leaning families (i know i know.....) but in practice we werent in the country to buy in 2011 like everyone else so thats just a pipe dream ......

also how did you guys all pick what to buy - did you first identify an area and wait until the right place came up or did you through your criteria and then just see what was on zoopla at the time when you were looking around?

We moved out from zone 2. We spent best part of a year checking out different areas - we would go and spend most of our Saturday hanging around an area walking around, looking at notice boards, walking down residential roads etc + compared all the stats on schools, safety, pollution etc.

It sounds like you already have a good idea of what you'd like and zone 2 isn't that big. It should be easy enough to identify parts that are affordable to you and then check out police and school stats. Generally crime rates will be higher than further out but I don't think you'll feel unsafe unless you go somewhere actually rough.

Oh, and there are 46 Labour MP representing London - Wikipedia will tell you where they are so should be easy enough to identify leftie areas.

@JoJoSM2 - thank you! Where did you end up picking? Just curious? Realistically most of zone 2 is completely out of our budget - so am happy to go further out :-)

ideally i would love to live in zone two with fab parks, coffee shops, slightly alternative left leaning families

I'd say Stoke Newington would tick all your boxes but it'd certainly be a flat for 500k not a house!

You could look around Manor House, the tube is next to Finsbury Park which is lovely, and Clissold Park is nearby too plus the reservoir.

I think people look at commutes, so we discounted everywhere West as its not easy to get to our jobs, and knew that the best thing for both of us was the thameslink into the City via King's Cross. We have friends in North London and family in Hertfordshire so North London suited us better (and access to the M1 for an easy drive to family in the Midlands).

I think you have to rent and see, or spend a lot of time in prospective neighbourhoods. In zone 2, most people we know do live in small flats etc so spend a lot of time outside the home- so lots of time in the park to make up for not having a garden etc.

@DreamingofSunshine Yep - Stoke Newington used to be the place everyone moved to when I first lived in London (early 2000s -yes that long ago), but then we left the UK so I've never actually been there. Does anyone in London live in a flat with family? I grew up in Europe so for me thats completely normal, but I get the feeling that in England everyone aims for a house. Also how are schools around there? It might sound terrible but I never really thought about schools/safety as much before I had DS - but now its much more of a thing, especially with a son - which is probably ridiculous, I know

We picked a period semi in Carshalton Village(zone 5) at he time but have since moved areas slightly for a much bigger house. However, our criteria were a bit different as we wanted low crime, top schools but DH was prepared for a longer commute in exchange for a quick access to the coutryside and the beach 1h drive away.

With your criteria, I wonder if Battersea might suit? You could get a 2 bed flat, it's definitely a Labour area + Battersea Park is gorgeous and you'd be close to the river. Don't know about schools there, though.

I think it's changing and certainly in that area there's lots of families. I'm biased as we've swapped a house in a Herts commuter village for a flat in SN and we're much happier with the shorter commutes and lots going on on our doorstep. We have one child so don't need a ton of space and requires far less upkeep than a house.

Schools are good, I don't know about the high schools but SN high school is good at ofsted rating. Nearby Highbury has great schools but it's more expensive.

It really divides opinion on whether living in London is a good idea with children. DH and I grew up in z2/3 so it's what we know, there's no big yearnings on our part for DS to frolic in fields. We also got the tube to school solo from age 11, normal for us and our friends but people at uni were horrified when I told them that!

In terms of crime, I was sexually assaulted walking home at 6pm from the station in a very 'safe' part of Hertfordshire so I feel far more comfortable in SN than the suburbs/more rurally.

I would also second South Woodford over Walthamstow. Much nicer area and easy commute on the central line.

@DreamingofSunshine - honestly I am a bit daunted by the whole London thing etc. Areas I used to know have completely changed, my life has completely change plus with a kid - so starting anew. Love flats and city life - then again am clearly not a millionaire on a public sector salary and schools is what everyone talks about.

Brockley and neighbouring areas come very close to your brief. Brockley is zone 2! And it’s all stuffed with public sector.

Crofton Park is between Honor Oak and Brockley, and has Thameslink so direct trains up to St Pancras. This sort of thing is in your budget:

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/fullscreen/image-gallery.html?propertyId=61973556&photoIndex=1

@zurich09 - Greenwich is Zone 2, parks, left leaning, nice coffee shops. It’s not cheap, but a 2 bed flat for £450-500k is doable.

Streatham Hill

No - absolute pig to get to/from Euston. Had friends who lived there and we hated visiting them.

No - absolute pig to get to/from Euston

No it's not! 10 mins on the bus to Brixton (and there are 4 or 5 bus routes going down the hill so a bus every few mins)
Tube from Brixton to Euston is 20 mins and you'll almost certainly get a seat every day

JoJoSM2
You won't get anything within budget in Battersea
The good schools are around Northcote Road and 2 bed flats there are £800k
The area around the park is a bit cheaper but the schools aren't great. And you're still looking at £650k for 2 beds, unless it's ex council

Bexley Borough? You could get a lovely house with a garden for your budget, safe, Green, excellent schools (Grammar school system) and 30 minutes from somewhere like Eltham or Sidcup to Charing X. Can either walk from there or Crossrail coming soon which will be one stop to Bloomsbury area.

I see people have recommended Kingston. Be very careful if the grammar schoo is a factor in choosing Kingston. It’s super selective and very hard to get into, unlike the more ‘normal’ grammars of Kent and Bucks where up to 30% of children get in.

@sitmybathtimeyet and I are the pro-Brockley Brigade
Sevenoaks Road is a nice road, a friend of mine had a house their and the houses are much bigger than they look and can be extended up and outwards. Houses are also in catchment for Stillness School and Beecroft Gardens - both very popular lovely schools. Boys secondaries aren't quite so great, but by the time your child gets to secondary Prendergast Ladywell might have improved. If you're not really sure what the property market will do (and who is!) buying a house would mean you could sit out any price fluctuations.
Anyway - good luck with your decision.