Where to live in SW london

[NissanMicra]

We currently live in a slightly too fancy bit of north london with shops we can’t afford and sahms with full-time nannies, multiple exotic holidays etc. (No judgement! Just hard to relate to on a daily basis!)

We’re thinking of moving somewhere with people more like us - combined income about 40k so there are not many left in london. 3 small children, 2 of whom in early primary (state). DH can work wherever and I’ll do a small amount of freelance from home once all children in school.

Grandparents are SW so probably a good long-term move but don’t know anything about it.

So far we’ve come up with Tooting & Herne hill, mainly because we like parks and lidos. Would like a leisure centre nearby. Love cycling as well but the cycle routes are still terrible everywhere. We have 1.5m to spend due to selling other properties.

Suggestions as to areas please? And things to look out for?

Where do the GPs live? How close do you want/need to be? And what is your budget?

She says she has £1.5m and likes Tooting and Herne Hill In the OP, sunshine

Sorry just saw £1.5 m!

Putney has a leisure centre, also near the river and has Richmond Park for cycling and walking. SW trains to Waterloo take 20 mins, 3 mins to Clapham Junction for Victoria even quicker. District line tube and lots of buses. Good primary schools too.

Your budget would get you Victorian or Edwardian semi with 4 beds
www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-61341402.html
www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-83694494.html
or this 5 bedder
www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-72098752.html

Awesome ! SW london is lovely. I was born and raised in Wimbledon, I would suggest you look at the West Wimbledon area (Raynes Park) great schools (state and private) amazing parks, everything you need in raynes park with bigger places near by. Kingston is 15mins away for shopping.
20mins to Surrey countryside and 20mins into central London. It's a lot less crowded then Tooting and has a friendly family vibe around it.
You can 100% find a great property for your budget.

Earlsfield is also a lovely area with nearby parks and good transport links into central London, cheaper than Putney, Richmond and some parts of Wimbledon but more expensive than tooting. I lived there for years and loved it.

I'm confused by your question, large house budget but desire to be around more 'normally' paid people.

Given you'll only get a small mortgage why not buy a cheaper house with no mortgage to afford the extras?

However i totally agree with you about relating to the SAHM with nanny, gardener, exotic holidays etc. people, it is a different world. We have more income than you and usually feel like the poor parents. We are in Putney / Barnes. I'd say avoid those areas, and Wimbledon. Look more Kingston or Raynes Park. Avoid Surbiton. I think living out further into Surrey or Hampshire might be better, but depends if you really want to live close to London.

Rollercoaster Barnes has always been posher than Putney lol (have lived in Putney for many years!

Thanks for those suggestions. We had not considered Putney. Would be amazing to be close to the river. Might be a bit close to PiL though, as is Raynes park (MiL’s favourite). And earlsfield

Rollercoaster the whole thing is a conundrum. We want to stay in london and happen to have a huge deposit. It seems most people have moved out to cash in on house prices so there’s nobody like us left. I don’t know what to do. I love london. We had hoped by going south there might be some people closer to our demographic.

We should probably also look at secondaries if we’re staying. The brilliant schoolcatchment site is down at the moment, hopefully not forever. What is the Camden School for Girls of the south?

Putney is pretty split with high earners and low earners. Not many inbetween (i.e £40k family income).

My neck of the woods would be ideal. I'm down in Sutton in zone 5.
You get the full spectrum of wealth here (the high street literally stocks anything from Primark to Gucci). If you wanted a more villagey setting, you could look in Cheam or Carshalton.

At the top end of your budget you could have a large detached house but those cost a fair whack to run so I'd suggest sth more affordable so you have cash to invest/supplement you income.
Here's a good example perfect for a large family:

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-83948153.html

It's in a lovely conservation area and within walking distance of everywhere.

The schools are exceptional (the borough in number 1 for secondary attainment in England and top 5 for primaries). The house above is in the catchement of Cheam High which is an outstanding, high achieving comp but you could also try DC for the 5 local grammar schools. Amazing primaries too.

There are plenty of places to cycle, e.g. the gorgeous Nonsuch Park or the countryside is very close (5mins on the bike). For outdoor swimming, there's a David Lloyd in Cheam Village with indoor and outdoor pools (as well as gym, studios, indoor and outdoor tennis courts etc). If you're a sporty family, there are also public leisure centres, rugby, cricket and tennis clubs, climbing wall, trampoline park, even a public golf club with kids clubs and free beginner lessons.
There's also a community farm, an ecology centre and the local museums put on kids activities. So loads more to do than having brunches around here

Oh, and the drive to the beach is only 1h.

How do you know what the split is RollerCoaster Serious question. Always seems pretty balanced to me even though there is more wealth now than there used to be (but you could say that about most areas in London now)

NissanMicra Raynes Park is nearer Wimbledon than Putney and Earlsfield between Wandsworth and Southfields. Houses near the river in Putney are very popular obviously: this Gamlen Road property is only a few minutes walk £1.35M
www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-61341402.html
or Gladwyn Road is even nearer
www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-83015753.html and £1.425M
also Wadham Road at £1.395M
www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-73324327.html
These are 'average' prices in Putney (I know crazy!) so no nannies and gardeners to worry about! Also in the catchment for good primary schools. We even have a good-sized Waitrose lol

Don’t know what you’d get for 1.5 million but the Between The Commons (Wandsworth and Clapham) is lovely

Tbh, I can't see how Between The Commons or Putney will be much of an improvement on the current location. The OP needs to move somewhere that's affordable to teachers/architects/midwives etc Those types of families will probably have a similar disposable income to the OP after you factor in their childcare + mortgage costs.

OP, if you're really set on being in zones 2-3, then Furzedown would be the best option I can think of. Close to the lido and park, catchment for Graveney (a supercomp), close to cheaper shops like Lidl. A bit far from stations but you don't need to commute to central London so no bother. It's pricey these days but until a few years ago it was affordable to teachers and such (hence the school is so good - kids from professional families that can't afford private).

I second Furzedown. Have lived here since 2006 and have always found it incredibly friendly.

Thank you I’d not even heard of furzedown. Nice and close to the lido. Between the commons looks nice but jojo is right it’s still too fancy. What’s a supercomp?

Should we be looking south east instead? Further from PIL but less up and come?

A super comp is a high achieving, desirable comp. A bit like Camden Girls but Graveney is co-ed and non-faith.

Tbh, outer London would be much better for the demographic you’re after (leafy, clean and nice to live in).

But if you don’t want to go beyond zone 3, you could try cheaper areas in SE London. Not sure where the lidos are. Somewhere like Hither Green, Forest Hill or Crystal Palace could be decent places to live. Not sure if you really want to live with kids in an ‘up-an-coming’ area as they are often dirty and a bit stabby.

If you're looking at leafy, clean, nice to live in and on the river, maybe Teddington, Twickenham or Strawberry Hill unless they're a bit far out. They're not up & coming though, they've arrived.

This thread really highlights the challenge of living in London for people that aren't on high incomes. To be fair South West London has always been desirable so has higher income families than the average. But even then I think it got magnified with the doubling of house prices 10 years ago. I wonder if a house price crash would mean these areas return to a more mixed demographic.

Someone up thread asked how I know the split in demographic in Putney. It's because I'm a parent and have lived there for 20 years or so. More and more I'm coming to the conclusion that Putney, Barnes, Richmond, Wimbledon, Surbiton, Wandsworth, Clapham etc are some bizarre bubble - essentially becoming what Fulham used to be. I.e. populated by lawyers, accountants, doctors, management consultants, famous people or business owners. There are people that don't seem to understand that people can be on less than 50k salaries! I'm exaggerating a bit, there are a few... but usually only one parent in the couple ;)

There are areas of deprivation (Alton Estate - Roehampton, Winstanley estate in Clapham) and some areas that I would consider more normal (Castelnau estate, Dover House estate, possible Putney Vale and Roehampton Vale). Cheap houses start at 650k, so rule out people on lower salaries if they haven't had help.

The recommendations for slightly further out places seems sensible to me. Furzedown, Streatham, Earlsfield, Worcester Park, Kingston, Epsom do make more sense. I quite like Kingston personally, the shopping centre is nice, has the river and Richmond park for cycling. Mini holland approach to cycle infrastructure, and easy out to Surrey and the off-road route out there. It is relatively cheaper (and more normal) because public transport to central London isn't great. Also it has its own local employment so not entirely London-centric.

I have family in the South West UK so being able to get out of London in the car is a real bonus. If you mean SW UK rather than SW London for your PiL then do try to get somewhere with decent access to the A3 or A4 to drive out quickly. Putney to Guildford is 30 mins. Clapham to Putney is often that long due to traffic. I bought a car when SW trains failed to reserve seats for on a Christmas Eve train. It was an horrendous journey stood until Salisbury!

Twickenham, Teddington or Kingston are all expensive. I doubt there are many people on 40k around there unless they bought 20 years ago or live in a 2-bed flat.

It really isn’t that tricky to live somewhere nice for people on 40k (with a professional couple earning that each and buying pre-children). Boroughs like Sutton, Bromley, south of Croydon, up north in Harrow, Barnet etc. Or an arm pit in zone 3 is a possibility as well.

I know that they're expensive, but did I read wrongly that OP has £1.5m to spend on a house? You could be mortgage free with that amount, even in those 3 areas and shopping etc is a similar cost wherever you are.

shopping etc is a similar cost wherever you are.

With 40k for a family of 5, I think you notice the difference between Waitrose and Lidl prices. And strolling down Teddington High Street and feeling you can’t afford any of the restaurants/shops wouldn’t solve OP’s problem of feeling like she can’t relate. And being a SAHM, it’s nice to be able to hang out with other mums but probably not easy if they like to brunch in snazzy places and your budget is limited.

I live in the Raynes park / Worcester park area and am a similar family set up and income to what you describe. As previous posters have said we are accessible to London/ Surrey / coast but that does make us ‘suburban’ rather than ‘in the action’. I would do research very carefully about secondary schools before you decide on a particular area as the catchments can be very small and if you go towards Sutton you are in grammar territory .. towards Epsom you are in highly sought after single sex state comprehensives ... some of Worcester park is between the two so harder to get in either if that makes sense ?

Hampton? Has the lido and bushy park. Near to teddington for nice high street, though Hampton hill isn't bad (and has hot yoga and a dog cafe). Lots of people with more 'normal' incomes and professions around there?

@musicinspring1 Sutton comps are on par with the likes of Orleans Park or Greycourt so not a problem if a clever clogs doesn’t get into a grammar.

Epsom does have the fab Glyn and Rosebery - their admission distances are actually pretty large. And you aren’t in London any more.

I get a feeling the OP doesn’t really want to move out to the outer burbs, though.

@JoJoSM2 No you are right that Epsom is a different feel to being in south west London so probably too far out for OP.