London: Looking for an area near the river

[Justaboutnotmanaging]

We are hoping to move in the near future, within the next 2 - 3 years. We have the following requirements, and wondered whether anyone had good advice on what areas to consider:

• Within 20mins walk of the river.
• Within 20mins of a good size park/green space
• No further East than Charlton, no further West than Kingston
• Budget £800k - £1.2m for a 3 bed house
• 45min commute maximum into Central London

I found this

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-76663447.html

Price seems a bit high given the lack of garden, but the location seems ok. It was previously sold for £730k in Dec 2014.....

Anyone know much about this part of Battersea?

How close to the river do you need? Wapping?

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-71934409.html

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-77769934.html

This one has its own beach !!

I never considered Wapping as I assumed it would be way out of my price range. Very impressed! What is the vibe in Wapping? Is there a nice park ?

It is surprisingly v quiet and low key. It is a no through area so v little traffic. Villagy - historic buildings and cobbled streets. A few good local restaurants and pubs. Great theatre. V few shops. No green area but lots of river access instead in wapping itself or over tower bridge on south bank. Larger green spaces Victoria Park. If you want the funky bar / shopping scene you have Shoreditch / Hackney / Borough in walking distance

I also love Roupell Street and those near by. It’s an area of cute terraced houses on the south bank near Waterloo St. Have a look at what they have sold for. You could both walk to work.

www.rightmove.co.uk/house-prices/se1/roupell-street.html

Roupell Street looks like it's been overpriced (20% down on previous year (2018) and 19% down on 017 peak £1395K

That bit of Battersea is a bit rough around the edges - the road is squeezed between two busy roads, so not great for air quality and may be quite noisy with windows open (rail nearby too). Good transport though.
Chiswick High Rd isn't sleepy but nor is it hip - it's a lively, nice High St bu nothing edgy. Kew a lot sleepier. By the river it's quieter, I@d prefer to be closer to High Road and the ttransport. Still can walk to river in about 20min

@Gutterton @sunshinesupermum

I know that street well, it is lovely but I do agree it is overpriced.

@CatAndHisKit

I don't mind a bit of gritty if I can walk to nice spaces within 5 mins. Is crime an issue? I wonder why that house has been unable to sell...

Check out aeroplane noise the further west you go from Putney onwards as it can be intrusive when you're not used to it.

Just no I wouldn't say crime, but likely to be many rentals around. It's more likely the noise (train line may be very audible depending on the hieght of houses inbetween).

Plane noise is an issue in all SW London, but heck of lot less in Battersea than in Richmond! Chiswickk is actually a bit of an exception - less noise.

*of a lot

Hampton court. A hop west of Kingston. On the river. Pretty stretch with lovely walks/boats/lock/swims. End of line train. 35 mins into Waterloo. Incomparable green spaces. The palace. Good luck op.

Greenwich.

Thanks all.

I have been doing a lot of research over the last few days, I think we have narrowed it down to 3 areas (all very different):

Kingston and surrounds
Battersea/Vauxhall
Greenwich

The budget has also decreased as we are expecting salary decreases. Maximum £1m.

All quite different areas - so quite different lifestyles. Do you need to consider schooling or travel to visit family / friends / hobbies elsewhere in the UK?

As if you regularly headed West / Southwest - you would be better placed in Kingston than Greenwich. If you don’t and spend most of your leisure time doing cultural stuff in central London then Vauxhall/Battersea would be ideal.

I really like Greenwich but not the immediate surrounds. Battersea and Kingston better in this respect, you can spread out so to speak (walking or a quick bus distance)
Battersea also good for trip to south coast via Clapham Junction, not sure of the other two - but may not be seen as bonus by you, OP.

And as a pp said, depends how often do you go to central London (Kingston not great for theatre trip / dinners - for sure not a cab/tube distance, overland trains can be disrupted as anywhere).

*trips (twice!)

@Gutterton, we live a very London centric life, our families are based in South London, so all those areas are good for seeing our families. Our friends are dotted around London, so from that perspective, all are good - except Kingston.

Schooling not an issue at the moment. If kids do appear in the future, will most likely do state primary, private secondary if possible.

We tend to spend a lot of time at parks, local eateries, markets. But we also enjoy going into central London for culture and buzz/energy.

@CatAndHisKit, yes that is exactly my issue with that part of London. It's like an island and you are pretty much stuck in Greenwich unless you want to travel to central. At least with Battersea, you can 'stay local' on weekends but have access to so many nice areas for fun walks.

Thanks, these are very good questions and really making me think. I think Kingston may be off the list now. Local things to do, variety, energy, buzz are all very important to us, and maybe we can get more of that in Battersea/Greenwich?

Greenwich nicer for kids in my opinion than Battersea. It's less than 10 minutes to London Bridge by train although I understand the surrounding area issue. It's a bit more suburban than Battersea but when you have a family you'll be glad of that.

In som ways I agree with Lightabrre that Greenwich is better for kids, just more space really - but Battersea sn'rt bad either, there is a great Go Ape in B.Park, for one!
I find Kingston and surreound overcrowded at weekends hugely - both locals and Central/SW Londoners descend. But as you say, OP, it's prob off the list anyway.

*Lightsabre, sorry.

In Greenwich you will get much more for your money in East Greenwich than West. Still a short walk to the river and near the park. Arguably better pubs too :)
More feasible to get a house for revised budget

I found this property on the Rightmove Android app and wanted you to see it: www.rightmove.co.uk/s6p/75098311

I found this property on the Rightmove Android app and wanted you to see it: www.rightmove.co.uk/s6p/75981769

I found this property on the Rightmove Android app and wanted you to see it: www.rightmove.co.uk/s6p/63382761

Gardens in Greenwich can be small though. In Charlton, you'll get a bigger house and garden for your money. There are some lovely 1930's houses, with huge gardens around Broad Walk in SE3 but these are a bus ride from the overground station and the very local state schools aren't great.