Relocation Kingston upon Thames/twickenham

[Nisha81]

Hello ladies

I am a new member to mumsnet I just joined half an hour ago after a friend recommendation.

My husband and I are looking to move to Kingston upon Thames but unsure what area within Kingston upon Thames will be good for us and was hoping for some guidance.

I have two daughters aged 4 and 6 and therefore would like to be in an area that is safe, has excellent schools nearby and where we have lots open spaces, good shopping and easy access via train to be able to commute into London.

Moving to a new area Can be overwhelming as it’s hard to make friends all over again and therefore I would like to be able to move somewhere where it’s easy to make friends as I know it takes time and where it’s safe and friendly.

We also have looked at Twickenham and Richmond too. Our budget for a 3 bedroom house is between £800k-£900 please can you help suggest based on experience. I would like the transition to be as smooth as possible.

I appreciate all the help and support ladies

Thank you 😊

Hi Nisha, I grew up (and indeed still live in) the area you are interested in. It is a great area to bring up a family - friendly, lots to do. For your budget, I would recommend North Kingston. Roughly on a map, it is the area bounded by the river to the south, the park to the north, with Ham Common to the west. It is walkable (or bus-able!) to Kingston town centre within 15-30 mins, therefore also to Kingston or Norbiton train stations for a commute into Waterloo. Alternatively you can get the 65 bus into Richmond for the tube, or shopping. The beauty of the area is in the local greenery, which is such a nice thing for children. If you pop ‘KT2 5SD’ as a postcode into RightMove and say ‘within 1/4 mile’, the type of house I would recommend for your budget is a ‘Tudor Style’. The roads are Wolsey, Hollybush, Cardinal, Latchmere, etc. They do vary in price a bit as you will see, depending exactly how far they’ve been extended, but for the upper end of your budget you would get a pretty swanky one with 4 beds, 2 baths, parking, nice size garden. They come onto the market pretty frequently. Most importantly, they would be positioned correctly for your daughters to potentially be able to access Latchmere School, Fern Hill School (or, depending on faith, St Agatha’s or St Paul’s), which are all brill, though as you might be doing an in-year admission, you may not be able to be picky. For secondary, there is Tiffin Girls within about 10-15 minutes walk of the area, if your daughters are very bright, Kingston Academy and Grey Court as solid comprehensives, or of course, a plethora of outstanding private options. Hope that helps.

Thank you so much for the above information. It’s so detailed it’s helped allot. It’s so gold to get feedback from someone who has lived there since childhood. I will certainly have a look in the areas mentioned.

Do you think i could find a 3 bedroom house for 900k more nearer to Richmond side?

Thank you again

Richmond is too expensive for your budget but I prefer Kingston or Twickenham for a family anyway. I grew up in Kingston but lived in Richmond for 8 years in my 20s after university.

I would think about schooling, look at the primary school options and whether you want to go private for primary and secondary. Tiffins is very difficult to get into for secondary but there are lots of private options.

The North Kingston area is more family orientated, look at the area behind Tiffin Girls' and from there towards the town centre. Latchmere primary is the best in the area.

You could look at the Ham area, Surbiton or Hampton, Teddington, Twickenham. Teddington has a nicer feel to the high street than Twickenham. If you need to consider transport to work in London then Surbiton station would be the best option as it's a much faster and more frequent line than Kingston. These areas looking at housing near the station would be more expensive than North Kingston, which is around 25 mins walk to Kingston station. However looking at a similar 20-25 mins commute to Surbiton station from Long Ditton, Thames Ditton or closer to Tolworth borders you would be able to afford a 3/4 bed house

Surbiton is fantastic. Great schools, near the river, easily walkable into Kingston, great train directly into Waterloo, has its own busy high street. Highly recommend it!

Others areas around Kingston, in addition to Surbiton, New Malden, Norbiton, Thames Dutton, Esher, Hersham, Walton. All have trains directly into London and good schools.

Depends if you want it be IN Kingston or near Kingston.

As others have said I would look at Twickenham or Ham in Richmond. Barnes and Chiswick are also nice but don’t know how far your money would go there.
However Kingston has Surbiton with a fast train to Waterloo and good primary schools. Kingston also arguably has the better secondary schools for girls. Tolworth is seen as a poorer relation to Surbiton but you definitely get more for your money that way and there are some lovely, family orientated communities. Thames Ditton is also popular.

North Kingston has everything you sre looking for from your list. Lovely place to live and bring up a family. Excellent local state schools - Fern Hill is brilliant as are Latchmere, Alexandra etc.

@Nisha81 we moved to Surbiton, Kingston last year we have 2 teens. We love the place. We are now moving to New Malden area. Kingston is overall a very good area (having lived in Redbridge before). You can close your eyes and point anywhere on the map, the place is good. Excellent schools across the area.
Stay within Kingston, Norbiton, Surbiton, New Malden, Berrylands areas.

With your budget you could also go for Detached house 4/5 br (over 3 floors) in Surbiton, Berrylands, New Malden areas. You have a decent budget, I'd say make most use of your budget. Schools and facilities are all across the area. The river walk is one of the highlights. The town centre is either a bus hop away or a long walk. If you want to commute to the city, stay close to Kingston, Surbiton, New malden or even Worcester Park stations (dont live near WP station thats not part of Kingston).

When we moved to this area, we first rented a place, put the children to schools, got used to the area and commuting, learnt a lot about houses and styles of houses, doing homework etc. Then gradually started looking to buy.

Wishing you the best and welcome.

Thank you so much for the help. I have been looking at Surbiton after your recommendations and found some
Lovely properties. The area looks so nice I get a nice family feel.

Thanks for all your help

Nisha81 feel free to message me if you want to ask about specific roads/schools you are looking at and I will try to help if I can. Good luck in your search!

I'd second what someone else said about moving to the area, renting and doing your homework. Primary school catchments in Kingston in particular are VERY tight, particularly in North Kingston/Canbury and for most of the schools you have to be within streets (if that) to stand getting a place if you don't already have siblings at the school.

We moved to Kingston in 2013. Rented for a year then bought a 2 bed house around Norbiton station. Sold that in 2018, initially looked at bigger houses in North Kingston (we had a budget of 800/850) then decided we were getting too far away from Kingston centre to be able to walk like we were used to and also concerned about shrinking school catchments (we were pregnant at the time) so decided to look at houses across the river in Hampton which is where a few of our friends have moved to and we are very glad to have made the move, 2 years on. We've got a 24 hour bus link to Kingston from almost outside our door so we can be at John Lewis in 10 mins, hehe.

For that kind of budget in North Kingston you're probs looking at a semi or terrace with a loft extension to get the extra bedrooms and also a downstairs extension for the family kitchen diner. You may or may not get a driveway, depends on the street. The Canbury area is mostly Victorian, which we decided we didn't want on both house searches as it inflates the price for something we aren't overly bothered about, and then as described North Kingston along Tudor Drive is more 1930s mock Tudor style housing. One of the reasons we liked Hampton was the variety of housing stock, unlike Kingston or Teddington.