Leaving London. Looking for liberal cosmopolitan areas close to London

[Reearry]

Hi ...we are thinking of moving out of London as we are planning to start a family and need a place with a bit of a garden. Our budget is about £1-1.2 million for 3/4 bed with a small garden.

1. Cosmopolitan population - we enjoy living in London because of the diverse population. We are South Asians and do not want to stick out so places which are liberal with diverse population from different countries

(something I love about London) would be ideal

1. Vibrant community - Definitely want a place with a young population (young families or students) and vibrant high Street with plenty of options to eat, shop, cultural activities etc

1. Good schools - state preferably

1. Sense of community - places with a lot of community involvement, public libraries, cultural options, book clubs, hobby clubs, meetups etc

1. Good transport access - Will need good connections to London Canary wharf

1. Picturesque if possible

We have moved across 3 countries in the past 5 years for work and will probably move after a few years ( Love UK, so planning to buy a house here to come back and settle down eventually for good) . Looking for communities which have professional mobile population. Also, I have always lived in dense cosmopolitan cities so will not be comfortable in too rural or small communities. Was thinking of perhaps Wimbledon or Surrey? But not sure if our budget will get us what we are looking for...

Suttom would fit the bill and your budget -- not really picturesque itself but surrounded by beautiful green spaces/parks, even a lavender field. Very cosmopolitan. Not sure re CAnary Wharf but has St.Pancras ad Victoria trains (30-45min). It's kind of outer London than proper Surrey but more gentle-paced.

*more outer London

Wimbledon is zone 3?

God @CatAndHisKit your not that SM poster back with another username going on about Sutton

Chelmsford? It has excellent state schools (selective and not - Tatler included 2 of its primaries in its good school guide). Culture and shopping eg you have an Everyman cinema and an Odeon a John Lewis and astreet full of independents. Access to pretty villages, countryside and walks. It’s around 45mins to Canary Wharf on the train. It is majority white but you wouldn’t stand out and as a black woman with family in the area I always find it friendly (the Opposite of the Surrey stereotype). You would also definitely find somewhere beautiful on your budget.

Ryslip , Pinner , Eastcote areas are worth looking at.

Why not stay in London. You could easily get a 3/4 bed with small garden in some of the nicer parts of SE London and then only a 30 minute commute to Canary Wharf. Look at Brockley, Forest Hill, Crystal Palace, Sydenham, East Dulwich.

OP, I have been looking for this mythical place for years and it's called London :D. I agree with others saying look on the outskirts of Greater London. Leytonstone, Brockley etc. Nowhere else that's easily commutable is as diverse or vibrant.

BTW, you can easily get a lovely 3/4 bed in Surrey for that money.

How about this?

Wimbledon is in London, your budget will easily afford you a house in very many family friendly areas in London, including Blackheath/Greenwich/Dulwich (village/east or west) or slightly further out Chislehurst/Petts Wood which all have easy commutes to Canary wharf. I am sure places in North / East London too but I am less familiar with those. Wimbledon is nice but I dont think the commute go Canary Wharf is that easy.

Folkestone on the South Coast ticks all your boxes. We moved here from overseas (but previously London) a few years ago and we love it. Had planned on moving abroad again. But not sure if we will now as we just think here is so perfect. You could buy an amazing house with sea or countryside views with change to spare. Community is very vibrant and artsy as we have a well funded Creative Foundation. It is very cosmopolitan too with lots of families from London, Europe (owing to proximity to Channel Tunnel) and we have a very large and well respected Ghurka base and international private college here so the community is wonderfully diverse. The Sense of community is fantastic and there are lots of community groups and always something going on locally - sports, sea sports, horse riding, creative groups for adults and kids, air shows, free music on the harbour - at the amazing independent food outlets and drinks bars, arts festivals featuring world famous works (so much so that we rarely just on the HS1 back up to London). It really is so vastly underrated - we looked all over the south east when relocating and I initially dismissed here as I wanted somewhere a bit more ‘like London’, but I am so glad we picked here. It is beautiful. Countryside, seaside, London and European towns all within an hour. You can’t say that about many places!

Oh and lots of great schools (both local grammars are outstanding) and you have Canterbury 10mins always which is a beautiful place to shop and beats a slog round Westfield any day!

We had a budget slightly less than yours, but used the better value of properties down here to clear our mortgage yet still buy a beautiful home far nicer than anything we would ever have had in London which psychologically has been amazing and extremely liberating, so I wouldn’t necessarily rule out buying under your budget when searching...

Thank you all for your suggestions. I am making a list and will try and visit all these places. Until then, will look up on Rightmove and Zoopla. I would love to stay in London... Just didn't think our budget would get us a place which fits our bill. Wanted an independent house if possible ... And Greenwich, Blackheath, Wimbledon or east Dulwich are unlikely to find independent houses within our range...

Bath? A lot of people commute from there to London.

Sutton does have its merits but it's quite suburban and you'd be hard pushed to class it as 'liberal cosmopolitan' aka 'boho' (although one of it's long-term MPs, recently deposed, was a Lib-Dem so it may depend on your parameters!).

My sister lived in Sutton and didn’t find it at all cosmopolitan , culturally diverse or liberal. She hated it.

I was going to say St Albans ticks all your boxes till I saw you needed to commute to Canary Wharf. Getting into the city from here takes about 30 mins, but Canary Wharf is a bit of a bugger.

Stay in London. Look around forest Hill/ Crystal Palace, excellent links to CW great family friendly area and communities.

Try these:

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-69230097.html

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-64850664.html#_map-view

Or this in Kingsdale catchment:

Urrr. Fat fingers

Here's the Kingsdale catchment:

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/nearby-schools/property-77431639.html

And this closer to charter:

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-76696492.html

Brighton?

Blackheath/Greenwich. You get more for your money in East Greenwich /Westcombe Park bit. Very quick to get to Canary Wharf via train / dlr or on foot/bike via the foot tunnel

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-81975541.html

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-71736016.html

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-85769186.html

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-93946529.html

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-80481316.html

As per previous post, a detached house is very possible in se London, however if you want the traditional large mock Tudor suburban detached - then definitely look at Chislehurst/Petts Wood.

Wanstead sounds perfect for you.

I agree look at Wanstead/South Woodford they have everything you are asking for also consider Upminster.

I grew up in South Woodford, the whole surrounding area is really diverse, great for young families, great location for commuting close to Epping Forest, great schools. Upminster has great schools, great tube and overhead service, close to lots of beautiful open space, good young family feel, although possibly not as diverse. You will probably get slightly more for your money than Wanstead.

@monkeyonthetable the house in surrey looks wonderful!