Advice Please - Where to buy our first house?

[Marshall211]

Dear All

We are currently renting and are expecting our first child next year. Therfore, we are looking to buy a 3 bed house ideally close to station (as we work in London) and in the catchment area of a good primary. Our budget is around £500k. Since we have recenlty moved to the country from overseas, we are un-familiar with all areas in London (especially the future need for a good school). We would prefere to stay in London rail zones for the ease of commuting.

So far we have looked at following that meet the criteria of both proximity to station and good primary.

• Orpington (Crofton Infant and Perry Hall Primary), Chelsfield (Warren Road Primary) - Overall difficult to find a good property within budget

• Barnehurst (Barnehurst Infant) - Closer to Erith (our freinds have advised not to move closer to Erith Border) - Houses within budget and area closer to station is safe.

I would appreciate any advice on above mentioned areas and any inputs on other areas that may fit our criteria.

Many thanks in advance!

Gidea Park? Zone 6, 30 mins to Liverpool Street. Most of the local primaries are very good. Secondaries are a bit more hit and miss, but there are good ones, and a lot could change in 11 years.

www.compare-school-performance.service.gov.uk/find-a-school-in-england

That website has all the stats so a good place to have a look.

I think it’s worth thinking about secondary too as having to move areas during primary is a bit of unnecessary upheaval and stress.

Orpington is a good option. Other good options in the borough of Bromley would be Beckenham or Hayes (excellent primaries, non-selective secondaries and grammar schools).

Barnehurst gets a bit iffy for secondary as the non-selective options aren’t brilliant so I wouldn’t choose there.

Another area that might be of interest is my neck of the woods, Sutton. The station is in zone 5 and the trains go into Victoria, London Bridge and St Pancras (via City Thameslink). The town centre is large with a good range of shops, restaurants, a cinema etc. If you’d prefer a more ‘villagey’ feel, then Cheam Village, Carshalton Village or Carshalton Beeches are great options (all 1-1.5m from Sutton town centre if you need a pair of shoes/books/a musical instrument/art supplies etc so very convenient).

The area is very popular with families and there’s a lot to do with babies, toddlers and older children (lots of baby classes, a large play park as well as things such as ballet or tons of sports for the older ones eg cricket, bouldering, tennis, gymnastics and 100 other things).

Schools are fab offering a combination of excellent primaries, excellent non-selective secondaries and 5 grammar schools. For convenience, you could look near Manor Park Primary as it’s close to everything. If you want somewhere green and quieter, then Avenue Primary is a national teaching school with extensive grounds, own swimming pool etc. Lots of other great options too.

I know you've mentioned you want to stay within London but have you properly considered living outside of London in a commuter town- or maybe a non-standard commuter town. Milton Keynes, Reading, Coventry/Rugby amongst many others? You'll get a lot more house for your money and generally you'll be in London within an hour on the train- with the added benefits of the general cost of raising a child being lower.

Barnehurst has great primary options and is a good commute to Central London, good catchment for secondary schools but that is quite far away in your case so things can change one way or the other. 500k will get you a 3/4 bed semi in Barnehurst

Bexleyheath (zone 5) or welling (zone 4) should get you somewhere for that price too. Both are in the Borough of Bexley like Barnehurst is Good, but are slightly nicer imo. Good grammar (selective) schools in Bexleyheath, shops in town centre and Danson Park is lovely. Also 10 minutes away from Bluewater shopping centre.

Here are some additional areas and options to consider!

3-bed in NW10, close to St Joseph's Primary (Outstanding) and 39min to Marylebone.

3-bed in Fulham, close to several Outstanding-rated primaries, and within a 47min commute to Marylebone.

3-bed in Tottenham Hale. Crowland Primary is rated Outstanding, and the property is close to Tottenham Hale station, within a 40min commute to central.

3-bed in Walthamstow. Lots of Good Primaries nearby, as well as one Outstanding (Greenleaf). Lively area, and close to Walthamstow Central station. 45min commute to central.

If you're looking for something more modern, this 3-bed flat in Leytonstone looks quite nice, and is 50min commute to central. Close to Newport primary which is rated Outstanding.

If you look here, you can see more options. You might need to give it a few seconds to load the results. If you hit the 'filter' button you can adjust the exact commute destination (I picked Marylebone Station, not knowing any more) and adjust the max commute time (I picked 1hr) to see more options. I also selected proximity to good primary schools and public transport stations as your key lifestyle criteria. The properties are scored accordingly, the higher "scores" mean the property meet these criteria well.

Another vote for Sutton/ Cheam/ Worcester Park area.

@Marshall211: I strongly suggest you do not move to Harlesden (link above in NW10): it’s a notoriously bad area, as is Erith

I think if you could explain where in London both of you commute to, posters could advise. I live in NW London:500k for a 3 bed is not realistic for a decent area

I think it is a realistic budget south of the river in a decent area, but I don’t have enough local knowledge

You really get what you pay for in London, and there are strange pockets of lovely but cheap houses: it’s because the neighbourhood is terrible

Other considerations:

• do you want access to a community from your home country?
• looking WAAY ahead: do you want an area which has grammar schools (ie free but selective secondary schooling)
• are there areas where your friends live that are in budget, especially if they have school age kids and can advise
• as PPs have asked, do you prefer London or a commuter town? What commute time is acceptable to you?

We moved for secondary schools so consider that in your criteria.

Not enough info in your post but Orpington (BR6) side is okay - good transport links and schools are good. For secondary it becomes a bit trickier as it's a super selective Grammar area so you'd need to look at non Grammar options. Avoid zeroth. For that budget and if you need a 3 bed in SE London near a station then look at New Eltham, Sidcup (fastest week day trains are 14 minutes to London Bridge), Mottingham and Welling.

Zeroth=Erith!

Bromley
www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-98702384.html
www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-98835995.html
www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-73513260.html
Or round the corner to se12
www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-74508348.html

Have you considered areas Thames Ditton, East/West Molesley?