Nice areas on the outskirts of London?

[FrogFly]

We moved from London (Camden) to the Midlands a few years ago to be close to my husband’s work. It was quite the change of pace and we really missed our London life (friends, restaurants, theatre, bustle). Fast forward to 2020 and our circumstances have changed in that we can work from home and aren’t tied to our current city anymore. So we want to move back!

We have a 5yo son so we don’t want to move right into the city (plus we’d only be able to afford a shoebox in zones 1-3) but are looking for something on the outskirts of London but with good transport links into London. We’re on the hunt for a house with a garden and off-street parking, with proximity to good schools. I’m not fussed about ‘Outstanding’ rated schools, but more keen on schools with a focus on inclusiveness and pastoral care. Our budget is approx £750K. Is my wish list reasonable, or am I asking for the moon on a stick? I'd be grateful for your suggestions. A friend suggested Ruislip, what’s it like?

Caveat that I haven't actually looked up any houses, but I'd be really surprised if OP could find an affordable house in East Molesey/Hampton etc. if St Albans is too expensive.

@CtrlU

Welling/ Bexley area is nice. Affordable, easy to commute and good social/ council care services. Easy to commute to London (10-15 mins train)

Warlingham/ Woldingham/ Sanderstead is lovely but falls under Croydon council which have just announced they are bankrupt. Also not the best social / council services. Easy to commute to Central London (15-20 min journey in train). Lots of green space however a lot of the green belt spaces are being built on to make flats and new build properties.

East Mosley/ Richmond/ Kew is again lovely. Fantastic social and council services. Nice community and perfect for young/ growing families. Easy commute to London (10-15 mins)

St Albans/ Borehamwood/ Potters Bar - lovely area. Great social and council services. Easy commuting into London with a lot more public transport options to get into zones 1-3. Nice area for families as lots of green space.

Good luck

Errrr, you might want to check those train times. They look at least half an hour out to me

[quote QuantumWeatherButterfly]OP, Isleworth is lovely, has direct trains to Waterloo and is close to the M4 for access out of town. Good schools and very leafy.

£750k would get you 3/4 beds, plus parking and garden. Some examples:
www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/86802325#/
www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/86851543#/
www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/74635578#/[/quote]

Yes I agree.

I grew up in Hounslow Hounslow, and the best parts of the borough are Isleworth, Osterley and Chiswick, getting progressively nicer in that order. Your budget is unlikely to stretch to Osterley or Chiswick, but you'd get something decent in Isleworth for £750k.

Albury Avenue, Isleworth, Middlesex
www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-97717775.html

Transport links are great as there are 2 tube stations reasonably close by (Osterley and Hounslow East), and there is the overground run by South West trains from Isleworth, which gets you to Waterloo in about half an hour.

Driving wise the M4, M3 and M25 are within 15 minutes, as is Heathrow Airport if you need to fly out somewhere.

It's not great for shopping, I usually go to Kingston, which is about 20 minutes drive, or Westfield which is half an hour in the other direction. Richmond is nearby for lovely restaurants post lockdown, and there are 2 cinemas there. Osterley Park, Richmond Park and Bushey Park are all wonderful spaces nearby too.

I can't wait to move to Isleworth, which I'm working towards doing in the new year.

Welling and Bexley are an interesting shout. I know a black family that moved out to Welling as homes were/are cheaper there. They got themselves a bargain and I guess with Cross Rail due hopefully this century I guess they'll wait it out. But they often joke to me about how quiet their area is on the days the anti-BLM lot are protesting in central London... Alluding that most travel into town from Welling/Bexley, which they also classify as being 'brexity' (they grew up in Nunhead).

Does make me laugh when people question why I as much as I did on a 1 bed flat in London when I could have purchased a 2-3 bed home in one of those brexity areas on the outskirts of London. I guess they have their answer.

*I should also add that said couple are now (after 5 yrs) looking to escape Welling for Chislehurst/Beckenham.

Oh and it is definitely not 15 mins into London from Welling. LOL.

Op I'm not sure it makes sense to restrict yourself to N S or SW. I live in East London and it takes 2h to get to Coventry because it's quick for us to get on the motorway. It won't be any quicker from lots of South London. Obviously depends on where exactly you're going ofc.

I wouldn't recommend Isleworth. Terrible for aircraft noise. You won't be able to enjoy your garden (if you have one).

One thing that really shocked me when I moved out of London was the price (and infrequency) of public transport.
I live in a commuter town and our house is convenient for the station but I rarely see any buses, and a few years ago I needed to get a bus to the next town, it was over £10 for an adult and 2 under 10s to do a single 15 min journey.

Guessing you also need a car when you move to the commuter towns which is another expense. Not saying nobody drives in London, but it certainly isn't necessary if you live in zones 2/3 etc.

@Smallgoon www.theguardian.com/uk/davehillblog/2009/feb/04/bnp-far-right-london
The BNP were just nine votes short of taking a Tory ward in a Bexley Council byelection last week. Harry Phibbs at Conservative Home:

Yup!This was just 11 years ago!you have to look really hard to find a constituency with any significant BNP vote, and tbh those guys should scare any right thinking person, not just BAME

Bromley, Chislehurst particularly are very nice.

@hopingforonlychild I'm not surprised. I guess the point I'm trying to make is that for some people, being able to own a large house with a garden is more important than the area they live in. For me personally, I will always crave the diversity you get in London, and I couldn't live in a 'brexity' area being BAME myself.

Borehamwood has many useful shops and lots of pleasant cafes/bakeries. many young prof families.
i wonder if the previous poster who poo-pooed it has been there recently. it has certainly changed since i was young.
and a quick railway into ! west hampstead, and kentish town.
also v good connections for major routes, M1, A1, A41.
what about some parts of harrow borough, like harrow weald or hatch end. HW is about 30 mins walk from Harrow&Wealdstone station, into Euston. also a station at Hatch End, which is a bit further out.
Harrow Weald is improving, has both giant new Lidl, and a Waitrose, also ~Wenzels, and nearby open space.

@alexdgr8 I wasn't the poster who poo-poohed it but i would only recommend it if you were Jewish (and wanted to send your kids to orthodox jewish schools which aree quite good in the area). There is a great jewish community (and all the kosher facilities, mikvah, synagogue etc) there. I looked at houses there and wasn't impressed by the high street. It does have a great Jap restaurant. But my overall impression is that it is still quite deprived apart from the professionals who have bought new builds there and the Jewish community who have moved out there for bigger houses for their growing families. I really don't think it would gentrify. At best, it may become a sort of Hendon, but Hendon isn't the best place to live in north london.

@alexdgr8 I am talking about borehamwood btw. Elstree is quite leafy and pleasant but boring but you need a car.

we’d ruled out Herts after exploring Berkhamsted, Hemel Hempstead, St Albans, Hitchin and Harpenden

Could you share your reasons, OP? all of these seem to be highly rated on here.

@FrogFly if you are looking outside of London at places like Hitchin etc., have you considered Cambridge? Obviously it's not London but you can get to Kings X in under an hour. Good schools and great for non drivers as it's usually quicker to cycle than to drive. Plus good access to the Midlands via the A14. You would get a decent house and garden for your budget.

There's loads of things for children to do, the Uni has lots of Museums and there are other activities as well. I don't know about CSA as my DC are now adults but there is a fair but of movement in schools as lots of academics with families come for 12 or 24 months and their DC dont always go into the "right" year group for their age. One of my friends moved here from America and her son went into the year below as he had only started school age 6 in the US. It wasn't an issue but that was 15 years ago, it might be different now.

This, for example,
www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/86748259?utm_campaign=property-details&utm_content=buying&utm_medium=sharing&utm_source=copytoclipboard

How about Amersham, The Chalfonts, Beaconsfield area ? Good schools and links to London.

One thing that really shocked me when I moved out of London was the price (and infrequency) of public transport.

An estimated £1,943 is being spent per person in London on current or planned projects, compared with just £427 in the north. A household in London benefits from almost four times as much rail subsidy as a household in Wales.

@FrogFly

Does anyone know what the area around Turnpike Lane tube is like?

I live near Turnpike Lane and it really really depends on where you're looking. Harringay ladder to the south is relatively desirable but houses now go for 800k-1m+. There are loads of young families, lots going on locally with plenty of green space nearby and it's an easy walk to Crouch End and Ally Pally - and Muswell Hill if you can face that hill! The downsides are the traffic and the high street dominated by Turkish restaurants but all that is starting to change.

There are nice streets between St Ann's Road and West Green Road and it's more affordable but I wouldn't look further east than Downhill Park and Chestnuts Park. I personally wouldn't look north of Turnpike Lane towards Wood Green either.

Feel free to PM me if you have questions on specific streets or listings.

You’re getting really disparate answers because people’s idea of “nice area” varies so much. “Outskirts” can also mean anything from “zone 3” to “just outside the M25”.

Personally, my idea of “nice area on the outskirts” would be small, characterful, towns just outside London such as Epping, Chiselhurst, Beaconsfield, Amersham, East Grinstead.

Other people apparently think Ruislip and Sutton fulfil the brief. Horses for courses.

@ivykaty44, my son is in Reception now, so we’d be looking for in-year admission. I’ve heard of LAs that will insist the child move up a year to be with their chronological cohort upon moving there regardless of whether they received consent for a CSA start originally (eg. Birmingham).

@Smallgoon and @hopingforonlychild ugh that gave me a cold feeling in my stomach. I’m BAME, and I’ve been struggling a bit with the “All lives matter” brigade.

@CatAndHisKit well, let’s see. No offence intended to anyone who lives here, btw. Berkhamsted was a bit twee and mostly rich white folk. Hemel was the least pretty of the towns we visited and I didn’t have that “I’d like to live here” feeling. Love St Albans but if I’m going to pay that much and not get much more than I would in London, I’d rather live in London. I liked Hitchin, husband not crazy about it. And Harpenden was v middle class enclave. I didn’t feel at home there at all (plus an old white woman was rude to me at Sainsbury’s, which didn’t help with my general impression of the place :) )

We’ve explored MK, Oxford and the Herts. Haven’t visited Cambridge but will probably not. I think what I’m realising is that I really want to be be back in London.

@Alez, I assumed the East would add the better part of an hour to the drive, where do you live please? And it’s Cov my husband might need to visit in the future!

@Bakedbeanhead, we visited those areas. And they are really pretty but seemed soooo quiet and a bit remote.