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?

@FrogFly which school in Ruislip was it? I worked in a couple of the secondaries and know a lot of the primaries. Not long moved away from Ruislip after being there from birth to 30+ years and wouldn’t go back. Burglaries and car theft is on the rise. You’re right about the high street- the number of vacant shops keeps increasing. Avoid South Ruislip, West Ruislip, Eastcote, Ruislip Gardens, Hayes, West Drayton. In Harrow- avoid Harrow Weald and South Harrow. Ickenham is lovely though

another vote for East Moseley - it's great if you like long/short walks everywhere (me too) yet also being by a quick train to Clapham / Waterloo and Kingston for shops. I think Teddington is too busy and not 'all that' either.

I like Beckenham but it's hte wrong side of town for you, OP.

haha "agog" is great, used to be so commonly used in the mid-c20th.

I second Forest Hill/Honor oak park. We were there for five years but moved out to Kent now. Good schools and a community feel. Not sure what you'd get for £750k these days but prices seem to be coming down (or will be soon!) judging by the flats for sale on my old road. We were literally half way between forest hill and honor oak, both have lovely high streets now.

And thanks for replying re Herts, OP. Interesting that Hitchin is the only one you liked! It is a bit more chilled out, probably. Re Hemel - ha you could have saved time by asking here, everyone know it's no pretty place!
Do try East Moseley, there is not 'enclave' middle-class or any other feel there, it's just a pleasant place with good connections and has no dull suburbia feel due to being next to river / Hampton Court etc. The oly thing is, traffic over hte bridge in summer is not great, but if you live just a bit away, the air is much better than Central North London.

*no enclave feel there, middle class or any other (the correct word order )

CatToddler, what's wrong with Harrow Weald?
are you meaning Wealdstone, which i too would avoid ?

Croydon council is very supportive of compulsory school age, they consistently approve applications. Good, frequent and fast transport links to central London.

@CatToddlerUprising, it was Warrender Primary. ‘Twas a lovely house too!

It looks like East Molesey (I keep wanting to write Moseley), Bounds Green and Forest Hill are getting a lot of love. Are secondary schools decent in these areas? How would I get into town from Forest Hill? I looked at the overground map and couldn’t figure it out.

@CatAndHisKit St Albans was really nice too, but everything seemed v jammed together, shoulder to shoulder. And the prices were eye watering!

My husband is v into Muswell Hill so that will be our next port of call. I’m unconvinced because there is no way in hell we can afford a house there (except maybe something that needs lot of work, but I doubt it). He’s vetoed Wood Green and Turnpike Lane because he sees them as less than salubrious + he’d prefer not to travel on the 29 bus after witnessing physical altercations on multiple occasions. @CatAndHisKit I can’t believe I just used ‘salubrious’, this is all your fault!

@Bulblasagnes, thank you. Yes, I’ve heard that Croydon isn’t obstructive re CSA starts. However I’ve never warmed to it despite multiple visits (my cousin used to live there). It just seemed a bit rough. (No offence intended in the slightest!)

@Champlyo, thanks! Do these places feel Londonish?

@FrogFly I agree with your DH! Muswell Hill! A lot of the garden flats there are share of freehold and quite spacious IMO. and if you have a garden, no reason why you can't have a dog. and you can take it for walks in Coldfall Woods and Highgate Woods.

I just went on a walk to highgate woods today through Cherry Tree Woods. Walked through highgate woods to Highgate Village for a coffee and cake from Gails Bakery (which we ate at Pond Square), then walked to Muswell Hill Broadway to buy veggies at Planet Organic. feel incredibly lucky to live within walking distance of all these beautiful places. Got tired from several hours of walkies, saw a bus, jumped on it to get home to East Finchley for £1.50 (like a taxi to my doorstep). I love London living!

@FrogFly Yeah I'm afraid Muswell Hill is out of your price range... which is why Bounds Green/Bowes Park is ideal! MH is just a bus ride away. BG/BP also have significantly better public transport (tube and train) than MH.

Secondaries:
Broomfield School (other side of N circ, towards Palmers Green) is ofsted Good. Local chat is that it's a nice small school with a family feel.
Woodside High (over on the Wood Green/White Hart Lane side) is ofsted Outstanding. 3rd in Haringey league table! Lots of new buildings and facilities over the last few years.
Heartlands High (next to Ally Pally train station) is also ofsted Good and well thought of locally.
There's also St Thomas More (Catholic), and Alexandra Park School which you can only get into if you live on top of it so not massively relevant.

Some families obviously go further afield for secondary but personally I feel like kids going to school in/with their own community is so beneficial.

Bounds Green/Bowes Park is honestly the compromise that you are looking for between Muswell Hill and Wood Green!

@FrogFly www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/97733417#/

was thinking about something like this. flat prices are quite negotiable these days.

Guildford? 40mins from london

Had anyone said a Kingston yet?

I've picked up on your criteria for somewhere quite diverse, quite London-ish, lots going on etc, I think Kingston would fit the brief. Plus amazing access to green spaces, the river, Richmond Park etc.

£750K would get you a 3 bed with parking in the Latchmere/Tudor areas of KT2, but KT1/KT3 (New Malden) could also work. Also Surbiton?

Apologies if I caused offence OrcharD14, perhaps "grim" was overstating it a little. I guess I just can't help comparing the the Ruislip I grew up in 30 years ago to the one I visit my parents in today.

I'm glad to hear the council are investing in schools and libraries. I guess they've had no choice though give that they closed so many and sold them off for housing in the latter part of the 20thC.

Ruislip High Street is actually OK and I agree that lockdown will make it appear more run-down than perhaps it is.

My major problem is the traffic. Trying to get to the A40 via either Polish War Memorial or Swakeleys is painful, even on a Sunday morning. The West End Road, Victoria Road, Swakeleys Road - all the main arterial routes are just clogged. Plus the parking situation is getting worse and worse.

Great things about Ruislip are the 1930's houses with the lovely big gardens. You just don't get the space from newer built homes. And the great public transport. I miss the ease with which it was possible to get into town now that I'm out in Berkshire.

I'm currently executing the estate of a close relative who lived in Ruislip for all of her 90 years and her house is on the market now and would fit OPs brief so perhaps I should be selling the area more?!

@hopingforonlychild arghhhh you're killing me. And I can picture your route so clearly! Except I wouldn't buy veggies from Planet Organic because I'm tight as hell :)

@Arlington45 thank you very much for this, I'm scouring rightmove as we speak.

@Eng123, too far I'm afraid. I'm trying to hit that not-too-close-not-too-far sweet spot.

@goldpendant I was quite excited about Kingston initially but recently found out that the council are fairly difficult with CSA starts.

@waspie, haha yes, you totally should. Thank you for adding more detail about the area. I'm sorry for your loss.

Oh that's funny, there are at least a few children at ours school that have done this (and others that have staggered/shorter days in reception because they are summer born).

I'm a bit like JoJo in that I'm often on MN raving about my 'hood, but I think you'd find a sweet spot here!

Thank you FrogFly. Actually I'm remembering how my aunt's neighbours lined the street the morning of her funeral to pay their respects. Another tick in the positive column is the community in Ruislip. They are a nice bunch

In fact the more I think about the Ruislip area the more positive I'm becoming about it - although I think I still have a way to go before I get to "lovely" as an adjective!

I can't comment on the other areas pp are suggesting but I have lived in many places in and around the 'burbs of North West London like Acton, Harrow, Shepherds Bush and Ruislip and of them all Ruislip is probably the best for families and for possibly even for transport into West London. Harrow has the fast train to Euston but it's still on the Met line as Ruislip is so Ruislip has the benefit of Central line too. Plus if you want the Piccadilly it's closer. There is also the SE main line at South Ruislip. Acton and SB are closer to the west end but the areas around the tube stations are not particularly salubrious.

Chiswick is lovely but you would need a larger budget really.

I don't know much about schools in the area except that the parents park over my parent's drive thus incurring my mother's wrath but I think that's the same all over the country and not a Ruislip problem I do know that the schools are pretty well regarded but I don't know about CSA policy.

Have you narrowed down your search at all yet?

We left London and moved to Reigate, so far so good. People have been super friendly!

Following! Some interesting points made.

Used to live in muswell hill and loved it. I think you said you had 1 child so maybe a garden flat would work for you? Great schools, community, woods etc etc.

However we moved as we wanted a house and couldn’t afford one there (have 2 kids, eldest has just started reception).

Going up to, or just over the north circular would be my suggestion. You get more for your ££ whilst still having similar feel and good transport. Personally I wouldn’t go for a house around Turnpike Lane/Wood Green.

But I’d consider (as some have mentioned before) Bounds Green, Bowes Park, Winchmore Hill, Palmers Green and Southgate.

I live in one of those areas and v happy. Ticks all the boxes for us. Only thing I’d say is that if you’re looking at state schools, look at catchments carefully, especially if you’re thinking this might be home for a while and you’d like to stay in the house for secondary.

Others and yourself have mentioned Bromley and Harrow. Me and my DH hail from these respective areas. All nice but I feel where we are and the above areas are just that little bit less suburban.

I love that I can walk to the tube from my house in 10 minutes plus reach my old stomping ground in muswell too easily by car or bus.

Hello all, sorry for the radio silence. I wasn't feeling very well, but I'm better now and back on the case!

@Waspie, we did like Ruislip. It was mainly the high street that put us off, but I take your point about things being affected by lockdown. It must have been so moving to see your aunt's neighbours lining up in the street to pay their respects. @OrcharD14 mentioned the strong sense of community too, which is something that is important to us. Pinner seems nice too, but we haven't found anything we like on Rightmove. I saw a lovely house in West Acton but don't know much about it, is it nice or a bit rough around the edges?

@littlecontis, I think I'm not really feeling S/SW/SE areas tbh. But I googled Reigate and it does seem really nice. I'm glad the move worked out for you :)

@Pl242 I had a look again at Muswell Hill and it's just....nope. Even if we could stretch to it, the houses that are listed just above our budget are tiiiiny, 700-800 sq ft! A garden flat might have been a possibility but we will need off street parking/a garage because of my husband's little car (which is more trouble than it's worth ). So yes, we are looking further North, and will be checking out Southgate/Palmers Green this weekend. And the following weekend we will explore Enfield. Onwards and upwards!

Your husband's off-street parking requirement is really restricting both the areas and properties that you can look at. Would he consider renting a garage or driveway close to your new home? This would mean that you could look at areas of North London that give you a bit more of that Camden vibe that is important to you.

I'm glad you are feeling better now FrogFly

Pinner is nice but perhaps a little frumpy. There is a certain type of woman who is habitually known as a "Pinner Person" - she's the organiser of the neighbourhood watch, runs the WI and is conservative with both small and large "C"

On the other hand Pinner is great for a pub crawl!

Most of Pinner is LB Harrow and I believe the schools are considered to be good. Just be careful if you are looking at proximity to schools on RM/Zoopla because the LB Hillingdon/LB Harrow border is probably quite firm when it comes to school catchments. We used to have friends on Cuckoo Hill Road but they moved away a few years ago so I haven't been to Pinner recently.

That said I have been to Pinner more recently than I've been to Acton! I don't know West Acton very well I'm afraid. I suspect Ealing would be considered more family centric but I'm happy to be corrected on that. I suspect West Acton would have a lot of residents who work at the Central Middlesex hospital (not that that is a bad thing, simply that it must be quite a large employer in the area). When I lived there I lived in the "Poets" area which is more central Acton - further south towards Uxbridge Road and, whilst I enjoyed living there my parents hated it with a passion and didn't like the area at all.

I do admire your willingness to spend your weekends exploring these areas! I hope you are finding them helpful.