How to choose an area to move to with a new baby

[pimlicopubber]

Happy new year!
Pre-covid, I spent a while on mumsnet getting an advice on the best locations to buy a flat for a young childless couple.
Things have changed a bit, our purchase fell through and we found out we are expecting a baby!
So now our requirements have changed a bit.

We have spent the last few weeks walking around different neighbourhoods, but are still unsure of where to move to.
What should I look out for?
Your advice would be much appreciated!!

Pre-covid, we were living a central London lifestyle with frequent theatre and bar visits, cycling everywhere etc. Unfortunately, this means our friends are also centrally based and none have children yet. I am therefore feeling a bit anxious at the prospect of moving to a quiet suburb and also don't have anyone to go to for advice.

Some areas that seemed nice, fun and relatively affordable:
Battersea
Finsbury park tube towards Stroud Green, Stoke Newington
Tufnell park/Dartmouth park
Herne hill (have not seen anything decent to rent, though :-( )

Are these suitable areas for young families? What should I look out for, apart from schools?

For example, our local GP surgery is terrible, I need to spend 2 hours calling the reception if I want to have any chance of getting through.

Hi!

Congratulations on the baby !!
Have you thought of Wimbledon, Surbiton and surroundings? We currently live in Wimbledon and it has been amazing, very good transport links to central London. There are a lot of murseries, GP is amazing and lots of amenities.
We are moving to Surbiton as we have purchased a property there and property for rent is cheaper, you only have the train to central London though. From what I have researched and seen while being there, there are a lot of amenities and Kingston centre is close by.

Where do you work?

Where were you planning on buying before?

When you say young, how young are you?! And what's your budget for renting / buying?

@MsBubbles85

Hi!

Congratulations on the baby !!
Have you thought of Wimbledon, Surbiton and surroundings? We currently live in Wimbledon and it has been amazing, very good transport links to central London. There are a lot of murseries, GP is amazing and lots of amenities.
We are moving to Surbiton as we have purchased a property there and property for rent is cheaper, you only have the train to central London though. From what I have researched and seen while being there, there are a lot of amenities and Kingston centre is close by.

Thank you very much!! Wimbledon is lovely, I've been there a few times. Are you around South Wimbledon for the Northern line or do you take the train? What would you say is important for your quality of life there apart from nurseries, GP, shops and accessibility - would you say these are the most important things when choosing a location to move to? Is a car necessary to get around? We'll probably have to get one anyway for weekends away, shopping etc.

@Elbels

Where do you work?

Where were you planning on buying before?

When you say young, how young are you?! And what's your budget for renting / buying?

Thank you for your reply!

Our offices are around Kings Cross and Southwark.

We were planning on buying a "starter" one bed/tiny 2 bed close to central London - we were looking at Bermondsey, Islington, Camden and made an offer on one in Islington. Now we would want to buy a decent three bed. Our budget would be up to 700k for a flat (a terrace or balcony would be great) or 900k for a family house.

We are 30, so not super young really, but we will be less settled down than someone our age who already has 2 pre-schoolers. We'd like to stay in a fun area, but can't afford to buy in Belsize park, "between the commons" and other popular fun/centrally located areas so looking at other parts of London.

Hi @pimlicopubber , we live between Wimbledon Station and South Wimbledon Station - next to Wimbledon theatre. I don't drive and I have never had an issue with that. It is very easy to go everywhere with public transport. When we moved here, for us it was important an easy commute to work and especially for me having shops nearby and not be car dependant. My husband has a car and it is easy to park in the street (we live in a flat).
We mainly use the car to visit my in laws (pre -covid) or day trips.

In that case I'd throw in crystal palace to the mix! It should still be in the house range at your budget. The triangle is fab, you're close to Brixton for the underground and there's national rail that goes into Victoria/ London bridge and the overground through to east London, good amount of green space for kids and bars / cafes / restaurants.

Collier's wood? You'd get a decent house with garden. Tube line/zone 3 for work

It's quieter there but walking distance to Tooting for all the nightlife (you can no longer enjoy)

Plus easy access to Wimbledon high street and common, Clapham and Balham open spaces

Definitely Tufnell Park if you like Belsize x

Thank you very much all, I'll definitely look into Wimbledon and Collier's wood. I know and love Crystal palace but Citymapper that husband's commute would be 1 hour and 10 minutes door to door, which is too much unfortunately.

It's all very encouraging, we were a bit depressed looking at what we could get in some areas.

@NWnature

Definitely Tufnell Park if you like Belsize x

I like Tufnell park, but have not seen anything decent in our price range after looking at rightmove. Are there any nice and affordable parts of North London (for King's cross commute) or is South much better in terms of value for money?

Stoke newington is fantastic for kids and young families

Kennington was my favourite place in London to live, although no one has ever heard of it! Walkable to Westminster/soho, beautiful and lots of lovely galleries and things. I loved being so close to the river too - and fantastic transport links everywhere. The squares are gorgeous, you could get a nice flat for that budget and even a little house.

And to kings cross from Kennington, it’s straight up the Victoria line from Vauxhall. And Southwark is v walkable.

www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/57292016?search_identifier=68d82200b0980f2a6143cee701c04024

Quick walk or bus down the hill to the tube at Brixton or the train (Thameslink) at Tulse Hill. Cycleable to lots of places. V close to the fabulous Brockwell Park. Loads going on!

Maybe not best placed for a primary school.

www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/details/56521604?search_identifier=682e6000ce9fe0b04c85115afc25b308

I’d say this because I chose Charlton but you are right next to Blackheath/Greenwich which has a lot of the new kind of social life (cafes, brunch, museums, pub gardens where you can take the little ones) and for 750k you can get a 3/4 bed house in the definite catchment for 2 outstanding primaries. 30min train to st pancras and 23mins to Waterloo. People seem really nice when we met them viewing houses and came heartedly recommended on mumsnet.

Hopedale Road, London, SE7
www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-76594221.html

Eversley Road, Charlton
www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-75210045.html

@2020quelhorreur

Kennington was my favourite place in London to live, although no one has ever heard of it! Walkable to Westminster/soho, beautiful and lots of lovely galleries and things. I loved being so close to the river too - and fantastic transport links everywhere. The squares are gorgeous, you could get a nice flat for that budget and even a little house.

I actually know Kennington quite well, I used to live at Millbank and would cycle through Kennington to get to work (Southwark). I visited places around it very frequently (Vauxhall city farm, Kennington park, War museum...) We were actually looking to buy there pre-baby due to the price/value ration and closeness to central London. However, we were a bit put off by all the flats we have seen as they were quite badly located (either busy road or next to a council estate). Which area do you live in exactly? Most of the area did not strike me as family friendly, unfortunately.

[quote purpletrees16]I’d say this because I chose Charlton but you are right next to Blackheath/Greenwich which has a lot of the new kind of social life (cafes, brunch, museums, pub gardens where you can take the little ones) and for 750k you can get a 3/4 bed house in the definite catchment for 2 outstanding primaries. 30min train to st pancras and 23mins to Waterloo. People seem really nice when we met them viewing houses and came heartedly recommended on mumsnet.

Hopedale Road, London, SE7
www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-76594221.html

Eversley Road, Charlton
www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-75210045.html[/quote]
Thank you all!
Thanks for your Charlton suggestion, never heard of the area to be honest haha but it sounds good. I am just starting to look into schools - we are not British, so we are very unfamiliar with the system.
Is it worth buying based on the school location? From what I understand, sometimes the catchment areas can be tiny and could also change - how do you maximize your chances of being accepted? What happens when you buy a house 300 metres from a great school but then they only accept children living less than 250 metres away?

Stoke newington: Heard good things about Stoke newington, never been there, only to Finsbury park.

Archway is a little bit cheaper than Tufnell Park and has improved a lot in recent years. It's close to Hampstead Heath and Waterlow Park, and has great Tube and bus connections.

Very biased but I live in the Finsbury Park/SN and I think it's brilliant. Clissold Park, Finsbury Park, Woodbury Wetlands, Gillespie Nature Reserve. It's got a lot of green spaces. Primary schools are excellent and lots of children's classes. High number of independent businesses. We swapped home counties commuter town four bed house for a three bed flat (1 box room) and are very happy.

@Twilightstarbright

Very biased but I live in the Finsbury Park/SN and I think it's brilliant. Clissold Park, Finsbury Park, Woodbury Wetlands, Gillespie Nature Reserve. It's got a lot of green spaces. Primary schools are excellent and lots of children's classes. High number of independent businesses. We swapped home counties commuter town four bed house for a three bed flat (1 box room) and are very happy.

That's good to hear! We actually put down an offer on a flat in Finsbury park pre-covid. How far from the station are you? I like the vibe of the area around the tube (I'll pick a good kebab over a fancy bakery any day!) and the tube and train connections are amazing. but was not sure if it the best choice for families as well?

If you work near Kings Cross and Southwark I would be leaving London and going towards Milton Keynes. It’s 30min train journey to Euston, 45mins to Southwark and close to all national motorways so you can get into central london / airports really quickly on the weekends too.

I'm within 0.5 miles. Stroud Green side feels very different to the Highbury side but both have their pros. It's definitely urban but we like it- there's no way I'd want to live in Milton Keynes etc but I accept that means I can afford a flat with a tiny patio and not a house.

Stoke Newington is great, I'd say a stronger community feel than FP but I think FP has changed a lot in the past few years in that respect.

One thing that both Charlton and Stoke Newington have is a small collection of farm animals in the local park.

Charlton is definitely 10min walk from fun but I found that in areas like Crystal Palace I was also going to be at least 10mins away from the main attractions. However, my budget was 700k.

I am actually not too sure on the whole school thing - both the suggested houses are 100-200m away from two outstanding schools.. but it is true that the catchments can go to practically zero in London.

Though I will throw out an important factor ish - do you have friends in north London? All my friends work west and therefore live west (as I used to) and with Canary Wharf we have to live East - though I love it here. I already know I will have to drive to some as they make the slow exodus to Surrey as people start to hit mid thirties.

Thanks, I'll go see what the houses around Finsbury park are like!
I know we could get a much better deal in Milton Keynes, but to be honest, we are just not ready to give up our London lives. Even moving to Wimbledon or Tooting is going to be a big change as we always lived quite centrally and like London (but not the house prices!). We might change our mind within a year as many people do, which is why we want to rent first. Most of our friends also live centrally, the one that lives the furthest is in Brixton, but we'll see how many of our pre-baby friends we manage to keep with a baby :-)