SW London - where to move?

[MNSavedMyLockdown]

Inspired by another thread on SW London but not wishing to derail that one...

We currently live in East London but we are wanting to move next 2 years or so before baby becomes school aged. Our area isn't very family friendly.

We love Blackheath but are slightly priced out - we would ideally want a 3-bed or scope for 4 bed. Also the secondary schools aren't amazing so I worry if we lived there we would either want to move again or be stuck worrying about DC schooling. I know secondary schools do change but it's a consistent theme people tell me about the area, that all the kids go private or ferry out to grammars further out.

I'm interested in SW London but have only ever lived in North or East so aside from day trips I know nothing much.

We love green space and want to send DC to state school (not Catholic). We also want good transport to the City.

As in the other SW London post, we know we could move further out but feel strongly about London living, diversity, energy etc and want our DC to grow up in London.

So with all that in mind, can anyone recommend areas in London?

I know nothing about Putney vs Wandsworth, vs Twickenham / St Margaret's / Kew / Kingston and so on. I know there are a few v good secondaries in Richmond but fear that might be too pricey for us. Looking for inspiration for any areas in SW.

I didn't think there were decent secondaries around Wanstead? (Co-Ed non-Catholic)

Stay in East London and come to Highams Park - it's as family friendly as you can get. Great place to live with great schools.

I agree that Stratford isn't very family friendly and a very unique area of London, but a few stops eastbound on the central line will make a world of difference.

@Gemma2019 I like the lushness of a Heath or big parks. Wanstead Park and Flats are ok. I just don't know about secondaries over there.

That's why I said Highams Park - there's a whopping big park and lake. I moved here for the secondary schools and it's a great area.

St Margaret's is lovely - a village feel with Richmond just around the corner and sandwiched between lots of gorgeous parks.

I also really like Thames Ditton - the riverside is really nice.

Teddington was selected as the best place to live in London by The Times this year.
South west London is also very diverse (apart from British), with a Liberal Democrat MP for Kingston. Just that compared to East London there is a different mix of nationalities. East London has a larger population of Asian, African and Eastern European ethnicities. South West has lot of West Europeans (germans, French, Spanish), South Americans, North Americans to generalise a bit based on my experience. So both have a good mix of diversities in culture. What you will find in SW is that people are quite friendly and the mums in primary schools are very social with a good community feel.

Streatham sounds like what you need - 2 big commons (Streatham and Tooting) OK transport mainly trains unless you can cycle to Balahm tube but good secondaries DUnraven, Chestnut or Graveny. Also Streatham High Road is on the up in terms of coffee shops etc.

Furzedown is lovely, but if you want to get your kids into Graveney on distance you have to look at houses within about 250m. A lot of kids get in on the Wandsworth test, and then because it has a sibling policy, a lot of siblings of the original child then also go in. I think about half of each year's intake are siblings, which doesn't leave much room for kids coming in on distance.

With 800-900K you should find something though, and it's a lovely area for families.

Not massively helpful but Furzedown is sort of no man's land for good transport & ammenities. You really need to visit it in person & trial your commute & get a vibe for the place.

And Remember, places change. PP mentioned Chesnut Grove as a good school option, not so long ago it was on a different schedule to all the other schools because there was so much kick out time violence, a total hole of a school that changed rapidly due to gentrification.

Dunraven catchment in Streatham is a quick bus to Brixton tube.
Streatham Hill station or Tulse Hill for Thameslink or London Bridge.

Walkable to West Norwood Picturehouse. Newish Streatham theatre. Odeon. Big M&S Food on the High Rd. Not far from Brockwell Park.

Dunraven and Graveney both have tight catchments, especially Graveney as they give away such a high number of places on 11+ rather than distance, and their catchments do not overlap.

Don't forget to check flight paths if you don't already know that's something you don't mind.

Nothing quite like a lovely garden bbq and having to pause conversation every 3 minutes as a 747 flies in to Heathrow.

@Cavagirl The flights are quite reduced from Heathrow these days and been rather quiet. So hard to make out the noise impact when it's operating at full capacity. Good time for sellers to off load their noisy property

Yes that's absolutely true! Sadly it won't last!
There are some good maps online of the normal coverage, hacan is a good place to start hacan.org.uk/?page_id=3311
Honestly some people it doesn't bother at all, but unless you know you're that person, best to be cautious.

What's Teddington like? I saw that about the Sunday Times article actually.

Teddington is quite lovely actually. It is a long high street, a wide range of accommodation. There is choice of schools depending on where you are. You have the Thames tow path, bushy park, and good train service.

Neighbouring suburbs are also good such as Twickenham, Hampton, Whitton and as someone pointed out Feltham and Fullwell. Hampton Wick abuts Kingston.

Across the river from Teddington is Petersham and Ham which has Greycourt school.

They are all a little different in feel and worthy of consideration.

Teddington is lovely but always feels the bit further out in my opinion when compared to Kew, Richmond or St Margarets. As a rough guide, Teddington is 40 minutes to Waterloo, St Margarets is 30 minutes to Waterloo and Richmond is 20 minutes to Waterloo. Richmond also has the Underground, which is walkable from St Margarets, but not from Teddington.

Prices are still high in Teddington too, considering the added commute and distance.

True mobear however, the trains are direct from a couple of stops before Richmond and you are more likely to get a seat during peak hour travel whereas even St Mags can mean standing the entire trip.

There are plenty of pros and cons, aren't there? It is all about what the OP wants to trade off.

@gemma2019 I don't think the Highams Park secondaries are any better than the Wanstead ones? Which are you thinking of?

@Helleofabore I agree, and Teddington is gorgeous. The only other thing to consider is if there is a problem with the National Rail service and you can get to Richmond relatively easily you have the additional option of the Underground. I don't know if the service has improved, but I had issues a couple of times a month when I lived there, more in Winter.

I’m in SW London as per my thread! Kingston and New Malden, Hampton etc just aren’t London at all. They are the suburbs. Ideally you want to be on the tube as it just makes transport so much cheaper. Teddington is really gorgeous but pricy. Tooting is where people go when they’re still a bit more young and cool as it has lots of bars and restaurants and is way more affordable than Wimbledon. No one has mentioned Earlsfield. No tube, but incredibly quick to Waterloo and loads of families there. By Wandsworth Common too.

Depending where you are in Earlsfield you might be able to walk to Southfields or Wimbledon Park tube stations (District line) or take the bus to Tooting to pick up the Northern line.

Last "Location Location Location" episode was interesting as it covered South West London. Both buyers started looking around Wimbledon, Raynes Park, New Malden, Putney but didnt find anything they liked. One ended up buying in Windsor and other is looking in Guilford. One had a budget of 750K and other 925K. Says something about affordability in SW London.