Richmond vs Barnes vs Wimbledon

[Lastnamefirst]

Looking to buy a house in one of the above three areas. Important things to us are

1. Easy commute into London (Don’t know where my husbands permanent long-term job will be yet, but may not for a few years so can’t wait and find out)
2. Nice area, ideally picturesque
3. In catchment for very good local state primary schools

I’m veering towards Wimbledon due to the transport links. Unfortunately we can’t afford Wimbledon village so it would be the area around the station. We absolutely adore Barnes but I’m worried about the transport links. I work near White City. Richmond ticks the boxes though often the gardens for houses in our price range are very small, and worried about on street parking.

Anything I haven’t thought about? Anybody have any other thoughts?

To me, they feel like quite different areas. Have you visited all of them? Barnes is technically more central but as you say, transport links aren't as good. Though if you're planning to work in White City for a while, transport might not be too bad. Much better than if you end up working in Shoreditch!

The area around Wimbledon station is quite busy and always feels quite trafficky to me. Richmond is lovely but plane noise can be very bad - as in Barnes.

Why not keep Rightmove alerts on for all 3 areas and see if a house you love comes up for sale?

Wimbledon - trains and tube near some outstanding primary schools. The town is better than the village - there are no start primary schools other than Bishops Gilpin which is Catholic (I think). We lived near the village and my kids did not get in to the four nearest! Also not near the station.
I live Richmond but pricey and I don’t know about the schools. Barnes nice but a bit isolated (train is not near the village) and nearest urban area is Hammersmith which I don’t like.

Bishop Gilpin isn’t Catholic - it’s CofE and you have to pretty much live in the playground to get in. Wimbledon very busy around the station but much quieter once you nip down a side street. I had to make the same decision myself twenty years ago - Richmond has much more charm, and the river, but all I could afford was a tiny cottage in the Alberts and I could get a three bedroom house in Wimbledon for the same. Never regretted it - excellent transport links, good schools, easy access to country down the A3, nowhere near as much plane noise. The council are a bit useless though and the streets aren’t particularly clean, but no idea if Richmond is the same!

Regarding Barnes (East Sheen and West side of Putney too). If you work at White City then the latest is that Hammersmith Bridge is open for pedestrians and cyclists. Barnes to White City is a nice flat cycle. If Hammersmith Bridge ever reopens for buses be warned that buses can take forever to get round Hammersmith bus station and to Shepherds bush, could be 20 minutes, could be an hour. If you find a house closer to Barnes Bridge station you can take your bike up and over the pedestrian bridge there if you can lift it up steps. North Barnes (Castlenau) would normally be pretty good for access to Hammersmith tube but it's very uncertain at the moment due to the bridge issues.

Wimbledon to White City isn't a great commute. The Overland from Clapham Junction is every 30 minutes and normally rammed at peak time.

You haven't mentioned budget, but you say state school. There is quite a split in the areas you mentioned of those who can afford private and those who cannot (or choose not) to.

I think Wimbledon is better for trains and tube generally, Putney may be an option too. Hammersmith bridge and flood risk are a bit of a negative for Barnes. East Sheen and Mortlake are in Richmond and between Barnes and Richmond town.

Traffic is bad (not helped by the bridge) around the south Circular because it isn't a dual carriageway like the North Circular and there will be a big development going in on the old brewery site in Mortlake, hopefully with a secondary school.

Have you experienced plane noise? That might be a factor for you.

State secondary schools get patchy in all these areas due to wealthy parents going private for secondary.

The London School Atlas is a great resource: apps.london.gov.uk/schools/

All the primaries in Barnes area are good or outstanding, some different approaches / sizes / mixes of pupils. Putney generally are good or outstanding too (you won't want Granard though)

Though if you're planning to work in White City for a while, transport might not be too bad.

Transport from Barnes to north of the river is an absolute PITA thanks to Hammersmith Bridge being closed to cars with no idea of when the repairs will take place.

Don't forget to take into account that Richmond's Council tax is amongst the highest too. Putney and Wandsworth would suit your needs and be more within your budget I suspect.

What are you planning for secondary school?

I’d also agree that you need to think about secondary schools. If you’re planning on state then there are some good options, especially around Wimbledon but you need to be very savvy about where you buy (some are catholic, some have very small catchments, some of the best are single sex, some (Tiffin) you need to be in a specific post code even to be eligible to enter the exam I believe). Most of the primary schools will be good but so many people find they have to move after a couple of years (most people will start to think about secondary by about year 4). So unless you’re planning on private and have money set aside for tutoring etc I’d think carefully.

Have you thought about Twickenham? On doorstep for Richmond ( Twickenham still in Richmond borough), still have river, excellent schools and great train links too. It’s just a stone’s throw. Also might be worth looking at Teddington- Recently voted best area in London to live.

In Wimbledon town, outstanding primaries (Dundonald, Wimbledon Chase, Merton Park) have very small catchment areas. Many parents first rent for a year to get their children into these schools, then move further away. If you’re looking to buy straight away, make sure you look at the data on past admissions, and the latest version of priority catchment areas. A few years ago there were catchment “voids” (some households would not get offered any local places), but I think the council has worked to redress that.

The Church schools are extremely hard to get into, you need proof of weekly attendance going back years (or at least that was the case when I last looked, admittedly a few years ago).

I second the suggestion of Twickenham. Train links from there are better than Teddington, it's cheaper than Richmond, shops etc are improving with the redevelopment of the station, there are some lovely houses, and schools are excellent. If any of your children are girls, look for somewhere close to Waldegrave School.

Thanks everyone
Lots of things that I haven’t thought about
I hadn’t realised that people rent for a year to be in the right catchment for the Wimbledon good schools
Ideally would like to not have to do that
To answer some of the questions - we would like state primary and private secondary
Don’t actually have any kids as of yet but soon to be TTC and we want it to be our forever home
Yes plane noise is a concern for us
We hadn’t actually thought about Twickenham so thank you very much for that suggestion
New concern now given recent events is flood risk - particularly as we want to stay in the house for a long time and things are only going to get worse. Looks like all of the places are at risk of flooding though!
Budget is 1m, though we are hoping to be able to get a bargain with stamp duty holiday being over and also the fact that we have sold already and have no chain - we shall see…

1 million is a funny value in those areas. Not enough for a nice period terrace, a bit more than the ex council places. Probably not dream forever home territory I'm afraid.

For avoiding flood risk and plane noise generally keep south of the south circular road. You might find a house in east Sheen that needs work for that budget. East Sheen primary is really good. Beware cheap houses that are on busy roads like the South circular.

Sadly I agree 1 million isn’t dream forever house in those expensive areas especially Barnes.
Parts of Wimbledon near the station will deliver a small house for that budget and very small 2 bed houses with courtyard garden in Richmond.

Absolutely fine if you recognise this and don’t aim for perhaps the forever family home of your future. Or perhaps look slightly further afield if planning on family and forever type house. The cost of stamp duty being so high at that price bracket really does make it worth considering what works as a couple, then a couple with a baby, then a family with two small children etc.

For instance a lovely two bed property in The Alberts area of Richmond fabulous as a couple but not so good with children at all due to lack of space and courtyard garden.

So if you like Wimbledon would Rayners Park work for you? Similarly you like Richmond so what about Twickenham etc? Barnes is just plain expensive and even moving towards Hammersmith is very pricey.

Sorry Raynes Park.

I don’t think I would be looking for a forever home. If you are prepared to compromise on tube access all these areas have overland train access to Waterloo, but it’s always going to be a pain commuting to North or East London from SW London.

On the other hand if the Waterloo commute is convenient then as others have said you will get much more for your money if you are 4 or 5 miles further out.

Look at the South Park Gardens and Ministers area of Wimbledon for 3.5 bedroom houses for less than a million, with good/outstanding schools nearby (bigger choice if you are a churchgoer of some variety) but Holy Trinity has distance places and Pelham is also very good. There’s also the area between Dundonald Park and the railway line for Dundonald school and some surprising pockets of affordability around Wimbledon Chase school. Agree that most of these aren’t “forever” homes though.

All three areas would need more than £1m to buy the type of forever home you are looking for. Twickenham, St Margarets and Strawberry Hill are good alternatives, though only Twickenham has very fast trains into Waterloo if you need to be in town.

If you are able to increase your budget by £100k or so, you may be able to secure something like this:

Twickenham
Grove Avenue, Twickenham
www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/109714454

St Margarets
St Margarets Road, St Margarets, TW1
www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/111483089

Strawberry Hill
Popes Avenue, Strawberry Hill
www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/79078968

Have you thought about Southfields? Money goes further than in Wimbledon Village, but you're still close enough to walk to the village & common.

I think that your logic on state / private education and house location needs much more fine tuning.

There is a reason that people rent for primary catchments - because they change all the time - when your DCs (at least 6 years away?) apply - it could be v different and you could be in the “wrong” location for that time.

Also the differential costs of house in or out of catchment is £££££ - might be near to the cost of privately educating them for primary.

Do the maths.

It’s hard to game the system - lots of v sharp elbowed well informed people with their ear to the ground competing with you for v few primary school places.

I also think that your idea of getting a bargain is naive. The house market in these areas have rocketed due to Covid - people moving out of central London flats, wanting a house with a garden and the ability to WFH.

Although with Primary: reception is a bun fight, but 2 years later in-year entry is much easier. People move out of London (or the UK!) and go private after infants, so don't discount being patient and changing schools. The initial entry is the stressful time.

@Rollercoaster1920

Although with Primary: reception is a bun fight, but 2 years later in-year entry is much easier. People move out of London (or the UK!) and go private after infants, so don't discount being patient and changing schools. The initial entry is the stressful time.

That’s a good point lots move to prep for yr4 or move on to where they need to be for secondary state catchment in y5 so places do become available in the later years - but that’s not really ideal for your own DC though - could potentially be quite disruptive socially, emotionally and educationally.

Thanks everyone - really helpful especially as I have only been living in London a few years so lots I don’t know.
I think we will probably have to compromise on something - probably size
And it sounds like we either move next door to an excellent school or be prepared to rent somewhere nearby for a year/move/go private for primary.
Our hope for a bargain was mainly driven by the fact we are completely chain free and can move whenever and also from watching the market over the last few months (have been waiting for financial reasons - will enable a bigger mortgage) it seems that very little has sold (as in offer accepted) in the last 2 months. Properties in Barnes seen to be the slowest to sell of the three areas.
We had also been thinking about Kingston/Norbiton but prices have definitely gone up in the last year quite a bit and that, plus the commute length, put us off.

I’ve just been sent this map -coastal.climatecentral.org/map/11/-0.1212/51.4848/?theme=sea_level_rise&map_type=year&basemap=roadmap&contiguous=true&elevation_model=best_available&forecast_year=2050&pathway=rcp45&percentile=p50&refresh=true&return_level=return_level_1&slr_model=kopp_2014 - which adds a new layer of complexity/worry!

www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p09mx1lw

You need to listen to this BBC podcast - the scary flooding maps may not be completely accurate…