Area to recommend out of London (south east or south west)

[Justan0therm0ther]

Hi,
we need help!
First time buyers.
Can’t buy in zone 2 where we live (SW) and secondary state schools are not so great here. We have a 9 year old and 4 year old (boy and girl).
We want what most people want…

• Nice house ~4 beds
• nice neighbourhood with young families with children, not too unenventful,
• in catchment of good primary and secondary schools, plus we like the idea of being at a commutable distance from grammar schools.
• commute not much longer than 1 hr to Canary Wharf
• close to parks
• possibly an nice high street nearby
• budget 1.1 max

currently we are considering a variety of places but it doesn’t seem easy (catchment of primaries and secondaries is hard to get).

areas considered:

• Cheam and immediate surroundings (but limited to areas close to Cheam high school, as we want a decent school option that is not grammar, in case they are not academic..
• Epsom (Rosebery and Glyn schools, and commutable to grammar schools in Sutton)

• Hayes (south of Bromley) and West Wickham - good secondary schools - but small catchments so not many houses come up. Also commutable to Orpington for grammar.
• Orpington, but not many options for comprehensive, other than Ravens wood and Darrick wood - on which I have read mixed reviews.
• Twickenham and surrounding as its nice leafy but still feels like London - but its too expensive.

any other areas you’d recommend??

thansk for helping someone very confused.

Following as we might be in similar circumstances soon ( with less budget!)

What about streatham? There are plenty of young families and you could get something like this near an outstanding secondry.

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/121666844#/media?channel=RES_BUY&id=media1

You could look along the new Elizabeth Line heading out towards Reading. It's not all going to be functioning until the Autumn but looks like it will be a great transport option once it's all open.

Hertford?

Walton on Thames or Beckenham maybe?

Beckenham
Eden Park
Chislehurst
Bromley

Have you considered Carshalton? It’s very picturesque and has got better transport links than Cheam (which is lovely, I went to Nonsuch years ago) and good access to Sutton and the surrounding schools without having to live in Sutton.

Thanks, I’ve heard positive things on this platform about Carshalton beeches, not as positive re Carshalton… good access to grammar schools from Carshalton Beeches, but I’d need a secondary comprehensive for both boys and girls..

Thanks Walton on Thames is nice but it seems expensive…
Beckenham is nice and good primaries… but l secondaries not as good… I know people in Beckenham who are considering a move elsewhere because of that…

Thanks. Transport wise that would be smart, but what about good secondary schools?

Thanks,
we have considered it but we were thinking of something leafier less pollution further out from zone 3… and we’d like the option of grammar

I'd look at the boroughs of Sutton & Bromley tbh. Personally think Streatham is too expensive for what you actually get if that makes sense.

Kingston?

Thanks…
eden park is close to some good schools (langley). Secondaries not as good in Beckenham.
don’t overly love the “city outside of the main city” feeling of Bromley.
chiselhurst I should indeed study a bit more

Totally agree… but to be honest no matter how far out you look, prices don’t seem to go down, if one wants to stay close to a station…

Just to say re Epsom I don’t think it’s the easiest to get catchment for both Rosebery and Glyn, which seems mad but there you are. We were thinking about a move there (we’re nearish at the moment) but it seems like there’s only a handful of roads where you’d be within the magic 1 mile distance of both schools, so when we found out DC2 was a boy we discounted it - would have been much easier if we could have just go e for the Ashtead side with 2 DDs or the Ewell side with 2 DSs! But in fairness your budget is higher than ours so you may find more in that small area of overlap than we did.

Bishop's Stortford or Sawbridgeworth, although pushing the hour commute.

Thanks… I didn’t notice the area with catchment for both was so small…
if closer to ewell and Glyn, only option for secondary for our DD would be Blenheim High school, which doesn’t seem like the best school. Do you know much about it?

For non grammars in Sutton borough the last place you want to be is Carshalton Beeches, def nearer Cheam High School. It's in bit of a black hole as the local secondaries are not particularly stellar although Oaks may pick up now its part of the Cheam Academies Trust.

Maybe a bit further out... Surbiton, Walton, Hersham, West Byfleet / Pyrford, Woking direction. Great train links straight into Waterloo. Good road access to the A3 & M25.

Purley - lots of houses well within budget - not too far from lots of green open space. Grammars and Whitgift schools and a straightforward commute into town.

Hanwell has Drayton Manor and Elthorne Park High Schools. Though commuting to grammar schools (eg in Slough) would be a push.

Sevenoaks. Direct line 25 minutes to London Bridge, 3 stops on Jubilee line to Canary Wharf. Good mix of state and independent schools, including some very well-regarded state primaries. Grammer schools too although I believe children have to travel for those.

Chislehurst station is 19 minutes in to London Bridge, or you can change at Lewisham for the DLR.

The station is a little outside the centre, and just the other side of it is Bickley, which is also very nice, and still not much of a walk to Chislehurst station.

What about the area in the middle of Cheam/Epsom and Orpington/Hayes? Around Purley, Kenley, Warlingham.

I know Orpington well. Newstead Wood and St Olaves are super selective grammar schools so really hard to get into. However there are quite a few other grammar schools around which are more accessible - Chislehurst and Sidcup, Dartford, Wilmington, Bexley and more good schools in the Sevenoaks area. Weald of Kent Grammar, Judd, Tonbridge, and also Trinity is a good comprehensive in Sevenoaks. Darrick wood has mixed reviews but a very small catchment. Very popular.
Orpington and Sevenoaks definitely worth considering. Lots of houses around your budget too.

Hinchley Wood - if you can get into the feeder primaries, the secondary is amazing. Wishing we'd moved a few years back!