Moving to Twickenham from East London

[Tashifamily]

Dear Mumsnetters,

I am new here but have been an avid reader of the Mumsnet forum for years - I would love to hear your thoughts / pros&cons on our relocation to West London. DH and I are indeed considering to buy a bigger property in the leafy zone 5/6 of London and finally move from our 1-bed flat in East London which has become too small for us over the years (we bought it 5 years ago when we got married, but now have two DDs - both under 2 - so space has become limited).

Our top priorities are: Excellent schools, good, family friendly, safe location, parks nearby and being as close as possible to all the shops, grocery, transport hub, coffee shops, etc (as we do not own or drive a car, location is also key for us). Ideally a 3-bedrooms/2bathroom (but 2 bedrooms could also work as DDs can share a room) and freehold/share of freehold. I am a SAHM and would love to stay somewhere central near good amenities. DH works in Osterley so would love the commute to be 30min max. This would be our house for the next 5-10y.

Our focus so far has been on Ealing, Chiswick, Twickenham areas as all of them are well connected, and very family-friendly (we also have friends there) and seem like a solid financial investment. Thanks to some equity in our current flat and years of savings, we can afford a property around 550k-575k (max) although we do not want to stretch it too far to have some budget for renovations.

Outside space being at a premium right now, we can only afford 3-bedroom flats in an excellent location or tiny 2-bedroom houses (smaller than flats) with a tiny garden/yard in a less desirable locations (although also very good if compared to the rest of London) or small lower garden flats.

We recently found a very charming purpose-built mansion flat between Twickenham and Richmond on a busy-ish road, 3 bedrooms/2 bathrooms, 1st floor with no lift and no outside space, share of freehold (shared between 3 flats). We would have access to Outstanding Primary schools, great parks, river nearby and everything that Twickenham/St Margarets have to offer without feeling too isolated without a car.

Are we being unreasonable and should really only focus on houses with outside space for our 2 babies? Would going up the stairs be too challenging with DDs?
What are generally things to be wary about when buying an old property (it is 100y+ old edwardian mansion I believe). In the ideal world we would buy the houses just around the corner of the flat but they are all priced at 1m+ so not affordable atm, so we need to compromise.

Our current motto is location, location, location, so preference for a large flat in an excellent location vs small house in a less desirable one, but what would you be doing in our position? Thank you so much.

Tashi

Hi, unfortunately we are now back to the starting point as the flat in Twickenham didn't work out financially...

We appreciate we should look a little further out to get value for our budget. Can you please recommend any areas for excellent schools, safe family friendly and an OK commute for DH to Osterley? Feeling a little desperate at the moment.

What would you go for in our position: a smaller flat in a good location or a house further out?

Thank you so much,
Tashi

Have you considered Maidenhead, Hayes, Burnham, West Drayton?

While Twickenham is a lovely area, your budget is a major constraint. I don't think you'd be able to get what you're looking for in Twickenham proper; your current budget would land you in Whitton or Hounslow, which aren't as lovely.

Moving further out, possibly out of London should help your money go further.

Hi @Delectable we haven't been looking outside of our preferred area which is Twickenham --> Teddington (anything in between) so far. These could be really convenient though thanks to the new Crossrail I guess. We will have a look on the available properties. Thank you!

Thank you @Starseeking, your message sums up pretty much the last couple of months of viewings and searching. We are now considering whether to compromise on the size of the property and the lack of outside space to be in Twickenham or look further away. Would you recommend any other areas nearby that could be a good fit for us? Hampton, Hampton or Hanworth perhaps? Thank you!

This has just gone on in Hounslow and looks lovely: (but on at 585k)
www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/85364349

Also nice in Isleworth and on at 575k

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/84804963

Right opposite a park in Hounslow, near the tube and looks ready to move in:

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/123451181

3rd floor flat in Ealing (child proofing the balcony...) With communal gardens. And you could rent the garage out for £££. Service charge might be high. 565k

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/122901545

I would definitely look at slightly different area to get a better property

Flat is ok, but I would only look at ground floor with garden with young children. But a 2-3 bed house idea for flexibility of garden and going into the loft to extend if needed

Hampton and isleworth have lots of options of houses in that bracket

www.zoopla.co.uk/for-sale/houses/twickenham/?beds_min=2&page_size=25&price_max=600000&property_sub_type=semi_detached&property_sub_type=terraced&property_sub_type=detached&property_sub_type=bungalow&view_type=list&q=Twickenham%2C%20London&radius=1&results_sort=newest_listings&search_source=facets&feature=has_garden

Sorry - I was going to say that the reason not to look in eg Hampton is that I think commuting from there without a car would be awful. Areas like Walton on Thames are nice but wending your way around SW London suburbs in the morning/evening is a pain on public transport. Even from Twickenham you would be on a bus trying to cross the main arteries feeding the M3 and the M4. Major traffic.

I would actually look into Whitton. There really isn't that much difference between Twickenham and Whitton IMO except house prices. It's 5 mins between both places. Whitton has a busy high street. Family friendly too - Jubilee parties, St George party, Christmas party etc. Great schools as well and actually schools in Twickenham are further building in Whitton.

I think you'd find something in your budget.

You could even look at Isleworth - the part that borders Whitton and Twickenham as property prices may be a little cheaper!

Between the two areas you mentioned, I'd go for Hampton over Hanworth, though close to the station to be more accessible, as it's a bit middle of nowhere. Driving to Osterley from Hampton would be no problem, as your DH would be going against the traffic.

Hanworth borders Feltham, which quite frankly is horrific (I've known of the area for 30 years, and it hasn't changed). The nicer parts of Hanworth are really close to the A316, which I wouldn't recommend for air quality.

This place looks nice, though more of a two bedroom really. To get 3 proper bedrooms you'd have to go into the loft, as many in the area already have done.

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/120821855#/?channel=RES_BUY

The first house you linked fronts directly onto the South West Trains line, and is in the St Stephens conservation area.

The second house you linked is on a massive council/ex-council estate. The council repainted the houses a few years ago, but only those they own, so it's pretty obvious now which are council and which are freehold 🤦

The third house you linked is next door to a park known for youths congregating doing goodness knows what at all hours of the day and night.

The fourth house, I don't know the area at all, so couldn't comment.

Thank you @friskybivalves for posting the ads. That's very lovely of your The properties do look great but have some major issues as Starseeking highlighted.

Thanks @Caspianberg we actually just returned from a day of viewings and viewed a couple of 2/3 beds Flats on the ground floor with a huge lovely garden for some. I agreed It does make a difference when you have kids... but we need to compromise on internal space in that case.

Thanks @lap90 we will now extend our search to Whitton. Are there any areas to avoid or areas that are in the catchment zone for outstanding schools? Thank you

@Starseeking thank you so much for investigating and suggesting some ideas. Really appreciate it. We need to view a couple of these houses outside of our preferred area and really explore the Hampton / Hampton Hill and walk around as we haven't considered them yet. And then make a decision on where to compromise.

No worries, though to be fair I didn't do any research; I grew up nearby so I know every corner of that area really well.

You may get something in Whitton in your budget, though from my experience, it's an older town, lots of retirees and bungalows. Not everywhere obviously, but enough to be noticeable.

Whitton High Street is full of small, random independent shops and a few pubs, so for decent shopping you'd need to head to Kingston, or perhaps Westfield. The schools are good, particularly if you are church people. It's definitely worth paying Whitton a visit to get a feel for it, to me it's quite villagey despite being in London (as is the area I'm buying in, so not saying that's a bad thing).

The trains are good, you can get the semi-fast through to Waterloo, which takes about 30 minutes, and driving to Osterley would be maybe 20 minutes. Your DH could also get a bus to Hounslow Bus garage and then tube one stop from Hounslow East, so a car wouldn't be absolutely necessary.

Have you looked more ealing side ? Hanwell has good schools and lots of green space including a zoo..main parade of shops awful but some great independents opening up and away from the main street good parks and community... really easy to get to osterley also Boston manor area or Norwood green although thats not as good gor public transport...

Thanks @Starseeking we do want a villagey feel but just not too far/isolated as we do not own a car. The commute is the biggest compromise we are ready to have as DH can work 2 days from home. The schools and safety are #1 priorities. Will check Whitton next weekend as some CoE schools do seem good there. Thanks again!

Thank you @averythinline we did view a couple of properties in Hanwell and spent a couple of hours there. Looks lovely except the main high street tbh. Not a lot of properties on the market unfortunately for now but we will continue to monitor...

A ground floor flat with a garden even if the internal space is compromised is the best solution. You could extend, put in a garden office / play room / storage, add an awning to steal lots of useable space from the garden.

Personally I wouldn’t get to hung up and judge somewhere by the high street - they are a dying / evolving notion in most areas except in very wealthy areas which can support high end shops. Even in wealthy areas it’s mainly hairdressers and estate agents etc. I would look more to availability of community stuff - playgroups, after school sports, running clubs, libraries, drama, scouts, swimming etc as with children most of time is getting them involved, inspired and active rather than retail (all online anyway) - one nice coffee shop, nice clean streets and lots of green parks (with community activities) will give a great and enriched quality of life even if space at home is tight.

Ealing has some great schools, roads, parks, period properties and fantastic transport links (road A40, M4, North circ. loads of tube and overground as well as EliZabeth line.

Do you have family / friends that you would be travelling regularly to visit because that is also important so you are positioned close to M3 or M40 etc.

Hampton is great also. Also some magic little green corners of Osterley itself.

Do you need state / religious primary school catchment?

But if you do want a nice chi chi independent High St have a look at Pittshanger Lane area of Ealing.

Thank you @DFOD

just a quick update, we are now choosing between a nice 2xbedroom flat (high ceilings, share of freehold, excellent location and schools, parking, no garden though) OR a small 2xbedroom house, freehold with a small garden, no parking, OK location - same borough though). The house is smaller than flat (only marginally) and no option to extend.

We do not own a car, and are planning to stay for at least 5-7 years to go through primary schools for DCs. Given the current situation with interest rates and inflation, would you pick the bigger flat or a small house, or stay put? Prices are similar.

Thank you for your help!

Depends how long you want to stay really. Places without outside space are hard to shift at the moment and flats can be worse for noise plus service charge and all the joy that comes with a flat. Think I would always choose the house but that may just be a personal preference!

Freehold house with garden definitely.