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