Where in London to buy for 900K for an international family of four?

[internationalfamily]

Hi everyone,

Sorry for yet another where to buy thread, but we could really use your help and insights.

We are planning to buy a house for our family of four. We have been exploring some areas and viewing houses over the past few months, but really struggling to make our mind up..

Here are the key factors...

Budget:

• Ideally somewhere between 750K-850K, but we can stretch to 900K.

Location:

• Needs to be relatively easily accessible to City (to both London Bridge & Strand)
• Excellent primary schools for our DD (who will start reception in 2023).
• Safe
• International community: both my DH and I are Europeans, we would like an open-minded and welcoming community
• Access to green space
• We currently live and like SW, but are (especially DH is) open to move other parts of London.

House:

• Three bedrooms
• Ideally a house with some outdoor space (one of the areas we disagree with DH who prioritise location over house and is fine with a flat too)

Our shortlisted areas are: Wimbledon Town (esp. Dundonald/Chase areas), Balham (Hyde Farm/Nightingale Triangle), Colliers Wood, East Dulwich.

Where would you buy from if you were in our shoes? Are we missing some other suitable areas? Looking forward to hearing your thoughts/suggestions...

@dreamingbohemian yes I do agree, unfortunately an experience like that does tend to put you off even though as you say it can happen anywhere. We had our car broken into via the hatchback (smashed the window) in an NCP car park in Richmond only a few weeks ago too.

I live in Streatham Hill and worked in London Bridge for years with no problems, I used to walk to the common, lovely cafe, bus outside my house straight to Brixton for the tube, or the buses go into central London, I never used the traffic other than the tube.

That's rotten @Crikeyalmighty really bad luck you're having there

Good question! I meant cosmopolitan. As we are expats, we will probably be happier in a “expaty” family area.

Agree - Ladywell is amazing. 9 mins to London Bridge
Hilly fields and Ladywell fields lovely
You would get a reasonable house for that money
Lots of different nationalities
My eldest DD is about to start at Prendergast HF girls in Sept

Sorry to hear that @Crikeyalmighty @dreamingbohemian 😣

I don't really know areas that are just expat areas as it's all a melting pot really but you get certain community hubs in certain areas eg Somalian & Polish in Streatham, Korean in New Malden, French in Kensington, Polish in Ealing, Portuguese in Vauxhall/Stockwell.

Expaty is not the same as cosmopolitan though.

For instance, there are loads of French people and Americans in Richmond upon Thames, but it's very white.

Are you saying you are looking to be around people like you (if so what is your nationality? is it expat professionals you are looking for? in which case somewhere like Richmond would be fine?), or are after ethnic diversity (in which case Richmond wouldn't be up your street).

In the SE I'd throw Nunhead into the mix, too, and up the hill behind East Dulwich towards Forest Hill/Honor Oak. Right move shows a few 3 bed houses (period as well as more modern) towards the top end of your budget.

It's a lovely area, with direct trains to Victoria and Blackfriars (Nunhead Station) and lots more options in easy reach from Honor Oak Park and Peckham Rye.

Good question! I meant cosmopolitan. As we are expats, we will probably be happier in a “expaty” family area.

I don't think this is really true in London. We are expats and have lived happily all over. Most of London is incredibly diverse and you won't stand out at all as expats.

You might want to avoid some areas that are more Brexity but I don't think anyone has mentioned any so far.

Thanks for the follow up. You are right, but I actually didn’t mean they are the same; provided expaty as an additional layer of information. The way I see is ‘expaty’ is about professional background of people whereas cosmopolitan is about their demographic background. What we are after primarily is people from different parts of the world (which is correlated but not identical to ethnic diversity). We are not really looking for a place with full of people from our own country, but having expat professionals like us would be good. Hope this clarifies?

@internationalfamily Do you mind if I ask where you are now OP and if you like it? As if you do it might give us a better idea- I think you will find lots of professional families of varying nationalities in most of the areas that have been mentioned, even here in Windsor, which is too far out from what you are saying - we've got shedloads of professional 'expats/immigrants' - I definitely think areas like Wimbledon/Tooting/Greenwich/Ealing would fit your criteria as would areas like Hampstead/Belsixmze park/Islington /Swiss cottage/ (but you might have to have a flat to be in budget)

Yes, it's clear, but this is true of every area in Zones 1, 2 and 3 in London so doesn't do a massive amount to narrow your areas down. I wouldn't look further out than zone 3 though as it begins to feel more suburban.

OP do you not see the clash between what you wrote in your OP, about wanting an open and welcoming community, and now you're saying you want to live in an area of expat professionals? That's not very open on your part, is it?

I would maybe stay in SW London then because the beauty of SE London is that it's people from all walks of life, all jumbled up together.

Norwood junction. 10 mins direct to London Bridge. Gorgoeus parks and near Crystal Palace for dinners out.

you’ll easily get what you want there.

thank me later :)

OMG OP hasn't been "open". Get her banned at once.

It is mostly kids. As shown by the fact you’ve got 4 schools within spitting distance from each other (the states I mentioned plus 2 privates) along with several nurseries. There are definitely some young professional shares, especially on the busier through roads, but they’re typically not the rowdy type as you would need a very good job to afford the rent, I certainly don’t imagine there’s any more of them than you’d find in say Tooting or Streatham. Term time in the morning the streets are generally busy with kids walking to school so it gives off more of a family vibe. But the compromise would definitely be a flat.

In case it’s confusing, I should clarify that I mean Clapham Common Northside and the immediate streets between there and Lavender Hill (look up the schools I mentioned for a point if reference e.g. Belleville Wix) and not the area around Clapham North tube which is definitely more of a young vibe.

But if you’d rather a house then Tooting and Streatham could be good, I don’t know much about the schools but it’s nice around there some I’m sure there would be good options!

It's not really true of anywhere in England at least.

Quite a few of the areas of the UK that voted Brexit are very multi cultural btw.

I love Streatham. Check out the roads near the rookery and the common.

The most multicultural areas - the areas with highest immigration - major cities in the main - voted against Brexit.

Yes but there were a few outliers in London, a couple of the outer boroughs voted 60% Leave, I think.

My point was just that, as an expat myself, I feel like nearly all of London is cosmopolitan /diverse etc. There are a few neighbourhoods that might feel less friendly if you're European. But I don't think any of those mentioned on this thread.

I can't think of any areas that won't have professionals

I think my questions are because I can’t quite discern the agenda behind the OP.
as many have said, all these areas and indeed every area in z1-3 will have a diverse mix in terms of nationality. Ethnic and socio economic diversity are less consistent, so if the underlying request behind “expat professional” is as I suspect middle class affluent & by implication leaning less diverse ethnically, then SW London would probably be best suited.

not saying there is anything wrong with having that preference, but there seems to be a certain coyness about expressing it explicitly.

Yes - the London areas that voted Leave had the lowest % of immigrants. Hillingdon, Havering and Barking & Dagenham.